STOP AND READ: Thanks for the many comments. For those that want to read the actual RULE ON DUMPING GREY WATER on BLM, it is ***below. Dumping "wash" water is fine (SEE THE PHRASE "other than wash water" below) just not water that comes out of your sewer drain. Since I have no sewage, I'm just expelling "wash water" and STILL going the extra step of evaporating. FOOD PARTICLES are in wash water... Just saying): ***Although the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) found at 8365.1-1 (3) generally excludes “wash water” from BLM’s prohibition against draining or dumping, it can be specifically prohibited by Supplemental Rules issued for a specific area. This applies equally to RVers and tent campers. TITLE 43-PUBLIC LANDS: INTERIOR CHAPTER II-BUREAU OF LAND MANAGEMENT, DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR PART 8360_VISITOR SERVICES Subpart 8365_Rules of Conduct Sec. 8365.1-1 Sanitation. (3) Drain sewage or petroleum products or dump refuse or waste other than wash water from any trailer or other vehicle except in places or receptacles provided for that purpose; Source:rvtravel.com/more-on-the-gray-area-of-dumping-the-gray-tank/
Creativity RV What some feel is " WASH" water is different from others. I feel wash water is from clothes and bodies NOT dishes filled with food residue. Do they care if it's water from washing dishes? The actual rule is in big bold black writing stating that kitchen wash water is definitely considered BLACK WATER PERIOD. But what you are doing is great because your catching in several different ways....everything but actual water. Your greese and food particles are being caught in at least 5 different ways. Ex: 2 wool socks, absorbent mat, rocks, and bucket. 😉 Great job by covering all bases by catching what chunks/ grease may come out of your grey tank into the sock and then disposing of that in the garbage. I think most others feel it's perfectly ok to dump their grey water which is everything but "poo" onto the ground. Thank you for taking the extra care to make sure you help do your part to keep our free land "free" before they get pissed and stop all open free camping period. I had a separate showering tank installed and can if I choose to evaporate that water but I won't. I will wait till I get to a dump station to dispose of my 3 tanks. This way....im not contributing at all to any harm to the environment period.
Please read the " Source" in blue writing people. It will tell you in big black bold print that kitchen wash water is definitely considered BLACK WATER not grey. So read the laws for yourself and if you misinterpret the laws and rules for dumping than its your fault and no one e lses.
one moment at a time I agree. I think they state it that way because in an RV, kitchen dish water goes out the same line as the black tank, thus, bio hazards would be dripping out along with the sink water. Tent campers, however, who don't have a black tank, can dunmp out their dirty dish water on the ground. My feeling is that my dish and shower water is just like the tent campers "wash water " because it is not in contact with any human waste (or animal products, btw, because I'm vegan). I also strain all my dishes before i wash them to catch a many food particles as I can.I don't think it's appropriate to dump or evaporatw grey water if it's comingling with any type of sewage. I appreciate your thoughtful comments on this topic!
one moment at a time thanks! I have been surprised how controversial this has been. Some people think I'm nuts for not just dumping it, others are mad I'm suggesting evaporation at all! Oh well. I do appreciate you have given me your opinion in a constructive and positive way! Safe travels to you ☺️
@@vincent-leroymclopezki5919 Those stove fans use induction heat and quite a bit of it. I have put my stove fan out doors on a sunny day and got nothing but a nice shiny still fan!
You are a breath of fresh air (no reference to the topic!) in the RU-vid nomad community. I’m thrilled to have found your intelligent, informative channel - a thank you to Bob.
That is very clever. Guess you can just get new socks when those have too much gunk in them. You might consider black ceramic briquettes instead of rocks. They can be found most places that handle BBQs. Look like charcoal but are some kind of ceramic. They would absorb a lot more heat and might speed things up. As a solo woman and also full time I find your videos very refreshing. I find problem solving to be fun and not a cause for stress.
@@doubleganger2 I was thinking about it and I would wash separately from other stuff but it might not really matter. I'd only do it when they've been used already and finally got too nasty. Also I'd probably keep them in an air sealed container. This would reduce cleaning cost over time. Come to think of it I would also have hermetically sealed dirty laundry container. Smell in a confined space can be a major issue.
