How do YOU handle grey and black water dumping on long trips?

[discoverer]

Sent: 10/1/2003 7:51 PM

on a long trip or a boondock?

[denisondc]

Sent: 10/1/2003 8:19 PM On our long drives we are in a campground about each night, and dump before departure. On our rare boondocking we minimize use of the facilities, and dump at rest areas if needed. We have a campground directory that lists the states having dump facilities in their interstate rest areas. At home I put in a sewer connection beside the driveway. Ive never yet had the need to dump inappropriately. denison

[mightybooboo]

Sent: 10/6/2003 6:34 AM

Stolen blatently from another board..Everything about dumping, and how folks feel about it:

"For disposing of human waste, select a spot at least 200 feet from water and campsites. Using a small trowel or shovel, dig a hole six to eight inches deep. After use bury it with loose soil, top with sod and pack it down with your foot. Organisms in the soil will decompose the material within a few days." " Since time began, everything had to poop and no one picked it up. If you did, just where would you go to dispose of it? Please be practical, poop in the wood's does not hurt anything unless of course you step in it. The same hold's true for your holding tank's. I see nothing wrong with emptying them in the wood's. Where did your poop go when we all had outhouse's?"" I have been known to dump a couple gallons of gray water around the bases of shrubery and trees near by so long as no one is camping in the area and the places I camp seem to be doing better because of it( the plants any way). We only use "green" biodegradeable stuff to clean up with and only the good "green" bio-organisms ever hit our tanks and yet I still cannot bring myself to dumping black water anywhere other than a dump site (probably just a personal choice here) even though we camp in areas that are rather remote and desolate (might see another camper a couple miles away or once a week or so). I might consider dumping black if the local authorities were pleading for us to do so but probably not (again a personal choice). http://www.fs.fed.us/r9/forests/hiawatha/recreation/camping/primitive_camping/  Both of the above link to guidelines for primitive camping. They both agree on a 200 foot rule for human waste disposal.

I suspect that the first site is derived from the second. www.escapees.com/website/edocuments/boondockingletter.pdf

"You would do best by reading up on compost. Compost is the best all natural fertilizer there is. What makes compost? Nitrogen, carbon, Oxygen, and water. Manure is a great source of nitrogen weather it be animal or human. A carbon source is leafs, wood, etc. Mix this with common earth and it will decompose in 30days and become the best plant food there is" "I do not like any of the commerical toilet chemicals as most are even bad for septic tanks. Vinegar on the other hand does the same thing but better and is very friendly to the enviroment. Add 1 cup vinegar per 25gal black water and it disolves all solids and TP with-in 48hrs depending on the tempature. The "mix" now has passed the first stage of compost in a very short time. When you dump this into a hole then add pine needles and leafs then you start the second stage of composting. Cover this with a layer of earth and your compost pile is complete.""Anyone who does not bury there waste will harm the enviroment. This is mostly from animals that find the waste before it decomposes as it carrys alot of bacteria that the animals "can" pick up. After the waste enters the compost stage then all harmful bacteria is dead.There are toilets that compost as you use them. They work well.""If someone comes in your backyard, digs a hole, and then lets thier family poop in it for a week ,then covers it up- would you really want to camp in that spot the next day?I also don't believe that anyone who dumps this crap in the wild gives a hoot if it's covered up. I'm willing to bet that over 80% of the people that would do such a disgusting thing- don't have the decency to actually spend the time to dig a hole- then cover it up completely. If they did- they may as well just go to a dump site and dump it as they should.Just because the woods are empty when you dump this stuff does not mean someone won't be on that spot soon. People take hikes, dogs go running and if an area looked good enough for you to camp in, why wouldn't it look good enough for someone else. What a bunch of PIGS! What do you think dump stations are for. So you have to pay !   I've got news for you- that's life-own up to it for a change!"    "I have a hole in the front yard of my house we poop in regularly, its called a septic tank, works real well for us pigs thank you.   

