grey water

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wornoutcowboy

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I am just getting started and wonder what you guys aer doing with your grey water while living in your van.  If you are on BLM do you collect it and dump it when you get to town or just pour it into the ground.  I am talking dishwater or perhaps outdoor shower water.  Thanks.
 
I don't generate much gray water. I wash dishes with a spray bottle and take sponge baths. (I also use very little soap.) In both cases, the water gets soaked up by towels. But when I do end up with a little gray water — a quarter cup here, a half cup there — I just toss it. Sometimes the weather is hot and dry enough that it evaporates before it hits the ground.  :D
 
I am a part-timer, mainly staying in developed campgrounds these days.  Grey water is a headache, and I also try to minimize it (but probably not as effectively as Mr. Noodly, et al.).  Everything we use is captured and disposed of in designated facilities (of which there are few near BLM/Forest Service dispersed areas).  I have a  small sink inside for quick sponge baths and tooth brushing.  It drains into an empty cat litter jug, which is easy to empty.  Outside hair washing/showers are done over a plastic tote, then poured or pumped into a jug for dumping.  I used to stand in a masonry tub when showering, which I have now replaced with a folding dog pool.  So far, I have not actually used the pool, but is is easy to drain a small amount of water into a container from either of these.  Spraying is fine, but I like to hot-water-wash my eating utensils and cups.  I do this in a plastic bowl with a pour spout and lid.  Doesn't take much water if you wipe first.  Personally, I don't think soap is always necessary.  The dishwater is then poured into the sink, or sometimes added to a pee jug for later disposal.  (Well...)

Most of the places I am in lately see heavy use and are close to bodies of water.  It doesn't take much detritus to cause problems and encourage pests, so I really strive not to make it worse.  In other settings, I would have no problem scattering small amounts of essentially clean water.
 
Thanks for the tips. I like the spray bottle idea for bathing and washing dishes. It appears to use very little water.

Also funny too because I have two big plastic cat litter jugs and was wondering what i would do with them. Now I know.

To tell you the truth my first inclination would be just to dump it in the open desert but I suspect many would find that wrong so I will try to play by the rules.
 
Your outdoor shower can be put over a cheap blue tarp and allow the water to evaporate. It will draw bees and other insects so the farther away from camp the better. I also pour small amounts of grey water on it to evaporate. since I usually get them free from Harbor Freight with sales coupons I just fold them up when they get really crusty and throw them away.
 
I also use the spray bottle. For washing dishes I add a bit of vinegar to the bottle. I sponge bath mostly but when I need to wash my hair I use a 2 gallon bug sprayer. I have a shower tent that I place over a blue tarp afterwards I collapse the tent for the water to evaporate. It took along time for me to create a method that is easy to maintain as well keep me feeling clean. And above it was mentioned the tarp attracts bugs; so very true. In the beginning of my minivan travels I wasted so much water, it was a true learning experience. Lots of practice and watching videos helped me experiment and learn what truly works for me.

MrsBackRoads
 
I will dump a small amount of water from bathing outside, and will wash my hair outside using a solar shower on occasion.

Unless I am in bear country, where this is prohibited.
 
wornoutcowboy said:
...have two big plastic cat litter jugs and was wondering what i would do with them.  Now I know.
Another cat litter jug tip:  a canning funnel fits in these perfectly.  I no longer need this for in-van use (drain hose goes directly to it), but it made a little "sink" outside.  The cap from the jug set into the funnel kept bugs from being attracted to it.  At the time, I also used a weed sprayer, and it was a convenient combination.  Over time, I found the weed sprayer to be too bulky for my purposes.
 
wornoutcowboy said:
 . . . doing with your grey water while living in your van.  If you are on BLM do you collect it and dump it when you get to town or just pour it into the ground.  I am talking dishwater or perhaps outdoor shower water.  Thanks.
We can't give a simple answer because there are dependencies:

Volume of water.
 - different impact between dumping a pan and a 5 gallon bucket of grey water.

What's in it.
 - big difference between dumping shower water with soap and body oils and dish water with detergent and bacon grease.

Environmental impact:
 - you need to educate yourself on the impact your grey water will have on the local environment you camp in.

