| Author |
Message |
Ross Carlisle (Ross) (207.88.96.163)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Wednesday, May 29, 2002 - 3:10 pm: | |
Another post reminded me that I've been meaning to ask this. Would a large single tank be acceptable? What are the advantages and disadvantages of both?
Thanks..>Ross |
Nick Russell (207.140.227.31)
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Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Wednesday, May 29, 2002 - 5:19 pm: | |
Ross,
We've gone both ways, first in production motorhomes, then in our bus. Advantages of a single tank - well, just one tank to worry about, pay for, etc. The gray water helps keep solids from the toilet from settling and forming a blockage in your tank. A lot of new RVers are very sparing about using plenty of water in their black tank, wanting to stretch the times between dumping. This leads to LOTS of troubles, trust me. Disadvantages - you have to dump more often, which can be a hassle. Advantages of two tanks, one for gray water & one for black - you can stretch your time between dumping. If we are in an RV park, where we have full hookuops, we leave the gray water valve open and let it run out. Wife can do laundry & we take long showers. When we need to dump the black tank, we close the gray water valve the night before and take our showers. Then the next day we first drain the black and close the valve, and follow it by opening the gray valve. The gray water coming through flushes out the hose for me. Now, in our MC-8 right now we have a single gray/black tank, about 100 gallons. We got it for a steal. We set it up so with a diverter valve, we can either run the gray into the tank, or directly out if we have full hookups. But we will actually change it out later on this year and go with twin 100 gallon tanks for black & gray. That is overkill on the black tank. The gray always fills up a lot faster than the black. So we will again have a diverter so we can send the gray to the black if we want to. We go to a lot of RV rallies to promote our Gypsy JOurnal RV newspaper and I teach classes at the rallies in working on the road. Going to dump is a hassle when we're parked in the vendor area, and we had to be very careful about not filling our gray tank. So lots of quick showers. With the twin tanks and diverter, we can run gray water into the black tank when wanted and have a comfortable margin for showers, etc.
Nick
www.gypsyjournal.net |
Ross Carlisle (Ross) (207.88.96.90)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Wednesday, May 29, 2002 - 5:41 pm: | |
You come up with some pretty good ideas Nick. I didnt think of using 2 large waste tanks. I could install a 12V transfer pump from the gray to the black for heavy usage or if on hookups, just dump the gray overboard. I'm building my tanks out of fiberglass, so making two wont cost much more than one.
Ross |
Peter (Sdibaja) (209.242.148.130)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Wednesday, May 29, 2002 - 5:45 pm: | |
I use two tanks, separate valves, plumbed into the same outlet. Same as a commercial RV. My gray tank has an overflow that runs into the black tank if it gets too full.
Both are about 30 gallons. That is fine for black: good for more than a week or two, not enough for the gray, it fills up with a tub bath and a couple of long showers.
I can run my gray tank out into a ditch if I need to (never have) and I like that. Remember that gray water is considered “unclean”. It can carry those nasty bugs from bathing and food washing that get people sick (real sick)from, not to mention the soaps.
Go with two, I would choose 30 black and 75 to 100 gray. Dump as described by Nick.
Peter |
Peter (Sdibaja) (209.242.148.130)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Wednesday, May 29, 2002 - 5:47 pm: | |
PS: my overflow is gravity, top of gray to top of black, no pump needed... KISS! |
Nick Russell (12.2.88.177)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Wednesday, May 29, 2002 - 6:22 pm: | |
Ross,
You don't need a pump. I just put a Y in the plumbing system, with a plastic open/close valve on both sides of the Y, and from there to the gray & black tank. If I want to go into the gray tank, I close the valve to the black tank. If I want to go to the black, I close the gray valve. Real simple. Though it's not socially acceptable to run gray water on the ground, in some places it is even encouraged. One that comes to mind is a campgrond we visited in Thackerville, Oklahoma. They needed the water on their trees. At an RV supply store, you can get a cap for your drain pipe that has a threaded opening for a hose. Screw the hose on, open the gray valve and run the hose away from the bus, to a thirsty tree, whatever. (It is in your best interest NOT to confuse your hoses, and use the drain water for your fresh water next time around! If you do, you will need ALL of your black tank capacity! LOL)
Nick
www.gypsyjournal.net |
Dwight (67.213.8.86)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Thursday, May 30, 2002 - 7:47 am: | |
It is not lawful to dump gray or black on the ground, check with EPA !!!
Fines are hefty also !!!! |
Richard Bowyer (Drivingmisslazy) (66.190.119.82)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Thursday, May 30, 2002 - 9:10 am: | |
Nick,
My setup is similiar to yours, except I have three shutoff valves. One at the output of the grey tank on one side of the Y, one at the output of the black tank on the other side of the Y, and one at the output of the Y.
If I ever need to combine the tanks, for more capacity, I open the black and grey valves, leaving the output valve closed. Now the two tanks are coupled thru their 3 inch outputs.
When I have to do this (combine the tanks), I put a gallon of clorox and a couple of gallons of water in the grey tank after it has been emptied. I do not really know if this is necessary or not to disinfect the grey tank.
When draining, I first drain the black tank, using the black valve and the output valve. I then close the output valve and open the grey valve, leaving the black valve open. The grey flushes into the black until the two tanks are equally full. Then close the grey and open the output again. This is the first rinse of the black, using half of the contents of the grey.
By repeating this procedure, I find that I can get at least three good rinses of the black tank.
Richard |
Nick Russell (12.2.88.115)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Thursday, May 30, 2002 - 10:43 am: | |
Good idea, Richard. I'll incorporate it into our layout when I add our twin tanks later on. Thanks!
Nick
www.gypsyjournal.net |
Scott Whitney (24.205.236.239)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, June 02, 2002 - 1:17 am: | |
I've got a set-up similar to Richard's. 3" PVC connecting both tanks in the Y and out. Makes it easy to flush grey thru black. My black tank also has a valve and 3" opening on the passenger side for those tight or unusual dumping situations. Grey & black can be dumped thru black from either side.
I've never combined the tanks, though I could if I wanted to. I normally let the grey flow into black and shut the valve while it is still flowing so there is no back wash of black into grey. Don't know why I do that, just seems more sanitary for some reason. Both tanks meet code for a black tank, so I don't know what difference it makes.
Got pics here:
http://www.dustyfoot.com/watertanks.html
Scott |
Don KS/TX (64.24.4.193)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, June 02, 2002 - 10:50 pm: | |
Well, another two cents worth. I have ONE combined 140 gal grey/black tank, and find it far superior to the separate tanks and the hassles I had with a number of commercial RV's. I can divert the grey water to the ground anytime I wish, but have never had occasion to do that. I find two major advantages of doing it this way, first you never have to go dump when only one tank needs it (which as you know is always the grey one). Secondly, there is never a buildup problem with the shower water going thru it.
I can indorse the two tanks with a connector between, except why do all that expense and make more places to leak?
While camped, we open the dump upon arrival, and close it when departing. |
Arthur G. Knapp (Agkcpa) (68.6.90.71)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Thursday, June 13, 2002 - 1:06 am: | |
My setup is similar to Don's. I have one large tank for grey and balck. I have a valve I can pull that makes all greywater (shower and both sinks) flow directly to the sewer outlet. That way when we are at hook-ups we totally bypass the tank with shower and other grey water. I have had both systems and far prefer this one. |
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