How to dump into (and out of) blue tote tank? - Fiberglass RV
Journey with Confidence RV GPS App RV Trip Planner RV LIFE Campground Reviews RV Maintenance Take a Speed Test Free 7 Day Trial ×


Reply
 
Thread Tools Search this Thread Display Modes
 
Old 04-17-2003, 11:29 AM   #1
Senior Member
 
Trailer: No Trailer Yet
Posts: 18,870
How to dump into (and out of) blue tote tank?

To those of you that use the blue tote tanks. How do you dump from your Casita into the blue tote?

We are thinking of putting bayonet ends on each end of the 5ft hose that came with our tank. Is that what others do?

We're also still trying to figure out which hose to use when we take the blue tote to the dump station. I guess we'll just take our regular Casita sewer hose that we dump with - or we could just use the 5ft and just stick one of the bayonet ends down the dump station sewer hole. Either way we have to figure a way to carry a dump hose on the outside of the car.

Any advice from this forum much appreciated (as always).

Audrey & John



Legacy Posts is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 04-17-2003, 11:59 AM   #2
Senior Member
 
Trailer: No Trailer Yet
Posts: 18,870
Tote tanks

I'm probably not the one who can fully answer this question, but I can get you started.

I only use the tote tank for my gray water as I do not have one built in. As far as emptying your permanent tank into a portable one, I think the main concern would be to make sure that the permanent capacity is not larger than the portable tank would hold.

As far as dumping. That is what your short sewer hose is for. If you have a four wheeler with a side discharge, then you just wheel it up to the dump, attach the short sewer hose, and empty as you would your trailer.

A two wheeler will have two openings on top. One is a small opening the other is the larger one that your sewer hose connects to. Once your hose is connected to the blue tank and the other end is securely in place in the sewer, then you have to lift it up in order for it to dump. You'll need to have air, so open/remove the small hose cap at the other end. Once it is empty, rinse well through the top hole while sewer hose is still in the sewer. I lift mine up to make sure all the water is out before removing.

Black water: I never use the tote tank for that. I deposit it directly into the dump site.



Legacy Posts is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 04-17-2003, 01:14 PM   #3
Senior Member
 
Trailer: No Trailer Yet
Posts: 18,870
Filling the blue tote tank...

I am interested in using one of the blue totes also. My Casita doesn't have the smaller (garden hose) fitting like yours, Suz. Both the black and gray water tanks evacuate through the same, hmmm, hole (port?)

I wonder if many people have an adapter so they can use a garden-type hose for draining their gray water.

And I'm curious, like Audrey, about the fittings on the sewer hose for transferring the gray water (or even black water) from the trailer to the blue tote.

Of course I know it's Spring Break right now in some parts of the country, so maybe we'll need to resurrect this question next week...

Here's the Blue Totes discussion that was started a few weeks back on this topic. Alas, it didn't get very specific or even go very far.

And here's the Dumping for Dummies discussion where different fittings for the sewer hoses were talked about.



:sunny



Legacy Posts is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 04-17-2003, 01:36 PM   #4
Senior Member
 
Trailer: No Trailer Yet
Posts: 18,870
Rereading Dumping for Dummies thread

Audrey, I wonder if one of those 90 degree elbow fittings would work at the blue tote?

:shg



Legacy Posts is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 04-17-2003, 03:51 PM   #5
Senior Member
 
Trailer: No Trailer Yet
Posts: 18,870
90 degree coupling

I use the 90 degree coupling on my blue tank otherwise the hose connection rises too high. Also most dump sites are depressed below ground level with a concrete pad and walls about 6" high. It is a task to drag the 3" hose out to hook up and dump and a 1/2" or 5/8" dia. hose takes forever to drain the tank. I usually just position the blue tank at the edge of the dump basin, remove the 3" cap and dump. Then I rinse the dump basin until it is clean.



Legacy Posts is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 04-17-2003, 08:00 PM   #6
Senior Member
 
Trailer: No Trailer Yet
Posts: 18,870
Dumping

I dump into the blue tote using a 12' length of 3" sewer hose connected to a Jabasco Macerator pump and then into the tote through standard garden hose. This system empties the black tank in about 30 seconds and if I dump the grey water afterwards through the same set-up the system is virtually self cleaning.

I use this system when the camp site sewer connection is not at the right height. It pumps uphill or down hill with no problem and according to the manufacturer reduces everything to less than 1/8 inch particle size. I have hard wired a 12 volt outlet with a polarized plug to near the sewer outlet and just plug the pump in when needed. The pump is about the same size as a RV water pump.

