Brainstorm black water waste idea

[Bert M]

There is lots of discussion around the discharge of black water. There are holding tanks, cassettes, compost, macerators, and a few others. I have a wild idea I want to throw out, and feel free to shoot it down. It is just an idea that needs constructive (and possibly comical) criticism.

What if there was a system where in addition to (or possibly instead of) the black water holding tank, there was another tank whose purpose was to get rid of all the liquid in the waste? My idea is to somehow have a metal tank that could be heated by the vehicle exhaust pipe (using propane would be expensive). Waste water that is in there would heat and evaporate, only leaving solids behind. A charcoal filter could be added so you don't gas out the car behind you. This could also be used for grey water. Disposal would be just removing a solid block of waste. This could really help long term boondocking, and at the very least one should not have to empty very often. What do you think?

[hbn7hj]

Originally Posted by Bert M

There is lots of discussion around the discharge of black water. There are holding tanks, cassettes, compost, macerators, and a few others. I have a wild idea I want to throw out, and feel free to shoot it down. It is just an idea that needs constructive (and possibly comical) criticism.

What if there was a system where in addition to (or possibly instead of) the black water holding tank, there was another tank whose purpose was to get rid of all the liquid in the waste? My idea is to somehow have a metal tank that could be heated by the vehicle exhaust pipe (using propane would be expensive). Waste water that is in there would heat and evaporate, only leaving solids behind. A charcoal filter could be added so you don't gas out the car behind you. This could also be used for grey water. Disposal would be just removing a solid block of waste. This could really help long term boondocking, and at the very least one should not have to empty very often. What do you think?

That has been done. Don’t know what shut it down, maybe the EPA. The exhaust heat was an incinerator.

By the way, it worked. Does anyone else remember it?

[mloganusda]

Remember it well. Your black water, including solids, was metered into your exhaust pipe to be incinerated out the tail pipe. I looked into this in 1977 as I had a small MH in California at the time.

MLogan
Smyrna, TN

[magicbus]

Originally Posted by mloganusda

Remember it well. Your black water, including solids, was metered into your exhaust pipe to be incinerated out the tail pipe. I looked into this in 1977 as I had a small MH in California at the time.

MLogan
Smyrna, TN

Clever, but I would imagine that would have to be a little rough on the catalytic converter!

[Bud]

Originally Posted by magicbus

Clever, but I would imagine that would have to be a little rough on the catalytic converter!

And the turbocharger thing,

[hbn7hj]

It was after the turbo and the cat. I never had one. I suspect air pollution had something to do with it going away. Spend all this money to clean the air and then dump a black tank into it.

[Bud]

Originally Posted by hbn7hj

It was after the turbo and the cat. I never had one. I suspect air pollution had something to do with it going away. Spend all this money to clean the air and then dump a black tank into it.

Well, I'm sure you understand when the 'sh*t hits the fan'.

[mloganusda]

It rusted out the tail pipe too soon.
MLogan
Smyrna, TN

[Bert M]

Originally Posted by mloganusda

It rusted out the tail pipe too soon.
MLogan
Smyrna, TN

I was thinking of having a heat exchanger attached to the exhaust pipe and the waste having its own metal tank instead of putting it into the exhaust. It seems it would evaporate all liquid.

There are some units on the market that incinerate your waste, so it seems it would not be against any rules to do this. One is https://www.cinderellaeco.com/mobilehomes.

[magicbus]

A number of boats use the incinerator units. The concept of using the exhaust to dry out the solids for later removal reminds me of the Matt Damon movie where he is left behind on Mars and starts a potato farm using dried poo from the toilet as fertilizer.

[Doneworking]

Who says you can't teach an old dog new tricks? I have never heard of incineration of the waste but I think it is an incredible idea. I clicked the link to the Cinderellaeco.com site Bert M posted above and they have had these things since 1999. Old dog me, new tricks.

