Grey water tank

Submitted: Thursday, Jan 02, 2014 at 22:03

ThreadID: 129144 Views:5560 Replies:3 FollowUps:4

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braggy

Hi

Interested in opinions of fitting grey water holding tank.

Any body got one?
how big,?
did you fit a Hepvo valve to stop smells ?
ever get water coming back up thru shower ?
any other tips ?

Thanks Ken

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Reply By: Mobi Condo - Friday, Jan 03, 2014 at 17:41

Friday, Jan 03, 2014 at 17:41

Hello Ken,
I have looked and pondered at this for some years now. Seems to me the lack of "fall" under then van is a problem when trying to have one fitted to the van, and maybe a sump and pump would be an answer, but - WOW! what an addition to retro fit and maintain to keep clean etc.! May well be best to have them designed in at manufacture.

So, at the moment I have an old 20L plastic Jerry can which has a 50mm dia. hole in the centre of one side with minimum extension spigot and sealing screw cap fixed and sealed to the jerry as the intermediate solution. We can simply lay this on its side under van with short yoke/'Y' piece from under floor outlets to the jerry. 20L is more than enough for one nights dishes showers etc., and so over flow spillage is not a problem and it is still fairly easy for me to manage regards weight etc. when full and we drive off with grey water self contained to empty at a dump point along the way.

I see an advert for a professionally made idea similar to this with wheels etc. in the latest Caravan and Motorhome magazine!

Maybe we will go that way when the Homer Brand has had its day.

Cheers

AnswerID: 586959

Follow Up By: braggy - Friday, Jan 03, 2014 at 22:22

Friday, Jan 03, 2014 at 22:22

Hi Mobi

Fall is an issue with the shower waste, but I think by filling the tank from the bottom, ( and the shower floor is slightly raised), the fall may be OK.

I was thinking about the 50 lt mark, and putting 2 vents in the top, to help with the bottom filling, and putting a hose connection on one vent hose to flush tank out.

Not too sure about water flowing back up the shower waste though.

Those Hepvo valves will stop any odours, but not sure if they will work as a non return valve,but they will work as a vent to help drain when diverted to bypass tank,
was hoping someone had a setup that might have a better idea.

So may need a frog flap in that line (maintenance) or maybe just put plugs in the shower outlets (memory failure).

Your system of portable tank is abit painfull if just doing a quick stop down on a waterhole or the likes., or a lunch stop in a civilized area.

Don't know if getting it done at build stage would make much difference.
Sump and pump to complicated ,KISS

Thanks for the reply Ken

FollowupID: 855636

Follow Up By: Doinit-Ezy - Saturday, Jan 18, 2014 at 07:51

Saturday, Jan 18, 2014 at 07:51

Thanks Mobi for a simple & effective solution for containing grey water in 'sensitive' areas e.g. rest areas or bush camping with company. I have already made mine out of a 20 litre plastic water container & $3.65 worth of Bunnings fittings.

Have also copied an idea I saw in a recent Caravan Mag where the grey water fed into a 2 to 4 litre plastic water bottle with heaps of say 10mm holes drilled into same so that water drains out but food & other scraps are retained. Rubbish retained in bottle can then be disposed of into rubbish bin. I will try this system when next parked on grass &/or in 'non-sensitive' areas.

Personally I like the idea of being able to selectively water green areas with grey water, something which is also actively encouraged in some caravan parks. I believe that any negative environmental issues are far outweighed by the act of plants getting watered. Still I'm not an environmental scientist so I could be wrong.

Cheers
Greg

FollowupID: 855637

Reply By: Noosa Fox - Friday, Jan 03, 2014 at 23:08

Friday, Jan 03, 2014 at 23:08

Ken,
I fitted a 60 litre Camel water tank about 2 years ago and it works well. With our older van (2001) the cross members are not suitable for attaching the size of the Camel tanks so I made up a frame for it to bolt to and on each side I have 50ml angle iron that sits on top of the chassis rail and I just used Tech screws through the side to hold it in place.

The Camel tank comes with 3 threaded holes in the top, 2 suitable for 25ml hoses and 1 for 12 ml hose. It also has the 25 ml drain thread.

What I did was diverted the sink drain to run across the top of the tank and into one of the top fittings.
The hand basin drain goes into the other larger fitting on the top of the tank.
The 12 ml fitting on the top of the tank is used as the vent.

The shower drain is on the outside of the chassis rail so I have ours now running down the outside of the chassis and it joins into the bottom tank end drain fitting with a T fitting. On the outside of this T fitting I have a 25ml stop tap followed by a 25ml male thread fitting.

The sullage hoses now also have 25ml threaded fittings at each end, so if there is anything left inside when rolled up and screwed together nothing can leak out.

We do not have any Hepvo or non return valves fitted and have found that if the tank has some water with pine-o-clean in it for an hour or more before being released then there are no smells.

Occasionally we have had water back flow from the tank and into the shower, but we fix that by just putting a rolled up piece of cleaning clothe in the opening after the shower. The water doesn't drain from the shower as quickly when it is going into the tank as it does when it is just going to waste.

It has been good on a few of occasions when stopped on paved surfaces and wanting to let waste water go, and also when we went into a couple of free camp areas where ONLY fully self contained vans /motor homes were permitted.

Brian

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AnswerID: 586960

Follow Up By: braggy - Saturday, Jan 04, 2014 at 00:26

Saturday, Jan 04, 2014 at 00:26

G'day Brian

Thanks for the info, so do you still run the waste thru the tank, even when you are not going to hold it ?

I thought of running the sink and basin down and teeing it into that same bottom outlet, as the shower, and dump outlet, so I could use a ball valve on the tank and close it off when not wanting to hold it, but if yours is working fine maybe not worth it.

Great idea on threaded fittings on the hose, will use that idea.

Roughly how long does the 60 lts last for ?, do you wish you had more or less ?

I'll google Camel tank,
I can get a 50lt water tank for about $80 and mounting brackets for $50. And the Hepvos for around $35. so not all that an expensive improvement.

Cheers Ken

FollowupID: 855638

Follow Up By: Noosa Fox - Saturday, Jan 04, 2014 at 06:01

Saturday, Jan 04, 2014 at 06:01

We run all our waste via the tank.
The tank that I used is the same as what BTi started fitting on new vans about 2006, the green ones that can be filled under pressure.
I got it cheap from a Boroma caravan owner that had one replaced for some reason. It is heavy moulded plastic that has about 4 mounting holes drilled along both sides.

We have only ever had water stored in it for up to 3 days as we have usually moved on and can dump it somewhere. It would all depend how frugal you are with water as to how long it would last. But if you go too big it could upset the weights and stability of the van if you have to travel with it full any distance.

I was told the tank was 60lts and thought it was the same as what BTi fit for the water tanks.

In font of the outlet connections I fitted a rubber mud/stone flap to protect it and the rocks up the Gulf and Cape didn't cause any damage.

Brian

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FollowupID: 855639

Reply By: Dynamic Duo - Monday, Jan 06, 2014 at 18:51

Monday, Jan 06, 2014 at 18:51

Hi
we saw a very simple and what looked to be a very effective system at the muster at Alice on Jeff and Narelles van
If you contact them I am sure they would be only to happy to share their idea with you
cheers Kev