Grey to black tank?
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Category: Forest River r-pod
Forum Name: Maintenance Issues, Tips and Tricks
Forum Description: Have you ever wondered how something works? Found a good way to do something? Discovered the hard way what NOT to do? Share them here.
URL: http://www.rpodNation.com/forum_posts.asp?TID=3032
Printed Date: 23 Apr 2024 at 2:37am
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Topic: Grey to black tank?
Posted By: Tomcamper
Subject: Grey to black tank?
Date Posted: 02 Feb 2012 at 11:17am
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Sorry for putting in so many posts, but I have lots to learn. We will be camping in a park that has water and power, but no sewer to the site. Is there a way to transfer grey water to the black tank so that we don't have to move pod to the sewer cleanout? We won't dump on the ground obviously. Your wise advice as usual will be much appreciated. ------------- Tomcamper 2016 4runner Dreampod 177 06 GMC Envoy |
Replies:
Posted By: Sixgunner
Date Posted: 02 Feb 2012 at 1:23pm
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There isn't an easy way to accomplish what you're suggesting, short of replumbing. Then, you'd want to revert back to the original system eventually... Now, if I understand correctly, you want to put grey water in the black tank so you don't have to move the pod to the sewer cleanout? By that do you mean what is commonly referred to as a dump station? The thing about it is, you have two waste storage tanks, each with 30 gallon capacity. Whether you end up with one full or two half full tanks, it's the same thing. Unless you plan on camping for more than three days or so in a stretch, you shouldn't fill either tank. I suggest you just keep an eye on the grey/black tank readout by the entry door. ------------- feo fuerte y formal |
Posted By: turncoat3
Date Posted: 02 Feb 2012 at 2:31pm
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you could just walk to the heads for the number 2 thing as well as your shower. We have always done this and used only the number 1 in the pod. We have not filled the tanks in 3-4 days. You will probably use more grey water in washing dishes and hands and such than black water.
Then on the way out of the park, stop at the dump station and empty both tanks. ------------- Ben & Lorrie 2010 RP177 |
Posted By: 2Peas-n-RPod
Date Posted: 02 Feb 2012 at 11:51pm
^That's exactly what we have done. Good advice^ ------------- 2011 R-Pod 182G Hood River Edition "Ribbitt" Pod 2000 Ford F150 5.4L V8 TV |
turncoat3 wrote:Posted By: Larry
Date Posted: 03 Feb 2012 at 12:22am
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I do not know about
connecting the black tank to the gray tank but what I did was purchase a “portable
holding tank” for those occasions where I do have a sewer hookup. The portable
holding tank comes in all sorts of sizes; I got the 16 gallon one shown in the
link, but you can get bigger or smaller ones as well. A potable holding tank works
just like a sewer, you hook it up to your pod and it drains both the gray and
black tanks, and then you hook the handle on the back of your tow vehicle;
preferable the hitch, and drive it slowly over to the dump station. It eliminates
the need to have to move the entire trailer every time you want to dump your
tanks. You have to keep the portable tank clean just like you do your gray and
black tanks and when traveling I stored my portable tank inside of my R-Pod,
but if you have a pickup truck you could store it there as well. http://www.google.com/products/catalog?rlz=1T4ADRA_enUS404US404&q=portable+holding+tank+for+rv&gs_upl=0l0l0l3633634lllllllllll0&um=1&ie=UTF-8&tbm=shop&cid=11415736879812644918&sa=X&ei=RG0rT9jaLOnJiQLDkJGuCg&ved=0CJIBEPICMAI -
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Posted By: Kenn
Date Posted: 03 Feb 2012 at 12:25am
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We use a tote. When we were at Glacier, we used over 30 gallons of gray water a day. We like our conveniences and don't skimp on showers and such. In the week we were there, we used over 200+ gallons of water for everything. We never filled up the black tank though. And we did both 1 and 2 in the trailer.
