Gray Water Usage Rates

[righellis]

Our gray water sensor is dead. Traveling all Spring and Summer. Not an urgent matter. Getting replaced when we get back to home port in October. Gray kept open whenever we are at a site. Been researching usage rates for when the tank is closed.

Here is what I have found.
* RV clothes washer: 5 to 16 gallons
* RV dishwasher: 4 to 6 gallons
* Typical shower: 1 gallon per minute

Am soliciting opinions and/or research done by others on this forum.

[jacwjames]

When we travel and know we'll have full hookups for the night we aren't too concerned.
But when we are traveling and just stopping for the night we go into water conservation mode. No washing machine, we don't have a dishwasher but we are conservative when washing dishes. Do the navy shower routine, get wet, shut off water, lather up, rinse off, we probably use ~2-3 gallon of water max per shower.

We even have a ultraconservative mode if we are parked multiple days (one week or more), I'll use a cooking pot to catch cold water in the shower until it gets hot. Use that water for coffee etc. I'll use a plastic tub in the kitchen skin and catch that water and depending on levels dump it down the commode or in the woods if we are parked in an area that allows it.



So it depends, you can stop every night to get full hookups also. Or take a chance, roll the dice, and wait until you see water coming up in the shower drain.

[Country Road]

Originally Posted by jacwjames

When we travel and know we'll have full hookups for the night we aren't too concerned.
But when we are traveling and just stopping for the night we go into water conservation mode. No washing machine, we don't have a dishwasher but we are conservative when washing dishes. Do the navy shower routine, get wet, shut off water, lather up, rinse off, we probably use ~2-3 gallon of water max per shower.

We even have a ultraconservative mode if we are parked multiple days (one week or more), I'll use a cooking pot to catch cold water in the shower until it gets hot. Use that water for coffee etc. I'll use a plastic tub in the kitchen skin and catch that water and depending on levels dump it down the commode or in the woods if we are parked in an area that allows it.



So it depends, you can stop every night to get full hookups also. Or take a chance, roll the dice, and wait until you see water coming up in the shower drain.

Agree. Shower will tell you if it’s full. If you think it’s near full, don’t wash or use dishwasher. Can be a problem, but you know that.

[Dennis C.]

Like others have said, if we are dry camping then we are much more careful with water. We don’t use the clothes washer, we use more paper plates and disposable plastic silverware to avoid doing dishes, etc. I would imagine that your London Aire has a Shower Miser system so that you don’t waste water waiting for the shower to get hot. I find this system to be very effective at minimizing waste. I find that a shower only takes a few gallons of water.

My wife and I dry camped for 3 nights last week at a state park and our 65 gallon grey tank only got up to about 50% full in that time.

[spock12]

DW will not dry camp, well maybe a day. I never check the sensors, when the shower or sink starts backing up I dump. If I dry camped I would buy a portable holding tank to be safe. With empty tanks I can normally go for 5 days, 3 40gal tanks

[Coachie]

I have figured over the years 3 days for the three of us, 4 days with real conservation. We do have a somewhat smaller grey tank at 45 gallons.

That said I would use the fresh tank and pump when not at full hookups. Monitoring how much the fresh tank goes down and what is in the black should be a good indicator of what is in the grey.

[righellis]

Originally Posted by Coachie

I have figured over the years 3 days for the three of us, 4 days with real conservation. We do have a somewhat smaller grey tank at 45 gallons.

That said I would use the fresh tank and pump when not at full hookups. Monitoring how much the fresh tank goes down and what is in the black should be a good indicator of what is in the grey.

Great idea to gage where we are at. Thanks.

[jacwjames]

As a last resort, depending on how your tanks are you might be able to transfer the gray water to the black tank to give you more time/room.
You coach may be different but our gray and black tank are side by side. If my gray tanks get full I can put the cap on the dump and open the gray valve, and the open the black tank and the levels will equalize then close both valve. You will have a volume of a mix of black & gray sitting above the dump cap that will have to be captured. My cap has a threaded nipple that accepts a hose, I can divert the waste water through it to get rid of it.

[Old-Biscuit]

When the toilet 'burps'...time to dump black
When shower starts to drain slower...time to dump grey
When kitchen sink starts to drain slower....time to dump galley
When water pump goes 'buuurrrrp'....fresh water tank needs filled

[RVFunlovers]

Our gray tank is almost 60 gallons. We can use a little less than 10 gallons a day when we need to. No dish washer or clothes washing. Quick Showers.

We do have a shower miser that saves about 1 gallon per shower by dumping water back into the fresh tank until the shower water heats up.

Kitchen sink can be a big water user if you are not careful.

[SteveJ.]

We have a 37.5 grey tank and get 9-10 days on it. With Navy showers and Oxygenics shower head we use about 2.5-2.75 gallons of water for two full showers including running about 2 quarts of water(that we capture for coffee/tea) to flush the cold water. And yes, we have measured it.

I've become a firm believer in the Oxygenics showerhead. Our standard practice is to only fire up water heater for use in the shower, and then only to a comfortable temperature to run the hot water with no cold water blending. Before we had the Ovygenics our hot water temperature would tail off toward the end of the second shower as we were using a lot more water. Now, no more tail off. This is with a 6 gallon Suburban.

[Coachie]

Originally Posted by SteveJ.

We have a 37.5 grey tank and get 9-10 days on it. With Navy showers and Oxygenics shower head we use about 2.5-2.75 gallons of water for two full showers including running about 2 quarts of water(that we capture for coffee/tea) to flush the cold water. And yes, we have measured it.

I've become a firm believer in the Oxygenics showerhead. Our standard practice is to only fire up water heater for use in the shower, and then only to a comfortable temperature to run the hot water with no cold water blending. Before we had the Ovygenics our hot water temperature would tail off toward the end of the second shower as we were using a lot more water. Now, no more tail off. This is with a 6 gallon Suburban.

I agree on the Oxygenics shower head. We changed last year and it’s more pressure with less water. Great for rinsing the soap/shampoo off.