# campers and holding tanks...



## Thurman (Feb 9, 2009)

If you have access to a septic tank, the why not use it? I have friends here who park there units in their back yards, and hook up as if camping (including to a septic tank hook-up). Usually the grandkids stay in them over the weekend-sort of "camping" to them. Your gray water and black water _should_ just go right on out to the septic system. David


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## ugabulldog (Oct 16, 2006)

I agree, hooking up to a septic tank would be the best solution, but living in a camper with new home construction, grading, etc going on is different than living in a backyard. We might hook up after septic is in place, eventually, but I would need a place to stay will grading for home, 600' ft road/driveway is put in place, septic tank installed and inspected. So it might make sense to live in camper a few hundered feet from construction until we can hook up. So, how often would I need to empty tank ya' think?


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## vsheetz (Sep 28, 2008)

The size of the holding tank varies camper to camper - smaller campers usually have smaller tanks. And of course the number of people using makes a big difference. Typically I think you will get two to five days of use. The grey tank fills up quickly as well - water from the sink, shower, etc. If using the shower, my wife and I will fill up the grey tank before the black.

You can get a portable tank that you dump into and then take the portable tank to a dump station - saves having to tear down and drag the whole camper there.

Is there a camp ground relatively nearby? You could set up the camper there with full hookups (water, electric, sewer), have the use of their showers, etc. Check for weekly and monthly rates. Then move to your property once the septic tank is ready there.

With everything going on with house building - I would consider to minimize the time and hassle of dealing with the camper by setting up in a camp ground.


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## ugabulldog (Oct 16, 2006)

vsheetz....you make a good point about just emptying the potable water tank.....much easier, gross,...but much easier.


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## bjbatlanta (Jul 16, 2008)

Check into having a portable toilet company coming out and furnishing an aux. tank and pumping on a regular basis if you can't access the septic and don't want to haul the camper to "dump" the tanks....


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## Wildie (Jul 23, 2008)

If you have access to the septic tank, water supply and electricity, living on site would be an advantage as theft of building material would be minimized by your presence!

It would be best to follow the usual practice followed by campers in general!

The tanks are always kept closed, rather than be allowed to flow continuously!
In the black water tank, solids will back up in the tank, while the fluids run away! Fluids and solids must be kept suspended together, then when the gate valve is opened all will be evacuated together!
After the black water is emptied, then the gray water is dumped, to clean out the remains of the black water!

The FEMA trailers came without tanks, so that the above procedure did not need to be followed!


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## vsheetz (Sep 28, 2008)

Here is something else that could help - RV Waste Pump Kit
http://www.campingworld.com/shopping/item/flojet-rv-waste-pump-kit/26125


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## Mit678 (Mar 1, 2011)

*Holding tanks*

I have a camper that does not have a holding tank and hooks straight up to a septic tank, will a portable holding tank work on my camper?


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## Wildie (Jul 23, 2008)

Mit678 said:


> I have a camper that does not have a holding tank and hooks straight up to a septic tank, will a portable holding tank work on my camper?


 If you don't have a holding tank, but you do have a toilet aboard, there is no problem.
Its when you have a tank, that you cannot allow waste to flow through.


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## Mit678 (Mar 1, 2011)

Wildie said:


> If you don't have a holding tank, but you do have a toilet aboard, there is no problem.
> Its when you have a tank, that you cannot allow waste to flow through.


 I do have a toilet and a shower. We love to go to state parks, but most of them don't have the septic tank hook ups. We were holding a portable one would work.


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## Mit678 (Mar 1, 2011)

It's just two of us, what size portable holding tank would you recommend? The camper has a shower and toilet, plus sinks.


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## Wildie (Jul 23, 2008)

Mit678 said:


> It's just two of us, what size portable holding tank would you recommend? The camper has a shower and toilet, plus sinks.


 You can never have too much tank capacity! Holding tanks become filled at the most inconvienient times.
If you intend to add a tank to your rig, get the largest one that you have room for.
And don't forget to dump your tank before going on the road. It costs money to move waste water around.