This is what we use. http://www.campingworld.com/shopping/item/thetford-smarttote-lx-portable-waste-tank-35-gallon/37872 - http://www.campingworld.com/shopping/item/thetford-smarttote-lx-portable-waste-tank-35-gallon/37872 ------------- 
2010 RPOD 176 (Silly-POD), 2011 Forest River Stealth 2612, and 2014 Forest River XLR 380AMP |
Posted By: Tomcamper
Date Posted: 03 Feb 2012 at 11:15am
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As usual, great replies, good advice and learnings. Eventually I will go on and help others on this forum. This summer we are going on a 4,400 kilometre trip through the mountains from Eastern Saskatchewan, Canada to Vancouver, British Columbia, return. Thank you all. We will purchase one of those totes for our "Poop Pod," since we occasionally stay in one place for a week or more. Tomcamper. ------------- Tomcamper 2016 4runner Dreampod 177 06 GMC Envoy |
Posted By: jato
Date Posted: 03 Feb 2012 at 1:46pm
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WOW Kenn, that is a lot of water! My wife and I were also at Glacier last September for a week. We showered daily, washed dishes, and used the toilet at night; used the park's during the day. We arrived with our tank 2/3 full, filled up once and left with about 1/3 left. I figure we used 40-45 gallons for the week. Must be length of shower time. After being in Albania, Kosovo, Guyana, Nicaragua, and some out of the way places in Mexico we've gotten used to 1 minute showers (guys),2-3 minutes for the ladies. Get wet, turn off water, soap up, shower off. Question, since you use a tote for your gray/black water do you also have a 2nd one for refilling your tank, otherwise you would still have to transport your pod to get water? We stayed at Two Medicine Campground and the only water available was at the entrance by the ranger station. Thanks ------------- God's Pod '11 model 177 '13 Ford Explorer Jim & Diane by beautiful Torch Lake |
Posted By: jato
Date Posted: 03 Feb 2012 at 1:50pm
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Kenn, had another question, if you do have a 2nd tote, how do you pump it back into your holding tank? I looked at your link, nice tote! but didn't see a pump, just gravity feed. Would be kinda heavy to lift up high enough for a gravity feed back into the holding tank. Thanks!
------------- God's Pod '11 model 177 '13 Ford Explorer Jim & Diane by beautiful Torch Lake |
Posted By: Kenn
Date Posted: 03 Feb 2012 at 3:01pm
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My tote is designed to be towed to a dump station. It is also designed to just keep the gray water in there for later disposal. You could shower with the toilet open to have some of the shower water go to the black. You could also do your dishes using a basin, then dump it in the toilet for the black waste tank to take the water. As far as the 2nd tote, you can use gallon jugs to refill the fresh tank. We used two five (5) gallon Coleman jugs with a funnel to refill the tank. I'd refill the tank and dump every morning. We have two kids and as far as 1 minute showers...I've done that and prefer to live in luxury. Why get a camper and rough it? Might as well camp in a tent if you're going to rough it. -------------
2010 RPOD 176 (Silly-POD), 2011 Forest River Stealth 2612, and 2014 Forest River XLR 380AMP |
Posted By: Tomcamper
Date Posted: 03 Feb 2012 at 3:13pm
 As for replenishing fresh water when none at the site, we also have a three of those 5 gallon jugs. We put them on top of a stove stand next to the pod, and syphon them into the holding tank. Hope that helps, it is easy. ------------- Tomcamper 2016 4runner Dreampod 177 06 GMC Envoy |
Posted By: jato
Date Posted: 03 Feb 2012 at 3:38pm
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I can't disagree with you on that, especially with having the kiddo's. We feel like we are living in luxury moving from a tent, to a pop-up (for 20 yrs.) and now the pod. The majority of our camping is done spring or fall when the outdoor weather tends to be 'cooler.' The pod is really cozy on those rainy/sleety/snowy times when the temps are cold, and it's warm from corner to corner inside! Sure don't miss those days of wet canvas and huddling by the furnace because anywhere near the canvas and it was cold/breezy. AND with that having an indoor stool/shower is really nice AND not having to heat water on the stove, hmmm. remember those 'good old' days, not. ------------- God's Pod '11 model 177 '13 Ford Explorer Jim & Diane by beautiful Torch Lake |
Posted By: Billy Bob
Date Posted: 03 Feb 2012 at 11:46pm
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In the navy we called that a sea-shower while at sea (dry camping). When in port and hooked up to fresh water (RV park) we got to take a Hollywood shower.  ------------- 2011 Visa 23RBK pulled with 2010 Nissan Titan. 12.5 MPG when towing. The Most Beautiful Thing In Life Is The Ability To love. www.BillyAdeliza.homestead.com |
Posted By: this_is_nascar
Date Posted: 04 Feb 2012 at 7:45am
I guess I don't understand what you're attempting to do. If you don't ever want to use the dump station, they don't use water/waster in the R-Pod. What am I missing?
------------- "Ray & Connie" - 2017 R-Pod RP-180 - 2007 Toyota Tacoma TRD-Off Road |
Posted By: Tomcamper
Date Posted: 04 Feb 2012 at 11:16am
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This_is_nascar: Just inexperienced. I thought if there was a way to run the grey water into the black water tank, that maybe I could stay at the campsite longer without having to move pod back to dump station. Now I have found out about that tote thing on wheels, that can do what I was hoping to do. We newbies have much to learn, and we are learning it on this forum. By the way, you are one the helpful ones, for which I am thankful. ------------- Tomcamper 2016 4runner Dreampod 177 06 GMC Envoy |
Posted By: Kenn
Date Posted: 04 Feb 2012 at 11:33am
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When I was deployed, I could shower with 2 bottles of water. When I'm RVing...no way! I didn't pay lots of $$ to skimp out. I think I've earned the right to use more than my combat showers. -------------
2010 RPOD 176 (Silly-POD), 2011 Forest River Stealth 2612, and 2014 Forest River XLR 380AMP |
Posted By: this_is_nascar
Date Posted: 05 Feb 2012 at 12:36pm
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Be careful in deciding on those totes. At 1st, you may think bigger is better, but if you're taking that to the dump-station by hand, it will be heavy. Water weighs 8.35 lbs per gallon. Getting a 35-gallon tote that makes sense on the surface, will be a back breaker if you're pulling that by hand.
