Portable waste tank

[nitrohorse]

Many years ago, I was tent camping at a PA state park. I was standing in line at the water faucet to fill a water jug and noticed the guy behind me had a waste water tote on wheels. I asked him what it was, as I was only a tent camper and had no knowledge of the totes. Long story short, he said that he used it to haul black and gray water to the dump station. He said he would then rinse it out with water and bleach, and then haul potable water back to his RV. Not to be rude, I ask him if the plastic tank didn't retain odors and taint the potable water. He said the water did have a slight smell to it, but he said they only used it for washing dishes and bathing....

[Sarge2]

[travelin texans]

Originally Posted by nitrohorse

Many years ago, I was tent camping at a PA state park. I was standing in line at the water faucet to fill a water jug and noticed the guy behind me had a waste water tote on wheels. I asked him what it was, as I was only a tent camper and had no knowledge of the totes. Long story short, he said that he used it to haul black and gray water to the dump station. He said he would then rinse it out with water and bleach, and then haul potable water back to his RV. Not to be rude, I ask him if the plastic tank didn't retain odors and taint the potable water. He said the water did have a slight smell to it, but he said they only used it for washing dishes and bathing....

There's absolutely NO POSSIBLE WAY he could rinse or sanitize a plastic tote good enough to put potable water in. That may be why he got the one on wheels, his family spends a lot of time in the bathroom from using water to wash dishes from that tote.
That has got to be one of worst stories I've ever heard about waste water & RVs!!!
ABSOLUTELY GROSS!

[dutchmensport]

I have the same Barker 32 gallon Blue Tote that I've had for the last 20 years. Replaced the wheels once and it's traveled at least a couple hundred miles behind the truck over it's life time. For me, it's priceless! I carry it in the bed of the pick-up truck. Except in the winter, that's it's permanent home.

It does have 4 wheels and pulls behind the truck. I've never had problem with it being too heavy, and I've learned (after 3 travel travel trailers and 1 fifth wheel), how often I need to dump each tank so the blue tote never overfills. At an actual campground, I overfilled it only once is 20 years of use, and was probably, 20 years ago.

Bringing the tote alone is not a hardship or a handicap, but a very necessary part of our camping equipment. Yes, it's wonderful when we get a site with full hook-ups. But that may happen only once a year (if we are lucky). We do primarily State Parks, and when traveling will stay at a KOA for an overnight. KOA's have full hook-ups, which is nice when we do, I can flush the black tank and not worry about how much water I'm using then.

I strongly advise getting the biggest one you can find, and go ahead and pay the price. I thought ours was quite costly 20 years ago, but prorate that cost over 20 years, and using it at least twice a week all Summer long, and the cost breaks down to just pennies. Think about it.

[nitrohorse]

Originally Posted by travelin texans

There's absolutely NO POSSIBLE WAY he could rinse or sanitize a plastic tote good enough to put potable water in. That may be why he got the one on wheels, his family spends a lot of time in the bathroom from using water to wash dishes from that tote.
That has got to be one of worst stories I've ever heard about waste water & RVs!!!
ABSOLUTELY GROSS!

Could you imagine him making macaroni salad for a pot luck dinner at a campground? His family must eat Imodium like M&Ms.

[flybouy]

Originally Posted by nitrohorse

Could you imagine him making macaroni salad for a pot luck dinner at a campground? His family must eat Imodium like M&Ms.

Perhaps working as a construction project manager for resturant chains for several decades tainted my view but I'm not a "pot luck" kind of guy when it comes to total strangers preparing food in an uncontrolled environment. It can be freightening enough to know what can go on behind the scenes when there's strict protocals, health inspections, etc. I won't eat in our one daughter's house because she let's the cat have free reighn to the counter tops.

Now I'm not a germaphobe by any means. I've cooked fish, squirrle, etc. out in the wild when hunting but I have enough common sense to know how to dress, wash and cook game and wash my hands during the process. As someone who traveled extensivly during my career I contracted a sever case of Hepatitus A from a resturant in Denver 20+ years ago. I damned near died from that so food prep is nothing to take for granted.

[jasin1]

Originally Posted by flybouy

Perhaps working as a construction project manager for resturant chains for several decades tainted my view but I'm not a "pot luck" kind of guy when it comes to total strangers preparing food in an uncontrolled environment. It can be freightening enough to know what can go on behind the scenes when there's strict protocals, health inspections, etc. I won't eat in our one daughter's house because she let's the cat have free reighn to the counter tops.

Now I'm not a germaphobe by any means. I've cooked fish, squirrle, etc. out in the wild when hunting but I have enough common sense to know how to dress, wash and cook game and wash my hands during the process. As someone who traveled extensivly during my career I contracted a sever case of Hepatitus A from a resturant in Denver 20+ years ago. I damned near died from that so food prep is nothing to take for granted.

