Gray Water Drainage and Legalities

[jch511]

Greetings, my friends!

We are installing the gray water tank, and we had a discussion about whether or not there is a legal requirement for the fitting that drains the tank. Right now we just have a garden hose fitting with a gate valve. Will that do?

Also, I am assuming that each state in the U.S. likely has regulations on the dumping of gray water. Is there a single source for that information, or is the requirement universal across all states?

Thanks!
Jim ("The Jazz Buzz")

[Danjo]

The EPA classifies Grey Water as shower water and sink water used for hand washing. Grey water can be disposed of on the ground except in areas that do not allow it of which there are many.

Black Water is water used for food preparation, washing dishes, and what’s in the toilet tank. It cannot be dumped on the ground, or if you’re The Dave Matthews Band, into the Chicago River and on the heads of architecture buffs.

I’ve thought about installing a diverter for the shower drain to use in places where appropriate

[PorchDog]

The legality varies with whether you get caught or not....

I couldn't help it....


Jokes aside-- we don't need to do anything that further tarnishes skoolie reputations...

[sportyrick]

Draining of the gray tank will be painfully slow with only a water faucet valve, you might want a regular dump valve with proper connections. A flush out connection is a nice addition, when I was building my black water tank I welded a 1 1/2" pipe thread on there for that and Joan wears it out when we dump the black water tank.

[rossvtaylor]

You should read about the old Thermasan systems, which used the exhaust heat to burn and vaporize RV waste tank drainage while driving...and they seem to have worked with both gray AND black tanks.

https://www.bdub.net/manuals/Thermasan-OwnersManual.pdf

https://www.gmcmi.com/wp-content/upl...ers-Manual.pdf

https://www.theautopian.com/back-in-...n-the-highway/

It's an interesting concept and was made by Thetford, the same name still popular in RV toilets. I found the travel trailer version especially interesting, since the waste was macerated and pumped up through a hose to the tow car.

Anyway, I'd never do that with solid waste but I could see something like this being a viable option for gray tank waste. I've toyed with the idea of doing so on my Crown, which is why I had the document links.

[BarnYardCamp]

Originally Posted by jch511

Greetings, my friends!

We are installing the gray water tank, and we had a discussion about whether or not there is a legal requirement for the fitting that drains the tank. Right now we just have a garden hose fitting with a gate valve. Will that do?

Also, I am assuming that each state in the U.S. likely has regulations on the dumping of gray water. Is there a single source for that information, or is the requirement universal across all states?

Thanks!
Jim ("The Jazz Buzz")

when dumping your waste water tanks you dump the "black" water first, then the grey...reason being that the grey water will help flush out the sewer hose. So to do that, you'll want more than a trickle of water. You can buy the proper valves from almost any RV supply store.
The picture shows the valves installed on my bus, it's a 3" ABS 90 that has the 1.5" grey water valve built in...you can see the white PVC pipe coming from the grey tank.

[s2mikon]

Thanks Ross, I had a friend whose dad had a GMC / Oldsmobile motor home with that system in it. It didn't work coming down hill from the mountains. He towed a Jeep behind the coach and nothing got on it. If he had bought a Tacoma it would have had to be the TRD edition

[rossvtaylor]

Originally Posted by s2mikon

Thanks Ross, I had a friend whose dad had a GMC / Oldsmobile motor home with that system in it. It didn't work coming down hill from the mountains. He towed a Jeep behind the coach and nothing got on it. If he had bought a Tacoma it would have had to be the TRD edition

Haha! And yes, that system actually had sensors and was designed to work above about 30 or 35 mph or when under load going uphill...but turned off going downhill. Pretty interesting, actually. I could see a use for it with liquids, but personally I'll not try that with any TRDs.

[turf]

i know the desire to get rid of waste any way you can think of is strong with this group.

i've rarely been out camping where grey water dumping is legal. so i'd just put in a 3" gate valve like a black tank and use standard dump waste facilities.

a smaller "grey" valve is just another place to get plugged. 3" stuff is something you can replace at walmart,

[s2mikon]

Originally Posted by PorchDog

The legality varies with whether you get caught or not....

I couldn't help it....


Jokes aside-- we don't need to do anything that further tarnishes skoolie reputations...

I agree with PorchDog. He hit the nail on the head.

[jch511]

Originally Posted by jch511

Greetings, my friends!

We are installing the gray water tank, and we had a discussion about whether or not there is a legal requirement for the fitting that drains the tank. Right now we just have a garden hose fitting with a gate valve. Will that do?

Also, I am assuming that each state in the U.S. likely has regulations on the dumping of gray water. Is there a single source for that information, or is the requirement universal across all states?

Thanks!
Jim ("The Jazz Buzz")

~~~~~~~~~~~

Thank you, everybody! I agree I do not want to tarnish the skoolie reputation, so I now have a bigger (1.5") drain and will drain the gray water at black water dumping sites, unless I know the gray is mostly just plain rinse water, and even then, I'll choose the site carefully after checking the legality of it in the state I'm in.

Thanks!

Jim

[randydupree]

Originally Posted by rossvtaylor

You should read about the old Thermasan systems, which used the exhaust heat to burn and vaporize RV waste tank drainage while driving...and they seem to have worked with both gray AND black tanks.

https://www.bdub.net/manuals/Thermasan-OwnersManual.pdf

https://www.gmcmi.com/wp-content/upl...ers-Manual.pdf

https://www.theautopian.com/back-in-...n-the-highway/

It's an interesting concept and was made by Thetford, the same name still popular in RV toilets. I found the travel trailer version especially interesting, since the waste was macerated and pumped up through a hose to the tow car.

Anyway, I'd never do that with solid waste but I could see something like this being a viable option for gray tank waste. I've toyed with the idea of doing so on my Crown, which is why I had the document links.

Ahhh,the old crapolitic converter!

[rossvtaylor]

Originally Posted by randydupree

Ahhh,the old crapolitic converter!

Clever! Thanks for the chuckle, Randy.

[Cannabus]

You can make your own evaporation pan for Grey water by using just black plastic sheets. Great for boondocking in desert like arid locations like playa. Just dig berms to form a pan. Cover it with heavy duty plastic sheets and just leave the drain valve open. let the sun do the work. Just sweep up the residue then toss into the trash or bury. You’d be surprised how fast shower water evaporates. In some playas, the issue becomes from forming sinkholes if you allow your flow directly on the soft dissolvable soil.