Dear Lance Camper,

trail-explorer wrote:
This thread got derailed in a hurry.

Problem is that so many people don't bother disposing of their grey water in accordance with back country guidelines that the immediate assumption is that packs of truck campers are blanketing pristine wilderness areas and rampantly dumping 50 gallon tanks of filthy water into crystal clear water sources.

I cringe when I see or hear of people dumping 5 gallon buckets of wastewater into the nearest bush.

Dispose of the water in your grey tanks as you would if you were responsibly backpack camping - taking into account the potential difference in liquid volume - and you and the environment will be fine.

This thread got derailed in a hurry.

jimh425 wrote:
Obviously, I'm not going to stop the people who want to do the wrong thing from doing it. However, I feel like I have to call it out, so others who read here don't think it is normal or even a good practice.

If we followed the line of reasoning that dumping grey whereever was good, we wouldn't have any reason to ever use a dump station. I can tell you what's next ... more and more areas with "no camping" signs.

We will have to agree to disagree on responsible gray water disposal.

I feel most TCers are responsible in this regard precisely because they are chose the TC travel style and not the normal RV park and dump mindset. Since a vast majority of TCers use their black tank, they presumably know the dump station routine well. As TCs allow camping in a wider variety of situations including boon docking, it is often the reason that a TC was chosen vs other RVs. And in my mind, these folks know how to treat campsites and nature with responsible behavior.

I appreciate that I mostly experience camping where "idiots" are not usually found. Certainly it is different from the populous west coast camping that I have mostly avoided. In the Arizona, Utah, Colorado and New Mexico area, I love how easy it is to be alone when camping. And responsible gray water disposal is easily accomplished.

I'm disheartened that you feel so pessimistic about the potential behavior of fellow TCers. I just haven't had that experience with the ones I've met.

Rick

Obviously, I'm not going to stop the people who want to do the wrong thing from doing it. However, I feel like I have to call it out, so others who read here don't think it is normal or even a good practice.

If we followed the line of reasoning that dumping grey whereever was good, we wouldn't have any reason to ever use a dump station. I can tell you what's next ... more and more areas with "no camping" signs.

I often see tent campers disposing of their dish water on nearby bushes and taking "solar" showers, brushing their teeth/washing their faces out of a dish pan. When we wash our dishes, all wash water goes into the toilet/black tank, rinse water into the grey tank. I do not hesitate to dump my grey water on the ground when no dump stations are available. It has been done this way in campgrounds for decades with very happy and healthy plants being the result and no human or animal plagues that I am aware of!

jimh425 wrote:

rickjo wrote:
gray water is much easier to dispose of without using the hose.

Not that I'm the dump police ... but a rant is required.

I think you meant is "much easier to dispose of improperly without using the hose".

I don't think most of us are interested in camping where you find it "easier", and I don't think you'd be happy if we pulled up next to your campsite and dumped our grey water next to you either. Of course, there is no way to know where someone else might be exposed.

Rant all you want. I NEVER dispose of gray water improperly. And NEVER next to anyone's campsite. Actually never in campgrounds that don't provide a dump station. A dump station, then I use the hose. Usually those are at National Park campgrounds. Few and far between otherwise. I usually don't dispose of the water at boon docking campsites fearing others might like the site I picked as well. In more remote situations, any trace will be gone in one or two days because I use the bucket and bless the nearby flora, not the campsite. Any odor in gray water is usually a soapy smell that disappears when the water is absorbed into the ground.

I have lived with the results of home gray water for 35 years and I know what is proper and what is not. The gray water at my home does not smell. My property is large enough to have no effect on others and was approved at the time of installation. Another reason to love the dry high desert.

Rick

rickjo wrote:
gray water is much easier to dispose of without using the hose.

Not that I'm the dump police ... but a rant is required.

I think you meant is "much easier to dispose of improperly without using the hose".

I don't think most of us are interested in camping where you find it "easier", and I don't think you'd be happy if we pulled up next to your campsite and dumped our grey water next to you either. Of course, there is no way to know where someone else might be exposed.

billtex wrote:

rickjo wrote:

hotrodfords wrote:
Dear Lance Camper...

...10' of waste tank hose is/was pathetically inadequate...

Especially since I have used the hose a grand total of 5 times in 9 1/2 years.

YMMV.

Rick

You dump once every 2 yrs?
Wow...those are some big holding tanks...

Or.... I seldom use the hose. It's more convenient because I NEVER use the black tank (but I keep the toilet for the MOST EXTREME emergency) and gray water is much easier to dispose of without using the hose. I carry a 5 gal bucket or dump in remote locations. We have a gray water system in our home and after 35 years the plants at the outlet thrive. Of course, every plant in the high desert pretty much likes water in any amount and quality. So I am familiar with the safety of gray water dumping, at least in the western US. I don't dispose where others would be exposed, like Forest Service campground campsites, etc. Pullouts along gravel/dirt roads are favored possibilities. Dump stations are relatively rare where we tend to travel.

Rick

rickjo wrote:

hotrodfords wrote:
Dear Lance Camper...

...10' of waste tank hose is/was pathetically inadequate...

Especially sine I have used the hose a grand total of 5 times in 9 1/2 years.

YMMV.

Rick

You dump once every 2 yrs?
Wow...those are some big holding tanks...

hotrodfords wrote:
Dear Lance Camper...

...10' of waste tank hose is/was pathetically inadequate...

Especially sine I have used the hose a grand total of 5 times in 9 1/2 years.

YMMV.

Rick