Dry Camping: Many Power Solutions. What about Waste/Water?

We just did 10 days dry camping. We probably would have been able to go another few days without filling the black tank. Surprised the heck out of me. Being in the forest allows the male gender to find a potty tree, as the young ones call them. We didn't flush the liquid until the bowl got close to full. We did flush when solids were deposited into the bowl....great conversation....We have a 40 gallon black and 2 40 gallon gray water tanks. We also have a 50 gallon hard, potable water tank that goes in the rear of the truck behind the aux. fuel tank. We also have a 45 gallon collapsible tank in case we are too far from fresh water. Both are pumped with a 12 volt water pump. We have a 5er. We also have a macerator pump and 35 gallon tote. That's our story and I'm sticking to it.

smkettner wrote:
I also added a hot water circulation system. Mostly to keep the pipes from freezing when visiting the snow. And it does help minimize water use by having hot a lot closer to the faucet.

I used an El-Cid 12v pump and a Grundfos valve.

I just let the built-in pump do the work, but then it is just intermittent. The irrigation valve works well for cold water, but I don't know what would happen if it was constantly receiving hot. Beside, the inline valves are only $12 or so.

I also added a hot water circulation system. Mostly to keep the pipes from freezing when visiting the snow. And it does help minimize water use by having hot a lot closer to the faucet.

I used an El-Cid 12v pump and a Grundfos valve.

I guess it is how you look at it. We primitive camped for 20 years before the trailer and the 60 gallons of fresh water we can take up looks like a swimming pool. Two weeks is easy, three weeks possible but we will run out of food. Our first week in the boonies we were so conservative that we only showered every other day and brought most of the water home. We have loosened up considerable and will only bring ten gallons or so home after two weeks.

Most of it is tricks like already listed, but the important thing is never to waste it.

When we run the hot water, a pot collects it until it comes out hot. That water is used for the dishes. Dish water is used for the toilet or to put out the fire at the end of the night.

My shower is a modified sponge bath with a navy rinse and the flow is low enough that the pump pulses. I don't collect shower water for flushing, I just pull a bucket off the grey tank instead.

When we wash the dishes the collected water is heated. We could use the hot water already in the hot water heater to wash and the collected water to rinse but that is wasteful. We start by washing the silverware in a cup with one drop of dawn. The water from that cup is passed to the next until all the cups/glasses are done. The silverware goes back in a cup and rinsed with hot water and that water is passed to the next cup for rinsing and so on until it starts getting sudsy and put in the wash tub. The now hot sudsy water in the tub is used for the plates and lids, those have to be rinsed in the rinse tub and a cup recollects the water until sudsy. By rinsing with hot water and adding it to the wash tub when sudsy, we always have clean rinse water and by the time it comes to pots and pans, there is plenty of hot soapy water to do them with. The last items are rinsed in the rinse tub so that when we dump the wash tub, it can be rinsed too.

One thing about using waste water to flush, I still use a bit of fresh to rinse the grey water down.

We use disposable gloves while cooking so that we don't have to wash our hands every time we touch the food. It's easier to just change gloves.

There are other things that we did while tenting like bagging the toilet or using a spray bottle for washing but we don't have to anymore. That's why we bought the trailer.

We dry camp a lot. The bath is considerable distance from the water heater and a lot of fresh water gets wasted getting the hot there and the grey tank then fills quicker.

What I did was to install a hot water circulating system which returns the cold water in the "hot" line back to the fresh tank.

I installed a tee under the sink hot line and a irrigation control valve with push button at the sink. Ran a line back to the fresh tank. The valves will work on 12v even though they are designed for 24v.

Now when we want to use the shower or sink, hit the button for 5 to 10 seconds and when you turn on the shower/sink, instant hot water and no waste!

I rarely sit still for over one week so as long as we are rolling it is time to dump and fill.
And I much rather haul the entire trailer vs dealing with a tote. Did enough of that with the pop-up trailer.

otrfun wrote:
Lotta discussion and solutions pertaining to solar, generators, huge battery banks, and bulk/boost capable converters keeping everyone powered off the grid.

For those spending more than a weekend dry camping, what kind of creative solutions are available to handle waste and freshwater issues?

we have a 30 gallon black and 60 gallon grey. With DW and I that is more than enough for two weeks, the longest we've dry camped w/o passing a dump station.

Even with 2 grandkids, and 4 adults we've gone 6 days with the above setup w/o filling up the grey and black.

Every place we've dry camped has had potable water, so keeping the fresh full hasn't been an issue. I fill 7 gallon blue water jugs at the tap and then have a pump in the pass through along with a dip tube to fill the fresh water when needed.

This is a very good question. I always run out of FW before I run out of battery power. What I find is after 7 days I run out of clothes also so I need to do laundry. More specifically my wife runs out of clothes, I have "universal shorts" that I hike, bike, swim and fish in and can go much longer in warm weather. However after 7 days batteries are at 50%SOC, FW is about empty and clothes need to be washed anyways, so we go to a FHU CG with a laundry mat and dump, fill, recharge batteries, wash clothes and bedding. So water and laundry need to be solved before I worry about batteries or solar.

SteveAE wrote:
Sure. Install a composting toilet

Checked out the video and googled a few reviews on use of these things in the realworld. Interesting. But, the cost $1000-$2000 and limited space in my TT makes it a no-go. Thanks, though :)

Sure. Install a composting toilet