Where To Dump Black Water When Dry Camping

[Eddiegnz1]

we will be dry camping on a friends land that is over 1,000 acres in Florida. WE'll actually live there for a year or maybe even two years. The property owner (my good friend) said I could simply dig a ten to 12 foot deep hole and put a 4 foot by 4 foot piece of plywood over the hole. The plywood would function as a lid and decrease odors from escaping because the plywood would be almost entire buried under dirt. The only part that would not be buried is the plumbing part that attaches to my black water tubing/line. The hole would be about 18 to 24 inch diameter. Then I could attach/install the plumbing fixture on to the plywood and then hook up my black water hose to the fixture. Then each time i dump, just remove the plywood and bury the black water with 12 to 18 inches of dirt and repeat layering like this until the final layer of dirt is 24 inches thick. Then dig another 12 foot deep hole else where to start a new dump site.

It's his property, he's not an experienced Dry Camper nor experienced in RV'ing. Which is why i'm posting this question to you more experienced folks.

Can his plan work?
have you ever tried something similar?

Please share your suggestions, recommendation, advice. Thank you kindly in advance.

Eddie

[Lantley]

CavemanCharlie wrote:

pnichols wrote:

Lantley wrote:
It wasn't that long ago every house had an out house yet somehow we evolved and are all here!

Outstanding observation and statement!

This is an unassailable position that should put this discussion to bed ... in favor of the OP going ahead and dealing with their own black tank waste as they see fit on adequate private acreage. By the way, 1000 acres is way beyond "adequate private acreage". Most private outhouses were on far less land. 😉

There were millions of less people in the country when every house had a outhouse.

Something to think about.

I don't think the population was that much less. They certainly were not on 1000 acres.

[CavemanCharlie]

pnichols wrote:

Lantley wrote:
It wasn't that long ago every house had an out house yet somehow we evolved and are all here!

Outstanding observation and statement!

This is an unassailable position that should put this discussion to bed ... in favor of the OP going ahead and dealing with their own black tank waste as they see fit on adequate private acreage. By the way, 1000 acres is way beyond "adequate private acreage". Most private outhouses were on far less land. 😉

There were millions of less people in the country when every house had a outhouse.

Something to think about.

[pnichols]

Lantley wrote:
It wasn't that long ago every house had an out house yet somehow we evolved and are all here!

Outstanding observation and statement!

This is an unassailable position that should put this discussion to bed ... in favor of the OP going ahead and dealing with their own black tank waste as they see fit on adequate private acreage. By the way, 1000 acres is way beyond "adequate private acreage". Most private outhouses were on far less land. 😉

[Lantley]

WTP-GC wrote:
Inasmuch as people seem to be upset about some of the "cavalier" attitudes, I'm simply dumbfounded by the overall lack of understanding and the overly generalistic suggestions. A simple shallow septic system won't have any more impact on limestone formations and water tables than a good hard rain. The effect of one RVer dumping into his own homemade septic system on 1000 acres isn't a public sanitation catastrophe waiting to happen. If you want county input on your homemade septic system for your RV, then you're going to get a solid "NO" since they won't permit it unless it's attached to a legitimately permitted home, mobile home, or other allowable structure. So there's no way to get it done "properly" in this case.

Well said. It's human waste not nuclear waste. One person or family using a homemade septic tank/pit of some sort on a 1000 acre private property is not the equivalent of a nuclear holocaust.
Key word is PRIVATE property. There are no nearby neighbors.
It wasn't that long ago every house had an out house yet somehow we evolved and are all here!

[tinner12002]

2gypsies wrote:

tinner12002 wrote:

I'm not saying good or bad here but if you choose to do any of that I would set my RV slightly over top of it and disconnect the dump hose and cover the opening in the ground after dumping tanks so prying eyes wouldn't see what your doing. I'd recommend dumping tanks at nite also!

If you have to sneak around doing something then it's probably not a good idea to do it in the first place.

Is the same person going to own that land forever? Think about the next owner.

Well I wasn't saying what he wanted to do was right or wrong legally or morally, just stating that if he felt he had to dump there he shouldn't be too obvious about it.

[WTP-GC]

Inasmuch as people seem to be upset about some of the "cavalier" attitudes, I'm simply dumbfounded by the overall lack of understanding and the overly generalistic suggestions. A simple shallow septic system won't have any more impact on limestone formations and water tables than a good hard rain. The effect of one RVer dumping into his own homemade septic system on 1000 acres isn't a public sanitation catastrophe waiting to happen. If you want county input on your homemade septic system for your RV, then you're going to get a solid "NO" since they won't permit it unless it's attached to a legitimately permitted home, mobile home, or other allowable structure. So there's no way to get it done "properly" in this case.

[hawkeye-08]

Nothing wrong with making do with what you have to, but if you have the means, why not do it properly (at least protect drinking water and environment). I don't know what the codes are for that location, but if it can handle a small septic system, why not put one in? If you have a 1000 acres and a nice place to park, don't turn it into a trashy mess, make it nice.