I have used this set up for over three years with no problems,. I use the largest diameter water hose I could find and I do not think there is any restrictions within reason to th length of hose that can be used.

Colin



Legacy Posts is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 04-17-2003, 10:49 PM   #7
Senior Member
 
Trailer: No Trailer Yet
Posts: 18,870
What we do....

We use ours ONLY for gray water.

The black tank takes about a week for the 2 of us to fill. So far we haven't stayed anywhere long enough to have to make a special dump.

But the gray tank fills after a few showers so....

We connect to the 10 gal. blue tote with a garden type hose 5/8" by 1' with 2 female ends.

The tote has a male bung on its top and it came with a sewer cap with a bung on it also, we just swaped sewer caps with the one on the Casita.

To empty we just open the gray valve and fill the tote, then take the tote to the dump station, pop the sewer cap and up end it in the dump area.

I bought a 10 gal tote with the biggest wheel I could find, it also had an attachable hitch loop thingy. I just hook the full tote to the hitch on back of the Tahoe and idle over to the dump station.

The 10 gallon tote measures 30" x 15" x 8"

<img src=http://www.fiberglassrv.com/board/uploads/3e9f82dc0e7d1ToteTanks.JPG/>



Legacy Posts is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 04-29-2003, 09:54 AM   #8
Senior Member
 
Trailer: No Trailer Yet
Posts: 18,870
What we ended up doing...

Thanks for all the good advice. I thought I would post what we ended up doing.

So far we are just using the tank to dump gray water. The following technique only works for that.

We decided to go the "garden hose" route to drain the Casita. Our tote tank came with a 1 foot piece of garden-size hose. We replaced the sewer cap on the Casita with one that had a garden hose adapter. Then we just stuck this piece of hose into the 3-inch opening on the tote tank. The short hose bent up a little into the tote tank opening, but we easily got the flow started by tilting the tote tank (lowering the 3-inch opening temporarily) and then once it started it flowed steadily. It was also easy to monitor the level of the tote tank through the opening.

The tote tank was such a breeze to move and pull to the dump station.

Once we got the tank to the dump station, we decided to use the "no sewer hose" technique described above - just open the 3-inch opening (plus the smaller opening to let air into the tank) - and tip the tank up over the dump hole. That worked quite satisfactorily.

We were very glad to have the tote tank with us because, I must confess, late on the second night we had our first "grey water emergency". I just remember John saying - "that dishwater sure is draining awful slow" - and me thinking "Uh-oh" and telling him to check the shower floor. Sure enough - about 1/2" of stinky grey water. Usually we have no problem with just two nights, but we are still refining our minimal water usage techniques.

Thanks much, Audrey



Legacy Posts is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 04-29-2003, 02:38 PM   #9
Senior Member
 
Trailer: No Trailer Yet
Posts: 18,870
Hi Audrey, glad you got a system that works for you!

Sorry I didn't see your post earlier.

I'm going to get a bit dicey here ... in my post ... about some bathroom habits ... so for those weak of spirit ... stop reading now.

Over the years, we've developed a system that works, using a 15 gallon blue tote tank, for both gray and black(modified) waste water.

The dump valves on many of our trailers are really, really low to the ground ... so the trick is often to position the blue tank 10 or 15 feet away from the trailer, and connect it with a dedicated piece of garden hose. As many have already said, replace both the trailer sewer cap and the blue-tote cap with caps with regular small hose fittings.

The trick, when dry camping, is to not use the toilet for certain solid functions and to keep soiled toilet paper demurely in a scented, frequently-changed bag, along side the toilet.

Don't leave either the gray or black dump valve open. Fluids flow better if you dump the entire contents at the same time. Remember to "walk" the contents of the hose towards to the blue tote before disconnecting from the trailer. Lift the hose close to the trailer, then progressively closer toward to the blue tote, so the hose will be empty when you disconnect from the trailer ... otherwise you'll be in a rude surprize.

If you are going to have to dump the blue tote by "lifting" and pouring into a pit toilet (legal in some National Forest campgrounds, not legal in others, so check first), you might have to dump the tote each day (dumping first the black, carrying to the pit toilet, then returning for a load of gray), because fluids weigh 8 pounds a gallon. It's almost impossible to lift a full 15 gallon (120 pound) blue tank, so dump more often.

We also have a short piece of regular sewer hose, with fittings (one straight, one 90 degree) on both ends, for use when a -- the dump valves are high enough and b -- when the black tank contains solids that would clog a regular hose.

