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Old 09-25-2015, 04:58 PM   #1
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Portable sewage tanks - experiences?

I've searched on this forum, and the tiny amount of chatter I have found regarding portable sewage tanks does not apply to our situation.

When we are using our trailer it is mostly in situations ranging from no campsite facilities to "outhouses that contribute to constipation", so the limiting factor on how long we can stay in one place is the capacity of the black tank. Yes, peeing in the bushes happens (in the daytime), but the onboard facilities get well used.

We're considering a portable waste tank, which we would likely make a rear hitch carrier for, but how do you manage the waste transfer in the cleanest way possible? At a dump station - no problem. Black dump, grey dump, a bit of a rinse with the (usually) hose on location & all is good. If we're just trying to stretch the black tank's capacity a bit - I can't see wanting to put enough grey water in the portable tank to adequately rinse the hose.... Grey water capacity is fine for MANY days, we have really perfectly the barely-any-water post-dirt-biking shower method.... We don't want a BIG portable waste tank, just enough to stretch things a couple more days (and that is easy to lift and won't overload the back of the trailer when full), so if we used much rinse water we wouldn't be able to empty enough of the black tank to bother.

We don't stay in places that have a dump station within an hour's drive - so a "brief out & back" is just not feasible.

Any thoughts on the subject?
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Old 09-25-2015, 05:08 PM   #2
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I would get one of these http://www.amazon.com/Thetford-92360...rds=port+potty
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Old 09-25-2015, 05:24 PM   #3
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Interesting thought, thanks. I'm not really interested in figuring out how to tote along a whole 'nother toilet though... a convenient place to use it would often not be forthcoming either - the one already installed in the trailer is awfully convenient in the middle of the night!
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Old 09-25-2015, 05:26 PM   #4
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I was thinking the tank in it would be easier to handle than a 15 gal tote which you have to lift into your vehicle.
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Old 09-25-2015, 05:41 PM   #5
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If we do this, the full waste tank has to be carried externally on the trailer. A front or rear rack?

The back of the van is full and we don't tend to camp within an hour or more of dump stations.
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Old 09-25-2015, 07:19 PM   #6
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If we do this, the full waste tank has to be carried externally on the trailer. A front or rear rack?

The back of the van is full and we don't tend to camp within an hour or more of dump stations.
We were parked at kids in driveway and needed extra . Went to camping world and bought the bare bones 12 gallon cost . 77 . Also small hose for it 11.99 . It was easy to lift up in truck bed . The problem with the bigger ones they are very heavy to move around . This will also come in handy when we beach camp at our favorite spot . We have a clean out at home and will dump it there when needed or if there is a dump on the way out . Pat
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Old 09-25-2015, 07:28 PM   #7
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I made one, less than $20. I can use it for either gray or black. I can lift it when it's full, and for me that's a huge plus.

Some of the numbers to make it in the PDF may have changed, but still it was really easy to do.
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Old 09-25-2015, 07:30 PM   #8
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How do you make sure the fill hose is clean & sanitary without a major use of water?
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Old 09-25-2015, 07:33 PM   #9
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How do you make sure the fill hose is clean & sanitary without a major use of water?
If you're talking to me, the hose I use between the connections is about 2' long. A swish of gray water and it's about as clean as it's gonna get.

And there's nothing sanitary after using a sewer hose even once. For me, it's just not disgusting.
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Old 09-25-2015, 07:38 PM   #10
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I'm talking to anyone who has used a portable tank

Sanitary may not have been a good word. Clean enough to not be disgusting!

I don't want to "waste" a lot of room in a portable black tank with non-black water, but I don't want a connection hose that stinks to high-heaven either...
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Old 09-25-2015, 09:55 PM   #11
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I made one, less than $20. I can use it for either gray or black. I can lift it when it's full, and for me that's a huge plus.

