Grey Water Dumping

msmith1199 wrote:

Mile High wrote:

timmac wrote:
This is funny when I was just in Cali at Joes Landing next to the river at a campground with all grass, 30 amp and water only I did dump my grey water on the grass that needed water anyways late at night, no other campers around me and all was OK the next morning, such a pain to move the motorhome for just shower water.

Its really not that gross and what's the harm, the animals pee in the river that we drink from anyways..

:E

In addition to it being gross, I believe when it is near waterways the phosphates in the soaps can harm the marine life.

When I had a boat, prior to my RV, it did not have a gray water tank. It had a shower sump with a pump in it. Everything that went down the drain in the sink or shower was immediately pumped overboard and this was, and is, completely legal.

Not necessarily:

Is the discharge of boat waste really a problem?

Most of the areas where boats congregate (harbors, anchorages, and marinas) are naturally sheltered and semi-enclosed. Therefore, these sheltered areas also are not flushed as well as more open waters. The end result is that most pollution that we put in these areas ends up staying there. Bacteria, chemicals, and nutrients contained in human waste from boats can overload small, poorly flushed waterways and cause local water quality problems. Disease carrying bacteria, viruses, and protozoa can enter the water through the direct discharge of boat waste. Direct threats to human health can arise through ingestion of contaminated water or consumption of fish or shellfish that have ingested these pathogens. Scientists have shown there are more bacteria in the untreated waste discharged by one boat than in the treated wastewater discharged by a small city!

What Does New Hampshire Law Say About Boat Discharges?
The following was taken from New Hampshire Revised Statutes Annotated, 1992, Titles 48-50 Conveyances to Water Management & Protection, Chapters 447-487. Butterworth Legal Publishers
487:1 Definitions. As used in this chapter.

I. "Boats" means any vessel or watercraft whether moved by oars, paddles, sails or other power mechanism, inboard or outboard, or any other vessel or structure floating upon the water whether or not capable of self locomotion, including but not limited to house boats, barges and similar floating objects.

II. "Division" means the division of water supply and pollution control, department of environmental services.

III. "Graywater" means galley, bath, and shower water.
IV. "Marine toilet" means any toilet on or within any boat as that term is defined herein.

V. "Sewage" means human body wastes and graywater, plus wastes from toilets, sinks, showers, and other receptacles intended to receive or retain body wastes or graywater.

VI. "Waters of this state" means waters classified, or unclassified, as defined in RSA 485-A.

487:2 Restrictions on Marine Toilets. No marine toilet on any boat operated upon waters of the state shall be so constructed and operated as to discharge any sewage into said waters either directly or indirectly, nor shall any sewage or container of sewage be placed, left, discharged, or caused to be placed, left, or discharged in or near any waters of the state by any person at any time whether or not the owner, operator, guest or occupant of a boat; provided, however, that nothing in this section shall prohibit such discharge to a municipal sewerage system or to any adequate sewage disposal system on shore.

487:3 Restrictions on Sinks and Showers. No sink or shower on any boat operated upon the fresh waters of the state shall be so constructed or operated as to discharge any graywater into said waters either directly or indirectly.

Just one example - not completely legal as you say. Boats may be getting by on open oceans, but the harbors are a problem. Now just think about how a tiny boat impacts the giant ocean, then think about a giant waste tank pouring down a high country brook. Have to keep it in perspective.