RV Camping w/o Sewer Solutions

[wrighfr58]

I have found that a number of RV campgrounds have Electric and Water but no Sewer. I understand that the solution will depend on the days camping so let's keep it to 4 day and 3 nights.

I have a 5'er so making a run to a dump station is not an option.

What are some suggestions I can get from others to address camping with no Sewer?

[kenn209]

We usually camp at state parks and ACOE campgrounds, So far the longest we went is a week with 1 trip to the dump station, but I use a blue tote to dump the gray water in, didn't fill the black tank. If it gets full we use the bathhouses.

http://www.adventurerv.net/gallon-portable-tote-waste-tank-totenstor-camper-p-1510.html Like this one.

[JRTJH]

We also use a "blue tank" to extend our days between dumps. I found the 32 gallon tank to be the least desireable (at least for us) because it is larger, harder to store and when full it weighs more than 250 lbs. That's a lot of weight to be "manhandling" in a campground on dirt/gravel surfaces. We bought the 20 gallon size, it fits the back of the truck better (at least I think it does) and when full it's about 100 lbs lighter (160 lbs) than the larger size.

Either tank, or others in different sizes, are a good option to help extend the "days on site". But to make a no sewer hookup camp successful, you really need to use the bath house during the day and for showers and only use the RV toilet at night. We've managed to stay for 2 weeks in State Park campgrounds where electricity is the only hookup. We carry 5 gallon jugs of water to replace water in the camper as it's used, wash most dishes outside using the outside shower, bath houses for day use and to clean up after swimming, etc. Of course the blue tank gets used at least 3 or 4 times to dump the gray tank, but the black tank (38 gal) gets dumped on the way out of the campground at the end of the trip.

When dry camping, we use well water (hand pumped) for all except cooking and use the pit toilets during the day. Showers are a "nonexistant luxury" and baths in the lake are a "treat" during really hot days. You'd be suprised how a really refreshing "shower" outside with a gallon of lake water heated on the stove can be.

Of course, when one of these trips ends, we take all our waste with us to the nearest campground with full hookups, spend the night getting the trailer cleaned, showering ourselves, the dog and emptying all the tanks and flushing them. Ahhhhh civilization (running water and flush toilets) is great to return to, but the time away (no phones or pagers) is even greater. Not to mention the freezer full of fresh fish and cupboards filled with wild mushrooms, leeks, berries and other delacacies.

[smiller]

It all depends on how careful you are with water consumption. With some care (minimalist sailor showers, etc.) you can stretch a typical 60-70-ish gallon fresh water tank to last two people about a week (again with care.) Don't exercise care and it will be gone in two days, so it's a very individual thing.

If you need more time you can do as suggested above and get a towable tank to dump the gray water, and another tank to bring fresh water back to the unit. Both are available for sale at Camping World and many other RV supply stores. Black water tank capacity shouldn't be an issue as that usually takes quite a while to fill.

P.S. That's interesting advice about the 20-gallon tank blue tank vs. the 32. I plan on getting one and would have gotten the 32 but now I'm thinking twice as that would indeed be a lot of weight when full. Maybe two trips with a 20 might work out better/be easier than one trip with the 32.

[SteveC7010]

Up until now, the majority of our camping has been in NY State DEC campgrounds with no hookups. Good fresh water is available every few campsites, but no electric or sewer at all.

With our last trailer, we could get about 8 days on the 25 gallon black tank if we used it 100%. By making some trips to the CG's lavatories, it was easy to extend that to two weeks.

The CG's have real decent shower facilities so that is not an issue. But there is the everyday stuff like washing dishes, etc. so the 25 gallon gray tank fills regularly. We've got the 32 gallon gray tote, too. It was a lot easier to handle just a few years ago when full. Now that I am over 60, I've started taking it to the dump station before it fills up.

The Cougar's tanks, by comparison, seem monstrous right now. For a three or four day weekend in a no-hookup campground, we take navy showers in the trailer and do all our dishes, etc. there as well without hitting 3/4 full on any of the three holding tanks.

[campingcpl]

I've heard of a mod I was considering doing myself that can be used when camping without sewer hook-ups and city water. The way the mod works is since the grey tank fill's the fastest and usually the black tank will get to be 1/4 full after about a week stay (your amounts may very) why not use the grey water to flush the toilet. This will transfer some of the grey water to the black tank prolonging filling the grey tank not to mention if you do not have city water it will help in prolonging your fresh water in your fresh water tank.

