Campground Etiquette and Protocol

Most camper (and trailer) manufacturers have been putting gray water tanks in there units since the mid 1970s. There are exceptions, but they are rare since it is illegal in many places to let your gray water dump on the ground or while going down the road. Remember, in the old days, it was common for people to actually travel in the campers. If at all reasonably possible, I would add a gray water tank. It is easier than carrying an extra container to drain the gray water into.

Suggestions,

1. make a short hose dedicated to drain the gray water. (if you have sewer hookup at your site, you may want to make an extension) Get a strainer for your sink drain.

2. get a 2-3 gallon container with a handle and cap, like some kitty litter comes in, and use it to collect the gray water.

3. You can carry or use a small luggage dolly to transport to proper disposal (dump station, pit toilet or even a flush toilet if you pour slowly) Sometimes a discrete nighttime disposal run is called for. :R

The secret is to generate small amounts of gray water. Don't run the water when rinsing dishes, brushing teeth, shaving, etc.

If you are really into water conservation (boondocking), you will recycle your gray water to flush you onboard toilet and convert it to black.

Hope this helps,

This video on the best pop up camper made explains and shows how to deal with gray water if you don't have a built in gray water holding tank.

Pay attention around 2:34 in the viedo.

Very common on many older RV's.

sabconsulting wrote:
I carry a plastic tank like this (the black tank attached to the ladder with bunjee):



Then when camping I use that as my grey tank:



Steve.

that looks like an oil change tank. great idea if it is.
bumpy

I carry a plastic tank like this (the black tank attached to the ladder with bunjee):



Then when camping I use that as my grey tank:



Steve.

You should respect the laws and rules wherever you're staying, period.

I have yet to stay anywhere that had a problem with dumping GRAY water on the ground, though I do keep a 6-gallon blue catch-can in the camper just in case.

Probably if you have a large volume of gray water, you should consider catching it and disposing properly. I personally only use about 2 gallons in a day at most, and it's gone by the time the dew is off.

you could get ticketed if you just dump the grey waste... Seems like i rememeber reading here that some one dumped their grey tank with just dish water on BLM land before they where ready to leave and a BLM/Ranger showed up... They got cited for it.....

Mike C.

Check the laws for the state you are camping in. In a lot of places it is illegal to dump gray water on the ground.

This is the correct thing to use for grey water disposal.
5 gallon covered bucket
Yes, some remote camping areas allow you to dump grey water on ground, but not normally in developed campgrounds.

Dumping gray water on the ground is fine in some locations, but not at a campground. For example, it is allowed for dispersed camping (boondocking) in many National Forests so long as you aren't doing it within a certain distance of a body of water, campground, etc. There are specific rules that vary by location and managing agency.

How large is your black tank? Maybe you could install plumbing to run the gray water there. That's the way my TC is. I'd like to have a valve to divert gray water to the ground when possible, so may install one of those at some point.