Can you dump Grey water on the ground?

[silverta16]

I see all these van dweller's and sprinter conversions and they use outdoor showers with biodegradable soap and just shower and let the water fall on the ground. I'd imagine if a guy got caught in a state or national park with a grey hose ran over the hill you'd get in trouble. Why is one ok but not that other? Is it illegal? I'm sure it's frowned upon. Just wondering.

[PlayersZ28]

When we tent camped the dish water was thrown in the bushes. I wouldn't dump a gray tank from an RV just mostly because of the huge volume plus it contains greases etc from the kitchen. Showering outside is no different than washing in a lake with biodeg soap.

[ifallsguy]

It's illegal virtually everywhere. That said, if you get caught. Remember, dish water can contain food particles, grease, etc., so it's up to you. I definitely wouldn't do it in a National Park Service site, state park, city park, private campground or Walmart.

[jasonmiddlebrooks]

Volume is the main reason I think it is frowned on. If everyone did it all the time 10 plus gallons at a time at the same spot... it could start to smell and might even cause issues with the surrounding environment and animals. That being said I dump my gray tanks at my house at times with no worries but it is my land.

I have been tent camping with Boy Scouts and family for a long time now and we always have grease, food particles, and soap in our dish washing station we setup at camp. Guess where that goes? On the ground in the woods or field away from tents and other people camping.....

[wags999]

In Arizona, anyplace, dish water is considered black water since it contains food particles which draw animals, bugs etc. In a campground I have never seen a situation where it is not only legal but encouraged to allow any water from campers to be dumped on the open ground.. Common sense and good manners would suggest it can't be good if someone were to dump anything on the ground consistently. Just because you can, doesn't mean you should. Even in the desert, shower water with biodegradable soap will evaporate but not enough rain is present to wash away the soap residue.

[gladecreekwy]

We use some of ours to douse our fire. The rest stays in the tank to flush the black hose. We only boondock. I’m sure campgrounds would have something to say about it

[norty1]

It's illegal and also not a good practice in congested areas. 20-25 years ago it was acceptable in many public places.

Times change!

[Midnightmoon]

The first or second night I pulled in to a truck stop when I was a rookie CDL driver, I was shocked to see the guy next to me open up his door and dump his "bottle" on the ground outside his truck. Let me tell you that was by far not the worst thing I've seen deposited on the ground at one of those places over the years.

Anyway, I'm not suggesting that anyone should willingly dispose of grey water in a manner that is against local regulations or in an unsanitary manner. However, I find it comical that municipalities and agencies would regulate grey water from an RV but totally ignore what goes on in places like truck stops and rest areas.

[JohnWedell]

Years ago rv’s didn’t even have grey tanks.

[skids]

One thing is for sure, grey water becomes "septic" in a short time. I have no problems with dumping the grey tank on the ground at my house after 2 nights of camping. I prefer to dump it at dump stations. No I wouldn't do that if it was in the tank for a week.

[wags999]

Originally Posted by Midnightmoon

The first or second night I pulled in to a truck stop when I was a rookie CDL driver, I was shocked to see the guy next to me open up his door and dump his "bottle" on the ground outside his truck. Let me tell you that was by far not the worst thing I've seen deposited on the ground at one of those places over the years.

Anyway, I'm not suggesting that anyone should willingly dispose of grey water in a manner that is against local regulations or in an unsanitary manner. However, I find it comical that municipalities and agencies would regulate grey water from an RV but totally ignore what goes on in places like truck stops and rest areas.

Hard to regulate ignorance.. I would bet they are not ignoring it but can't stop bad behavior unless seen in the act. Rude and bad behavior is all over, sometimes it's up to us to point it out when it happens. Truck drivers are not the same as they were 50 years ago, when they would stop to help stranded motorists and you could trust they were there for good. Far too many today would scare the heck out of most folks.

[RVJayhawk]

Folks should refrain from claiming something is illegal unless they are experts and have knowledge of the regulations in all 50 states. I recently stayed 10 weeks in a US Army Corps of Engineers park. Their written regulations allow dumping grey water as long as it does not flow onto a neighbors site. There probably is more "pollution" from people swimming and water skiing in public water than all the grey water discharged from RVs.

[Kim Gass]

Originally Posted by ifallsguy

It's illegal virtually everywhere. That said, if you get caught. Remember, dish water can contain food particles, grease, etc., so it's up to you. I definitely wouldn't do it in a National Park Service site, state park, city park, private campground or Walmart.

Nonsense. Don't say that unless you have actually been to everywhere. Its very common in Acadia.. We use a pail and dump into a bucket and carry it to the dishwash station where there is a grey water grate.

Sure we dump if the surface is natural.. We use screening over the pail to collect food scraps and disperse dumping in the woods.Scraps go in the trash and taken home or deposited at the campsite dumpster.

There are NO dump stations in the White Mountain NF.. There are many alternative ways to handle grey water.