If you add a simple $5 garden hose valve on the sewer dump cap, you can control the water flow much easier than using just the grey water valve by itself.
I took your advice and am trying out the setup for the first time today. :-) The one I purchased didn't have a precise enough lever at the spigot, but I was going to try it anyway and it wouldn't fit on the Valterra tank cap. I do think it's a great idea though and I will look for another one.
Lol! As the sole dumper of our tanks (my husband is squeamish!) I have no issues with dumping tanks. My only real interest is making them last longer so we don't have to dump as often. If we are wanting our tanks to last longer, we use provided bathrooms whenever possible, that includes toilet and showers, and I do my dishes in dishpans instead of straight in the sink. I wipe food off any dishes prior to washing using a paper towel, which keeps the water cleaner. I also only use biodegradable cleaning products in the RV. I empty the dishwashing water onto plants, feeding several with each bin. I also do this at our cabin, where I have to haul every drop of water uphill from the lake. Years of this practise on the flora and fauna around the cabin has resulted in healthy plants and no smell whatsoever. I do not endorse the random draining of grey tanks wherever and whenever, but careful conservation of what space there is in my tanks has allowed us to avoid dumping tanks for longer periods and to stay longer in beautiful locations. JMO!
Your rocks could be improved by finding the black porous lava rock. Wal-Mart would sell a small bag to use to plant orchids in. It would help with the evaporation greatly. They would also heat better than the white rocks your using now..
First time checking out your channel. Quite a interesting subject. Me personally. I dump my grey tank on the ground if I’m out boondocking and getting full. But usually that’s not the case because I’ll need fresh water, so I’ll do all that at the dump station. The plants need the water and if the food particles aren’t biodegradable, I shouldn’t be eating that crap anyways.
My solution. Get a couple of flower pots. Don't have to be really big. Then plant some flowers and water them with your gray water. Works great for me. Has worked for 2 seasons out in the desert for me. Snapdragons, lobelia, stocks and pansy this year.
Lava rocks (as in barbecuing) might retain more heat. Also, if you used two plastic bins you could unfold the dish mat to double the surface area and increase evaporation rate.
Either get dark colored rocks or paint the rocks black to increase heat absorption. Also use a black basket. Increasing the area of the pad would also increase the evaporation rate.
thanks,,, just throwing another number at you... a gallon of water weighs a little over 8 1/3 lbs.. and for me, every lb is needed for other things than grey water so this is a great trick.. you made a new follower in me..
I can see why that corporate boss hoped to keep you for 30 years. You are a joy to watch and listen too as well as very smart. I'd take your advice any time!
I'd think periodically you'd WANT to dump your grey tank to get little bits of food, hair, whatever gets into the grey tank from your sink or shower. I'd be afraid of that crud filling up in the tank or gumming up the works.
Hello! I've watched a lot of your videos, and they are great. I admire you for choosing this lifestyle and sticking with it. I do have a suggestion for you regarding your evaporation method. That nifty cap you have for the dump is probably threaded for garden hose. You can get a really inexpensive hose shut-off valve that you could screw on there, then attach your socks. it would give you a much easier and precise way to adjust the flow coming out. They also have plastic quick release ties and clamps that would let you stop using your hair ties. I think these suggestions will make your already good system even better! Good luck, and stay safe!
I you use biodegradable soap, you water can go on the ground. I'm sitting here looking at the trees behind you, thinking they'd probably like a drink, lol.
I find it funny when someone talks about getting rid of grey water and also then uses an outdoor shower. Think about the thousands of people that use the outdoor shower every day at the beach and it just runs on the ground.
I love this idea. Didn't know it was necessary to do this type of drain. NOW I get it! I so enjoy following your channel. I am going NOMAD in just a few weeks. I haven't quite decided on my RV rig. Funds will be the determining factor. I have to find work online since my social security won't cover it all. I have 2 masters and can't find a job out here. I have been a car traveler for years, now I'm going full time to the nomad lifestyle. Between you, Carolyn, Bill, and a few others I am getting well educated. Thank you so very much. Blessings.
