Twist-on sewer valves…

[K3WE]

My objective here is fun.

After 20+ years…and quite a few miles we are in a water and electric site for a few days…gurgling sounds…water in the shower…I run to the sewer tub, grab my never-used, twist-on gate valve, start pushing and pulling gates and minutes later, the gray tank indicates 1/3…

Problems solved…

The best part: 12 hours later, the camper still hasn’t exploded. 🙂

Mild seriousness: glad I bought the thing 20 years ago.

[Grit_dog]

Lol! Wow! I figured this thread would be left for dead by now, but some of you fellers never cease to amaze me what you’ll bicker over!

[4x4van]

lonewolf80 wrote:
I personally don't have a problem dumping some or all of my grey tank onto the ground. That water is cleaner than if I washed my RV and the residual water and soap run off.

lonewolf80 wrote:
My guess is the leftover pasta and assorted food items mentioned in dedmiston's post were more likely from the previous user of the site scraping and cleaning their dishes into the firepit/ring their last night at the site so no campfire to burn up the waste, then washing them whether outside by whatever means or in their camper of some sort.

And if there is so much germ and disease in that grey water, and let's not be a jerk, responsibly dumped, then what would that say about the dishware we just washed with that same water? Whether the sink or shower, it's essentially soap and water.

Oh, on my two-month cross-country trip last Spring/Summer, the first campground we pulled into near St. Augustine, Fl, made the reservation on the road, I asked If I could pay an extra night's rate to be able to wash my motorhome and toad. Lady behind the counter says "I wondered why your rig is so dirty, I see you are from NY, No you don't have to pay extra, just wash it during the evening!" Washed our vehicles at least five more times on the trip at the campgrounds with permission!

Wow, just...wow. Aside from the fact that dumping grey water is illegal in pretty much the entire country now, grey water is NOT "essentially soap and water". Food bits, grease from cooking, body oils, small amounts of fecal matter from showering... Pretty sure your rig's exterior doesn't include any of that, so washing your RV bears no resemblance to the grey water in your holding tank, and I can assure you that those same campgrounds that allowed you to wash your rig would NOT allow you to dump your grey water on the ground. Stored grey water stinks as bad if not worse than black water. Oh, and I know of no one who uses "grey water" to wash their dishware; it's only grey "after" washing dishes/bodies.:S

[lonewolf80]

My guess is the leftover pasta and assorted food items mentioned in dedmiston's post were more likely from the previous user of the site scraping and cleaning their dishes into the firepit/ring their last night at the site so no campfire to burn up the waste, then washing them whether outside by whatever means or in their camper of some sort.

And if there is so much germ and disease in that grey water, and let's not be a jerk, responsibly dumped, then what would that say about the dishware we just washed with that same water? Whether the sink or shower, it's essentially soap and water.

Oh, on my two-month cross-country trip last Spring/Summer, the first campground we pulled into near St. Augustine, Fl, made the reservation on the road, I asked If I could pay an extra night's rate to be able to wash my motorhome and toad. Lady behind the counter says "I wondered why your rig is so dirty, I see you are from NY, No you don't have to pay extra, just wash it during the evening!" Washed our vehicles at least five more times on the trip at the campgrounds with permission!

[Bobbo]

Durb wrote:
The water levels will equalize. Above assumes both gray and black tanks are installed at the same level in the rig. A higher tank could drain all its fluid into a lower tank. My tanks are hidden and I don't know their relative heights. I'll open my tank valves separately as I don't want to risk chunks of sewage getting into my gray tank.

Yep. In my Airstream, the black tank sits directly above the grey tank. Equalizing the tanks would be a nightmare.

[Lantley]

dedmiston wrote:
I'm OK with bleeding off some gray water into the bushes "in theory", but I've seen it go very wrong in practice.

I pulled up to a perfect campsite out in the desert once. It was just the right size for our group and there was a great fire ring. Unfortunately, the last campers had dumped their gray tank and destroyed that site for weeks.

They obviously didn't scrape their plates before they washed them, so their gray water was full of pasta, veggies, proteins, etc. The puddle they left behind smelled like hell and there was a cloud of flies, rendering the site useless.

I checked back on that site before we left at the end of our weekend and then checked it again when we were in the area a month later. The site still stank and it was still a playground for the weird alien bugs that live out in the deserts once it starts to warm up.