Of course dumping on pavement is a no no as well as dumping if the CG prohibits it. But boondocking in the North Maine Woods means no services and you have to handle your grey water somehow. If you like travelling 150 miles to find a dump station go for it

I do understand bad form at dumping at a foo foo RV resort. Dumping would be a bad idea even if not specifically not allowed. Nobody ten feet away wants to look at your soggy puddle

Our tank only holds 21 gals grey so scale does matter.

[SloPoke]

Originally Posted by ifallsguy

It's illegal virtually everywhere. That said, if you get caught. Remember, dish water can contain food particles, grease, etc., so it's up to you.

Originally Posted by RVJayhawk

Folks should refrain from claiming something is illegal unless they are experts and have knowledge of the regulations in all 50 states. I recently stayed 10 weeks in a US Army Corps of Engineers park. Their written regulations allow dumping grey water as long as it does not flow onto a neighbors site.

Originally Posted by Kim Gass

Nonsense. Don't say that unless you have actually been to everywhere. Its very common in Acadia.. We use a pail and dump into a bucket and carry it to the dishwash station where there is a grey water grate.

Sure we dump if the surface is natural.. We use screening over the pail to collect food scraps and disperse dumping in the woods.Scraps go in the trash and taken home or deposited at the campsite dumpster.

There are NO dump stations in the White Mountain NF.. There are many alternative ways to handle grey water.

Of course dumping on pavement is a no no as well as dumping if the CG prohibits it. But boondocking in the North Maine Woods means no services and you have to handle your grey water somehow. If you like travelling 150 miles to find a dump station go for it

I do understand bad form at dumping at a foo foo RV resort. Dumping would be a bad idea even if not specifically not allowed. Nobody ten feet away wants to look at your soggy puddle

Our tank only holds 21 gals grey so scale does matter.

I have done a LOT of research on this... Each state has it's own rules and regulations as do each county and city. Beyond the well regulated city limits, it becomes the Land-Owners decision. Be that the NFS, NPS, BLM or State, they all have different definitions of grey water and have different classifications of what IS Grey water.

In now my 45th year of RV camping, we have been told not to dump our grey water on the soil lots of places, but most interestingly have been asked to allow our grey water to be dumped in certain places in the campground by the Camp Host.

Laws and regulations vary from state to state and yes, Arizona allows Grey water to be used for irrigation as long is it is not being sprayed in the air (class I) https://waterwisegroup.com/greywater...in-your-state/

[Grumpy]

Originally Posted by SloPoke

In now my 45th year of RV camping, we have been told not to dump our grey water on the soil lots of places, but most interestingly have been asked to allow our grey water to be dumped in certain places in the campground by the Camp Host.

X-2 Especially around the trees. We always had the sewer cap with the hose fitting and a section of hose for just that use. Just depends on State, County or local Board of Health regs.

[Rino]

I travel with a small group of OHV riders and never dump grey water at state ohv parks thinking it was illegal. About 2 years ago a family parked their motorhome next to us and merged right in with our group at Hollister Hills ohv area. About the second evening he rolls out his grey garden hose across the road and proceeds to dump his grey. Being a regular there I warned him the ranger comes by about every 30 minutes and may have a problem with that. He responded he worked for the county and dumping the grey water on the ground was preferred. Sure enough here comes the ranger with lights on. The guy and the ranger talk and after about 20 minutes of them looking at his phone the ranger drives off. Sure enough the camper pulls up the code on his phone showing grey water dumping on the ground is preferred over down the sewer. The ranger admitted after reading the code he even did not know that and was going to go research. He never came back. Later all of us discussing around the fire everyone tent camping there is washing all there dishes etc at the public spigots right on the ground. Completely agree probably different every where you go. Reminds me of when I was a kid in our 72 Winnebago had no grey tank just a pipe you put a 5 gallon bucket under. When it was full you dumped it on the ground.

[norty1]

My first tt only had one tank. Everything went in it.

1973 or something Prowler.

[rodro123]

My first TT was a 1972 16' tagalong it had no gray or black tanks. No thought was given to have it go on the ground but I put a bucket down and carry it to the toilet in the campground that back then was on outhouse. When I say back then I bought this in 1982 it was 10 years old I paid $500 for it. It was like new shape. I took a kitchen window out and put a window air conditioner into it and hung a shelf and put a small microwave over the kitchen table.

[DocBrown]

Originally Posted by SloPoke

Each state has it's own rules and regulations as do each county and city.

Laws and regulations vary from state to state [/url]

Very true. Laws can even vary between public lands and private. Lots of "gray" areas in the rules. So this can be very hard to determine.

WI State Parks and Forests do not allow it. From the WI DNR web site: Waste water
Please collect and dispose of dish and hand washing water at a sanitary dumping station or in campground toilets. It is against health and safety rules to dump this "gray water" on the ground.

When we were still tenting it was allowable to dump dish washing water on the ground. Not the case anymore.

[RetiredLEO]

Way back when my Grandma would take the dishwater from her wash sink everyday, put it in a bucket and water her garden with it, she was a young farm wife during dust bowl days, nothing ever got wasted.................Grandma always had a good garden