Winnebago Travato thread here

[gerrym51]

If one wants to do something-we can always justify it to ourselves.

[skiMore]

Originally Posted by eurovanman

I have never visited a dump station for my grey water. And I've never 'fouled anyone's nest.

Use natural soaps and pull up to city or town drains and dump. Its just water and natural soap with some food scraps. No harm whatsoever to the environment.

Dump stations are not easy to find on the west coast, and no reason to drive to them just for grey water, especially when they charge $$.

Is it legal to dump in "city or town drains"?

[wincrasher]

Depends. Some places have ordinances, some don't.

In my experience, only state and fed parks have rules against it for obvious reasons.

I don't have any trepidation for dumping some grey on the side of the road, or in a parking lot, etc. I often dump it out on the parking area at my shop. It's really not much different that washing the car there, or cleaning an engine, or a moldy boat, or gutted and cleaned dozens of fish. I've done all that in my parking area and you'd never know it.

But I think to belly up to a storm drain and dump your tank is pretty foolish and draws un-necessary attention to yourself. The first thing people would think you are doing is dumping your poop and will likely call the cops. Then you'd quickly find out if there is an ordinance.

The guy next door power washed his building with bleach water for hours and hours. Where do you think all that run-off went? Was that illegal? Nope.

If you research these tiny houses and the eco-movement in general, you'll see alot of posts about collecting your grey water and watering your plants with it - including vegetable gardens with it. More environmentally responsible than down a sewer.

Grey water is not a hazard at all. It's just in campgrounds, it would be a nuisance for people to continually do it in the same places over and over. Smells draw in pests and can be objectionable to other guests.

[Davydd]

Originally Posted by eurovanman

I have never visited a dump station for my grey water. And I've never 'fouled anyone's nest.

Use natural soaps and pull up to city or town drains and dump. Its just water and natural soap with some food scraps. No harm whatsoever to the environment.

Dump stations are not easy to find on the west coast, and no reason to drive to them just for grey water, especially when they charge $$.

I consider that total BS and put it in the same category with the people that all say they dispose of their cigarette filters responsibly and pick up after their dogs, yet every office building and bar looks like a litter ash pit outside the doors and you still have to walk gingerly in the parks. Grey water is not just clean water with biodegradable soap. It is just water that doesn't go into a toilet and can have many things including non-biogradable soap, cooking oils, food, your left over soup, hair, and bodily fluids. Also one comment here has already added urine to the grey water. Private and government entity campgrounds know this and that is why it is universally unacceptable and often stated.

Do you know the difference between a city or town drain? If it is open and accessible it is most likely a storm drain that sends untreated water into our streams. If it has a heavy manhole that you cannot drain to it might be a sanitary sewer that will go through treatment.

[eric1514]

In the last two cities/towns I lived in, one in CA and one in AZ, it was illegal to dump anything into the storm drains on the side of the road.

[avanti]

I agree with DavyDD. There is no way in this day and age that dumping gray water can be considered acceptable. It is perfectly true that from a biochemical perspective, a given rv waste setup combined with a give individual's personal habits might be "proven safe", but that is not the way public health works. For large numbers of humans to live together successfully, we need to draw bright lines in defining acceptable behavior, and those lines need to be drawn assuming the worst case, not the best case.

Dump you gray water at an RV dump-station. Please.

[eurovanman]

Originally Posted by avanti

I agree with DavyDD. There is no way in this day and age that dumping gray water can be considered acceptable. It is perfectly true that from a biochemical perspective, a given rv waste setup combined with a give individual's personal habits might be "proven safe", but that is not the way public health works. For large numbers of humans to live together successfully, we need to draw bright lines in defining acceptable behavior, and those lines need to be drawn assuming the worst case, not the best case.

Dump you gray water at an RV dump-station. Please.

Are you guys serious. Do you know the amount of pollutants and chemicals being released by your cars on the road and then washed into the drains. I see no problem at all with dumping my grey water - anywhere. Then again I have a eurovan and don't shower or anything. Do you ever wash your dishes in a lake or stream, Yes this happens everywhere, what is the difference. I'll keep dumping my grey water wherever I want, There are things that are actually polluting our environment that people should worry about. Not some food scraps and water, and yes this is what my grey water is.

[stanw909]

Your average tent camper dumps wash water on the ground at campgrounds every time they wash their dishes.That being said.It isn't done 14 glns at a time.

[Jostalli]

This certainly is a gray area.

[avanti]

Originally Posted by eurovanman

Do you ever wash your dishes in a lake or stream,

Good God, no. Maybe in the 1970s. What edition of Freedom of the Hills are YOU reading? The fact that you would ask that question in apparent seriousness makes it clear that continuing this conversation would be pointless.