Now I have never dumped my holding tanks in the woods, so far I've been able to make it through a camp trip without having to dump. But if I did have to dump, please tell me, how would digging a hole, dumping then filling it in be much different then using the pit toilets so often used at remote campgrounds?    As for you ridicules assertion that 80% would not bother to dig a hole. In the last thirty years or so I've have spent many many hours driving logging roads into all kinds of remote places. I have seen some campsites left by some real pigs. But I have never seen any evidence of someone dumping a black water tank on the ground without digging a hole."
"I saw someone who dumped their black tank on the grass at Walmart,now thats a PIG!"" They just rebuilt our sewer system here in the small town I live next to, it was over 20 years old, what did the state have them do,they pumped the water on a farmers field , what did they do with the solid's that came out of the bottom of the Lagoon they put it on another farmers field, the state of Mo approved this, after all as a farmer myself we have always put live stock manure on our fields, when I come back from a boon docking trip now I dump my camper in a field on my farm, unless I have been in a camper park with a dump then I use that," 
"Black water is not necessarily being dumped all over everywhere by boondockers, at least not conscientious boondockers. These folks are following rules and guidelines as outlined by agencies of the federal government (digging catholes is recommended AND encouraged).

I am trying hard to not over-react to your comment about "some who think that they know better, but we do have rules in our society for the common good.""Appropriate disposal of black water can be done according to the rules and when boondocking in a forest the rules are to dig a hole, dump it and bury it. Potential disease is contained by making sure it is at least 200 feet from water and buried.Now, this is NOT the rule in a subdivision or a private campground. But, there are areas where this IS the rule. Please stop confusing the issue here. We aren't driving down the road and spraying the stuff, we aren't dumping next to a fire ring or parking pad, but we ARE following the rules." "NFS and BLM regulations often provide latrines and privies at even the most primitive campsites. When even farther out, the rules require individual latrines 100 feet or more from any water source (such as described by some here).Problems occur when there are too many people in too small an area or someone stores it up and then dumps it (such as using a porta potty or other holding tank). The more the waste you have, the more complex the disposal becomes. The general rule for camp or household sewage is that it needs to be put completely underground in a hole large enough to allow efficient and rapid dispersal without getting into any surface water.Same thing with gray water: Individual campers tossing a bit of wash water on a bush is an entirely different thing than an RV'er pulling his tank valve so it drains as he leaves camp.

"From phred tinseth at www.phrannie.org/phredex.html ,also known as Phreds Poop Sheets.HOW DO YOU GET RID OF IT?If it's an occasional shot, just stick the end of the hose in a sewage receptacle and let'r go. Use your imagination. Flush toilets are good (you don't need to hold the flush lever down; water flows through the built-in trap in a toilet.) Pit toilets are EZ, but the ranger might complain--be discreet. Gopher holes are good (don't worry about the gophers, they'll adapt -- and Darwin will account for those who can't). Sewers work--but make sure a storm drain (that can look like a sewer) doesn't drain into the pretty stream nearby. Shrubbery and trees are good--you'll be improving their growth--Anne's trees and roses grew phenomenally when I parked in her back yard.DO NOT macerate into a garden that has edibles in it! DO NOT macerate--repeatedly--where the stuff will work its way toward someone's well. Macerating occasionally won't hurt anybody any more than the dog poop that can occur anywhere. Macerating repeatedly in the same place can work its way into the water system--be cautious.

Now my story.I have yet had to dump except in campground or truck stop approved dump sites,BUT,eons ago when I was a starving student I lived in a bus in the desert.I dug a 10 gallon sized hole and just let the black water drain into it,with one person it worked great!A small septic tank in essence.For the grey water I captured it all and watered my native vegetation,they were very green,healthy and bloomed great.Waste disposal isnt rocket science and pretty easy to manage.If I ever seriously boondock... if way out.... I will get a macerator and water the plants,if no macerator just dig a hole like the other recommendations.Had enough POOP stories yet  ?BooBoo   

[pvoth1111]

My ADD wont let me read that.....I need a nap now

[Oz]

 :)rotflmao   Okay... I'll take the time to go through it and break it down into smaller paragraphs. 


Edit:  It's kinda hard to do.  It's so run-on!

[xerofall]

I do the Cousin Eddie procedure. 

[cosmic]

dine and dash.

[M & J]

I couldnt read it all either....

[Oz]

Scanning it as much as I could, it sounds like a rant with a couple good links in it.

[Stripe]

Actually, it's very good reading..