------------- "Ray & Connie" - 2017 R-Pod RP-180 - 2007 Toyota Tacoma TRD-Off Road |
Posted By: jato
Date Posted: 05 Feb 2012 at 1:19pm
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Thanks for the good advice Ray. My wife & I prefer simple, a lot of that has to do with available space. The Explorer doesn't have a lot of extra room to haul stuff like any pick-up. We don't like to carry everything with us when we camp, it's freeing to take the 'essentials' and go. When we started camping years ago we noticed that over half the 'stuff' we brought was unnecessary, so we have learned over the years what to bring, and what to leave home. Certainly that will be different for everyone, but that is what works for us. When our tank had to be dumped (in Glacier) I just put up the 4 jacks, hooked up, and left, leaving my wife in a chair at the campsite soaking up all that delicious sun. By the time I got back, unhooked, and put the jacks down, only 16 minutes had elapsed-from beginning - hooking it up to being back in the state it was originally. (my wife timed me hehehehe). For me, a tote isn't a necessity, but for others, obviously, it is. ------------- God's Pod '11 model 177 '13 Ford Explorer Jim & Diane by beautiful Torch Lake |
Posted By: Sixgunner
Date Posted: 05 Feb 2012 at 5:45pm
Excellent advice!  ------------- feo fuerte y formal |
Posted By: wbillar
Date Posted: 05 Feb 2012 at 6:18pm
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------------- Bill |
Posted By: wbillar
Date Posted: 05 Feb 2012 at 6:22pm
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I bought a 5 gal. blue container which I use to "bleed" off gray water and dump so as to make the gray water last loner. We can go for a long time with the black water tank but gray water fills quickly, even if we use local bathrooms for showers which can really fill up the gray water tank quickly. ------------- Bill |
Posted By: Ratdog
Date Posted: 05 Feb 2012 at 6:41pm
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The bigger sized blue totes have an accessory attachment that loops over the ball on your TV hitch so you can tow it to the dump station. -- Steve ------------- Steve, Anne, and Paige the Rat Terrier 2013 Lexus RX 450h Hybrid AWD 2011 RP-177 (aka: The Circus Wagon) |
Posted By: Larry
Date Posted: 06 Feb 2012 at 6:28pm
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The other thing about the larger
totes that you should know is that they may not fit under your pod; I have axle
risers on my 171 and my 16 gal. tote does not fit under my pod, so I had to get a short
sewer hose because a regular length sewer hose would not effectively drain the
pod’s tanks. My tote has a sewer hose connection
on the side and one on the top; maybe the one on the side might work better for
draining the pod tanks into the tote but you might get some backup. Don’t know
if others who have a tote have experienced what I’m talking about. Regardless a short sewer hose
from the pod to the tote worked much better for me than the standard length
sewer hose. My tote also hooks on to the back of my tow vehicle and dumping it
at the dump station is no problem at all. The one minute shower you
guys are talking about reminds me of Vietnam where we had outdoor showers, cold
water only, and you pull a lever to get wet, soap up and then pull the lever
again to rinse off. Ahhhh...the bad old days. |
Posted By: Kenn
Date Posted: 07 Feb 2012 at 12:04am
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Our tote works well with little to no backflow. We also have a 35 gallon tote. Ours also have an indicator that prevents you from overfilling it. -------------
2010 RPOD 176 (Silly-POD), 2011 Forest River Stealth 2612, and 2014 Forest River XLR 380AMP |
Posted By: Larry
Date Posted: 07 Feb 2012 at 3:06am
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Kenn, your tote does look a
little lower than mine and maybe you do not have this issue, but my tote it
seems has larger wheels on it and it is off the ground almost as high as my
R-Pod; the pod's drainage pipe is about even with the top of my tote, which when I attach the sewer hose to the top of the tote to drain the
pods tanks, the hose attachment on top of the tote is about as high as the pod's drainage pipe; I remedy this by using
a very short sewer hose. But also I can use the sewer hose attachment on the
side of the tote which is lower, and allows gravity to help drain the tanks. My tote also has and indicator to show how full the tote is and as I said eariler it can be hooked to the hitch on my TV and towed to the dump station.
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