Yes this happens everywhere, what is the difference. I'll keep dumping my grey water wherever I want

I guess it's true what they say about progress being dependent on older generations dying off.

[avanti]

Originally Posted by stanw909

Your average tent camper dumps wash water on the ground at campgrounds every time they wash their dishes.

Totally false.

http://www.outdoors.org/publications...ackcountry.cfm

Once the dishes are clean, you're left with the used gray water. Before you dispose of it, strain out any remaining food particles and add them to your trash. Lawhon suggests using a bandana, panty hose, or a quartsize plastic bag filled with leaf litter (cut a hole in the corner to drain). Once the gray water is food-free, you're ready to dispose of it. If you are in a less-traveled area, "broadcast" it by scattering it widely. If you're in a heavily traveled area, consider using a sump hole to focus use, and scents, in one spot. DeLucia notes that most AMC backcountry campsites in the White Mountains have a designated cooking and cleaning area, including a spot for draining your gray water. If you're a true zero-impact diehard, you can even drink your (non-soapy) gray water. "We don't have a stance on that," Lawhon laughs. "But if people want to go to that level, go for it!"

[stanw909]

Oh.Because there is an article; decades of me watching tent campers dump their soapy dish water in the bushes is disproved. I must have been seeing the only people doing it. If your link to backpackers suggested treatment of wash water was meant to be sarcastic then I apologize.

[avanti]

Originally Posted by stanw909

Oh.Because there is an article; decades of me watching tent campers dump their soapy dish water in the bushes is disproved. I must have been seeing the only people doing it. If your link to backpackers suggested treatment of wash water was meant to be sarcastic then I apologize.

I was most certainly not being sarcastic. What I cited has been completely conventional wisdom in the outdoor world for decades.

I feel like I have entered some kind of a time warp. I am out of this discussion.

[mass59k]

What pressure are some of you running? ?
Wayne in Mass 59k

[stanw909]

Let me make it clear.In all my years of motorhoming ,I have always dumped black and grey into dump stations or my sewer line at home. I shall continue in this way and recommend all do the same.

[avanti]

Originally Posted by stanw909

Let me make it clear.In all my years of motorhoming ,I have always dumped black and grey into dump stations or my sewer line at home. I shall continue in this way and recommend all do the same.

Thank you. (no sarcasm intended)

[stanw909]

Mass59k.Just looked at your album pics.Very nice

[bobojay]

Originally Posted by mass59k

What pressure are some of you running? ?
Wayne in Mass 59k

Pressure? Tire, water? What?

[Boxster1971]

Originally Posted by stanw909

Oh.Because there is an article; decades of me watching tent campers dump their soapy dish water in the bushes is disproved. I must have been seeing the only people doing it. If your link to backpackers suggested treatment of wash water was meant to be sarcastic then I apologize.

After reading this little argument about campers dumping soapy water in the bushes I am listening to Mike Wendland's RT39 Roadtreking RV Podcast: Boondocking 101.
http://roadtreking.com/rt39-roadtrek...ondocking-101/

At about time 17:45 in the Pod cast the self proclaimed B-Van Boondocking Guru, RT Campskunk, tells all to use a basin in their sinks to catch grey water and then dump it outside as a water management technique. Too bad he is reaching hundreds of Roadtreker and telling them to dump their grey water on the ground in Forest Service dispersed campgrounds. I think I now know why he never uses his real name, even on Facebook.

[eurovanman]

Originally Posted by Boxster1971

After reading this little argument about campers dumping soapy water in the bushes I am listening to Mike Wendland's RT39 Roadtreking RV Podcast: Boondocking 101.
http://roadtreking.com/rt39-roadtrek...ondocking-101/

At about time 17:45 in the Pod cast the self proclaimed B-Van Boondocking Guru, RT Campskunk, tells all to use a basin in their sinks to catch grey water and then dump in outside as a water management technique. Too bad he is reaching hundreds of Roadtreker and telling them to dump their grey water on the ground in Forest Service dispersed campgrounds. I think I now know why he never uses his real name, even on Facebook.

It poses no issues. A little biodegradable soap and water and food scraps will not create any harm. Have you ever peed in the bushes. People crap in the dirt and bury it all over this country on national forests and blm land. What do you think backpackers do when they are camping. They don't do their dishes and pack out the water and crap in a bag and pack that out. In sensitive highly toured areas like the grand canyon they pack out crap, but they still do dishes in the river.

You guys may want to check out the book "How to Sh*t In The Woods"
http://amzn.com/1580083633