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furpod View Drop Down
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Posts: 6128 		Direct Link To This Post Topic: A Delicate and Maybe Stinky Topic
    Posted: 19 Mar 2018 at 11:09am
Originally posted by TheBum

I know some people who dump their dishwater down the toilet to delay the gray water tank filling up...and they still have plenty of capacity for excretions.


We have done this when trying to eek out a solid 7 days off grid. Only shower water found it's way into the grey tank.. In fact we still do it this way in the new camper which has 45 gallon tanks across the board. We almost bought a different floor plan, partly based on it's 90 (ninety) gallon grey tank setup.. woot that's a lot of showering.. Tongue
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Posts: 473 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: 19 Mar 2018 at 11:16am
Originally posted by lostagain

When I was young and went camping in the Sierra Nevada mountains,  you could drink from pretty much any stream or lake.

Giardia from beavers wasn't around whjen you were young? Obviously, wild animals also carry a long list of scary organisms.

"The solution to pollution is dilution"

If I am camping away from other people, am away from the edge of a stream or lake, and bury my waste, NO problems will arise before the waste degrades into harmless humus. Granted, in the arid west, the process will be slower, and the density of other campers is quite important, we're talking about real boondocking here. 
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Posts: 2595 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: 19 Mar 2018 at 11:42am
The problem with burying your waste these days is we don't really know what the levels of concentration of pathogens is in any given area and whether we are creating a problem in contributing to that concentration.  Clearly, when we are out in the middle of the Amazon basin, where there is one person per square Km, in a highly digestive landscape, dropping a load probably isn't going to be an issue.  But we don't have too many areas like that in North America.  

There are people who study pathogen concentrations in the places we go camping and my preference is to follow their advice.  These are good hard working folks who are trying to protect us and our environment and I appreciate and respect their work.  If they say "pack it out" then I will do it.

As for pathogens, yes, concentration is an important factor in getting an infection.  For most people with healthy immune systems, we can defend ourselves against limited contact with most pathogens.  Indeed, it may well have a beneficial effect to have that contact, kind of like doing push-ups for the immune defenses.  On the other hand, consuming pathogens, whether from beaver poop or from the guy trekking along the Appalachian trail, in sufficient concentrations may make you wish you hadn't.  The problem is, unless we've done an assay on pathogenic concentration, we don't know if there is sufficient dilution.  

So moral of the story, don't mess with mice in the forest because they can carry fleas that have bacterium Yersinia pestis.
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Posts: 17 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: 19 Mar 2018 at 1:19pm
Hi lostagain,
To answer your question about the poo bags, yes we have them , and yes, they work great. I have purchased the Cleanwaste brand from REI. They aren’t cheap, but we use them sparingly. The cost is $34.00,for 12 bags. Our adult kids use them in their portable toilets, in their pop up campers, for the little ones. It’s a lot easier than running to the campground bathroom in the middle of the night, and they don’t have to mess with any chemicals. We’ve used them in the R-pod as well, especially if we’re only staying one night someplace. They are easy to use. Hope this helps.
Dpod56
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Posts: 2595 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: 19 Mar 2018 at 1:33pm
Yes, thanks, Dpod.  I have come to the conclusion that they could be especially helpful when we take our Pod out for short trips when it is winterized and are not using the plumbing system.  The cost is considerable so I'd think it would be something that would only be used very sparingly.  

Otherwise, I might try to convince my wife that it's really fun to drain the waste water tanks while I wait in the truck.  [Joke disclaimer:  This is only a joke.  I would not really do such a mean thing to my lovely wife.  If I tried, I'd be sleeping in our Pod with no heat {another joke}.  One does not mess with Colombianas {not a joke}.]
Never leave footprints behind.
Fred & Maria Kearney
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Posts: 6128 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: 19 Mar 2018 at 1:40pm
Don't fear the dump station. Everyone poops, and everyone goes to the dump station for the first time.
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Posts: 2595 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: 19 Mar 2018 at 1:59pm
Oh, Fur, I have been to many dump stations.  What I really don't like is when the big drain hose slips out.  I bought a nice new ell fitting and other stuff to make it easier, but is still is a bi*ch when you're washing stuff off with the hose and splash yourself in the face.  😎
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Fred & Maria Kearney
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Posts: 6326 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: 19 Mar 2018 at 2:12pm
Originally posted by TheBum

I know some people who dump their dishwater down the toilet to delay the gray water tank filling up...and they still have plenty of capacity for excretions.

I'd bet that "R-Pod knockoff" has a tiny holding tank. I was camped next to a friend with a Jayco not much bigger than our 179. Over the course of a week, he had to empty his black tank into a portable dump tank and take it over to the dump station because the black tank was so small. I looked at several small campers before deciding on the R-Pod, and one of the main factors in choosing the R-Pod was the ample holding tanks.

Good point! Thanks.
StephenH
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Posts: 6128 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: 19 Mar 2018 at 2:27pm
Originally posted by lostagain

Oh, Fur, I have been to many dump stations.  What I really don't like is when the big drain hose slips out.  I bought a nice new ell fitting and other stuff to make it easier, but is still is a bi*ch when you're washing stuff off with the hose and splash yourself in the face.  😎


I am happy.. in fact, damn happy, to say that in 12 years of TTing, a hundred plus trips to a dump station, and/or dumping at home.. I have, as of yet, not worn any. I would have to turn around, go back to the CG and shower. twice. maybe thrice. Wink
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Posts: 2595 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: 19 Mar 2018 at 2:49pm
At the Dayton, NV state campground, we're luck to have flush toilets and a pump out station.  And we NV residents get to pay half price.  But showers, we don't have enough extra water for that sort of thing.  Once every couple weeks was all the miners ever needed when they came out of the 125º F mines.  If it's good enough for them it's good enough for all.
Never leave footprints behind.
Fred & Maria Kearney
Sonoma 167RB
Our Pod 172
2019 Ford F-150 4x4 2.7 EcoBoost
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