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Pop-up camper grey water
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Our Gray Water System – The Pop Up Princess
We use the drain connector and garden hose method to drain our gray water because they are easy, versatile, and take up very little room in the …
Source: thepopupprincess.com
Date Published: 6/25/2022
View: 6988
11 Smart Pop-up Camper Gray Water Tank Ideas
Generally, most pop-up campers do not have onboard gray water holding tanks. However, there are lots of portable gray water tanks that you can buy online.
Source: familytravelfever.com
Date Published: 5/27/2022
View: 2129
How do you handle your gray water? – PopUpPortal
Our pop-up has a water system, but no on-board gray water tank. … full hookups and use a gray water hose from the PUP drain to the sewer.
Source: www.popupportal.com
Date Published: 4/27/2021
View: 2838
A Better Way to Deal with Grey Water – The Southern Glamper
A better way to drain your gray water from the RV is using an … me a pop-up camper that was draining their grey water into the sewer line.
Source: www.southernglamper.com
Date Published: 3/22/2022
View: 9395
How to Drain Sink Water from a Pop-Up Camper – HomeSteady
Locate the sink drain on the se of your pop-up camper and remove the cap. · Screw the drain hose onto the sink drain. · Place the end of the …
Source: homesteady.com
Date Published: 2/5/2021
View: 7601
Gray Water Solutions for Your Camper – PopUpBackpacker
If you camp in campgrounds with sewer hook-ups, then waste water disposal is not a problem. But I will suggest that these “parking lot” …
Source: popupbackpacker.com
Date Published: 10/14/2022
View: 8724
Our Gray Water System
When I first got our little pop-up RV, I knew nothing about freshwater, graywater, or blackwater systems. I mean, I knew blackwater was the stinky stuff, but not much more than that. 😉
We have a sink in the PUP, but technically I had no idea where the water was coming from or where it was going – or what the difference was when we were camping with hookups versus dry camping. I wasn’t even sure what to do with the waste water at the campsite. After a little research I figured it all out, and it really isn’t that hard. If you’re just getting your first pop up camper, you might have some of the same questions I have. Now that we’ve found a system that works well for us, I thought I’d tell you how we collect and dispose of our greywater.
Okay, so first things first… what exactly is greywater? Well, gray water is the relatively clean wastewater from your RV’s sinks and showers. It can contain things like soap, toothpaste, and leftover food. I’ve learned from our tent camping years that most campgrounds won’t allow you to dump your gray water on the ground. Actually, every campsite we have ever visited had a sewage ordinance. It is best to inquire beforehand about the campsite’s specific waste water regulations. Some allow you to divert gray water into campsite toilets or comfort stations. Others make you drag it to the disposal station. This is one of the first questions we ask ourselves when we check in at the campsite.
Our pop up has a gray water drain on the back of the RV. It was even marked for us…before we removed all the stickers during our exterior painting project. 😉 We bought this black drain connector so we could connect our gray water drain to a regular garden hose. Then all we had to do was run a hose from our drain to our gray water tank or sewer. If we are in a campsite with full hookups, our setup will look like the image above. We have purchased hoses in different colors and store them separately so our gray water hose is never confused with our fresh water hose. Egg! 😛
Since we use a hose for the sewage drain, we bought a sewage fitting from Amazon so we don’t get any leaks or odors when we connect it. It works like a dream and I love it when we have full connections. However, when we camp in more remote areas, full hookups are never an option. In these cases, we rely on some sort of tank to collect our greywater.
You don’t actually have to do anything special for a gray water tank. In fact, on our most recent trip, we arrived at our first campsite and realized we had forgotten our usual gray water tank. A gallon-sized water bottle worked well, although we had to empty it quite a bit.
We went to the store before our next stop and picked up a 7 gallon aquatainer that held a little more gray water. These are available at Wal-Mart and many sporting goods stores, but you can also buy one from Amazon. A lot of people use these for their regular gray water tanks, which is perfectly fine. I feel like it fills up a bit too quickly for us when we’re camping and I prefer to stay as long as possible before making the trip to the dump station. It’s also quite heavy and awkward to carry when full.
This is our usual gray water tank. We love using this 15 gallon Barker Tote Tank to collect our rinse water. We bought it from Amazon but I also saw them at Camping World. It’s a little pricey, but for us it’s worth every penny. It holds a lot more than the aquatainer and has wheels so we can roll it to gray water disposal. It also has a trailer hitch so we can attach it to our vehicle and tow it to the landfill. A short length of garden hose runs from the drain connector to the storage tank. Recently, Mr. TypeTwoFun used some PVC pipe and fittings to construct a small vent to allow the sink to drain faster.