So bleeding off some of your shower water doesn't bother me as long as you do it slowly and let it seep into the ground in one spot. But pulling the dump handle and letting everything go (especially your nasty garbage if you don't know how to do dishes) makes you a pig who doesn't deserve to camp in the wild.

This is exactly why you don't dump your grey. It is not clean as some imply. Once it sits and stagnates in stinks! It's full of debris, it's anything but clean. But some dump it anyway.....Can't smell/see it from my house attitude.

[Lantley]

Durb wrote:

Lantley wrote:

RLS7201 wrote:
In Fleetwood's infinite wisdom, my Bounder came with 2 50 gallon waste tanks. DUH! I add a gray water transfer pump to balance the waste water storage.

Richard

If both tanks use the same drain. Put a twist on valve on the outlet and close it.
Open both tanks and they will equalize themselves.

The water levels will equalize. Above assumes both gray and black tanks are installed at the same level in the rig. A higher tank could drain all its fluid into a lower tank. My tanks are hidden and I don't know their relative heights. I'll open my tank valves separately as I don't want to risk chunks of sewage getting into my gray tank.

I agree the tanks need to be at the same level.
90% of the time they are at the same level. The frame is only so big There is not room to tier the tanks on various levels.
The grey tank will typically be full vs. a relatively empty black tank when you attempt to equalize. Opening the grey first will send grey water to the black tank. Since the grey is full it will not accept any water from the black. Typically its a simple process with little risk.

[dedmiston]

And as far as the twist-on valves, I never used one on our last trailer, but our "new one" (seven years old?) had a gray valve that wouldn't fully shut and I was tired of working with the dealer for other warranty issues. I just slapped on a twist-on valve for safety and never looked back. It's great insurance.

[dedmiston]

I'm OK with bleeding off some gray water into the bushes "in theory", but I've seen it go very wrong in practice.

I pulled up to a perfect campsite out in the desert once. It was just the right size for our group and there was a great fire ring. Unfortunately, the last campers had dumped their gray tank and destroyed that site for weeks.

They obviously didn't scrape their plates before they washed them, so their gray water was full of pasta, veggies, proteins, etc. The puddle they left behind smelled like hell and there was a cloud of flies, rendering the site useless.

I checked back on that site before we left at the end of our weekend and then checked it again when we were in the area a month later. The site still stank and it was still a playground for the weird alien bugs that live out in the deserts once it starts to warm up.

So bleeding off some of your shower water doesn't bother me as long as you do it slowly and let it seep into the ground in one spot. But pulling the dump handle and letting everything go (especially your nasty garbage if you don't know how to do dishes) makes you a pig who doesn't deserve to camp in the wild.

[Durb]

Lantley wrote:

RLS7201 wrote:
In Fleetwood's infinite wisdom, my Bounder came with 2 50 gallon waste tanks. DUH! I add a gray water transfer pump to balance the waste water storage.

Richard

If both tanks use the same drain. Put a twist on valve on the outlet and close it.
Open both tanks and they will equalize themselves.

The water levels will equalize. Above assumes both gray and black tanks are installed at the same level in the rig. A higher tank could drain all its fluid into a lower tank. My tanks are hidden and I don't know their relative heights. I'll open my tank valves separately as I don't want to risk chunks of sewage getting into my gray tank.

[JRscooby]

lonewolf80 wrote:
I personally don't have a problem dumping some or all of my grey tank onto the ground. That water is cleaner than if I washed my RV and the residual water and soap run off. Now, what would stop me is how is if I have a neighbor on that side of my campsite and how close is the neighbor.

I know some folks use the adapter cap that you put on the sewer outlet that lets you attach a small hose too. They'll then crack open their grey valve to trickle drain the tank as it's being used. I actually bought one of those and kept a small old washing machine hose in my rig, but I never used it so it is on a shelf with other RV supplies in the garage.

"I personally don't have a problem dumping some or all of my grey tank onto the ground. That water is cleaner than if I washed my RV and the residual water and soap run off."

SERIOUSLY? Well then

I personally don't have a problem dumping some or all of my black tank onto the ground, because my poop don't stink.

Highly unlikely to change a mind that is made up, but in case somebody is reading that might be convinced by logic, or concern for others;
Most RVers do dishes in kitchen sink. Doing dishes involves washing food of the plates. When it comes to attracting pests, spreading disease, or just general grossness, not much difference between digested food and rotted food. You know the next person to use the site might be in a tent, or track the stuff into their RV?
As far as that goes, I bet most CGs have rules against washing vehicles on site.

