Self Contained/ Leave No Trace

brickies · Guru

RE: Self Contained/ Leave No Trace

aussie_paul · Guru

brickies wrote:
Phill good post ,I think the big problem has been dropping of grey water on hard standing in towns is a bigger problem , when free camping always collect my grey water but never free camp in towns , when free camping in the country collect grey water and put on trees or grass ways from where people are camping , If you don't want to collect your grey water stay in a caravan park and pay them to collect your waste. A 2 mt x90 mm fixed under your RV would hold 18 lts

IMHO that is really the problem, and understandable to me.

Aussie Paul. smile

revemike · Senior Member

I am heading to Tasmania in mid Jan. We will be staying mostly in 'free' camps. (Waterhouse, Franklin, Gordon to name a few of the places we are planning to visit) We have a grey water tank - something I am so glad I have fitted to me Retreat this year. My question is for all those who have experienced 'freedom' caravanning in Tasmania - Are suitable places provided where this grey water can be offloaded? Can the grey water be emptied into Dump Points?

ShirleyP · Member

Good post, I agree if you are not self contained in a self contained camp then move on to somewhere else.

PeterD · Guru

revemike wrote:
Are suitable places provided where this grey water can be offloaded? Can the grey water be emptied into Dump Points?

There are two styles of dump point. There is one designed just to tyake potties, these may not be appropriate or even accessible. The other is designed to be accessible to motorhomes and vans, it is OK to use these for grey water. (Applies to all states.)

revemike · Senior Member

PeterD wrote:
revemike wrote:
Are suitable places provided where this grey water can be offloaded? Can the grey water be emptied into Dump Points?
There are two styles of dump point. There is one designed just to tyake potties, these may not be appropriate or even accessible. The other is designed to be accessible to motorhomes and vans, it is OK to use these for grey water. (Applies to all states.)

Thanks for the info. I take it they have signs specifying their use?

brickies · Guru

Can show the 2 different type of dump points has I am not up to date with that .I have only seen the one with the blue lids , Has the grey water one have a different colour lid

brickies · Guru

Hi I just answer my question , I did a Google search for grey and black dump points and found they the same thing dump point with blue lid , Peter D I have not seen the other one you mention where do they have them .

Santa · Guru

brickies wrote:
Hi I just answer my question , I did a Google search for grey and black dump points and found they the same thing dump point with blue lid , Peter D I have not seen the other one you mention where do they have them .

Other than a few user installed variations the type with blue lids are the only dump points we have come across, certainly nothing to differentiate between grey and black water disposal.

Yes, we have traveled to all states other than Tasmania. smile

PeterD · Guru

brickies wrote:
Can show the 2 different type of dump points has I am not up to date with that .I have only seen the one with the blue lids , Has the grey water one have a different colour lid

The dump points with vehicle access do not necessarily have blue lids. There are some that predate the CMCA style, for example the one south of Gympie at Six Mile Creek is a concrete affair with a flat steed lid. There are still a few around that you need to identify as not being the blue ones.

The other style are found in places like the side or rear of amenities blocks that are not accessible to vehicles. I have encountered some inside buildings and are in the form of a flush dunny pedestal or a cleaners sink, these are only suitable for potties or p155 buckets.

Have a look in the back of your Camps Australia Wide book. There is a listing of public dump points. They have 4 symbols on each site, cassette toilet use, holding tank use, access suitable for large rigs an fees applicable. That last one is probably a new one to you, some parks charge for those who are not camping with them.

brickies · Guru

Peter I have come across one like that but have not seen a dump point just for grey water grey water

PeterD · Guru

brickies, The only grey water dump points I know of are the sullage points in caravan parks. As I said before, just dump it sown the general dump points. Alternatively you can dump grey water out in the scrub where it will not effect others and more than a few hundred metres from water courses.