We never really had a huge issue with the sink resetting initially, but I’ve found this little mod to help things flow faster. It’s a really simple mod and well worth the 15 minutes it took to put it together. The parts are all things you can find in the plumbing section of your hardware store, but make sure the top fitting is a swivel hose fitting. The longest piece of PVC pipe is the actual vent. Ours is about 12″ because I didn’t want to find a place to store anything longer, but technically you want your vent to be higher than your sink drain – just in case you have the sink back up. Otherwise water will come out of the vent. Again, we never had any issues with the sink resetting, so it was never a big deal to us.
We use the drain connector and garden hose method to drain our gray water because they are simple, versatile and take up very little space in the RV. However, you don’t have to use this method. If you find that your sink is draining too slowly for your liking, you may want to consider a system that uses larger PVC pipe or flexible hose to drain the gray water. If you’re interested, there are some great ideas to check out on the pop-up portal forums.
When we first got our carry tank, it had hard plastic wheels. While there’s nothing wrong with the plastic wheels, they made SO much noise when we were hauling the stretcher to the disposal area. When we towed it behind the car, people would come out of their campsites and onto the streets to see what was going on. It was more than a little embarrassing. 🙁 Mr. TypeTwoFun decided to replace the plastic wheels with 8″ pneumatic tires. You can find them at hardware stores and the like or on Amazon, but we found ours cheap at Harbor Freight.
Mr. TypeTwoFun simply unscrewed the axle nut from one end and removed the axle. Then he replaced the tires on the transport container with pneumatic tires. To keep the new tires from rubbing against the tank, he added a couple of 5/8″ inner diameter washers. We didn’t do that when we first changed the tires and after a few months we had quite a bit of wear on the tank.
After we added the washers everything was much better. Thread your tire, 3 washers and the black spacer (this originally came on the axle) onto the axle and insert it into the channel in the bottom of the tank. Then thread the black spacer, three washers and the air hoop onto the other end. Gently tap the axle nut with a hammer.
You may have issues with the original axle being too short to accommodate all of the new components. We made. In this case, you can buy a new piece of 5/8″ diameter metal rod and cut it to size with a hacksaw or wheel sander. We bought ours at Home Depot for about $8. Mr. TypeTwoFun cut it about 3/4″ longer than the original axle and solved the problem.
Once the axle nut is in place, check that your tires aren’t rubbing against the sides of your tank and you’re good to go. If you want to run a plastic epoxy bead down the channel before inserting the axle, it will make it safer. However, it is not necessary.
When your tank is full you can simply drag it to the disposal area. The large black cap on the tank connects to a flexible drain hose that comes with the tank. You can simply attach the hose, tuck the end into the designated disposal area and tilt the stretcher forward to empty the tank. Dead easy!
Our tank came with the hitch which I love. If the landfill is a fair distance from where we are, we simply hitch the tank to the trailer hitch and tow it to the disposal site. Mr. TypeTwoFun is no longer embarrassed to drive it to the dump. Yay! 😀
Remember that every pop-up camper is different, so your system may not be like mine. You may have a very different way of doing things. My way isn’t the only way – it’s just what works best for us. If you have another way to deal with your pup’s gray water, I’d love to hear it. Share it in the comments or on our Facebook page.
Happy camping!
Disclaimer: This post contains Amazon affiliate links. The Pop-Up Princess is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Affiliate Program, an affiliate advertising program that allows websites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com. This means if you decide to purchase an item through a link in this post, The Pop Up Princess will earn a small advertising fee to pay for future projects and posts… so thank you! 🙂
Happy camping!
11 Smart Pop-up Camper Gray Water Tank Ideas Family Travel Fever
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Pop-up campers are very compact with minimal water systems. Since you are staying in a mobile home, you should wash your hands and dishes. So what to do with the gray water? In this article, we discuss some pretty clever ideas for dealing with gray water in a pop-up camper.
Pop Up Camper Graywater Ideas:
Independent
aquatainer
Collapsible gray water tank
Hydra roller
Bucket
Assemble a tank
Use a large container with a trailer hitch
Connect to the duct connection
Connect to gray water connection
Clean the dishes and use a strainer
Reuse greywater
Let’s start with the basics: RVs have two different types of drains. The black water and the gray water. The black water is the wastewater that comes out of your toilet, so it contains human waste and is unsafe. Gray water, on the other hand, comes from your shower, kitchen and sink and contains soap, food particles, bacteria, grease and dirt.
Do pop-up campers have gray water tanks?
