Holding tank capacity

[BUSBOZO]

I've been thinking about what I am going to do about holding tanks lately. I have 80 gallons of fresh water and right now I am pretty sure I am going to go with seperate black and grey tanks for the waste.

I would like to go with Tri State Rock Your World's 36 gallon tanks. But both combined would not equal 80 gallons. Does the waste tanks have to be exact capacity of the fresh water? I'm going to have tank monitors also. I would hate to have to spend a considerable amount more on a tank just because I am 8 gallons short.

I also considered a fresh water tank for a grey tank. But I would have to block all the fresh water tank fittings and also they are not sloped to allow for ALL the waste water to drain.

What do you think?

Dan

[lornaschinske]

Your grey water tank should be equal (or greater) than your fresh tank. Reason being is most of your waste water is grey water. You do not want to overflow your grey tanks (it's really nasty... don't ask me how I know). Could you install the tanks you want at a slight slope (enough to drain)? You really need to figure your grey tank as holding more than your fresh. This is to allow for additional liquids (other than fresh water) that will end up in the holding tank (drain the can of veggies, drump the flat soda down the sink, etc). As for how much larger the grey tank should be, most Health Depts require for the food vendor holding tanks be 15% larger than the total potable water capacity (holding tank plus water heater). That would be a good estimate to work from. It's better to have a little too much waste tankage than not enough.

[Redbear]

Originally Posted by BUSBOZO

. . . I'm going to have tank monitors also. . .
Dan

No personal experience, but from the forums it appears that the monitors that use tank probes are prone to failure and are considered unreliable indicators by the full-time crowd. There are other systems that mount on the outside and sense through the plastic, which have been given good marks. I would recommend doing some research, and not buying the first system you see in a catalog.

[cheezypsnookle]

our inlaws rv has tank sensors and it is always giving mixed messages sumtimes it reads full when only half and other times it reads as being empty when we know it is time to dump it.... so in our bus im just going to have an ocd complex about the tank levels and check them often....
and we are going to have atleast 20% more waste room then fresh just so there isnt an issue with over flow

[BUSBOZO]

Ok, looks like I need to go extra capacity on the waste tanks and I will reconsider the tank monitor system.

Thanks Guys!

[BUSBOZO]

I was wondering.. Does anyone make a fresh water tank with no holes in it? That way i can drill my own holes for slip fittings to use for waste.

[BUSBOZO]

Yeah, probably Smitty. Its too bad Plastic Mart is so expensive.

[BUSBOZO]

Ok, now that I know I need to have equal or greater capacity for the holding tanks. I've been scratching my head trying to decide on what to do about the holding tank configuration. Here is the dilema:

1. Original plan was 35 gallon black tank from RV surplus and 75 gallon fresh water tank used for grey water. BUT.. $233 JUST TO SHIP THE 75 GALLON TANK!!! It has to be freighted. So I am looking at over $400 for those two tanks.

2. 35 gallon black tank (RV Surplus), 40 gallon fresh tank for grey water from Tri-State-Rock-Your-World and a 21 gallon tank connected to the 40 gallon tank.
Problem with this option is now I have to run 3 vents for 3 tanks, connect the 2 grey tanks together, make framing for about 9 feet of tanks.

3. Combined 105 grey/black tank from rvexit on ebay for $300 shipped. I don't think that is too bad for a $105 gallon shipped. But is still a bit more than I want to spend.

uuhhh.

[Seeria]

I went the route of water barrels. Four 55gln #2grade plastic barrels for $25 each (40 to ship all 4 since I'm one state away from supplier). Already have a few 15gln and 30gln (tote and black boy). Takes some searching to find cheap sources. http://myworld.ebay.com/browerville/ this guy has some decent prices.