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Old 04-18-2016, 06:13 PM   #1
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combine black and grey water tanks??

this may be a no brain question but,
has anyone just combined the black and grey water tank needs and just put one large tank instead?? seems it would be so much easier for all around, build, flush, etc... what are the thoughts?

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Old 04-18-2016, 06:20 PM   #2
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this may be a no brain question but,
has anyone just combined the black and grey water tank needs and just put one large tank instead?? seems it would be so much easier for all around, build, flush, etc... what are the thoughts?
This was my original plan, I have a 112gal steel fuel tank I had boiled out & was going to make a combined tank until I read a story about a metal street lamp that fell down because of people & dogs urinating on it didn't know urine was so corrosive ,So now I mounted and a 33 gal black tank & still going to use the 112 gal for grey.
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Old 04-18-2016, 06:22 PM   #3
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but what about a nice molded plastic one, 100 gallon tank for both?
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Old 04-18-2016, 06:26 PM   #4
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but what about a nice molded plastic one, 100 gallon tank for both?
I thought about that also but since it's mounted between the fram rails I didn't want something that big & expensive exposed too debris possible damaging it.
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Old 04-18-2016, 06:52 PM   #5
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i have the enclosed basement to protect it. you think there is a technical do not do for what ever reason?
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Old 04-18-2016, 06:54 PM   #6
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i have the enclosed basement to protect it. you think there is a technical do not do for what ever reason?
In my opinion,,, nope except you'd be losing storage,storage is important.
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Old 04-18-2016, 07:57 PM   #7
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Combining the black and grey tanks just turns it into a black tank, which has to be dumped at the proper dump station.....A grey tank is much more liberal as to where you are allowed to dump....something to think about
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Old 04-18-2016, 08:06 PM   #8
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Combining the black and grey tanks just turns it into a black tank, which has to be dumped at the proper dump station.....A grey tank is much more liberal as to where you are allowed to dump....something to think about
Exactly!!!!
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Old 04-18-2016, 08:57 PM   #9
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this may be a no brain question but,
has anyone just combined the black and grey water tank needs and just put one large tank instead?? seems it would be so much easier for all around, build, flush, etc... what are the thoughts?
I plumbed my shower into the black tank. This isn't the finished pic, I guess I never took one. Toilet goes in the top of tank. Shower is valved off. I added another valve to the right in this pic and a piece of pipe that goes to the other side. So I can divert the water which ever way I want it to go. I can hook up a sump pump hose and run out on ground or into the black tank.
2012-06-17_15-29-12_807 by Hvbuzz, on Flickr

Here is the other side. I ran that pipe before I mounted up genny and batteries. Someday I will move it to an easier place to get to.

20150614_151356 by Hvbuzz, on Flickr
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Old 04-19-2016, 03:50 AM   #10
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This was my original plan, I have a 112gal steel fuel tank I had boiled out & was going to make a combined tank until I read a story about a metal street lamp that fell down because of people & dogs urinating on it didn't know urine was so corrosive ,So now I mounted and a 33 gal black tank & still going to use the 112 gal for grey.
african girls designed a fuel cell that uses urine to make hydrogen. you sure you want to just throw that urine out?
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Old 04-19-2016, 09:46 AM   #11
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Couple of thoughts :

Some people use the gray tank to "flush" the stuff out of the black tank. (Otherwise you'll drain the liquids, but the tank won't be empty yet.)

Because you have to get the solids out, do black water tanks usually have baffles in them? 100 gallons is 800 lbs sloshing around.

Do you really want the chance of that mixing in the drain to your kitchen sink?
(I'm not a plumbing expert, so maybe there's a standard check valve or something that keeps that from happening.)
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Old 04-19-2016, 09:51 AM   #12
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Way ahead of you. Been saving my pee for years. It's like my own gas station. Methane gas is another subject. Beans anyone?
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Old 04-19-2016, 09:58 AM   #13
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african girls designed a fuel cell that uses urine to make hydrogen. you sure you want to just throw that urine out?
Yea I'm sure.
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Old 04-19-2016, 10:12 AM   #14
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Hey, honestly where are we going to get African pee?
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Old 04-19-2016, 11:28 AM   #15
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Hey, honestly where are we going to get African pee?

That's funny.
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Old 04-19-2016, 11:36 AM   #16
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I think you would want to keep them separate. Why turn 50 gallons of black water into 150 gallons? San Francisco has a combined storm water and sewer system. They are always having problems. It means they have to treat that much more water before dumping.
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Old 04-19-2016, 12:13 PM   #17
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So a combined black and grey tank huh? Does that make it a dark grey tank?

If you mix it, RV dumping areas would have to process the combination the same way a household septic system works. Personally I like the idea of dumping the black tank, then running the grey water through the black tank for a rinse. Lots of people do it that way and it's basically the same as mixing tanks. No real problem that I can see.
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Old 04-19-2016, 12:14 PM   #18
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Another question. Maybe it's stupid.

If you dump your black tank at a RV disposal site, but you don't dump your grey tank there where do you dump grey water? Separate dump sites?
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Old 04-19-2016, 12:22 PM   #19
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just figure 1 tank = half the problems as 2. way easier to plumb where im going to put it to. thank you all for the advice! keep it coming
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Old 04-19-2016, 12:55 PM   #20
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Less space taken up by tanks, but not necessarily less problems. As noted above, the most common black/gray dump procedure is to dump the black then use the gray water to rinse out the black tank. When combining the two into one tank, you will still need some method of rinsing the black/gray combination. If you are using a conventional RV flushing toilet, invest in a rinse wand that can be hooked to a hose and poked down the toilet to clear any leftover nasty stuff from the tank. It almost never all leaves of it's own accord.
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