In general, most pop-up campers do not have gray water tanks on board. However, there are many portable gray water tanks that you can buy online. Otherwise you can just run the hose from the drain plug on your pop-up to the waste water connection.
Because gray water contains soap, food particles, bacteria, grease and dirt, it should not be dumped on the floor. It’s illegal in some areas and you’ll face a hefty fine if caught doing it. These sectors are mainly concerned about the phosphates in the soap and the organics in the food particles, which are bad for surface water and cause algae growth.
However, some areas with particularly high levels of precipitation allow gray water to be distributed directly onto the ground.
Although you might be the camper type who rarely throws anything down the drain that would be dangerous or harmful. Maybe it could just be water and hand soap to wash your hands occasionally.
Nonetheless, this guide will help you with 11 smart pop-up camper gray water tank ideas and a few tips to keep your portable holding tanks clean and odor-free.
Before we continue, for more gray and black water resources check out these:
How do you know if you have a gray water tank?
A pop-up camper van at a campsite
Newer RVs have both gray water and black water tanks. Pop-ups, on the other hand, typically don’t have gray water tanks.
Although many pop-up campers don’t have a built-in gray water tank, there are some PUP models that do. The easiest method is to run a little water down the sink drain and see if it drains anywhere outside of the RV. At the outlet, look for a valve and tank.
You always just have to ask the manufacturer before planning a purchase.
Greywater solutions for your pop-up camper
Be self-reliant
Of course, having a self-contained greywater system on a pop-up is ideal. The first thing you should check is whether there is a holding tank on board your motorhome.
However, most pop-ups do not come with built-in greywater systems. Some people actually have a 7 to 10 gallon water tank like this mounted under their RV. The tanks and all connections can be found here on Amazon. This allows for very little water retention.
Note: If you try this because some campgrounds only allow “self-contained units”. If so, ask what they actually mean by autonomous.
Use an aqua trainer
Aqua Trainer is one of the most popular portable gray water tanks that you can buy in the market or online. It is mainly used by RVs that have PUP.
It’s only a 7-gallon container, though, so you might need two of these to use one for your shower and one for the kitchen sink. Check the price of the Aquatainer on Amazon here.
You also need to empty it frequently, especially if you shower frequently, wash your hands, or cook frequently.
Use a collapsible gray water tank
This collapsible container is also great for storing that greywater you can buy. It comes in 2 to 5 gallons so you might need about two of these too so you have one for your shower and one for the kitchen sink.
Collapsible portable tank is good because it doesn’t take up extra space when empty. These collapsible tanks are very inexpensive and come in sizes from 2 to 5 gallons, making them easier to carry. Check the price on Amazon here.
Use a wheeled hydro scooter
A hydroller is an upgrade of the aqua trainer. It’s from the same manufacturer but more durable and on wheels. The good thing is that it is larger with an 8 gallon capacity. Also, it comes with a fold-up handle so you can easily take it to the campsite landfill or anywhere you can dispose of the sewage it contains.
You can buy the 8-gallon hydroler on Amazon or at Walmart. If you prefer to have a longer time between dumps, this portable holding tank is ideal. (Check price for Camco 21 gallon tank on Amazon.
Use a bucket or gallon of water
If you’re on a budget or just don’t feel like buying those portable tanks, you can just use a 5 to 10 gallon bucket to hold your gray water. Simply place the bucket on the sink spout in your motorhome.
You can get even fancier by covering the bucket. Just put on a lid and cut a hole in the top for the tubing to fit.
Mount a gray water tank on your PUP
Mount a gray water tank on your PUP. You can still use your kitchen or bathroom sink without the hassle of placing the tank under or at the back of your PUP to hold gray water.
In case you’ve decided to mount your tanks in your RVs, make sure you also use two brackets so it’s stable even if you hit the brakes while driving.
Use a large container with a trailer hitch
Lifting or hauling 8 gallons of water to the nearest landfill can make your back ache just thinking about it. There are larger containers that last a long time and can then be towed to the landfill.
You can also use a towing bracket to tow Blue Tote portable waste water tanks to the nearest disposal station. This is especially useful if your tank is too heavy.
This system features a 32-gallon fuel tank and hitch. Check the price on Amazon here.
Connect the pop-up camper directly to the sewer connector
Campsite waste water connection for black and gray water tank
Get a hose and hook up a pop-up RV directly to the sewage hookup in a full-connection location.
However, you need to make sure you have the correct connection to the camper and hookup. Also, a drain fitting is generally a larger diameter pipe.