[Lantley]

From some of the responses I don't think many understand what has been said.
The OP is living there himself. He is not building an NFL stadium.
He has 1000 acres not 2

1000 Acres = 1.5625 Square Miles

[ctilsie242]

If I had 1000 acres and were going to live some place for years, I'd call a local contractor and get the ball rolling for a 1000 gallon septic tank and two leach fields. This way, every year, I switch a valve from one to the other, so the other field can "rest". Since the cost is the installation, I'd go as big a septic tank as reasonably possible, something that can handle the gray and the black water.

The septic tank company will handle the permits and other items. I don't see Florida or other states doing any de-regulation on septic permits anytime soon, so it may be cheaper to play the game than to deal with the fines.

[2gypsies1]

tinner12002 wrote:

I'm not saying good or bad here but if you choose to do any of that I would set my RV slightly over top of it and disconnect the dump hose and cover the opening in the ground after dumping tanks so prying eyes wouldn't see what your doing. I'd recommend dumping tanks at nite also!

If you have to sneak around doing something then it's probably not a good idea to do it in the first place.

Is the same person going to own that land forever? Think about the next owner.

[drsteve]

phillyg wrote:
I've stayed out of this for the last 5 or so pages, but as I first said, FL water tables and limestone formations make for a bad mix. Yes, in some areas what the OP wants to do might be okay but the rest of FL, no way. A simple, effective and legal septic system could probably be done at low cost with county input.

I'm very disappointed
at the cavalier attitude and suggestions some of you have made, especially from a group of campers whom purportedly visit the great outdoors for its benefits.

What he said. What's even more discouraging is the seeming lack of understanding why proper sanitation is of the utmost importance. These laws were not enacted, as some appear to believe, merely to provide something for bored building inspectors to do. There are sound scientific and health reasons to do this stuff the right way.

[phillyg]

I've stayed out of this for the last 5 or so pages, but as I first said, FL water tables and limestone formations make for a bad mix. Yes, in some areas what the OP wants to do might be okay but the rest of FL, no way. A simple, effective and legal septic system could probably be done at low cost with county input.

I'm very disappointed
at the cavalier attitude and suggestions some of you have made, especially from a group of campers whom purportedly visit the great outdoors for its benefits.

[tinner12002]

WTP-GC wrote:

D.E.Bishop wrote:

coolmom42 wrote:
Florida is a whole different ball of wax than a lot of the US. Super-sandy soil which is totally permeable, and a very shallow water table. A badly constructed system can contaminate a LOT of groundwater, and a LOT of people get their drinking water from wells fed by that groundwater.

Not to mention weather systems that can dump many inches of rain in a short time.

I would go with a composting toilet, or some sort of vault with a pump-out system.

I think this is a very well thought out response, with the exception of the composting toilet part. I don't think living in your RV for a year or two is dry camping and you might want to figure out how to safely do away with the grey water. Are you going to be sinking a water well or is there one on site?

For a permanent living space, I for one feel you should consult a CE who specializes in septic systems and have it installed according to the local building codes with the proper sizing. I don't feel it is mandatory to get permits and all that but, in as much as there are quite a few unintended consequences to dumping of raw sewage(including grey water) for up to two years is inviting trouble.

Soooo....
Florida is very unique in its soil conditions. We work all over the state from top to bottom and almost always deal with excavations. In one place, you could dig to China with never a hint of groundwater. At other places, the water is right below the surface. You might hit pure gold colored sand or limerock, and even clay. Sometimes you get nasty black muck. To categorize FL as having a single soil classification is way off.

But IMHO, this is what I'd do.
1000 acres = freedom
This is most likely AG land, in which case the State of FL is extremely lax in regards to these types of items. In other words, one could come up with almost any plausible excuse and/or justification for your actions (to some extent).

So get the biggest drum, tote, barrel, or whatever you can find and bury it a few inches below the surface. Make on inlet and one outlet pipe (opposite sides, of course). The outlet pipe must be lower than the inlet. You must put a weir in front of the outlet pipe (just bend some sheet metal or tin). The top of weir needs to be higher than the top of the inlet pipe. The bottom of the weir needs to be a few inches from the bottom of the tank. This will make sure that only liquids travel to the outlet pipe. Then go to Lowes or HD and buy about 2-3 sections of french drain pipe with the peanuts already wrapped around it. Connect that to the outlet pipe with a slight downhill slope. Skip the domes previously referenced, because they're not working out as well as people would have hoped in FL due to the organic growth of the soil ultimately clogging the entrance. Besides, most localities are now prohibiting the sell of the domes to anyone that doesn't have a plumbing or utility contractor license. The french drain is cheaper anyway.

Dump the gray water in there too, but dump the black tank first. Then only allow a slow dump of the gray water into the tank, so you don't overload the drain field. And it will never hurt to add some water to it.

This will serve you fine in a RV for a few years (probably more).

I'm not saying good or bad here but if you choose to do any of that I would set my RV slightly over top of it and disconnect the dump hose and cover the opening in the ground after dumping tanks so prying eyes wouldn't see what your doing. I'd recommend dumping tanks at nite also!

[malexander]

I haven't read all the posts, but, the system the OP is considering is the same thing the oil drillers used in Oklahoma up till just a few years ago.

When the rat rig came out to drill the "down hole", "rat hole", & the "mouse hole", they went over to the edge of the location and drilled a "potty hole" for the tool pusher's office trailer.

[qtla9111]

Quite a bit of anal retention on this thread. Now, would that be considered an oxymoron?