By the by, what you did (dumping into a dump station without attaching a sewer hose) isn't legal in most places. I know, I know, you said it was just gray water. But, most places require that you attach a sewer hose to the blue tote and then place the other end in the dump station hole. A sad fact of life is that while you may only dump gray water this way ... the next guy may dump black containing all kinds of nasty things, and while most visible signs can be washed away, the bacteria and germs aren't, and the result would be a nasty smelling mess for the next guy to step in.

As I said, the trick is to use a longer piece of hose ... and position your blue tote far enough away from your rig when you dump, so that the tote is downhill. Try to keep solids and toilet paper out of the black, if possible (hey we all have emergencies). Don't leave the valves open, so that when you dump, the fluid running through the hose acts as a syphon, emptying the tank completely).

In many situations, if the campground has a dump station, it's often easier to hook up your rig and make a short hop to the dump station. It doesn't take long to hook up our little bitty rigs! And occasionally, it's the only way to handle the contents of the black tank.



Legacy Posts is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 04-29-2003, 04:11 PM   #10
Senior Member
 
Trailer: No Trailer Yet
Posts: 18,870
glad i dont have......

Sure am glad i don't have a shower or potty. All that toteing and draining does not sound like fun. Ill just tote myself to outhouse and be done with the whole mess at one time.
:)



Legacy Posts is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 04-29-2003, 05:36 PM   #11
Senior Member
 
Trailer: No Trailer Yet
Posts: 18,870
>>does not sound like fun

Al, at times, it doesn't. But I gotta tell you ... a private toilet comes in handy a bunch of times.

My wife hasn't had to use a rest stop or filling station public toilet for more than a decade!

Well worth the occasional hassle.



Legacy Posts is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 04-29-2003, 07:11 PM   #12
Senior Member
 
Trailer: No Trailer Yet
Posts: 18,870
Sewage Engineer

The dumping ritual ain't all that much fun......

.....but it's amazing what power comes with the title of 'Sewage Engineer'. :)

making it sound complicated is part of our scheme........oops the secret's out.



Legacy Posts is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 04-29-2003, 10:21 PM   #13
Senior Member
 
Trailer: No Trailer Yet
Posts: 18,870
Oops - I wasn't legal!!

Thanks for noting about legality of dumping without a sewer hose. Hadn't occurred to me (especially since a couple of folks suggested doing it that way). But I can see why it might be frowned upon.

I guess we'll be good citizens and use a sewer hose in the future.

I'm pretty sure we'll avoid using the tote to dump black water. That's just a whole other ball of wax, or should I say bag of ****

Audrey;)



Legacy Posts is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 04-30-2003, 09:13 AM   #14
Senior Member
 
Trailer: No Trailer Yet
Posts: 18,870
Way to go, Charles!!

Charles - I must say that you go to extraordinary and innovative lengths to accommodate your wife. I'm sure she greatly appreciates it.

I think if we stay at a campground that doesn't have a dump station, we'll use the pit toilets most of the time (hopefully not right after you've dumped into them!) and save the inside bathroom for those nighttime emergencies.

Of course, since we haven't camped that primitive yet, I can't really declare exactly what we'll ultimately do.

Audrey



Legacy Posts is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 04-30-2003, 03:05 PM   #15
Senior Member
 
Trailer: No Trailer Yet
Posts: 18,870
Ok Charles I give in

When out and purchased a little 2.6 gallon porto potty. I got to thinking of all those nights in a tent curseing the run thur the rain at 1 am to the who know whats out there outhouse. Now to teach the Kat to use it LOL:r



Legacy Posts is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply


Currently Active Users Viewing This Thread: 1 (0 members and 1 guests)
 
Thread Tools Search this Thread
Search this Thread:

Advanced Search
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Trackbacks are Off
Pingbacks are Off
Refbacks are Off


Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
Tote-Along James Herron Classified Archives 1 12-09-2009 01:49 PM
My dump valves work! Gina D. Plumbing | Systems and Fixtures 20 02-24-2007 04:09 PM
Tote tanks Legacy Posts General Chat 2 08-22-2003 03:43 PM
Tote Tanks Legacy Posts Plumbing | Systems and Fixtures 11 03-14-2003 10:38 AM
Tote Tanks General Chat 0 01-01-1970 12:00 AM

» Upcoming Events
No events scheduled in
the next 465 days.
» Featured Campgrounds

Reviews provided by


All times are GMT -6. The time now is 06:52 AM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.11
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions Inc.