Some of the numbers to make it in the PDF may have changed, but still it was really easy to do.
Very cool idea Donna !.but we were in a pinch and didn't want to move set up trailer . This one does have a float and rinse valve and wheels so it has everything you need . Don't find any smell either. But your system will work too . Pat
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Old 09-25-2015, 10:11 PM   #12
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Pat, I'm cheap... some friends would say I squeak! In the year's since I made the Blue Tote Project, I figure I've used it maybe a dozen times. Most of those times were when I decided to by-pass the dump station (long line) and just head home. I can use my home made tote to drain the tanks and dump in my "pot" at home.

Works for me
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Old 09-25-2015, 10:52 PM   #13
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Pat, I'm cheap... some friends would say I squeak! In the year's since I made the Blue Tote Project, I figure I've used it maybe a dozen times. Most of those times were when I decided to by-pass the dump station (long line) and just head home. I can use my home made tote to drain the tanks and dump in my "pot" at home.

Works for me
Donna you are not being cheap but smart . If I knew about this system It would have worked for me too . Pat
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Old 09-26-2015, 12:57 AM   #14
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no experience, and don't want experience but i remember seeing these at camping world
FloJet RV Waste Pump Kit - Xylem 18555000A - Drain & Flush Systems - Camping World

there are others as well, just search for 'macerator'.

Anyways the idea might be to pump into a pit toilet or into the tank you plan on carrying.

I don't want one but it sure looks like a solution that fits your situation.
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Old 09-26-2015, 01:08 AM   #15
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There are signs in the 'pit' toilets at a BC forestry site I frequent advising that campers are NOT to dump porta potties and the like in the toilet.
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Old 09-26-2015, 09:26 AM   #16
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I have a mercerator pump kit I use when I skip the dump station on the way home. I pump it into my sewer cleanout with the camper parked in it normal location. A little flushing and then I usually wash it in the shop sink. After it dries I put it back in the kit box and store it in the camper. I have a 25 gal wheeled tote that I plan to put waste into when extended camping to transport it to a dump station. Grey water is more likely to fill for me than black. I have dumped water into the tote from the trailer and then placed it into the clean out. A better hose system is needed than what I have for the job to be stress free, but it works. I plan to make small deposites and more trips if necessary as the weight of the tote makes it difficult to stand it up to dump.
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Old 09-26-2015, 09:44 AM   #17
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No personal experience with a portable tank but while camped at Hunting Island in Oct. 2013, I saw one being towed very slowly, plastic wheels and all, by a 3500 series Dodge dually diesel. He had about a 15 inch drop hitch to a framework he had built. About 15 minutes later I saw one being towed by a guy with a beach cruiser bicycle with a hitch that came off the seat tube area. My thought at the time, " takes all kinds" . Looked like it would work o.k. Though in either case.
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Old 09-26-2015, 09:45 AM   #18
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no experience, and don't want experience but i remember seeing these at camping world
FloJet RV Waste Pump Kit - Xylem 18555000A - Drain & Flush Systems - Camping World

there are others as well, just search for 'macerator'.

Anyways the idea might be to pump into a pit toilet or into the tank you plan on carrying.

I don't want one but it sure looks like a solution that fits your situation.
One for home might be nice! If I didn't have so far to go to get to the floor drain in the basement...

Whilst camping it sounds like too much fuss and still too much rinsing, to me... Simpler is better, in my books.
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Old 09-26-2015, 11:17 AM   #19
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I agree, until your tank is full and you have to break everything down to hook up and go to the dump station. Wrestling a wheeled tank is simpler then. 5 notes is all I have been able to last without dumping. That is not enough for my future plans of staying in on place till I have seen it all.
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Old 09-26-2015, 11:32 AM   #20
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I agree, until your tank is full and you have to break everything down to hook up and go to the dump station. Wrestling a wheeled tank is simpler then.
That's the thing, I'm looking for an easy, "clean" way to carry out the "extra". The places we camp at don't have ANY place to dump nearby. Wheels on the tank aren't important, but a way of filling it without smelling like poo afterwards is...
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