Great video. The adapter cap is for hooking up a garden hose a lot of people use that to run their grey water into the woods. You can screw on the cap to the adapter a few threads until you get the correct amount of drip flow, instead of having to find the correct flow using the main valve.
Just hadn't imagined the lengths people would go to solve a non-problem if the water is safe for ground dispersion. I would just create a drip system below a 3 gallon holding tank so that after it has water flow into it from a shower, or well filtered sink, it just starts dripping out at a slow rate which gets soaked in over several hours of dripping, to no notice on the ground as it would soak in as fast as dripping, unless of course it is raining, and then nothing will be noticed at all. If desired and I would think especially if you do have food particles in the water, literally any tool to dig a small divot into the ground where it is dripping will let you push the dirt back over afterward before leaving to absolutely leave no evidence behind... But I would prefer filtering particulates out so that the drip system doesn't clog as readily.
I love the creativity, truly. I'm gearing up to start recording videos for my RV (which is more vintage than yours) to show things I'm doing to prep it for travel. So much fun to see what you're doing.
I think it's awesome that you're so considerate of the environment and make this extra effort to do your part! Thank you for all your informative videos!
Many great ideas are genius in their simplicity. Grey water disposal seems like it would be a pretty big hassle if I had to dump it at a station for a fee. This evaporation method solves a major hassle easily and cheaply.
Very creative and refreshing. I watch a lot of rv channels and you are the first person I have watched that has even dealt with gray water like this. Way to go! New sub here :-)
Nice video. Jason and Nikki Wynn at Gone With the Wynns did a segment at Burning Man where they showed several methods of evaporative grey water disposal.
If you rinse foods or allow any particulate to go down the sink and shower drains, that will eventually foul your system but you simply throw away the socks and mat more often. Of course you can occasionally back flush and maintain your grey tank when near a dump station. With our RV which is 36' long we use the hose adaptor to a garden type "Soaker" hose that has thousands of tiny pores to allow dispersion. I then position the soaker hose down the center of our RV under/between the axles and it normally keeps up quite well with the grey water we generate and we do not get a wet spot. This works better over sand soil or lush grassy areas. and it is great for the grass! One issue is our washing machine. I smply place a 5 gallon bucket under the large grey valve opening when we do a load. It just about perfectly fills the bucket. Sometimes if hotdry pavement is available I walk down the center of the pavement and slowly pour the grey wash water out and it will evaporate quickly.
Don't worry about the haters. Most of them are just ignorant. Personally, I would just hook a water hose on to the sewer cap and run it to the nearest tree. Let it drip water the landscape....good for the environment (as long as there isn't anything toxic in your gray water). Great job!
Awesome idea. My partner & I have a travel trailer & I plan on building a DIY composting toilet. As a retired nurse I NEVER want to touch poop again, hence the composting toilet. We didn't want to deal with draining the water from the grey tank either, so this sounds like a grand idea. We haven't been on the road yet, so my plan is to try this idea out in the back yard first. Looking forward to more videos and great ideas from you. Thanks.
By the way I know people that have "outhouses" and they use big zip lock bags for the paper it is sealable and odorless and dumpable at the first dumpster. I love this video. there is no LOVE button.
I don't know about any of you. But, I think pooping in a plastic bag, not compoted, and throwing raw sewage into land fills is somehow just not quite right. I do not think people realize that most garbage is put on conveyer belts, and humans go through it to separate plastic, glass, metal, wood, from non recycle people's garbage. Can u imagine them opening a plastic bag of camper poop? And we all wonder why our water and streams are polluted. Better to compost and leave composting bag on back rack with genny, and evaporation of grey water is brilliant!!! One would think, with knowing how dry it is out in blm, desert, what harm grey water would.do to all that sand?? I have often wondered. Other than particles of food and what not soap would be trapped on the surface after water filtered down.
Placing your partially composed human waste in a trash receptical is very bad. It takes many weeks under IDEAL conditions between when you stop adding fresh material and when you discard. If it smells like poop...do not toss it into the trash.
Very ingeniously done. Also on a very small footprint one thing you might have pointed out was that it works best in a low humidity environment. Also the amount of wind at the sock or wind speed. Thanks for opening my mind to this method. safe travels and Keep Smiling and Laugh a Lot to Live Long.
