wasn_me wrote:

---

D and D wrote:

---

There are heaps of places that an RV can be parked that don't have any rules on the discharge of grey water and some places actually encourage campers to discharge on trees and lawns. There are some places that either tolerate the discharge or, at worst, prohibit it all together. If you don't have a grey water retention system that satisfies the regulatory authority and don't wish to fit one the simple solution is to camp elsewhere. If you do have a retention system be aware that it will become septic quite quickly and should be discharged at a proper dump point, don't take it away and dump it on the ground at another camp site that allows grey water discharge.

Dave

---

 Agree totally about grey water becoming septic (toxic) after time. If there's no valve or U bend between the sink, basin or shower & the holding tank, which there doesn't appear to be, as holding tanks are usually plumbed to existing drainage. How long before we see people becoming sick from breathing in toxins??

Drainage / plumbing regulations have been in place in household situations to stop people becoming sick. Do the same drainage / plumbing regulations apply to caravan construction?? I think not.

Cheers Pete

---

 On my last trip to China I took particular interest in the plumbing there.  (you might ask why ... After a previous trip thru Western Europe, I thought about writing a book about the strange bathroom plumbing systems that you encounter).

Well, back to my point....

I was surprised at the number of 4 star hotels that didn't have S or U bends in their plumbing from vanity basins ... at least where they could be seen.

Didn't really surprise me though, they seem very adept at the construction phase albeit without regard for OH&S stuff, but very lax with respect to ongoing maintenance.  The difference between the China mainland and Hong Kong was striking.  The Hong Kong people seemed to still retain some of the Western approaches to ongoing maintenance.  They even obey road rules there.

 

Sorry about going off topic ... not.

wasn_me wrote:

---

---

 Agree totally about grey water becoming septic (toxic) after time. If there's no valve or U bend between the sink, basin or shower & the holding tank, which there doesn't appear to be, as holding tanks are usually plumbed to existing drainage. How long before we see people becoming sick from breathing in toxins??

Drainage / plumbing regulations have been in place in household situations to stop people becoming sick. Do the same drainage / plumbing regulations apply to caravan construction?? I think not.

Cheers Pete

---

 There is a horrizontal version of a S-bend that can be fitted if you go that way; our van has one fitted as standard eq, even though we do not have a grey tank.

JC

Thanks JC & KFT. I'll look into that. I'll fit some sort of holding tank soon & some sort of valve is mandatory. Is the valve fitted just before the holding tank? I would need 2 inlets to the tank,to stop back flow from the sink to the shower floor, so 2 valves. Is my thinking correct?? Cheers Pete

Agree with everyone who says you either respect the rules re no grey water on the ground, or you don't stay there. End of argument, I agree. Too many people everywhere and to do with everything was to do their own thing and to hell with respecting others.

Grey water into sewerage is ok , But grey water is a no no into septic systems , In home situations you have a septic tank for black waste , And a sump for grey waste , Are all dump points hook into sewers

brickies wrote:

---

Grey water into sewerage is ok , But grey water is a no no into septic systems , In home situations you have a septic tank for black waste , And a sump for grey waste , Are all dump points hook into sewers

---

 Ours had the grey water feeding into a grease trap, that drained into the septic tank.

I am not saying grey water is good, bad or unimportant, but the C/Pk I live in was built in 1965. And from what I believe,  it was a slowly put together week-end project done by the then Ampol Petrol Station owner.. I could stand corrected there. I have been  a permanent  since Feb 1999 and seen quite a bit of different activity. I know for a fact some of the waste water drains are 2 Ft Diam X 2 foot deep. Then some of them are giant 6 Ft Diam X 6 foot deep monsters when they all seem to service only 2 and 4 bays. So many are blocked up and so many have the hose entry points smashed, blocked and disappeared all together. The place needs a rebuild really, but not likely. Therefore at a guess I would say maybe half the tenants just let their waste water run over the grass. So if new enforceable laws and rules don't come soon, it will be a Million dollars to patch up a 2 Million dollar business.

OK just jack up the nightly rate from $45 to $90.

Being permanents, we spent 5 grand for a septic tank with pump in 2000, and all our waste water ends up in the evaporation ponds 200 metres away.

At home in van,,, grey water going onto roses. BEST roses ever seen here to date.

Grey water has been used on veggies across Aust for years. I can't ever recall a problem.

brickies wrote:

---

PeterD I think adding grey water into dump point if all RV have to have Grey Water tanks could cause an over load if the dump point is only a storage tank , Also a lot of extra cost of treating Sewerage when dump point is on Sewerage , Down the track may see cost imposed on dump points

---

 That is an extremely important consideration, and I'm sure not thought of by those advocating that all grey water goes into tanks and disposed off at dump points.

