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

[mowermech]

Y'know, the bottom line is really quite simple.
As always, no matter if it is a sewage system or a LLC:
KNOW the applicable laws and regulations.
COMPLY with said laws and regulations.
DOCUMENT your compliance with said laws and regulations.

Know, Comply, and document; you will probably not spend any time in jail, probably not be assessed any huge fines, and should not have anything to worry about.

[JaxDad]

Grit dog wrote:
So is rockhillmanor saying that you can't have a septic in Florida and that the whole state is on city sewer?

There is a BIG difference between a a septic system (which is a treatment facility, it does NOT just dump raw sewage into the environment) and a hole in the ground.

The bacteria in the tank actually digests the matter flowing into it, what runs out into the leach field, while hardly pure is TREATED waste that is easily digested by the plant matter growing above.

That is why there is such strict rules on what constitutes a septic system and how it is built and where.

[drsteve]

sgip2000 wrote:
Where do you all think the discharge from a sewage treatment plant goes? Check out the "Dirty Jobs" sewage treatment plant episode.

The key word is "treatment".

[sgip2000]

Where do you all think the discharge from a sewage treatment plant goes? Check out the "Dirty Jobs" sewage treatment plant episode.

[phillyg]

WTP-GC wrote:

rockhillmanor wrote:
Florida is all sand and has an aquifer......

This is a completely FALSE and MISLEADING statement...... Florida IS NOT all sand, and in fact that probably only characterizes a small portion of the state geology......

All this back and forth over 11 pages pointing out who's right and wrong based on opinions, some of which clearly promote breaking the law because "it's just a little poop," or words to that effect, is very disappointing. It's not okay to dump **** anywhere.


I more or less provided the correct answer back on page 5 when I cited Polk County (the OP didn't say which county but I suspect any FL county has similar requirements), where I posted, "I just randomly picked Polk which is heavily rural. Even there, their sewage regs state, 'Cesspools, seepage pits, dry wells and leaching pits shall not be installed.' I think that pretty much eliminates your proposal." There is no discussion therein about different application of the regs if it's 1 or 1,000 acres.

Seriously folks, I think you need to reevaluate your thinking if you believe it's okay to **** on the regs and be so inconsiderate of your fellow man. Just a reminder: one big difference between first and third world countries is its ability to provide good sanitation and control disease. Perhaps you scofflaws should live in India where you can drop trou' in the street with impunity.

[WTP-GC]

rockhillmanor wrote:


Florida is all sand and has an aquifer. Your unfiltered raw sewage is going directly into the Florida aquifer.

This is a completely FALSE and MISLEADING statement. The top of the Floridan aquifer ranges from about 50-75 feet below ground to more than 800 feet below ground (depending on the part of the state you're in). Florida IS NOT all sand, and in fact that probably only characterizes a small portion of the state geology.

[Grit_dog]

So is rockhillmanor saying that you can't have a septic in Florida and that the whole state is on city sewer?

If you're worried about drinking your neighbors p!ss, then stop drinking out of a sand point well and get a little deeper.

[mike-s]

10 pages? What's up with that? This is exactly the opposite of rocket science.

Hold and dump, or dig a hole a couple feet deep and big enough to contain, then dump and cover. Natural and organic. Just not on the surface or near open water.

It's not a problem, except for the same people who are against hunting but are oblivious to the fact that McDonalds burgers are made from dead cows.

[DynoDragn]

NWKomfort350 wrote:

Grit dog wrote:
City folk vs country folk......love it!

Some of y'all need to get out of the city more.....

Question to the nay Sayers, what do you do when you have to take a leak or drop a deuce in the woods? Hold it til you run back to "civilization"? Bag it and throw it in your pack with lunch and the compass?
Here's a nice little fact to gross out the city slickers. The entire Victoria BC area dumps ALL their raw sewage into the water. Have been forever! We just got the contract to build the first sewer treatment plant there, lol.
(Better stop eating that wild caught salmon and halibut from the strait of Juan de fuca. Them fish get fat on recycled poutine and Kokanee!)

I just caught a halibut out on Middle Bank on May 4th. It was delicious!!!

Some of that special corn fed Halibut, lol.

[fj12ryder]

As long as all the users whose poop is being distributed are healthy, not much of an issue. But put a few individuals in the mix who are suffering from some bacterial infections, and all bets are off.

"Human excreta and the lack of adequate personal and domestic hygiene have been implicated in the transmission of many infectious diseases including cholera, typhoid, hepatitis, polio, cryptosporidiosis, ascariasis, and schistosomiasis."

There's a good reason that most of those diseases are almost unheard of in this country: Good sanitation. Just my thought about dumping your untreated output.

[rockhillmanor]

Eddiegnz1 wrote:
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

Don't care how many acres he has it's WRONG and against the law.
The amount of acres has nothing to do with doing the right thing. 😞

Florida is all sand and has an aquifer. Your unfiltered raw sewage is going directly into the Florida aquifer.

In the Midwest (where it is STILL ILLEGAL) the ground is different clay, dirt, granite, sand, gravel, etc will filter some waste before it can get into a possible nearby vein of water. FLORIDA GROUND DOES NOT WORK THIS WAY. Dumping raw sewage into the ground anywhere is Illegal.

If you are going to snowbird and/or live par time in Florida, try being responsible about our water instead of asking how to spoil it. 😞

[ppine]

the answer is a dump station.

[2oldman]

WTP-GC wrote:
So before anyone gets all worked up about an RV'er dumping his poop on the ground or in a hole...oh wait...too late...

You should see what 'they' say about gray water.

[WTP-GC]

I just keep getting consumed by the vast foolishness and ignorance of some of the people commenting on this thread. (note that ignorance isn't necessarily a bad thing...and its much different than stupidity)

I work in the environmental industry and see exactly what happens first hand. You know, there are many places that legally dispose of their sludge through land application techniques. Yes, sludge is a general term, but just imagine a great big basin full of feces and water (most of the trash has been filtered out). Land application is also a general term, but just imagine a truck driving out into a field and dumping the sludge on top of the ground. Yes, this happens...and yes, its very legal (when permitted). Happens all the time here in FL. I often wonder how the neighbors feel about their local sewage plant dumping sludge on the ground in their theoretical watershed. Sometimes, there are local farmers who get paid to allow the treatment plant to dump on their property because, well, that's some good fertilizer.

So before anyone gets all worked up about an RV'er dumping his poop on the ground or in a hole...oh wait...too late...