Waste disposal for stationary seasonal location

[murphy16]

Hello,
We are new to this site and finding it very informative. Presently contemplating purchasing a travel trailer that will most likely spend most of the time stationary in a forested area next to a nearby body of water. There will be no power or water hookkups although we do have a generator for electricity. Also, we have never owned a travel trailer and both in our 70's. So, the question is; what is the best way to handle the sewage problem? We pretty much have the water and electric problem down but would appreciate any suggestions as to the best way to handle the waste. First thoughts were possibly renting a porta potti?, outhouse (probably not allowed), large tank that can e pumped out (not sure how). We're trying to avoid moving the trailer due to difficult entrance road, curves, hills and unpaved. Would appreciate any ideas. Thanks

[murphy16]

Yes, we are the owners of the acreage and also there are no other campers. With the ideas of all who were kind enough to help I think we will come up with something. Now, finding the right trailer is pretty confusing. Granted you can find the floorplans one likes but trying to figure out what brands are better is another matter. Love the Airstreams but would have to sell to many acres for that one.
Thanks again

[BulldawgFan]

Reach out to the local Porta Jon / Porta Potty company. They will have "grey water" tanks and may have some converted or willing to convert to black water as well.

The folks that immediately go to "call the county govt" kill me. If you have access to this type tank there is absolutely no need to get the local officials involved. And no, they most likely will NOT have the answer, and when they don't, the answer will almost certainly be NO.

Not being cynical, I have spent a large part of my career working in municipal govt, currently work in a position where I work very closely with the community development office. They do not have all the answers.

My favorite local story is a local building inspector who would not sign off on a plumbing job. When the plumber quizzed him he said "because this job isn't done by the book" (the Georgia book of building code). The plumber asked: Do you have the book with you? The inspector pulled it from his trunk. Plumber asked him to show him where in the book it showed his job was incorrect. Inspector said it was his interpretation of the code.

The plumber then asked the inspector to flip to the front page of the plumbing code, and asked him to read who authored it. The author's name matched the name on the plumber's business card.

The plumber wrote the code. Again, don't leave your decision to the interpret of an inspector or code official when there is no need to bring them in the picture.

[rrupert]

If you are on private property there may a bit more latitude in doing that. We camp on 100 acres that we own. We have buried 30 gallon plastic drums with holes drilled in them and drain into them. The drums are surrounded by rock which allows for a good absorption area, this is likened to what is called a cesspool. The soil is sandy clay with small rocks so drainage is quite good. If you're more ambitious you can do the same with 55 gallon drums. We inserted PVC fittings to allow for the stinky slinky hookup. We use tank treatment in our holding tanks so the discharge has already been broken down to a degree. We do not have any close-by sources of ground water supply to infiltrate.

[murphy16]

steve-n-vicki wrote:
macerator pump and a hose ran into the woods? , don't get caught as imagine they frown on it , the storage tank sounds the best

A hose ran into the woods? Reminds me of farming days with a manure spreader:)

[2012Coleman]

Are there other campers nearby? Find out what they do.

[steve-n-vicki]

macerator pump and a hose ran into the woods? , don't get caught as imagine they frown on it , the storage tank sounds the best

[murphy16]

Many thanks to all who answered. I'm going to have to talk to a few people about getting a tank and finding someone willing to pump it out. We have a ways to go since we haven't purchased the trailer yet so that may be another few dumb questions although some time spent on the forum may clear some things up re the trailer.
Thanks again!

[murphy16]

Bumpyroad wrote:
is there a honey wagon available?
bumpy

I imagine there is, not close by but at the nearest town.

[srt20]

donn0128 wrote:
We have camp hosted at a day use park that is in a flood plane, so no underground dump tank. To cure the problem the park ranger drops a 250 gallon plastic tank in a shallow hole. We setup and dump all wastes into that tank. A sewage pumping company comes once a week to pump it out for us. No muss, no fuss. No reason you could not do the same thing.

This is basically what we have. Ours is a 300 gallon tank, set a little into the ground. The campground we stay at has a honey wagon that he pulls behind a atv and he had a small genny on the trailer to run the pump. He pumps us out when we tell him we are full. We all use PVC pipe from the trailer to the tank. With a short piece of stinky slinky off of the trailer to the PVC.

Works very well. The campground is 24 sites over 20-30 very wooded acres. It would have cost him a fortune to run actual sewer to each site. He usually has a waiting list to get into the campground for seasonal. We are all like an "up north family".

Its actually very nice, many people here have dogs, and kids. Dogs are never leashed. And the kids roam on any inch of the property they want. But the owner told us this before we got the site. His words were, the entire property is for everybody that has a site.
Sorry I got off topic.

[mike-s]

Check with the local permitting authorities (building inspector?). They can tell you what can be done without getting into trouble. I suspect a holding tank is going to be the low cost solution.

[Bumpyroad]

is there a honey wagon available?
bumpy

[murphy16]

donn0128 wrote:
We have camp hosted at a day use park that is in a flood plane, so no underground dump tank. To cure the problem the park ranger drops a 250 gallon plastic tank in a shallow hole. We setup and dump all wastes into that tank. A sewage pumping company comes once a week to pump it out for us. No muss, no fuss. No reason you could not do the same thing.

Thanks, sounds easy enough. We'll look into what plastic tanks are available with the right size opening etc. and try to locate someone in the area that has a septic service willing to empty the tank.

[phillyg]

I'd suspect a storage tank that can be pumped out might be okay, but google the county to determine their requirements.

[donn0128]

We have camp hosted at a day use park that is in a flood plane, so no underground dump tank. To cure the problem the park ranger drops a 250 gallon plastic tank in a shallow hole. We setup and dump all wastes into that tank. A sewage pumping company comes once a week to pump it out for us. No muss, no fuss. No reason you could not do the same thing.