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## Mit678 (Mar 1, 2011)

Wildie said:


> You can never have too much tank capacity! Holding tanks become filled at the most inconvienient times.
> If you intend to add a tank to your rig, get the largest one that you have room for.
> And don't forget to dump your tank before going on the road. It costs money to move waste water around.


No plans to add one, we usually only take weekend trips. Just wanted to make sure a portable holding tank would work being the camper doesn't have one. Thanks for the info. If you have any other advice, it would be great. We are thinking of getting the 42 gallon portable holding tank since you can hook it to a hitch & empty it. Sounds convienent.


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## FixitDragon (Feb 9, 2011)

If just using the trailer's holding tanks, be prepared to take "Navy" showers. Wet down, turn off water, soap up, shampoo hair, turn on water and rinse. Our trailer has 40g tanks holding tanks and a 50g fresh, which is pretty good size for travel trailers. My wife and I have 3 little ones. Being conservative with water we can usually get 3-4 days of dry camping (no hook-ups). Being conservative means a navy shower every 2 days, sponge bath the other days. The 3 kids (4,3,2) get a hybrid bath/shower (our TT has a mini bathtub). I wash dishes in washtubs and dump them down the toilet, it helps ease the load on the grey tank. A camper toilet uses much less water when flushing.

Mit678 - you can do what you propose, just be aware if your trailer does not have holding tanks, you probably have a residential style toilet. These are not very compatable with dry camping. At 1.6g (or even 1.25g) per flush, how many flushes before you fill that holding tank? Combined with shower (even navy shower) and sink use it will fill fast. And just as important, how many flushes before you drain your fresh water tank? What I would sugest for dry camping is use the portable blue holding tank for grey only, and get a self contained cassete porta potty.

For more information then you can imagine, check out www.rv.net it is to rvs what this board is for DIY


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## Mit678 (Mar 1, 2011)

FixitDragon said:


> If just using the trailer's holding tanks, be prepared to take "Navy" showers. Wet down, turn off water, soap up, shampoo hair, turn on water and rinse. Our trailer has 40g tanks holding tanks and a 50g fresh, which is pretty good size for travel trailers. My wife and I have 3 little ones. Being conservative with water we can usually get 3-4 days.
> 
> For more information then you can imagine, check out www.rv.net it is to rvs what this board is for DIY


 My trailer doesn't have a holding tank at all, it hooks straight up to a septic tank. We are gonna see if a portable holding tank will work on it while we camp at parks because most parks do not have septic tank hook ups.


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## FixitDragon (Feb 9, 2011)

Sorry, the first part of my post was directed more torward the OP  The second part was more directed to your situation. So do you have a residential style toilet?


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## md2lgyk (Jan 6, 2009)

My wife and I did this exact thing while we built our log home in WV. We lived in our 29-foot RV for about 18 months. Although it has holding tanks, I ran a temporary above-ground line to the house septic system. I also hard piped, insulated, and heat traced the water line, installed a temporary box with an RV receptacle, skirted the trailer with rigid foam insulation, got DirecTV. and ran a temporary land line phone. With a small electric heater to supplement the propane furnace, we were comfortable even when some winter nights dipped to below zero. Oh, and I also bought a 100 lb propane tank so I wouldn't have to refill as often. Since my wife and I (both in our late 50s) physically did almost all the home construction ourselves, the whole experience was kind've an adventure (but one we won't repeat LOL). While the home isn't perfect, it's ours, we did it ourselves, and it's PAID FOR.


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## High Gear (Nov 30, 2009)

Grey water tanks can be set at " drip mode " , just use biodegradable soap.

Chem toilet is an option.


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## obama6493 (Feb 24, 2011)

ugabulldog said:


> vsheetz....you make a good point about just emptying the potable water tank.....much easier, gross,...but much easier.


Check into having a portable toilet company coming out and furnishing an aux. tank and pumping on a regular basis if you can't access the septic and don't want to haul the camper to "dump" the tanks....

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