The mod: A fitting is fit into the grey tank about 1/4 the way up the side of the tank (this will prevent any debris that has settled to the bottom of the tank from being picked up), then a line is ran to a pump and then a line from the pump to the line going into the toilet. The line going into the toilet is cut and a tee, shut off and a back flow preventer is put into that line. The shut off is placed first in the line coming from your fresh water line and then the back flow preventer and then the tee. A switch for the pump is installed in the bathroom to turn the pump on and off. When the grey tank gets above a 1/4 of a tank you will shut the valve on the line coming into the toilet and turn on the pump. It will work just like your fresh water pump and run on demand when you flush the toilet but instead of using your fresh water it will pull from your grey water. Thus transfering water from the grey tank into the black tank that does not fill nearly as quickly and saving using the water in your fresh water tank.

[wrighfr58]

Interesting...Let us know how it works!

[SteveC7010]

The way the mod works is since the grey tank fill's the fastest and usually the black tank will get to be 1/4 full after about a week stay (your amounts may very) why not use the grey water to flush the toilet. This will transfer some of the grey water to the black tank prolonging filling the grey tank not to mention if you do not have city water it will help in prolonging your fresh water in your fresh water tank.

There's a similar, but less complex mod that simply pumps gray water into the black tank with pretty much the same result. It is much simpler and does not require drilling holes in the tanks themselves. Instead, a tee is cut into the drain pipe of the gray tank. From the tee, a line is run to the new pump. The output of the pump is routed to the vent pipe above the black tank where a tee is added to the vent stack. When the gray water is pumped to the vent stack, it just falls into the tank. The pump is manually switched so it only pumps when you want to transfer gray water to the black tank. I believe that mod doesn't use a standard RV fresh water pump. Instead it uses what is commonly referred to as a "trash pump" which means it can handle the kind of debris which might be found in gray water.

I have no qualms about using gray water to flush the toilet, but I do wonder about that inch or so of water that we all tend to leave in the bottom of the RV toilet when the flush is completed plus whatever residue might be left on the wall of the bowl. Gray water can be just as stinky as black water.

One thought would be to add a fresh water rinse which could just be a kitchen sink type sprayer and hose tied to the fresh water line. If I am not mistaken, there are some RV toilets that have something similar to that anyway. Then it would be easy to do a quick rinse with a few ounces of fresh water after flushing with gray water.

[smiller]

An even easier (no mods) way to 'transfer' to gray water to the black water tank...

I find that the two biggest sources of gray water are from showers and washing dishes (the rest are pretty trivial.) When dry camping what you can do is wash dishes in a separate drainer and pour that down the toilet when done, diverting all the waste dishwater to the black tank. That alone really helps out.

[LeeMedic]

We also use a "blue tank" to extend our days between dumps. I found the 32 gallon tank to be the least desireable (at least for us) because it is larger, harder to store and when full it weighs more than 250 lbs. That's a lot of weight to be "manhandling" in a campground on dirt/gravel surfaces. We bought the 20 gallon size, it fits the back of the truck better (at least I think it does) and when full it's about 100 lbs lighter (160 lbs) than the larger size.

Either tank, or others in different sizes, are a good option to help extend the "days on site". But to make a no sewer hookup camp successful, you really need to use the bath house during the day and for showers and only use the RV toilet at night. We've managed to stay for 2 weeks in State Park campgrounds where electricity is the only hookup. We carry 5 gallon jugs of water to replace water in the camper as it's used, wash most dishes outside using the outside shower, bath houses for day use and to clean up after swimming, etc. Of course the blue tank gets used at least 3 or 4 times to dump the gray tank, but the black tank (38 gal) gets dumped on the way out of the campground at the end of the trip.

When dry camping, we use well water (hand pumped) for all except cooking and use the pit toilets during the day. Showers are a "nonexistant luxury" and baths in the lake are a "treat" during really hot days. You'd be suprised how a really refreshing "shower" outside with a gallon of lake water heated on the stove can be.

Of course, when one of these trips ends, we take all our waste with us to the nearest campground with full hookups, spend the night getting the trailer cleaned, showering ourselves, the dog and emptying all the tanks and flushing them. Ahhhhh civilization (running water and flush toilets) is great to return to, but the time away (no phones or pagers) is even greater. Not to mention the freezer full of fresh fish and cupboards filled with wild mushrooms, leeks, berries and other delacacies.

Why do you load your tote tank in the back of a truck? The handle of these tote tanks will fit on the ball of your hitch. You then just tow it to the dump station. No lifting at all.

[LeeMedic]

I use a 27 gallon tote tank and love it. We camp mostly at state parks, and most do not have full hookup. I agree with limiting the use of the black tank. I try and avoid dumping black water into my portable tote tank.

[SteveC7010]

Why do you load your tote tank in the back of a truck?