I like the concept but if you constantly use this method and “never use a dump station” how do you rinse/purge your gray water tank of them solids (hair, grease, food particles, etc) to avoid a blockage?
Just thinking if you take Orbit Arizona Mist Hose Attachment and rv 12 volt water pump a drip line fitter and two short garden hoses one clear and 25 foot tank wash hose 1: use the the drain cap with the hose end 2: one short garden hose to the drip line fitter 3: short clear hose from fitter to the 12 volt pump 4: hook up 25 hose (side note NOT you fresher water hose) your tank washing hose to the Orbit arizona Mister 5: plug in your water pump 6. use a black trash bag on the ground under mister I think about one hour 30 gallon be gone.
I think you may dispose of your gray water in a big container containing rocks, pebbles, sand, and charcoals to filter the used water which flows through an outlet pipe; thus, it will be a non-bio-hazard and could still use again. Moreover, it is not time-consuming work in disposing of it. Just my two cents.
Great idea! We too have a composting toilet in our trailer (and actually two in our sailboat). What a difference that has made in our fresh water usage & how much gray water we can now hold (and possibly evaporate)!
we have an electric pump rigged up to pump the bath and washing machine grey water direct to a long reservoir on the top of our skoolie. The reservoir is a connected 35 foot length of black 6 inch pvc pipe cut down the center forming two channels, a total of 70 feet which run underneath the solar panels. . The reservoir easily hold about 12 gallons at a time. On a real sunny day, just the heat from the roof radiation evaporates it in one day. Since we boondock mostly in the southwest, it works fine...we wash dishes by hand and wipe the dishes into the trash so there are no chunks of food or other nasty stuff
This was fascinating! How much better than others sneakily dumping their grey water when no one is looking, or saving it up and taking it to a dump station. Geniuis!
Composting toilets don't compost. They are messy. Hands on work. It takes 6 months to compost dry sewage. I'll stay with my portable blackwater tank using my gray water to flush with. Dig a hole and dump and cover. You can't suggest everyone find a dumpster to toss their compost toilet waste because most dumpsters are locked. Nothing wrong with burying black water or compost toilet waste especially when adding lime. It's 100% natural. But if a dump station is available it should be used.
I don't know what all the fuss is about dumping black/grey tanks. I don't get it. Hook up the hose, pull the lever and it empties. Big whoopy do. I'd rather do that than deal with my dry poop in a cannister full of other stuff you have to mix it with. No thanks! I'll stick with emptying my tanks with a hose and dump station.
This is sooooooo smart! I know the grey water can really smell - do the socks and dish drying mat retain any smell as or does drying them outside eliminate all that? Really enjoying your videos!
I have seen other people say that if they use Eco friendly soap then they just leave it open to dump . Or they have a bucket under their sink with a hose going straight into the bucket, then just dump their bucket everyday... IDK if that's a problem ?? Seems fine .. You have a cool idea too .. A lot of work to do..
I wonder if adding a little solar fan might speed up the evaporation... I'd also suggest a fresnel lens but that will take a lot more tinkering to ensure the sock and mat don't catch on fire :p
Can you try a soaker garden hose inside the pair of sock? hook the soaker hose on the the sewer cap and make the other end of the hose block off this will help with water flow. (may be ) try it? second run that soaker hose in a black tub and let sun do it work. For BLM she is add water into air and add to the water cycle I think your system work well in a hot dry or wind place. P.S. well done
Try making a manifold that will hold 6 socks along with a solar fan. In the desert, commercial large scale purifiers use clear tubing and very slowly run dirty water thru while the sun evaporates it.
