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Old 01-18-2023, 09:59 PM   #1
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Newbie Question on boondocking waste management

Hey everyone!

Brand new to RVing, wife and I just bought a Jayco Flight 32DSBH and we are parking it on our land. We dont intend to take it out on road trips yet.

My question is, if we are 99% of the time just going up there for a weekend then should I be draining the black water tank and grey water tanks at the end of each trip?

I plan to buy one of those tote waste dolley tanks that way the RV can stay parked and I can drive up to the local Campground and dump the waste.
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Old 01-18-2023, 10:47 PM   #2
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Three parts to my answer:
1) the grey tank - no need to dump until you have to.
2) the black tank - if you put a good black tank treatment product in the tank you can get by for a week or two - but much more than that and that tank is going to really start to reek. Although if your toilet valve seals are good it shouldn't get into the RV - that tank has vents on the roof and when the wind blows just right . . .

But 3) those totes usually only hold a fraction of the capacity of your tanks. I have 42 gallon tanks and an 8 gallon tote - see my point. You're probably going to make a couple of runs to the dump station every weekend or things are going to get WAY ahead of you.

Also - I assume you're familiar with "Navy Showers?" A friend of mine bought a new RV and took it boondocking at a stadium parking lot during bowl season. He was AMAZED that his family couldn't each take long, luxurious hot showers after the game. on 35 gallons of water / holding tank space.
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Old 01-19-2023, 03:25 PM   #3
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Make a plan for carrying the tote when it's full. I put a sewer bladder into my truck bed (it's 100 gallons) and use a macerator pump to fill it while it's up there. Even a 20 gallon tote is going to run 160+ pounds when full and a 40 gallon tote is going to be double that.

I'd also likely be running a sewer cap with a hose connection and would be watering trees with gray water while I camped. Then I'd only have to deal with black water maybe monthly.
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Old 01-19-2023, 05:29 PM   #4
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Don't drain the black tank until you are over 1/2 full. You need a lot of liquid in there to flush out the fun contents. The longer it sits the better it will be at dissolving things.

I am able to dump my rig at home which is great. After a trip I will let it sit for a couple of weeks. I will then add water until it is a good 3/4 full and then drain and rinse a few times with the built-in spray system.

If you have any roof vents, close them to prevent any smell that comes up the black tank vent from coming in. I typically don't have a problem with smell. I always use 2 8 oz bottles of Aqua Kem in the black tank which works very well.
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Old 01-19-2023, 09:07 PM   #5
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If you are going to be there often and long term, why not a septic tank or evaporative pit?

Not very expensive (relatively speaking). Depending on your skill level it may be a DYI project.

Depending on how much land you have, gray water hits the ground.
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Old 01-20-2023, 07:52 PM   #6
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You can get waste tote dollies that will hold over 35 gallons and have wheels that make it easier to move when full by towing behind your truck. But remember that water weighs over 8 lbs per gallon, then add the solids and that tote can weigh well over 300 lbs. As long as you can maneuver a full tote to dump by yourself (along with your wife?), then you should be ok with something that large. Keep in mind there are smaller tote sizes as well.
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Old 01-21-2023, 02:25 PM   #7
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I see you live in Canada, eh? You say you're a newbie and boondocking, eh? This hasn't been mentioned anywhere in this thread, so far, but I just want to make certain you're taking measures to ensure all your fresh and waste water systems are protected from freezing. Otherwise, you could have more of a problem than just the issue of when and where to dump your tanks; especially if they freeze when they're not empty. You might even have to winterize your RV between visits.

One more question for the newbie: Are you sure the campground you're planning to dump at will be accessible, or even open? Even if it's open all year, many will not guarantee access to the campground during severe weather conditions.

Happy Camping!
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Old 02-01-2023, 01:37 PM   #8
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It's a long story as to why this happened but about 12 years ago I parked our last TT for almost 2 years with a full black tank and no treatment. I thought I was going to have a solid brick of poo in there but it actually drained easily, looked like chocolate milk shake and had zero odor. I thought the smell was going to hit me like a brick but absolutely no smell. And this was drained into an open field on a ranch so I was standing right over it.

Before you criticize me for dumping in the field, it was private property, in the middle of nowhere and the ranch owner suggested it because he rinsed cow and chicken manure off ranch equipment in the area. By the time it finally got dumped, it was nothing but organic sludge.
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