How many days to fill gray and black holding tanks???

We only have 27gal tanks for fresh, gray, and black. And we're going on our second-ever dry camping trip this weekend. So it's fun and useful to read this whole thread to get ideas from more experienced campers.

On our last (dry camping) trip, we saved our breakfast and lunch prep tools until after dinner for cleaning. And for minor things, we used wet wipes to clean our hands instead of using the sinks.

We're also in the mode of trying to divert as much gray water as possible to the black tank (shower warm-up water, kitchen rinse water, etc.)

The gray tank will last 4-5 days with me, wife, and son. The black doesnt usually get to half during that time, and the galley will get to 2/3, we only wash pans and normal cleaning, as we use plastic ware and paper plates while camping.

Wife and 2 kids we can go a weekend with no conservation methods. 40 gallons tanks Longer stays we use Barker tote for grey tank and can last indefinetly

It's just the wife and me, and our TT has a 30 gallon black tank and 60 gallon grey tank. We don't use the campground facilities, so all of our water is used in the TT.

Our black tank usually gets to around 2/3 full in 4 days, although we flush with plenty of water to help the tank flush properly when we dump. I think we could easily go 6+ days if we cut back on the flush water, although I'd flush the black tank well when dumping.

The grey water tank will last 4-6 days, showering using Navy method. We also adjust our usage habits based on how long we're going to stay somewhere. If we're only staying somewhere for 2 nights, we tend to use more water when showering, washing dishes, etc.

Couple of tips to save water:
* Navy method for showering (huge savings here)

* Minimize washing dishes (huge savings here also) by using paper plates and plastic cups. I'll wash dishes outside if we're staying somewhere 5+ days.

* Buy a small 1 gallon bucket and use that to hold water for certain tasks, then throw it outside. For example, when first turning on the shower to get hot water, I run the water into that bucket until the water is hot, then the bucket gets drained outside after the shower. In my TT, that saves around 1/3 gallon each shower.

...How much beer do you drink?

Seriously though, it all depends on size of tanks and how many people are using the coach. We get 3-4 days, two adults, 40 gal's each tank. If beer is being consumed in mass quantities, I use public facilities if available and clean for the returning of said beer to prevent too much usage of the black tank, but I have never filled my black tank.

You can help keep the black tank sensors working by flushing your tank every time you dump, not always possible though.

Your camping solo, and after 4 nights your black tank sensor is showing full on a 32 gallon tank. Don't think one person could create 32 gallons of waste including flush water in that time. As stated, look down the toilet while flushing.

Just got back from a 6 night trip with DW and 6 year old. My black tank started showing full on the indicator after 5 nights, but I couldn't see it - so didn't dump black until leaving.

Gray water is another story. We will use the CG facilities if clean, and take navy showers if using our TT's shower. We wash dishes and pans, but use paper plates until we run out of them. I had to dump the gray water every other day - use my portable tank and haul it to the dump station with the TV.

Being conservative my wife and I will fill the 38 gal gray tank in 2 days with showers. Black tank will go 5 days. The gauges are worthless

Hi,

To get a better idea of how much fresh water you have, fill the tank, then run the pump until the tank is dry. Mine takes about 24 minutes to go from full to empty. I have 66 gallons of fresh water.

If I pee in the toilet, I pressurize the water system, then turn off the pump. That is enough water to "clear" the bowl of urine.

The sensors are pretty much a joke except for the fresh water.

I urban dock a lot, so McDonalds and the like provides me with toilet facilities.

I extend my water by using bottled for cooking and drinking. Paper plates are
much better than they used to be. I try to find recycled paper products.

I tend to NOT stay in campgrounds. With one shower per day I can go for 3 weeks.

When we picked up our brand new TT, the black tank read full.....so much for accuracy. Believe our ROO HTT was 30 gallon capacity for each tank. The TT is more, but I don't fret about it as we always camp with at least water and electric and FHU when we can. For the 2 of us, we've only had the grey back up into the shower 1 time and that was when a friend insisted on "helping" wash dishes the night before....lots of water.

The general rule of thumb is to let the black tank get about 2/3 or more full before dumping, but we've just always dumped and thoroughly rinsed at the end of each weekend or if a longer trip, about 3 days. Main reason is we just don't like to haul around the extra weight. With the black tank, you need to be VERY generous with water to help make dumping more complete and the system work better in general. If we're going to be gone for more than a weekend or so, we do take the blue tote along just in case.

Re the grey tank backing up into the shower, if you notice the kitchen sink draining slowly, stop and check the shower. I was literally within about an inch of overflowing the shower when that happened and I'd not heard about it before. What a mess we would have had!

Re the black tank - when I do our Sunday morning cleanup - or whatever is our last day - I'm overly generous with water into the black. Just sometimes put a count of about 30 seconds of water running into the toilet a few times that morning...then I know there is plenty of water. If you don't have a clear fitting for your black tank hose, suggest you invest in one. A huge help in seeing when you're really finished dumping and if you have a clog somewhere in the line, you'll know it when virtually nothing is coming through.

So the answer to your question is that there really isn't an answer....depends on you, how you use the facilities, length of time you're out there, number and length of showers, how much dishwashing. Probably safe to assume you're good for 2 - 3 days with reasonable use, but you'll know after a few trips what your limits are. Happy Camping!

We have 47G Fresh, 32G black, 32G shower gray, 32G galley gray.
At 5 days/4 nights, we run out of fresh. If we get more fresh water, we can go 7 days/6 nights before at least one tank almost full.
For the shower, the first gallon is always cold. We have a bucket in the shower where the first gallon goes to dump in the toilet.