Grey water

[Dot]

Never had a grey water tank before what do people do with the grey water does it go down the dump point or elsewhere.

That Q/ came up on another site what say you all?

[supersparky]

If you have a grey water tank, then it goes wherever you empty it. If you don't have a grey water tank, then it goes onto the ground wherever you are. My personal thought is that all camper's, caravans and motorhomes should have a grey water tank as standard.

[Dot]

? how long does it take grey water to go to black? If it does and if you let it out roadside for example is that the same as dropping your black tank out, if the grey tank is considered as black should you then dump your grey into the dump spots??

[Greynomad]

Dottie,
Grey water never goes black.
Black water is the ‘nice’ name for what you flush down the toilet.
However, grey water CAN go swamp-stinky.
Either way, we empty the grey water into the dump point after dumping the black water — using it to ensure that all the black water is flushed down.
NEVER drop either by the roadside.
If you really must dump your grey water, find a ‘Dottie campsite’ (gravel pit or similar) and make sure the water doesn’t run toward a watercourse, no matter how small.

[Dot]

We only dump grey water in the dump points and we don't use the stuff with phosphorous stuff in it. Q/ if your washing up water is "fresh" and has no peas corn bits etc in it, is that considered clean enough to feed the ground.?
Q/ if you dug a hole and let the grey go in that, as you do with your black water is that OK??

[Greynomad]

So long as the hole is deep enough and wide enough to contain ALL the fluid, and it’s at least 100m from the nearest surface water, it would be OK in an emergency.

[supersparky]

Quite a few van parks ask that you drop your grey water on and around the shrubs that they try to grow around the sites. Some other places like Maleny SG go into palpitations if you even suggest dropping grey on the ground. Everything there drains to the creek, which is known platypus habitat. It's best to just go with whatever the site owner requests of you.

[T1 Terry]

Those with a black tank, often use the grey water to flush the black water tank so all of it goes into the dump point. If you build a dam to stop the grey water going everywhere, grey water, a few days old at most, can be dumped away from the camping area at a road side stop as long as it slopes away from where anyone might camp .... no one wants to park up over someone else's grey water, imagine pitching a tent there ..... if you wouldn't want to sleep in a tent in that spot if it was grey water soaked, then that is not a suitable spot to dump grey water .....

T1 Terry

[native pepper]

Depends on what's in your grey water, if you have chemicals and animals products in your grey water then it will more than likely damage the environment. So it's best to get rid of it with your black water, which will have heaps of chemicals and animal products in it. Drop all my waste water at proper dumps sites, even though it contains no chemicals or animal products. Use the grey water to flush the toilet after it's been strained to remove any solids, same at home, grey water is used for the dunnies, after being strained in a home made grease trap, but no grease in it.

Don't need to use soap for my dishes etc, they come clean in warm water as there's no fats or chemicals in the water. Use, but still drop it with the black water, which is also a non contaminant as my food has nothing in it but organics completely compatible with the environment. Use Bosisto's sensitive laundry detergent for clothes etc which has no chemicals and is organic they say and it doesn't seem to have a negative effect on the environment, or my body. Also use the black water that comes out of the septic for gardens and the methane for cooking at times, but it takes a while to collect enough methane for cooking which comes in handy during summer with no wood stove going. Once have pumped out the septic since being here and ploughed the liquid solids into the orchard and new garden plots which then sat for a winter, grew some really big and tasty vegetables and fruits. Now just collect the water out of the septic and plough that into the gardens and that also provides good crops.

Find this hard to handle, but it's true. My dogs when relieving themselves, just drop it where ever they happen to be at home. But the next day it's gone and the only time it's still there is when they have a treat, like chicken or fish. Seems the local animals fancy uncontaminated dog poo, because it only contains natural vegetable matter and that's what they live on. Something to ponder on, for a short moment, yuck.