I am thinking he was more referring to the larger tote being more of a challenge to pack in the truck for the trip to and from the campgrounds... :cool3:

I have much the same challenge, especially now that there is a fifth wheel hitch taking up a lot of floor space in the bed of the truck.

Here is a link to one way to pack the tote for traveling plus a neat mod to upgrade from the cheapie plastic wheels on the totes:

http://www.rv.net/forum/index.cfm/fuseaction/thread/tid/21064960/srt/pa/pging/1/page/1

[JRTJH]

Why do you load your tote tank in the back of a truck? The handle of these tote tanks will fit on the ball of your hitch. You then just tow it to the dump station. No lifting at all.

Most of the tanks I've seen have either small "non bearing" tricycle wheels or plastic wheels. They are not good load bearing wheels, the axle is light gage steel and I am not sure that the tank would hold up over sandy, rocky and gravel roads at the campgrounds we frequent. I've camped in a campground with paved roads one weekend this year, the rest have been in unimproved campgrounds where the nearest dump station is several miles away. Dragging any "blue tank" that distance would make it a one dump tank. They just won't hold up to that kind of towing.

When we are in an "improved campground, we do use the tow feature on our tank, but even then, when you get to the dump station, jockeying the tank to the "hole" is not as easy as it used to be. We find the 20 gallon tank "stores" in the back of the truck better, takes up less space, is easier to "jockey" around the dump station, DW can handle it, my grandson can handle it. Overall, the smaller tank fits our needs better than the larger tank. Others may have a different opinion...

[kenn209]

We usually don't wait until the tote is full, about 1/2 way then I make the trip to the dump station, I pull it behind the truck very slowly, about 6-8 mph. Ours has the plastic wheels and am thinking on upgrading the wheels so I can go a faster! Ours is a 32 gal.

[jq1031]

Another way of getting rid of gray water is to visit Walmart or CW, purchase a $3 cap with a regular hose fitting on it. Attach it to your drain outlet and attach a short hose to it, pull the gray valve & let it drain. Some CG's do allow this & many others just turn there back as it's just shower water. You be the judge!

[Johnnyfry]

jRTJH really had the solution. You are not on town plumbing. Think creatively, use the pit or bathhouse toilet, shower on campground showers, minimize water use.

We never use the trailer toilet for anything other than urine or emergencies at night. Take navy showers and use the bathhouse when possible. Don't run the water when doing dishes. In the end you adapt and it is not a big problem.

Think water and waste management.


John

[LeeMedic]

Most of the tanks I've seen have either small "non bearing" tricycle wheels or plastic wheels. They are not good load bearing wheels, the axle is light gage steel and I am not sure that the tank would hold up over sandy, rocky and gravel roads at the campgrounds we frequent. I've camped in a campground with paved roads one weekend this year, the rest have been in unimproved campgrounds where the nearest dump station is several miles away. Dragging any "blue tank" that distance would make it a one dump tank. They just won't hold up to that kind of towing.

When we are in an "improved campground, we do use the tow feature on our tank, but even then, when you get to the dump station, jockeying the tank to the "hole" is not as easy as it used to be. We find the 20 gallon tank "stores" in the back of the truck better, takes up less space, is easier to "jockey" around the dump station, DW can handle it, my grandson can handle it. Overall, the smaller tank fits our needs better than the larger tank. Others may have a different opinion...

Totally understand.

[witekjm]

Fred, we have a "Big Blue" we used once at Hershey Park. Managed to hook it up to the Chevy to make two dump runs.

Recommend buying a "big blue" rather than transferring. Seal it up after dumping and rinse it off.

At home, you can hook up a sewer hose to the curbside sewer drain and clean the inside.:)

[camper 2010]

I think he way saying that it fits in the truck better when he is traveling...

[michol02]

I made a dump tank out of a plastic 55gal drum and mounted it to a $30 dolly. I found an attachment for the handle to fit to the T. V. Hitch. Pulls very well. I got the drum free, so all I have in it is about $47 for the dolly and fittings. Takes up room in the truck bed when traveling. I can hold 2 black tank dumps in it(if black tank isn't completely full). I also have a mancerator pump and 200' of 3/4" hose. In 2 of the campgrounds we frequent, I am close enough to pump everything directly to the dump station, but far enough away to not smell it:dizzy:

[azlee56]

The BF and I will go once a year to NASCAR for a 10 day run. Water is an absolute watch. I am not one when I go potty to have to run tons of water, it is liquid any way. I am aware though that it has to have some real water in there or yuck. We can make it 10 days in the black tank. Actually in all the tanks, but with dishes I do them every 2 or 3 days, with very minimum of water. A quick wash off for a shower, but there they also have showers you can do if you want more then a sponge bath. :-)

Since in my every day life my showers are about 5-7 minutes, it is an easy task.