Just thinking out loud. My husband is backpacker. When he’s out with a group, he uses a gravity feed water filter. I wonder if something like this would work with rv gray water. This way you could reuse the water.
you could run a garden hose up a foot or so, into a deep bucket (depth >= grey tank depth) that is at the same height as grey tank. then (vertically) hang one or more of you wicking mats in it. more surface area in air = greater evaporation. the point of the of the hose and bucket is that you can leave valve fully open and it will empty without your intervention. maybe you could even find a tall, narrow bucket that fits your current storage area - maybe a bathroom trash can (walmart has 10"h 5"w 10"d). oh, and you start it on the ground, get it nearly full to hold the siphon, then lift it to appropriate level (high enough so it doesnt overflow)
This procedure would seem to work best in a hot and low humidity location. There would have to be a strong gray water odor associated with the procedure. I agree with those who say there must be some risk of bacterial contamination on your hands. You wash your hands and create more gray water.
As an RV tech I'm a bit confused. If you use bio degradable soaps and don't wash meat down to the grey water tank what difference does all these extra steps to get rid of the water mean. Water is just water and bio degradable soaps is designed to be dumped directly into the soil which will filter it as it leaches into the earth doing it no harm.
Dunno, but I was reading that The State of Arizona regards gray water as sewage and have some aggressive deterrent laws about dumping it on public land.
If Bob is the Grandfather of the Cheap RV Living, she is the daughter or niece of a slightly more upper-scale movement which is accessible to most if not all middle-class Americans. Go with one of the many "composting" toilet types, anywhere from the 5 gal-bucket, to DIY to the expensive stuff, make sure you separate the pee (guys it is a lot easier, just get a 32 inch empty bottle of gatorade and put your 'hose' head in it while #2). Forget about the Gray Water tank. Just make sure you have a metal mesh cover on the hole on the sink to capture the solids which you will dispose in the trash. Maybe before washing the plate try to remove most of the crap with a paper towel. Less tanks, less crap and mess to worry about!
You are F'ng awesome! This is totally cool and necessary. We all know everything is changing in this world we live in and so many other changes to come. I love it and how your creative mind works. Great job!
In an emergency situation, I would use the sink for washing hands and dishes only and I will have two blankets for the dog one dirty under the sink and it will get wet for a few days and then take it to the laundry to wash it and the dog will get a clean blanket and the sink the dirty blanket. There is always a simple solution for everything
Insanely clever and inspiring. Thank you so much!!! I'm getting ready to hit the road full time and need all the info I can get about off-grid boondocking. This is awesome.
Very clever. I've never seen anyone else try this. I would think the socks and the mat would get kind of vile after a short period of time. Greywater still smells awful and I am very careful not to put anything in my tank but water from showers and brushing my teeth. I even wipe off my dirty dishes with moist paper towels, to make sure I get almost zero food particles in my greywater tank. The greywater still gets funky though.
Hi Robin ~ I Love these videos and ideas. I was thinking that Dr. Bronners with water could be sprayed around the sock to erase any odors and help keep it even cleaner.
My concern would be smell and insects. Might want to use a splash of citronella in the layer of mats... Had a seasonal site and we created a french drain dug with rocks and gravel and a large barrel underground. Was extremely careful to scrape foodscraps well and use the drain catches in sinks and shower... Enjoy your vids very much. Cannot wait to get back on the road in our 33 ft Class A soon...Hope to see you sometime! Ty for your research...Deb Tip...save your store bags for trash. We do this in the RV and home by purchasing office waste baskets...saves money and recycles!
We always use a dish pan in our kitchen sink while we're in our travel trailer. But I'm wondering what happens to those small bits of food and the hair from the bathtub and bathroom sink when you empty the gray tank like this? Do they come out with the gray water into the socks, or do they stay in the tank? I wondering if you emptied the tank all the way if those bits would get stuck on the bottom of the tank? I am guessing you probably flush out the gray tank occasionally when you do stay at a campground, but just wondering if all the gunk comes out into the socks too.
Starla Ross I strain out the little boys the best that I can and still see a few pieces come out in the sock. I absolutely flush the tank out periodically though and disinfect it.
I love this idea and will do it as soon as I can. I have subscribed and I linked that thing that goes on the end of the sewer outlet to my shopping cart and I have the socks and everything but the dryer already. I plan to begin living in my RV while emptying my house next month, and I will use this method to get rid of my gray water. FUN! Thanks!
I love your videos. What was the compelling reason to evaporate vs dump it? Like doesn’t it absorb into the ground from the mat anyhow? Plus reading about it being ok if not food particles. Perhaps just strain with the socks or some filter to catch the debris you can’t dump n discard the socks.