Yeah sometimes it’s better not to know what’s going on behind the scenes or you may never eat at a restaurant again. I did commercial hvac service for a few years ...saw some things

[flybouy]

Originally Posted by jasin1

Yeah sometimes it’s better not to know what’s going on behind the scenes or you may never eat at a restaurant again. I did commercial hvac service for a few years ...saw some things

If you ever serviced an ice maker I'll bet you get your drinks without ice.

[jasin1]

Originally Posted by flybouy

If you ever serviced an ice maker I'll bet you get your drinks without ice.

Had a few friends that owned bars...used to keep everything running for them.. sometimes on the forum people mention “unsolicited advice”
You will never experience more advice then when your trying to fix a beer cooler at a bar full of daytime “regulars” I used to tell my buddy the service charge will be more if I have to talk to “Gary” or “ Vern” when I’m working

No offense to the Gary’s or Verns of the forum.. just names from my local locals club

[flybouy]

Originally Posted by jasin1

Had a few friends that owned bars...used to keep everything running for them.. sometimes on the forum people mention “unsolicited advice”
You will never experience more advice then when your trying to fix a beer cooler at a bar full of daytime “regulars” I used to tell my buddy the service charge will be more if I have to talk to “Gary” or “ Vern” when I’m working

Nothing like a "gallery" full of inebriated "experts" rendering their opinion, what fun!

[Anne Chovie]

Originally Posted by Bill-2020

I’m a bit too OCD... in 4-5 days, two of us will get the black to 2/3 full. I subscribe to the “more water is better” for black tanks. Every time I use it (with full hookups) I flush more water after the initial flush. Just to make sure there is enough water to help things break down. I have yet to have a black tank sensor go bad. Gray tank... that’s another story but we have that fixed now and all is well in that department.

I am thinking of purchasing a portable tank but know nothing.
Can you use them if you are not hooked up to city water? I just manually fill the water with jugs every week.


Wondering if that will be enough water. Kinda nervous about all of this.
Also, black tank sensor has been wrong ever since I bought this RV. It says full constantly even when it was winterized.
Any advice would be wonderful.

[travelin texans]

Originally Posted by Anne Chovie

I am thinking of purchasing a portable tank but know nothing.
Can you use them if you are not hooked up to city water? I just manually fill the water with jugs every week.


Wondering if that will be enough water. Kinda nervous about all of this.
Also, black tank sensor has been wrong ever since I bought this RV. It says full constantly even when it was winterized.
Any advice would be wonderful.

The title of this thread is "portable waste tanks" so no not for potable water use, but they make tanks for that purpose.
As for the black tank sensor, learn the sound your toilet makes when the tank is nearing full & forget the sensors,

[dutchmensport]

Anne Chovie,

Welcome to the forums. To answer your question quickly here, the fresh water system and the sewage water system are two completely separate systems.

You have two ways to use fresh water in your camper. You either fill your fresh water tank, or you connect a hose to a water spigot and the other end to your camper and you leave the water spigot turned on. If you fill your fresh water tank, you use it by turning on your on-board water pump. This has nothing to do with your sewage, holding tanks, drains.

Regardless of your water source, you have at least 2 sewage holding tanks on your camper. You may have more, but at least 2. One is designated for the toilet (called black water tank). The other is designated for shower and sinks (called grey water tank). You have at least 1 black tank and 1 grey tank. In all campers, the black and grey tanks are emptied by pulling a separate valve, which empties only that one tank. Once emptied, you close that valve again and let the tank fill up until the next dump. In almost every camper, the black and grey tanks flow to a single outlet on the underside side of your camper. But, based on your configuration, you may have 2 outlets. In mine, I have a common discharge port for the bathroom black and grey, and then a separate discharge port for the kitchen sink (3 tanks - one black, 2 grey).

Again, both systems are completely independent of each other. And how they are both filled is determined by how you use your camper.

[Anne Chovie]

Originally Posted by travelin texans

The title of this thread is "portable waste tanks" so no not for potable water use, but they make tanks for that purpose.
As for the black tank sensor, learn the sound your toilet makes when the tank is nearing full & forget the sensors,

I understand that. I am referring to black tank only. Definitely not Potable.
My point is, I don't use the toilet now at all because I have nowhere to dump it. Hence my reasoning for getting a portable tank to dump in town.


I don't use the toilet and the black tank is definitely empty so the sensor is clearly broken.

[Anne Chovie]

Originally Posted by dutchmensport

Anne Chovie,

Welcome to the forums. To answer your question quickly here, the fresh water system and the sewage water system are two completely separate systems.

