Minimizing Grey (Gray) and Black Water
Last updated March 24, 2006

With only a 12 gal. Grey Water Tank and an 8 gal. Black Water Tank in our T-160, it's a challenge to keep a family of 5 from filling them both up in less than 5 minutes. Some things I do to minimize our grey and black water include:

1. Do as much of our washing/cleaning outside as often as possible on the campsite picnic table using plastic tubs (actually, inexpensive clear plastic storage bins I purchased at Wal-Mart). I can then dump the tubs on nearby vegetation when we're done.

2. When washing/cleaning inside, we use a small plastic tub (obtained during a hospital stay) that fits perfectly into the sink bowl to catch the runoff. I then dump the tub on nearby vegetation when we're done. I can also dump the tub into the toilet to use the black tank’s capacity instead of the grey tank’s if vegetation isn’t around.

3. When showering, we open the toilet seat lid to allow water to fall into the black tank, again using the black tank’s capacity instead of the grey tank’s.

4. We only use the toilet during nighttime or for emergencies and only for #1 (liquid). I keep portable toilet bags handy (left over from our portable camp stool toilet from our popup days) in case there's ever a chance for #2 (solids). I simply insert and line the bowl with the bag and use the lift up part of the toilet seat to hold it in place. The advantage of this is that I never have to use chemicals in the tank. And, because we allow the shower water to fall into the tank (via the open toilet seat lid), the biodegradable soap helps mitigate any odor that might try to build-up.

In 4.5 years of use now, our black water tank has only seen solids twice. Both times were when the stomach flu hit without warning and there wasn’t enough time to get the toilet bag in place. Immediately after both of these occasions and right before I dumped, I emptied a 20lb bag of ice into the toilet and drove around a bit. The motion from driving caused the ice cubes to bounce off the sides of the tank scrubbing off any clinging deposits as well as breaking up large chunks into smaller pieces. The heat from the decomposition process melted the ice cubes, so when I dumped, everything flowed out easily.

5. I use a portable tote tank (actually a blue plastic 5 gal. kerosene container I purchased at Home Depot) to dump and cart the grey water off to the nearest campground toilet. I bought a special sewer cap at Wal-Mart that has a connection for a regular garden hose. I use an 18” hose I cut especially for dumping just the grey water into the tote tank. I have a sewer cleanout right next to where I park the trailer at home, so I can always dump completely when we get home. Since we never have food scraps go into the grey tank, I don't flush the tank with clean water after every trip, just several times a year.

6. As for the black water, since we only use the toilet for emergencies and there's not really that much water that falls in when showering, I've only had to dump and cart the black water off (using a red plastic 2 gal. gas container I purchased at Wal-Mart) to the campground toilet twice in the 4.5 years we've had our T-160. I always dump, then spray (with a 24" RV wand I purchased at Wal-Mart), and finally flush the black tank with clean water every time we arrive home.