[lonewolf80]

I personally don't have a problem dumping some or all of my grey tank onto the ground. That water is cleaner than if I washed my RV and the residual water and soap run off. Now, what would stop me is how is if I have a neighbor on that side of my campsite and how close is the neighbor.

I know some folks use the adapter cap that you put on the sewer outlet that lets you attach a small hose too. They'll then crack open their grey valve to trickle drain the tank as it's being used. I actually bought one of those and kept a small old washing machine hose in my rig, but I never used it so it is on a shelf with other RV supplies in the garage.

[K3WE]

Unfortunately, we still have people agitated by this. It’s an inexpensive, easy-to-use, safety, back-up system for special circumstances.

Gray tanks fill much faster than black, so black to gray movement can be minimized.

In our case, we generated a ton of dirty dishes and got full one day too soon…at 7:00 PM, and 5 min of effort the problem was solved.

This would also be handy to extend your time by a few days if camping without a sewer hook up.

And a backup system in case a “permanent” valve screws up.

Planning and common sense kept ours in the storage bay for 20 years. Planning and common sense provided an excellent, easy solution when plans changed. It’s also a viable option for week-long; sewer-less trips.

It’s now been 7 days and the gray tank still hasn’t disintegrated 🙂

[JRscooby]

Dutch_12078 wrote:

Boomerweps wrote:

Dutch_12078 wrote:

Boomerweps wrote:
No concern about possible black water mixed into the gray tank/lines?

Do you worry about the grey and black water mixing in a sticks and bricks residence? It all shares the same drain pipes and vent system.

Sticks and bricks housing does not STORE waste water, it all gets flushed away immediately. Simple logic.

You've never heard of a septic tank? In an RV the waste tanks are vented to the atmosphere, similar to the way residential plumbing is vented with the black and grey often sharing the same vent piping.

Not only have I heard of septic systems, I have installed a few of them. And 20+ years ago, the county I was working in started requiring dual exhaust for waste water, maybe joined at a 2nd tank. Drain from laundry room by-passed sewage tank, then pumped out of a 2nd tank at slower rate than wash machine put it in. Water can flow from septic tank, mix with wash water to be pumped out to evaporation field, but the 2nd tank has overflow lower than the pipe from septic tank so chemicals used for cleaning, or washed off clothes, can't back up, stop septic action.
In RV, the only reason for storing in separate tanks is the chance grey water will by-pass a treatment system.

Dutch_12078 wrote:


Of course if you're going to be somewhere that allows grey water dumping on the ground, you wouldn't want to mix the black tank contents with the grey. And yes, black and grey contents have been mixed in general usage for centuries, so it doesn't concern me if combining my tanks to extend the capacity helps make to the next dump station.

Moving grey to black is no issue. Not sure about sloshing back and forth in a big pipe.
Of course, if I was MFIC, RV would be designed so kitchen sink and toilet dump in 1 tank, shower and bathroom sink in the 2nd.

[Dutch_12078]

JRscooby wrote:

Dutch_12078 wrote:

Boomerweps wrote:
No concern about possible black water mixed into the gray tank/lines?

Do you worry about the grey and black water mixing in a sticks and bricks residence? It all shares the same drain pipes and vent system.

In the past many areas allowed grey water to be dumped on ground, where it could be used by plants. But going back forever, one of the first signs of "civilization" was control of human waste. (A century ago, for many homes the control was just a pit, with small building with hole in floor.)
In the modern home, all the waste water goes out the same pipe. The less dirty water helps carry and break down the solids. (We have all heard of the issues RVers have because not enough water in black tank. Think about how fast that issue would develop in house, where waste must move a long ways. Notice when you go to dump station they mix back together?)
It has been a while since I have been anyplace dumping greywater out of RV on ground. I suspect it has a lot to do with understanding what drains from a kitchen sink is pretty dark.
I have heard talk about RVs no longer need 2 waste tanks.

OT. The house where my draft notice found me, toilet, bathroom sink, and Grandma's bathtub drained into a septic system. The field was under part of the area around hen house. (BTW, daytime menfolk where expected to use outhouse) The kitchen sink drained to daylight in the orchard, where chickens cleaned the water. The shower in basement drained into the garden.

Of course if you're going to be somewhere that allows grey water dumping on the ground, you wouldn't want to mix the black tank contents with the grey. And yes, black and grey contents have been mixed in general usage for centuries, so it doesn't concern me if combining my tanks to extend the capacity helps make to the next dump station.