Community Forums

melvonnar · 09-25-2010, 01:28 PM

I know that nearly all campgrounds forbid dumping Grey water on the ground, (forest service, national parks, state parks, etc).
My question is this; how many of you dump your sink water or bath water out the door and on the ground?
Not always but if I'm in a campground with no dump I Will to save space in my holding tanks and give it a toss. Is this wrong?
I've camped among tenter's for years and I have never seen one with a blue caddy going to the dump to get rid of their Grey water.
I was once in a national park in Mississippi and was threatened with a citation for dumping my sink water on the ground. ( by a ranger while he stood there watching a tenter next to me tossing there dish water on the ground. (he never said a word to them).
Question:
is Grey water that bad for the environment?

wildtoad · 09-25-2010, 01:47 PM

I have done it, but not recently, especially if the area was in a drought. Mostly gray water is not that bad, but you never know what people will do. Is it really gray or have they mixed it? What chemicals have they washed down the sink? And the old adage of giving someone and inch comes into play. I agree that the rule should be enforced universally.

jspande · 09-25-2010, 04:51 PM

It somewhat depends on which sink (kitchen or Lavy). Note that RVs have defined grey water differently than code for residences. Kitchen sink water is Black Water virtually everywhere except in RVs.

LindaH · 09-25-2010, 04:59 PM

Dumping a bucket of water you've used to wash dishes out the door is quite a different thing than letting loose with several dozen gallons of gray water all at once. Even with the dish water, many campgrounds have a special place to dump that.

Gary RVRoamer · 09-25-2010, 05:37 PM

We've tossed a dishpan of water out on the grass more than once. No different than I do at home on my own lawn, e.g. car wash bucket or other wash water.

I draw an admittedly vague line between that and dumping the gray tank.

UFO Pilot · 09-26-2010, 10:38 AM

We spent a week "camping" on our friends property in NM a couple of years ago. He used my gray water to water his trees.

WOODYDEL · 09-26-2010, 10:40 AM

Grey water is not a pollutant. If it is, stop washing your motorhome.

Retired and Happy · 09-26-2010, 08:25 PM

Gray Water CAN be a pollutant depending on what you have put down the sink and in what quantities. The term "gray" just means it didn't come from the toilet, hence the terms "gray" and "black". How about if you washed some gasoline or oil laden garments, or poured some Drain-o down the drain? Pouring a sink pan of dirty dish water out on the ground may be ok (and was often encouraged during the recent drought in north GA), but how about dirtier water? Would you want your dog to drink from it?

UFO Pilot · 09-26-2010, 08:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Retired and Happy

Gray Water CAN be a pollutant depending on what you have put down the sink and in what quantities. The term "gray" just means it didn't come from the toilet, hence the terms "gray" and "black". How about if you washed some gasoline or oil laden garments, or poured some Drain-o down the drain? Pouring a sink pan of dirty dish water out on the ground may be ok (and was often encouraged during the recent drought in north GA), but how about dirtier water? Would you want your dog to drink from it?

I wouldn't want my dog drinking water with any soap in it either.

powerboatr · 09-26-2010, 08:46 PM

think of it like this.
does your gray water tank get its contents from the SHOWER drain?
then ask yourself if little boys ever peed in the shower as kids or as adults?
i would imagine girls do to but us boys are typically worse.

so all of the campers with small children, do they pee in the shower?

then your grey water is no longer GREY.

i would imagine that's why parks have a zero gray on the ground clause

however at maumelle corps park in little rock you are allowed to dump Grey on the ground and the sites are right on the river.

many sites the grey is drained into the drainage canals that run through the park....

last time there is rained liked the ark was going to be needed and chillins were playing in the runoff....combined with grey water residue, food particles etc....

WOODYDEL · 09-26-2010, 08:56 PM

Greywater, Graywater or Gray water systems for disposal of onsite wastewater or graywater recycling, water conservation, and rainwater harvesting: Explanation, Guidelines, Product Sources, Product Comparisons for Graywater Systems as Components of Al

WOODYDEL · 09-26-2010, 10:11 PM

What I think is, gray water is not a pollutant, but does one other thing. It attracts animals. Most national parks have these large animals called bears. They are attracted to the smells in the gray water. If you dump on your site then, it is more likely for you to have an encounter. Many parks will have wash sinks made available to tent campers. It doesn't seem to be a very good idea to wash your dishes outside your tent and then throw the basin of water nearby.

UFO Pilot · 09-26-2010, 10:17 PM

We were in an Oregon State Park where they had gray water dump sites located thru out the Park. I don't know where the water went after it was dumped down the drain. They obviously didn't want it dumped on the ground.

georgetown350 · 09-26-2010, 10:52 PM

Grey water is not a pollutant. I wouldn't be to worried about a little urine diluted in 50 gallons of soapy water. How does that compare to your dog peeing on a tree. So if you don't have a sewer site, just wait till its raining, look around to make sure no one is watching ( like the guy who pretends to scoop after his dog but doesn't) and pull the grey lever.