help me understand the plumbing

[Jimdog]

I have been reading about fresh water and greywater and black water tanks. Why have separate tanks for grey water and black water?

[bansil]

you dont have to, if you have room for 1 big tank

think of this:

if you have 100 gallons of fresh water, you need to be able to hold 125+ gallons of waste water; either grey water sink/shower etc or Black water
In that equation you also need to have space for the solid wastes in that
In the campers I have done and used we had 2 tanks, fresh water and a black water (combined all into 1) I would flush the toilet with clean water a few times to clean hoses out

Some people like the idea of using some grey water first to wet sewer pipes, then open black tank and empty it, then you can flush lines out by emptying the grey

lots of was to do it

[PNW_Steve]

If you travel extensively and boondock you may find that there are many more places where you can (safely & legally) dump grey water than there are where you can dump black water. If they are combined then you limit your options.

Where I live you are allowed to water your flower garden with your grey water....

FWIW: I have talked with folks that ultimately decided to go with a single combined waste tank and they told me "when we do our next bus we will have separate tanks".

Another option....

On my next conversion I am going to install a composting toilet. No black tank required....

[turf]

i have a combined grey/black tank on my bus. it works fine.

if i were to change one thing on it..... i'd pick a tank with a vertical dump pipe instead of a horizontal one. the solids kinda meander without enough slope.

[PNW_Steve]

Originally Posted by turf

i have a combined grey/black tank on my bus. it works fine.

if i were to change one thing on it..... i'd pick a tank with a vertical dump pipe instead of a horizontal one. the solids kinda meander without enough slope.

Perhaps there is more than one "right way" to do it depending on how you utilize your rig. I will stick with a separate grey. I like the flexibility.

As far as the vertical dump goes, I did it that way on my last bus and loved it. Now have a "wonderful" S&S that dumps horizontally. I HATE IT for the very reason above. The sloped drain with vertical outlet is MUCH more pleasant to deal with when dumping.

[-cycosis-]

Can w see a photo of your setup PNW_Steve?