Traffic:
 - places that have little use will tolerate dumping more than high use campsites.

You need to have the ability to store your grey and black (urine) water for later safe disposal for however long you are  camped in sensitive areas.

I generate very little waste water and seldom camp in an environmentally sensitive areas very long so a gallon black water jug works for me.
 - Shower and hair washing water goes on the ground.
 - Beagle pre-wash so very little dish water to dispose of; I just toss it.
 - Urine usually gets dispersed around on the ground away from campsite.
 - I hate toothpaste spit so I bury mine or it goes in the black jug.
 
Once again, thanks for the tips. I never thought of collecting and then using the evaporation method.

-And Spiff, I first googled Beagle pre-wash thinking it was a new miracle dish cleaner. LOL. And by the way, you write very well. Thanks for the info.
 
Most of my experience is from car camping. Where basically I'm living out of a tent unless the weather says otherwise.
I usually try to use as little water as possible for washing dishes and myself. To the point where I am pushing my luck. Both in terms of food safety and BO.
Hedge my bets by setting the dishes in the sun for a couple of hours to soak up that UV radiation.
When I am more van bound I tend to use more water. Vans are more enclosed and get stinky fast. So I am diligent about keeping stuff clean. Handi wipes help a lot. But my skin can't handle too many days in a row of such chemical bathing.
Dishes get tough. I try to use something like Dr.Bronners or 7th Generation soap so that if I must spill my water in the natural environment at least its not a nasty chemical cocktail of dyes and phosphates.
I also try not to leave any big puddles. I do a bit here, a bit there.
Of course there is the good old campfire.
Always save up my grey water for putting out the fire. In many parts of the west you really don't want to tempt fate by going to sleep with glowing coals nearby.
Both for fear of forest fire, but also because in some places that is a ticketable offense.
When I've had tank setups I wait until I get into civilization to dump that in a septic tank, down a sewer (that doesnt drain to a river or lake) or if need be in a public toilet.
I am horrified when people dump black water on BLM land. That will fester and smell nasty for weeks.
With camp potty/honeybucket type things I have dumped those on mulch covered landscaping. Logic being that it is not more than a gallon, and is already enzymed. A small amount will go over more like fertilizer than poison. But I have only done that as last resort. When I could find no other place and it was late.
 
I'm a long time cat holer.  I carry a "just my length" set of post hole diggers that I consider one of my most useful tools. It digs a small, vertical hole rather than a shovel made wide, disturbed, soft soil hole and therefore limits digging by animals.  In most soils it digs a hole about 6 inches wide and 12 or more inches deep rather quickly. Punches through small roots.  Leaves little evidence afterwards.

Hard southwestern desert caliche soil is a problem.
 
PlethoraOfGuns said:
Ew, people really dump their black tanks on the ground?!?
In a few places on BLM land in NorCal I've seen folks with RVs that just let their stuff drain downhill.
Wasn't sure if they had a malfunction or what.
So me and one of my friends I was camping with walked over to ask what was up.
When we got within about 20 yards a woman yelled 'stay away' in what I can only describe as a cracked out voice.
So we decided to relocate our campsite rather than deal with them and their runoff.
I've also seen/smelled the aftermath at multiple places. In the city and the country.

I don't hold it against people who dump out some grey water someplace. Businesses do much the same all the time.
The black water is just foul as heck though. Especially if you are in proximity to campsites (and if you have a black water tank you probably are!).
 
If you stay at an LTVA they often have a waste water dump facility. Not free BLM camping but not that expensive either.
 
I use WaterWipes for most of my cleanups. I repurpose an empty DEF container for gray water. At 2 1/2 gallons it’s easy to manage.
 
A post hole digger is the best tool I found for a cat hole. Carrying one around would be problematic.

Yours sounds more portable.
 
wayne49 said:
A post hole digger is the best tool I found for a cat hole. Carrying one around would be problematic.

Yours sounds more portable.

I agree, I’ve back country camped for decades... for the type of camping we do this could be an awesome tip! I hate finding where people just pull off the road and just squat and leave it. Of course, kind of hard to be discrete about anywhere with a post hole digger!
 
Dump it and forget it.Too many more important things.
 
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