Magicbus, it isn't just in the Matt Damon on Mars movie. Forty years ago I had a neighbor that raised a big vegetable garden every year. He went down to the local municipal solid waste plant location and they gave him the dried sludge remaining after the final aerobic stage of processing city sewerage. He put a couple of tons of it on his garden, tilled it into the soil and raised incredibly nice produce. He was always willing to share with his neighbors, but this was a neighborhood of acreages and most of us had our own gardens. We always declined his sharing because of our own large crops, so he gave his surplus to other friends.

All I know is he had the best looking crops in the neighborhood and he and his wife both lived to a ripe old age. Thus endeth the true story.

[Nic7320]

I have an Incinolet that was given to me. It uses 120 VAC to evaporate the liquids and cook the solid waste into sterile ash. All it needs is an electric outlet and a vent. I haven't used it yet, but it seems useful where you have lots of electric power.

The Military used diesel fuel to do something similar to this. Once a 55 gallon drum was full, they light it off (and presumably leave the area).

There are composting toilets (e.g. Separett "Villa") that separate solids from liquids simply with a funnel in the right place. The liquids are redirected to a separate exit hose or container.

[Bert M]

Originally Posted by Nic7320

I have an Incinolet that was given to me. It uses 120 VAC to evaporate the liquids and desiccate the solid waste into sterile ash. All it needs is an electric outlet and a vent. I haven't used it yet, but it seems useful where you have lots of electric power.

The Military used diesel fuel to do something similar to this. Once a 55 gallon drum was full, they light it off (and presumably leave the area).

There are composting toilets that separate solids from liquids simply with a funnel in the right place. The liquids are redirected to a separate exit hose or container.

Along with the toilet that incinerates, there is another one that automatically bags it and that uses no water that is interesting. The problem with both of these systems is you have to buy liners or bags and you end up paying about $1 every time you use the john. Composting toilets can work but they have their own set of issues. I like the incinerator idea because it seems it has the least amount of waste and maintenance. The drawbacks are power consumption (if using battery) and cost for liners. If exhaust heat could be used it seems that could solve some of these problems.

[Road Toad]

Originally Posted by Doneworking

Forty years ago I had a neighbor that raised a big vegetable garden every year. He went down to the local municipal solid waste plant location and they gave him the dried sludge remaining after the final aerobic stage of processing city sewerage. He put a couple of tons of it on his garden, tilled it into the soil and raised incredibly nice produce. He was always willing to share with his neighbors, but this was a neighborhood of acreages and most of us had our own gardens. We always declined his sharing because of our own large crops, so he gave his surplus to other friends.

All I know is he had the best looking crops in the neighborhood and he and his wife both lived to a ripe old age. Thus endeth the true story.

Really interesting aside here:

https://modernfarmer.com/2014/07/sti...op-fertilizer/

Might be dangerous practice.

[mything2]

Originally Posted by Nic7320

The Military used diesel fuel to do something similar to this. Once a 55 gallon drum was full, they light it off (and presumably leave ).

I’m a former Vietnam era Marine and, indeed, while “in country “, burning out the cut in half 50 gallon drums after being pulled from the sh**ers, was a job usually assigned as punishment.
When they were burning, you didn’t want to be nearby!

[MarkS]

I can't imagine the exhaust getting hot enough to incinerate. And, I'm guessing it would take a cross country trip to generate enough exhaust heat to evaporate a waste tank of liquid.

[JohnnyFry]

Many years ago in Northern Alaska I encountered a device called a Destroylet...it was a toilet designed to burn everything up. Talk about STINK!! Next question: how are you going to get the ossified solids out of the tank, that sounds like a job made in hell! I'll take a pass on this one.

[JohnnyFry]

at $4,000 USD + shipping+import duty that one seems like a non starter to me! It also requires liners for use: this is a repeating operating expense and liners will not be available at your local Camping World.

[hbn7hj]

The fact that no one here personally used the exhaust system says that it wasn’t used much, if at all. I just remember reading about it. I’m sticking with the dump system but the cassette system does have advantages.

[GaryBIS]

Hi,
Seems like a composting toilet accomplishes pretty much the same thing in a simpler way and also eliminates any potential for frozen plumbing in cold weather.

Lots of people love their composting toilets (including me).

Google Natures Head for a good intro.

Gary