Robin, have you researched the microbial contamination in grey water, including E. Coli. According to my research you should not be touching and squeezing the sock and drying pad without treatment. To quote one, “microbial contamination may pose a serious treat to health if gray water comes into contact with humans.”
@becky L. Please think about this. Folks put underwear and panties in washing machines, public and private. Gray water is no different in terms of microbial life.
becky L. ..so rude... I don't use laundromats at of all because people washing dog and horse poop off their rugs, rags, etc. Robin came up with a great solution to evaporate gray water PLUS she is vegan
Just found your channel - loving it! You have great information and a really good on camera personality. While I'm not full-timing (yet!), I love this idea. The only thing I think will be a problem down the road is that solids will sit and likely congeal in the bottom of the tank over time. Using a dump station minimizes this as the large volume of liquid moving will pull most of these solids out. The trickling will leave much of them behind. So I think that every once in a while you'll need to go through a cleaning process and use a dump station.
Thank you for your awesome Channel. I'm new to this but I don't understand evaporating grey water. If it was me I dig a nice cat hole, drip the water in it slow enough to not form a puddle, don't even try to evaporate it. Cover it up and call it a day. This way any gunk is going to be eight inches under the surface. Course I'd only do this if there are no toxins in the water, and one has only use safe soaps.
Can you not achieve the same thing by placing the water in a five gallon bucket with a window screen and a bungie cord to hold it in place and just let it evaporate??? Or is this not allowed?
Sure you could get a collapsible bucket. so many sizes to choose from. www.amazon.com/Camco-Collapsible-Zippered-Storage-Watertight/dp/B000O5EW9G Just seems easier than rocks and socks... but to each their own. Keep livin' the dream. :)
Short answer: No. Long answer: Buckets are good at holding water not dispersing it. Really long answer: By spreading the water slowly through out the sock and the mat it dries out a quickly. The system works because of the surface area, the air flow and the incremental feed. Drying off a slow drip works because it's spread across the the entire surface area of the mat and socks and all of it is exposed to the air. The surface of water in a bucket is limited and if the bucket isn't filled to the very top you have no real air flow. A bucket would just sit there and go stagnant, in time some of it would evaporate, but it would never keep up with the grey water coming into the tank. In one day she evaporated about 16 gallons. A bucket might evaporate a gallon.
Just recently started watching your videos. I enjoy your thinking process, your definitely unconventional and informative, as well as fun to watch. Thank you for sharing with the rest of us.
Love ur setup. I might add a usb charging battery fan from walmart and also one time a month fill ur grey tank w clean water and force flush the normal dumping way to get rid of "leftovers". Very well done. Ty.
Creative genius! I live organic unscented using biodegradable soaps. Do I still need to do this or can I dump grey water outside? I'm considering using a compostable bag inside of my RV toilet and throwing it away and peeing into a jar/container and pouring it in the woods. I've decided "NO" to black tanks. What do you think? Thanks for another great video. ML
If you use equine bedding ie pine wood pellets ie pine cat litter...equine bedding being the cheapest...you can make a human litter box when you pee on the pellets they disintegrate into compostable sawdust...you can buy a litter box designed for using pellets which consists of two boxes one inside the other the top box being a sifter which when shaken seperates the sawdust from the pellets for easy disposal..into the trash bin....you can also poop and scoop if you choose to have a two in one...if you line the lower box with a bag or puppy pad you don't have to clean the lower box...it is odor control and sanitary...you can purchase about 40 pounds for $12 at TSC or other feed type store or online...your method seems like alot more work...additionally an hour shower set up for bathing and kitchen sink would recyle your water and reduce your water usage
I am not an RVer but I have spend 20 years as a certified Master Gardner specializing in water harvesting and reclamation in the state of Texas. I appreciate your attempts to "safely" dispose of gray water but this is all so unnecessary and frankly silly. All over the world and the USA gray water is totally safe and legal to be diverted into lawns and ornamental gardens. By "gray water" we mean water used for showering, hand washing, laundry water and dish water. Ideally all soaps should be biodegradable. The BML laws are there to prevent corporations and companies from dumping large amounts 1000's of gallons of gray water onto Gov land creating washouts, and pools. Hikers and campers are allowed to discard their gray water 100' away from a water source. while on trails throughout the national and state park systems. Before releasing gray water it should be strained with a fine mesh strainer to remove food particles, after that it is best to release water slowly to allow the soil to absorb it. This is not only safe but beneficial to the environment as a whole. As long as the water does not leave traces upon evaporation or large soggy wet spots it is perfectly ok to release as much as the soil can absorb this will greatly enhance the biodiversity in the soil. I also understand that if you have 100's of campers all in one spot this needs to be taken into consideration, and common sense should be used. But while you are camping in campsites with a few people over the course of the season and especially dry environments it is perfectly safe.