Thanks for posting as its given me something else to consider in regard to grey water disposal.

someone is just going to have to come up with a super efficient filter system that allows grey water to be filtered in the van and returned to a separate tank used for flushing the toilet. Or if it could be done well enough maybe back into the fresh water tank. Lol

All the same if cleanable filter was installed in the grey water system it may make discharging  in various places more acceptable to the various authorities.

Gday...

Unfortunately, the cost of cleaning 'grey water' and returning it as 're-cycled' water is, at the moment anyway, a very expensive exercise. 

Apart from the cost, I hesitate to imagine the added weight a 're-cycled water system' would add to RVs - which are gaining increasingly in weight with each passing year. 

From my experience, and observation, the 'camps' with the requirement to be 'self-contained' are usually near or within towns and/or built-up areas. Many are on 'hard-stand' (sealed surface) and there is little, or no ability, for any water to soak away - at all, let alone quickly. Additionally, there are very few trees on such sites.

If that is so, it is obvious that discharging any liquid on the ground is imprudent, for many reasons.

In areas where there is a 'grassy' surface, the problem has arisen, I think, due to the large amount of water discharge from the large numbers of vans now equipped with all the amenities one finds in one's home. It appears that many of today's travellers with their 'fully equipped' RVs use all of their 'fully equipped' facilities - showers etc etc.

Even if this discharge were 'clean water' it creates considerable 'wet areas' that, due to the regular and ongoing use by travellers, has little chance of dissipating. This leaves an unpleasant area for those that follow - either replacement RVer's or the local populace. Add grey water to that mix and it is unpleasant, and unacceptable, for all.

It is therefore inevitable that, along the 'busy east coast' and the many towns that CMCA has convinced to be RV Friendly towns, where RVer's are being encouraged to stop and open their 'travelling wallets', the areas provided cannot cope with RVer's discharge. Consequently, and encouraged by CMCAs repesentation/marketing, towns insist on RV's being 'self-contained'. So, while banning RVs that are not 'self-contained', tents and camper trailers are also not allowed.

I am in no way denigrating CMCA and their efforts to lobby councils/towns to be RV Friendly to provide 'free rest' areas for their members, and the travelling public. However, given CMCA has been a very active promoter of 'self-contained' - Leave No Trace - it was only ever going to be that towns would see that restricting the discharge from those who use the areas they are providing is in the town's interest. A bit of a self-fulfilling prophecy really.

I travel inland, to small towns, and usually camp in camping areas away from towns - ie in areas set aside for camping. Such areas have tents and all manner of camping. These areas usually have grass and trees - and often a watercourse (creek, river, lake etc). Usually these areas have ground that is able to cope with dissipating any water. 

These areas have no restriction on the discharge of water and, as many have already stated, welcome the discharge to be put on their trees. Everything thrives - the grass, the trees, the camper and the townsfolk. 

It has been on rare occasions that I have encountered campers in these areas who discharge of their water thoughtlessly. 

Of course, none of the above addresses the 'grey water tank' debate. However, it does provide a little thought that perhaps it is where you travel, and want to sleep, that dictates the need, or otherwise, of fitting 'grey water' tanks.

Cheers - John

I think John has nailed it the problem is were free camps are close to towns and on hard standing , It all depends on what service you are using on your RV also have seen people pull up at a free camp and get the washing machine going dropping load of water on the ground . If we do an over night we use has little water has possible in some cases don't do the washing till next stop .

scottynbulldog wrote:

---

All this talk about grey water and having tanks fitted but no one has mentioned the extra weight this could cause on the van!

---

Gday...

I don't know  ... but logic says that if you have 60litres of fresh water and that becomes 60litres of grey water then there is no increase in the weight of the van. 

.... or 60 litres of fresh > 30 litres of grey leaving 30 litres of fresh etc etc.

Of course, the installation of the grey water tank would introduce some weight ... but only a few Kg ya'd reckon 

I truly doubt one would use the 60 litres of fresh, creating 60 litres of grey and then refill the fresh tank with 60 litres - therefore having grey water tank full with 60 litres AND 60 litres of fresh .... because there would be NOWHERE for the future grey water to go.  

However, permutations could go on and on perhaps. Use 20litres of fresh creating 20 litres of grey; fill fresh with 20litres - use another 20 litres of fresh creating another 20 litres of grey; totalling 40 litres of grey etc etc. Then there would be additional weight for the van. Becomes frightening don't it  and to think I retired and travel to RELIEVE the stress.

Cheers - John

-- Edited by rockylizard on Friday 16th of October 2015 01:45:45 PM

gypsynolmate wrote:

---

Absolutely agree with Peter and Margaret. I also think, when I see so called responsible people letting their animals poop all over the place, where do you live, how would you like it, if I invite the neighbor-hood dogs over for a poop on your lawn.

---

 Especially those bl@@dy cows, horses and sheep crapping all over the countryside. Someone should do something about it..