sink water disposal in campground

woodduck

Greetings, We will be using our 25' C Dory for dry land camping including the trip to Lake Powell and I'm looking for suggestions for sink (gray water) water disposal in campgrounds. Jim (Wild Blue) chronicaled his modification in his photo album (102-105) and that looks practical and easy enough to do. Any other suggestions? Just received my Stan Jones map of Lake Powell. It's enough to make me pee in my pants with excitment! Currently reading about John W. Powell's trip. He did it all with one arm...can't believe it. Thanks in advance for any suggestions. See you all in Bellingham.
Ken aka: Wood Duck

JamesTXSD · Posted: Wed May 20, 2009 11:50 pm Post subject:

Hi Ken,

The easiest way to handle the sink water in a campground is with a dishpan that fits in the sink. When it gets full, you take it outside and dump it in the sewer connection.

When traveling with the boat, we use campground showers (since that would require another hose for the shower thru-hull).

Some states have a NO EFFLUENT law - you dump anything out and you can be in big trouble. Some states have no problem with gray water. A big part of the problem is the perception... when people see anything coming out of a boat or RV, they assume it is... well, you know. Park in a Wal-Mart lot and let anything drip out of your boat or RV and you will likely have a visit from the local law enforcement folks.

Hope that helps.

Best wishes,
Jim B.

PS If you think the maps of Lake Powell are impressive, wait 'till you see the real thing! Thumbs Up

Have a great time!

thataway · Posted: Thu May 21, 2009 12:31 am Post subject:

We do the same--dish pan in the sink. I have tried the various in the thru hull fitting mods, but short of tapping and putting threads inside of them, I am sticking with pans--and head pumping after we find a pump out station. (the earlier 25's had large holding tanks).

woodduck

Many thanks for the responses to the gray water issue. A pan in the sink works great for us. Had thought of that, but didn't know if anyone was more creative. Practicality beats creative any time.
Ken aka: Wood Duck
Bend, Oregon

Pat Anderson · Posted: Thu May 21, 2009 11:20 am Post subject:

Well, we let our gray water run out on the Walmart parking lots in Yakima, WA, Jerome, ID and Richfield, UT. No visits from anybody, guess we were just lucky. So, if you use a dishpan in the sink, where do you dispose of the water in the dishpan when you are at a Walmart????

journey on · Posted: Thu May 21, 2009 12:07 pm Post subject:

Well, I made a fitting that fits in the sink drain/overboard where it comes out of the hull which lets me use a hose and bucket to drain the sink.

1/2" plastic pipe, file and hacksaw. File the end of the pipe until it fits in the hole, cut a couple of slots in the end so it fits past the drive ribs in the overboard fitting, put an elbow and hose fitting on the end, attached a hose, put the hose end in a 5 gal bucket, and Judy continues to use the sink as normal.

Used this setup for the last several years and never got a comment, let alone a complaint. Dump the bucket when you leave, not after every wash.

Boris

JamesTXSD · Posted: Thu May 21, 2009 12:21 pm Post subject:

Yellowstone · Posted: Thu May 21, 2009 12:45 pm Post subject:

We do what Jim does. Pan in sink. We carry a big funnel and put the gray water into a couple gallon non transparent jug, like a soap detergent jug with handle. Then it is disposed appropriately. John

Doryman · Posted: Thu May 21, 2009 12:59 pm Post subject:

Chester · Posted: Thu May 21, 2009 1:10 pm Post subject:

There are any number of hoses, adapters and fittings that will fit snugly into the overboard drain. Draining the sink into a plastic jug or old gas can looks better than an open bucket and can be emptied elsewhere.

JamesTXSD · Posted: Thu May 21, 2009 1:17 pm Post subject:

A couple more thoughts on this subject...

I've posted on this forum about being turned away from campgrounds with our boat. The reason (if one is given) is that the owner has had to deal with effluents being dumped on the ground... that's not poopy water, that's ANY liquid. Many campgrounds have rules about "non-standard camping units" (anyone remember when we put up a tent so we could stay... even though we didn't stay IN the tent?).

Some campgrounds do not allow pop-up campers for the same reason: many do not have a gray tank to contain their wash water. Common strategy for that is to run a hose out to a 5 gallon bucket (like Boris mentions) to contain the water.

Think this doesn't affect local/state laws? The state of Arizona has a ridiculous law that states: your sewer HOSE may not touch the ground. That's right, not only what's coming out of it, but the actual HOSE itself! We were in AZ during most of March and had to make sure our HOSE was contained in some fashion so it didn't touch the ground. This is at ALL campgrounds in the state. We went to Home Depot and bought some plastic rain gutter to keep the hose from touching the ground.

The Wal-Mart in Rapid City wanted to build a new Super Wal-Mart a few years ago. It was delayed for over a year because local residents were up in arms about people staying in RVs in the lot and "dumping their waste tanks." I never saw this, can't imagine anyone would ever dump a black tank, but it cost Wal-Mart thousands of dollars to defend this and in the end they had to expand their proposed parking lot by over 20% and agree that the lot would be patrolled.

The new Wal-Mart in Spearfish has "NO OVERNIGHT PARKING OR CAMPING" signs all over their lot. If you park there overnight, you will be visited by the local police and told to move. The old Wal-Mart there allowed overnight parking, but too many people took advantage by staying multiple nights.

There is a book published, and even the Wal-Mart atlas that tells which Wal-Marts that no longer allow overnight parking. Please read the following link:

http://www.walmartatlas.com/no-park-walmarts

Wal-Mart, Camping World, Flying-J, Cabela's, Bass Pro/Outdoor World... it would be a darn shame to have these convenient overnight parking places completely disappear because of the actions of a few. Education and respect will go a long ways towards keeping these available.

Respectfully,
Jim B.

thataway · Posted: Thu May 21, 2009 1:29 pm Post subject:

As far as the into the bucket, I suspect that the hose will work fine, but the liquid is under virtually no pressure head at that point. The macerator is much different. I made a macerator converter for the RV (before we had fully legal sewer discharge at the house--full hookups) and it would pump the sewage 100 feet easily--and still have a good pressure gradient at the end of the hose. If you were to put threads, and use teflon tape, you should be able to make an adaptor--but then there are other problems--such as the seal (see below), where it is discharged etc.

I agree with no allowing any liquid on the ground at any parking lot etc.

Many RV facilities insist that even the grey water be completely sealed at the dump site--with with a foam doughnut or a threaded fiitting.

So far I have not been refused at a camp ground--but on several occasions I had to say I was sleeping in the SUV and would not be cooking or using the facilities in the boat, but in their guest head.

When I register I say "Van pulling a boat". Of course if I use the class B or Class A RV, there should not be a problem. But some campgrounds don't allow class B, and some don't allow Class A older than 10 years of age. Hard to win.

JamesTXSD · Posted: Thu May 21, 2009 1:41 pm Post subject:

B~C · Posted: Thu May 21, 2009 3:11 pm Post subject:

I rigged up a valve under the sink where I can route water overboard, or, twist the valve and route it into a bucket under the sink. In addition to not dumping while dry camping, it's kind of nice to not dump at some marinas.

Pat Anderson · Posted: Thu May 21, 2009 3:37 pm Post subject:

Yeah, that is more along the lines of what I was planning to do for our next trip in September...