You have two ways to use fresh water in your camper. You either fill your fresh water tank, or you connect a hose to a water spigot and the other end to your camper and you leave the water spigot turned on. If you fill your fresh water tank, you use it by turning on your on-board water pump. This has nothing to do with your sewage, holding tanks, drains.

Regardless of your water source, you have at least 2 sewage holding tanks on your camper. You may have more, but at least 2. One is designated for the toilet (called black water tank). The other is designated for shower and sinks (called grey water tank). You have at least 1 black tank and 1 grey tank. In all campers, the black and grey tanks are emptied by pulling a separate valve, which empties only that one tank. Once emptied, you close that valve again and let the tank fill up until the next dump. In almost every camper, the black and grey tanks flow to a single outlet on the underside side of your camper. But, based on your configuration, you may have 2 outlets. In mine, I have a common discharge port for the bathroom black and grey, and then a separate discharge port for the kitchen sink (3 tanks - one black, 2 grey).

Again, both systems are completely independent of each other. And how they are both filled is determined by how you use your camper.

Yes, I am aware of that thank you. I dry camp full time. I don't hook up to city water. I don't use the toilet. If I purchase a portable waste tank, I will then begin flushing the toilet. The toilet must have water in the mix to flush, hence my concern about not using city water. I am hoping there is enough water pressure and whatnot. It is almost seeming like more trouble than it is worth. Having an outhouse situation has been much more simple but that gets rough when it's 20 below in winter haha



And yes, I only pull the gray lever to empty, never the black since I don't use it.

[travelin texans]

Originally Posted by Anne Chovie

I understand that. I am referring to black tank only. Definitely not Potable.
My point is, I don't use the toilet now at all because I have nowhere to dump it. Hence my reasoning for getting a portable tank to dump in town.


I don't use the toilet and the black tank is definitely empty so the sensor is clearly broken.

The sensor isn't broken, just the typical rv sensor, it most likely has toilet paper dried on the probe in the tank which can be cleared with enough time, patience, rinsing repeating BUT after a couple more tank fills it'll be useless again. The only sensor that typically will be near accurate is the fresh water.
If you get one of the totes for waste be sure it has wheels & my preference is a handle so that you can tow it to the dump very slowly behind your vehicle, s##t is heavy!
Also buy or make up a very short, about 2' long, 3" sewer hose to connect to the tote as close to the rv connection possible. The reason is if you use your 10-15' hose once the tote is full you'll still have 10-15' of STUFF left in the hose with nowhere to go.
If you don't plan on using the toilet for an extended period I'd recommend adding about 5 gallons of water down the toilet & adding a good dose of some type of black tank treatment, not just a deodorizer, but something to help digest what's already left in there.

[flybouy]

Originally Posted by Anne Chovie

Yes, I am aware of that thank you. I dry camp full time. I don't hook up to city water. I don't use the toilet. If I purchase a portable waste tank, I will then begin flushing the toilet. The toilet must have water in the mix to flush, hence my concern about not using city water. I am hoping there is enough water pressure and whatnot. It is almost seeming like more trouble than it is worth. Having an outhouse situation has been much more simple but that gets rough when it's 20 below in winter haha



And yes, I only pull the gray lever to empty, never the black since I don't use it.

It's not water pressure that's required to flush an RV toilet but rather water flow.. The FW pump is sufficient for that task. One point on taking a waste tank to town, it will become heavy to lift into the bed of the truck (depending on capacity) and could end up being a bit messy over time. When it's -20° outside be prepared to burn A LOT of propane trying to keep warm.

[NC Camper]

I carry a 15g blue tank just for the times that we fill the gray tank. Although we do not use it that often, it is a lifesaver when we need it. I would hate to have to move the trailer for that or to pay for a pump-out service.

The 15g tank is cheaper, towable, and easier to handle when full. On the downside, it is only half of my gray tank.

[Anne Chovie]

Originally Posted by flybouy

It's not water pressure that's required to flush an RV toilet but rather water flow.. The FW pump is sufficient for that task. One point on taking a waste tank to town, it will become heavy to lift into the bed of the truck (depending on capacity) and could end up being a bit messy over time. When it's -20° outside be prepared to burn A LOT of propane trying to keep warm.

Good to know about water pressure.
Yes I realize it will be heavy. I plan on either dumping very often, making a little ramp to pull onto truck, or just keep in the bed of an old ranch truck.


And yes! I already lived through a whole montana winter so I am aware of propane use. I have a 200 gal tank so that helps Just realizing that the portable waste tank will freeze in the winter, so that's not really gonna work unfortunately.

[flybouy]

You mentioned an outhouse. This leads me to think you are fulltiming in one place that is privately owned? If that's the case you might want to investigate having a holding tank buried in the ground. If the land doesn't perk allowing a full septic field then a holding tank can be used. It won't freeze if underground and you would need a honey dipper to pump it out occasionaly.