Forum Discussion

adamis's avatar
adamis
Nomad II
May 14, 2021

External Holding Tanks for Extended Boon Docking

As mentioned in another post, we purchased some land that will be used for the next few years as a parking spot for an as yet to be purchased 5th wheel. There is power and water close by but not on the lot itself and money to bring them in won't be available for a while. There is no septic or sewer system at all.

We may come and visit the property from time to time and use the trailer for about a week at a time before we develop the land. During this time, we are considering on finding a caretaker to keep an eye on things and do some maintenance for us. In exchange for the work, they would be allowed to park and live in their own trailer on the land.

All that to say, I'm contemplating purchasing some large tanks to store both fresh water and black water and then contracting with a pump out service as needed. Thinking of maybe a 500gal or 1000gal tanks that could be placed under the trailer so they are out of the way and protected.

Does anyone have any experience with this type of setup? Are there any suggested tanks that work better than others? Any issues with a pump-out service?

Any advice is greatly appreciated.
Truck Campers
  • thomas201's avatar
    thomas201
    Explorer
    May 14, 2021
    Call the county health department. In WV the county I talked to said only portable tanks were legal for long term use. A non-portable tank was only legal for 90 days, and you had to be making progress on a septic system.

    In Oregon I stayed at a campground that had a repurposed oil field frac tank for the poo poo. They pumped it as needed. An employee told me they had similar rules, as long as the tank is portable it was OK. Now this tank was a standard 500 barrel (20,000 gallon), but you could drain it, and pick it up with a winch tractor. Get the rules before you buy.

    These rules are crazy, yes?
  • jimh406's avatar
    jimh406
    Explorer III
    May 14, 2021
    Water tanks are fairly expensive unless you are talking about an IBC tote or similar to just set on the ground. If you bought larger tanks and assuming it is legal, you could possibly create a water harvesting system and forego a well. Similarly, you could build a solar system to be used as either your primary power system or as a backup.

    I’d talk to a pump out service to see what that will cost and a tank compared to getting a septic system installed. Random chemicals etc aren’t very good for a septic system also water proportion is important, so maybe a septic system is not practical assuming you would use typical RV chemicals.

    I would have considered a lot more property when I bought mine if I had known how easy it really is to be offgrid.

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