Ozzie_Traveller · Senior Member

G'day all

Grey water can be dumped into any sewered location ~ after all, it's only your shower water + kitchen sink stuff, just the same as at home

The blue-lidded dump points are the Dump-Ezy design, installed by all of local councils, caravan parks & others with / without financial assistance from CMCA

Speaking personally - as someone on the wallaby for 8-9 months each year ...
I use [what little] common sense that I was blessed with when it comes to disposal of grey water

1) quite often when dumping the toilet cassette, I will often drain grey water into a bucket and use 2 or 3 or 4 buckets to swill out the dump point, particularly if the last dumper has left a smelly mess in the pan
2) if the location is in drought, I am happy to off-load the water onto local bushes & trees, so long as they are well away from feet-traffic areas in the camp sites
3) I try not to retain grey water for more than 24 hours, tho sometimes it's not possible to dump within that time if I am in the city areas

the 'logic' I use for NOT disposing is -
NO dumping

-- within 30metres of any watercourse
-- inside a free-camp or caravan park [in the grass]
-- within the town limits, where people walking dogs will have the dogs attracted to any smells

there may be other 'self-rules' but I can't think of 'em at the moment :(

Phil

-- Edited by Ozzie_Traveller on Wednesday 25th of November 2015 09:13:06 PM

revemike · Senior Member

Thanks for your very useful response Phil.

Chris61 · Senior Member

revemike wrote:
I am heading to Tasmania in mid Jan. We will be staying mostly in 'free' camps. (Waterhouse, Franklin, Gordon to name a few of the places we are planning to visit) We have a grey water tank - something I am so glad I have fitted to me Retreat this year. My question is for all those who have experienced 'freedom' caravanning in Tasmania - Are suitable places provided where this grey water can be offloaded? Can the grey water be emptied into Dump Points?

Hi Mike lots of dump points around Tasmania, some of the more remote free camps are not fully self contained. I hope you have Wikicamps, if you have you will need no other sources of information for camping or dumppoints. Go straight to Latrobe and check out their facilities. It was $10 a night but there are reports about that they are not collecting it at the moment. A lot of self contained sites in Tassie are not policed at the moment which is a shame.

revemike · Senior Member

Chris61 wrote:
revemike wrote:
I am heading to Tasmania in mid Jan. We will be staying mostly in 'free' camps. (Waterhouse, Franklin, Gordon to name a few of the places we are planning to visit) We have a grey water tank - something I am so glad I have fitted to me Retreat this year. My question is for all those who have experienced 'freedom' caravanning in Tasmania - Are suitable places provided where this grey water can be offloaded? Can the grey water be emptied into Dump Points?

Hi Mike lots of dump points around Tasmania, some of the more remote free camps are not fully self contained. I hope you have Wikicamps, if you have you will need no other sources of information for camping or dumppoints. Go straight to Latrobe and check out their facilities. It was $10 a night but there are reports about that they are not collecting it at the moment. A lot of self contained sites in Tassie are not policed at the moment which is a shame.

Thanks. Yes I do have wikicamps... a great resource. I also have a friend in Tas who we will be travelling with. He is suggesting a few locations including Waterhouse, Stumpy's, Scamander Reserve, Franklin and Gordon. We only have a month to travel (sadly... but medical appoints for my wife restrict our time away). We both grew up in Tasmania but have never really had a 'holiday' there so we are looking forward to this trip.

I had the grey water tank fitted a couple of months ago and I am still learning about where to dump the collected water. This forum thread has been very helpful.

Casualkev · Senior Member

Some interesting reading regarding greywater/laundry detergents.

www.lanfaxlabs.com.au/greywater.htm

Kev

PeterD · Guru

Yes Kev, there is some good reading in that paper. Lanfax Labs is a switched on organisation. They have done some serious laboratory testing to back up their research for various government, rural and industrial organisations. The principal of the company gave a good lecture to the NSW state caravan rally earlier this year, one of his revealing statements is that he has established that grey water stored for more than 24 hours does not turn into black water.