Portable gray water tank |
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ericweiss46
Newbie Joined: 31 May 2016 Online Status: Offline Posts: 1 |
Topic: Portable gray water tank Posted: 09 Sep 2016 at 6:15pm |
Long term camping creates the need for a portable gray water tank if there is no sewer hook-up. We have a 179 so have 30 gallon tanks. Does anyone have experience with these? Is there a reason to buy a Thetford over a Barker? Is it better to have a matching size tank or better to move less liquid more often? Where do you store the tank while traveling (kind of don't want it in the car or in the camper) I was thinking of modifying the bike carrier to also hold the tank...Any ideas appreciated!
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1tulip
Groupie Joined: 21 Feb 2015 Location: United States Online Status: Offline Posts: 44 |
Posted: 09 Sep 2016 at 6:19pm |
They made a gray and black water tank of equal size and yet the gray water fills much faster. I have managed to contain much of the water that would go down the sink or shower and dumped it down the toilet. This method has been fine for up to 6 days which is the longest I've been out.
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JHoffman
Groupie Joined: 06 Mar 2016 Location: Westfield, MA Online Status: Offline Posts: 82 |
Posted: 09 Sep 2016 at 7:52pm |
We do the same as 1tulip. We wash our dishes outside and dump the dishwater down the toilet. We also don't shower in our pod so our gray tank is plenty big enough.
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2016 176t Rpod the "Hoffpod"
2010 Toyota Tundra 5.7L |
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techntrek
Admin Group - pHp Joined: 29 Jul 2009 Location: MD Online Status: Offline Posts: 9062 |
Posted: 10 Sep 2016 at 4:02pm |
There are methods of transferring gray water to the black tank. Might be easier than manually gathering the gray water and dumping it in the toilet.
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Doug ~ '10 171 (2009-2015) ~ 2008 Salem ~ Pod instruction manual
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Tars Tarkas
Senior Member Joined: 14 Jan 2013 Location: Near Nashville Online Status: Offline Posts: 1447 |
Posted: 12 Sep 2016 at 10:01pm |
I have a big portable tank; 30 or 35 gallons. I carry it on my roof rack when empty, to and from the campground. It's a bit of a trick getting it up there and holding down at 70 mph, but not too bad. I don't haul it around unless I plan on being set up in one place for at least most of a week. In those cases it save more trouble than I think it would be to take down the r-dome and break camp just to dump the tanks. Parenthetically, if I need to dump anything close to 30 gallons of gray + black water it means my fresh water tank is very close to needing refilling. If you don't have sewer hook ups there's a very good chance you don't have water either, so that's another issue to consider.
To sum up, the cost/benefit ratio only comes close to making sense if you camp for 5 or 6 or more days in one spot without hookups. For my long trips that are 2 or more days on the road, so far I've been lucky that my extended-stay destinations have hookup. I've been on long trips with stays of one or two or maybe three nights. For those, I'll make sure that one stop every few days has hookups or a dump station. TT |
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2010 176
FJ Cruiser |
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fwunder
Senior Member Joined: 04 Oct 2013 Location: New Jersey Online Status: Offline Posts: 1676 |
Posted: 12 Sep 2016 at 10:55pm |
Gosh, I guess I just keep it simple.
I have a five gallon bucket with a lid. Inside it I stow a 2.5 gallon pale. I put a Valterra 3/4' Cap on by grey tank discharge. Every two or three days, I tote (carry) grey water to wherever campsite designates is appropriate. Six trips to empty tank. Really not a big deal. I just did it in Acadia (they had a grey water - dishwater - dump within 100 ft. of my campsite). If I don't want to carry, I'll just put it in the back of my TV and drive to dump/dishwater drain. I think I emptied twice during the week in Acadia and then when we left. I use a 12v. external pump (300watt/260gph water transfer pump) and two 7 Gallon Aqua-Tainer Jugs for toting fresh water. Those I just leave in the back of my TV and pump into FW tank. Two trips fills tank. Takes me about 45-60 minutes to completely empty grey and fill FW without breaking camp. I don't like breaking camp when dome, chairs and beer cooler are all positioned perfectly! fred |
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2014 RPod 178 => MyMods and Buying Habits
2008 4Runner Limited 4.0-liter V6 Yes, those are wild ponies dining on grass while dumping tanks! |
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CharlieM
Senior Member Joined: 23 Nov 2012 Location: N. Colorado Online Status: Offline Posts: 1797 |
Posted: 13 Sep 2016 at 9:22am |
Fred, did you really mean 300watt? 25Amps @ 12V? That ought to pump 260 gallons per minute! |
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Charlie
Northern Colorado OLD: 2013 RP-172, 2010 Honda Pilot 3.5L 4WD PRESENT: 2014 Camplite 21RBS, 2013 Supercharged Tacoma 4L V6 4WD |
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fwunder
Senior Member Joined: 04 Oct 2013 Location: New Jersey Online Status: Offline Posts: 1676 |
Posted: 13 Sep 2016 at 9:58am |
I did Charlie. Takes less than a minute to pump 7 gallons into tank. I carry two jugs. I use a six foot 10 AWG extension (Anderson PowerPoles) to battery - 40 amp Bussmann Breaker attached to battery. I have another short extension that allows me to leave water jugs in TV and pump right from there although that may be pushing it for current.
I glued the Bussman Breaker to Battery with 3M 5200. |
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2014 RPod 178 => MyMods and Buying Habits
2008 4Runner Limited 4.0-liter V6 Yes, those are wild ponies dining on grass while dumping tanks! |
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CharlieM
Senior Member Joined: 23 Nov 2012 Location: N. Colorado Online Status: Offline Posts: 1797 |
Posted: 13 Sep 2016 at 11:52am |
Looks like a real fire hose or a heck of an outside shower .
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Charlie
Northern Colorado OLD: 2013 RP-172, 2010 Honda Pilot 3.5L 4WD PRESENT: 2014 Camplite 21RBS, 2013 Supercharged Tacoma 4L V6 4WD |
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fwunder
Senior Member Joined: 04 Oct 2013 Location: New Jersey Online Status: Offline Posts: 1676 |
Posted: 13 Sep 2016 at 12:33pm |
My 40 ft. class A campground neighbors just couldn't figure why their 100 gal FW tank emptied so fast!
fred
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2014 RPod 178 => MyMods and Buying Habits
2008 4Runner Limited 4.0-liter V6 Yes, those are wild ponies dining on grass while dumping tanks! |
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