Why not forget holding tanks and just use portable tanks?

[nicpaige]

I have an all aluminum trailer that I am turning into a toy hauler. The floor framing is 12" on center and I beam construction. This only leaves 8-9" width to fit the tanks in between the rails. For any kind of volume the tank would have to be quite tall. I do not want my storage tanks 7" from the road for obvious reasons. So......
Is it just craziness to think about running the drains to the waste valves and straight into those portable tanks you can roll to the dump station? I realize I would need one for grey and one for the black tank.
What am I missing in this process? Or is it feasible and been done before?

Thanks,
Rick

[Gdetrailer]

How about a real idea?

If you have enough height inside your trailer perhaps consider building a subfloor on top of the existing floor. Sort of like 5th wheel trailers have a "basement" which is where their tanks are put.

Typically most RV tanks are 7 inches or a bit less tall so you could easily make a new floor around 7" higher for the bathroom only or the entire living space. This would also give you a chase for other plumbing and electrical items.

Setup your layout correctly and you could make the tanks go under kitchen or even beds so your raised floor may not need to be the entire living space.

[BillyBob_Jim]

Its hard to comprehend why companies like Barker and Thetford, who manufacture and market tote tanks that are such a PITA to use and are illegal in so many campgrounds, continue to do so.

[wildtoad]

If you straight piped the toilet to the portable tank, and used a std home style toilet then I’d might work for the black tank. Not sure what you gain.

[myredracer]

2manytoyz wrote:


When I had a pop-up camper, here's what we were dealing with at St. Andrews SP in FL. Look at the lower right of the bulletin board on the bath house.

I tried a bit of googling on the statute numbers on the sign. I didn't see anything specifically banning tote tanks. Maybe it's cross-referenced in their statutes. Would be interesting to see the exact wording, if any. Or is it just the particular CG that just doesn't want people dragging smelly noisy totes around?

What if your tote tank is grey or you painted it pink?? 🙂

Have been to a couple of CGs in Oregon where they said you can't lay you sewer hose directly on the ground. Most people do it anyway. It's a nuisance to have to set up hose supports especially if you have two outlets. I never do it. I tried to find the Oregon law once and couldn't. Maybe another example of CGs referencing rules that don't exist?

[Lwiddis]

Full twenty gallon tote weighs 170-175. Wheels or not that's a load and no fun.

[jkwilson]

It might work for gray water, but solid waste out of the toilet isn’t going to easily flow down RV-sized pipes directly from the toilet. You’d need a lot of water and larger pipes or place your tank directly under the toilet.

[Mfan]

X 2 on the pop up thoughts. Then using a porta potty, you would only need to carry a small jug for sink to drain to.

[2manytoyz]

wowens79 wrote:
Most pop ups don't have holding tanks. We had one for 9 years, and used a 5 gallon aqua-tainer to catch our gray water. Never had an issue in state parks. I think you might have some issues in some of the private campgrounds. I've seen many of those that don't allow converted trailers or buses, it has to be a factory built RV.

When I had a pop-up camper, here's what we were dealing with at St. Andrews SP in FL. Look at the lower right of the bulletin board on the bath house.



But, this was the ONLY campground I've ever noticed this. We've had to use our blue tote many times at campgrounds that lacked full hookups. It's a PITA. Our tote is only 10 gallons. But that's still 83.4 pounds, plus the weight of the tote. Too heavy to pull by hand very far, too heavy to lift safely into the bed of my truck, and the wheels are sketchy behind a vehicle... but I have towed it with my truck. I just kept the speed down, and sprayed the wheels/axles with lube before rolling.

[patperry2766]

Camco

Get the largest you can handle and if you've got the room, you might consider 2 of them. Spend the $$ on this one with the bigger wheels because it makes hauling to the dump station easier. It also has an adapter that fits on the front that hooks over the ball of the trailer and you can tow it.

If you do go this route, be aware of the height of the dump valve vs the inlet height of the tote. The only drawback to this particular model is that it is tall. On my trailer, the dump valves are lower than the inlet valve so if the campsite is level, it can be hard to get poop to flow uphill sometimes.

cassette toilet

[NRALIFR]

It is possible to design your interior so that all of your tanks are above the floor. You’ll have to give up some of your storage space to do it though. I’ve had truck campers that were built just like that.

Before TC’s started being built with basements, the standard location for the fresh water tank was above the floor, just below the cabover area inside because you needed a step up there anyway. The TC in my sig has a 30 gallon tank right there.

A previous TC of mine had the black tank sitting above the floor, directly below the toilet that was sitting in the wet bath shower pan, and was about 10 gallons IIRC. There was about a 6” step up into the shower. The grey water did NOT use that tank, and it would last about a week with one person using it, 4-5 days with two people. Our current TC has an 18 gallon black tank below the floor, and it will easily last a week with two people and have room to spare.

The grey water tanks may be more of a challenge if you want a shower in your trailer as well. There has to be a minimum amount of room below the pan for the drain and p-trap plumbing. You might think about using multiple 6” PVC pipes for your grey water tanks. They COULD be below the floor, and between the rails. They would be more durable than any standard RV holding tank as well.

:):)

[JRscooby]

Most popup trailers use a cassette toilet or porta-potty as a black tank. (if only restroom wife and I have 2 full days) Also they drain the sink and shower out thru a hose connector and into a jug or tank. I use laundry soap jug for the inside sink, and a 7 gallon jug for the outside sink where I do dishes. Last for 4 days unless it is Thanksgiving weekend.

[wowens79]

Most pop ups don't have holding tanks. We had one for 9 years, and used a 5 gallon aqua-tainer to catch our gray water. Never had an issue in state parks. I think you might have some issues in some of the private campgrounds. I've seen many of those that don't allow converted trailers or buses, it has to be a factory built RV.

[BillyBob_Jim]

the bear II wrote:
That would work for most boondocking areas but most RV, National and state parks require RVs to meet RVIA standards which include holding tanks. You'll see park rules state "Must be fully self contained"

Recreation Vehicle Industry Association (RVIA)

Those blue portable tanks can be a hand full to dump depending on where you have to dump them. The smell can be deadly.

Holding tanks with a sealed sewer hose setup is the best way to go. Little or no smell or mess.

That's simply opinion. I have never seen in the published rules for any State or Federal Campground I am familiar with, which is more than a few, anything that references RVIA standards or the RVIA at all. The RVIA is a voluntary organization, there are RV manufacturers that do not even belong to RVIA. Are tent campers required to be self contained also.

OP, I have used and dumped a tote tank often. It's not the nightmare folks claim on these boards. Get a 4 wheel tote with a side mounted dump valve. You would not need separate totes for black and gray to do what you describe, you'll be dumping it down the same hole. No one is going to give you any flack or toss you from a campground for having a tote tank connected 24/7.

[2oldman]

For all the reasons stated above, it would be a huge inconvenience. You'd stop taking showers and/or various other toiletries, you'd likely be seeking out public restrooms, dish washing would be restricted...

I wouldn't want to live like that.

[folivier]

Only issue I can see is when stopping for the night somewhere without hookups you would need to deploy the portable tanks then load them up again. Maybe have a small "day" tank that can handle a couple days, then when parked for longer, use the portable tanks. Maybe combine the 2 different waste sources into 1 valve?
Another option is to use a porta-potty toilet.