You are absolutely correct and everything that you said. Years ago I was a Texas certified nurserymen back in the day. I did not take the Master Test I was out of the business. There is very fine strainers that you can put in your sink and bathtub the catch the larger particles. That is where most of the odor occurs. Is very beneficial for plants and they will transpire very very close to 100% pure water. What goes up an evaporation is 99.9% clear water vapor. Where her system would be beneficial as when you have neighbors close by they may be offended by a odor and that is legitimate but you don't want to have to explain to somebody gray water is safer than stream water for soaking into the ground. In reality you can put it through a solar still AKA water dehydrator and drink it. What is this water called that is a purest water on Earth yep distilled water. This is a way of dealing with grey water creating freshwater at the same time
G.A.Buba You seem very knowledgeable on this! Can you answer one question... can urine be grey water? I have a composting toilet that separates the urine in a jug. I want to plumb that into my grey tank as I have no black tank. Seems fine in my head as it will be diluted by all the other grey water. Thoughts?
All this talk of dumping waste and gray water reminded me of that DNC bus dumping everything in a storm drain... ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-vtC9XGwMLDQ.html I read most of the article that was referenced in the first post. Seems like gray is ok on blm except for a couple of supplemental spots that have special regs. like the long term place in az. So some spots hare special regs. Rangers have discretion to site violators or not... that probably has to do with the honey truck collecting all the water and just dumping 3000 gals in one spot.
@@iant720over 30 year contractor. In a home septic system solids settle in the septic tanks to decompose while the liquids (grey water and urine) pass freely into the lateral lines where they seep into the soil and/or dump into a cesspool.So yes urine is technically grey water.It is most likely more sterile and acidic than grey water but dilution is the key.
Thats very clever think ill have to use your idea. I saw gone with the wynns show how people did it at burning man. Yours is a lot less bulky, i love it
Hello Robin.... Thank you for the tip on 'Evaporating' the water from your gray tank. I found it to be practical and solves a problem RV's would have. I don't write comments...but I felt compelled to do so..so as to keep encouraging you to continue making these videos. I'm just glued to them and all those good tips you contribute. Once again....thank you... from Luis from Lake Alfred, Florida...
I appreciate your ingenuity, usfull technique while on an extended stay! I dont disagree that disguarding GW at a hose length works fine BUT when that combo of weather & geographic location turns unfavourable; GW attracts mosquitos etc and occasionally lets off that stagnated dish pan odor! With a little streamlining, your design will not only take less effort but be much more user & eco friendly. Definitely got me thinking, can't wait to see future updates!!! Thank you!
I think the fact that you are in dry California is a huge factor, allowing you to do that. If you were in humid Florida, Louisiana, or Georgia, I doubt it would work very well.
What if you put the sock in a bucket filter- layer aquarium filter, activated charcoal, sand, (like a giant Lifestraw) and then on to mat. Less smell, and if does spill off, at least it's filtered. I plan on making a gray water recycling system!
Fascinating and very clever! Thank you, Robin, for sharing your process. I've also found this thread to be quite informative. Here's a dumb question from a newbie (me): What's so horrible about the dumping station? Particularly when it comes to grey water? I understand why the black water would not be much fun and the desire to compost for that reason. I'm not there yet -- I don't have my RV yet (although I found her today! YAY!) -- but now I know where to look once I start doing all this myself. Thanks again everybody!