Connect your gray water to a campsite sewage connection, you need this RV sewage connection.
Connect to the gray water connection
Some campsites do not have a full sewage connection but instead have a gray water line. This is more common at campsites in the Northeast.
The gray water discharge line can be smaller than the full sewage connection and easier to connect. If you want to try this, ask the campsite when making your reservation.
Wipe the dishes and use a strainer
Use a paper towel, it would be better to clean and wipe your dishes first before rinsing. Just like the sink strainer, it prevents food debris from getting into your tank, which can cause damage if you don’t dispose of it properly.
Using a flushing strainer will help you prevent solid residue from entering your gray water tank. With this you don’t have to empty your tank from time to time as it consists mainly of water and soap.
Reuse greywater
When you’re camping, lugging water to and from your RV for disposal is a lot of work. Whenever you can, try to reuse greywater directly on your RV.
You can use a dishwashing bowl in the sink to catch the water. (When camping, I use this collapsible flushing bowl.) It can be used to put out the evening fire, flush the toilet, wash the mud off the car or boots, and more.
Tips for cleaning your portable pop-up gray water tanks
Portable holding tanks are very easy to find and use. Just make sure you follow these three simple steps to keep it clean and it will be odor free
Be sure to rinse and clean the gray. water tanks after use. Leaving it uncleaned is dangerous and can cause a bad odor in your RV.
Use and approve gray water treatment in sink drains. It will help remove all the dirt in the odor in your gray water tanks.
After emptying your gray water tanks, use dishwashing liquid in the sink. Then, shower down your sink drains with water so it can remove grease and odors that can build up in your gray water tanks.
Allow your portable tanks to dry before using them again. It also helps you keep your gray water tank clean and odor free.
Important Related Questions
What do you do with gray water when camping?
When you go camping, you need to be mindful of the condition of your gray water tank. If you think it’s already full or almost full, you can dispose of it at the campsite’s garbage stations.
Is it okay to dump gray water on the ground?
If you are camping or traveling with your rig you should not dump your gray water on the ground as it will still contain soapy and oily water which is not good for the environment.
Also, most campgrounds already have policies on disposal of gray water from RVs, so you need to make sure you follow them. The same goes for most cities. They have designated waste water where you can dispose of waste water.
Can urine get into a gray water tank?
Urine should not get into the gray water tank. (In a pop up there should be no way for urine to get into the tank)
Urine can contaminate your tank and leave a bad odor in it even after you’ve emptied it. If you plan on having a composting toilet and letting the urine flow into the gray water tank, be sure to dispose of it at an appropriate disposal station right away.
You can find more information here: Can I pee in the shower in the motorhome? (Questions about gray water tanks)
How many gallons of water does a pop up camper hold?
In general, pop-up RVs can hold 5 to 15 gallons of water. Hyrbid pop-up trailers can have up to 30 gallon holding tanks.
What is a porta potty?
A portable potty is a portable toilet used by RVs. This is very easy to use and dumping waste is pretty easy too. You just need to connect it to the designated sewer to discharge black water around the campsite or other areas where there is one.
I love my porta potty! I take it everywhere and use it as a van on road trips. Seriously, I would never leave the house without mine. That’s exactly what I have (here on Amazon).
Final thoughts on smart pop up camper gray water tank ideas
Being an RVer means you have to be more creative and imaginative as camping and boandocking may require you to do things that you won’t see in your rigs.
It’s great that people came up with these portable water tanks that pop up owners can use since they didn’t have gray water tanks built in.
But most important of all, don’t just dump your rubbish anywhere. If you are at a campground be sure to follow their policies, if you are outside do some research and find out what the city you are in has policies on landfilling.
Before we continue, for more gray and black water resources check out these:
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How do you handle your gray water?
JPBar said: Use a 5 gallon water bottle for gray water out of the sink and a 30 gallon bag for gray water out of the shower and have a cassette potty tank. Empty every 3am and good until the next day takes a full 10 minutes to charge and take to the disposal station and back to the camper. Most of the time they are not full, which makes it easier to transport to the landfill and cleaning. That’s what works for me. Click to expand…
I currently use 2 – 7 gallon containers and empty them frequently. Maybe I’ll get one of the 30 gallon tow baskets at some point, but to this day the campgrounds we’ve stayed at didn’t have disposal stations. So we either dispose of it on the ground outside the campsite or bring it home to dispose of for sewer cleaning. Yes we have the cassette toilet which is a self contained unit and is actually very convenient to use. Hopefully everyone is aware that we are talking about greywater that contains no human waste or even food waste. We camp clean and don’t have to wash dishes. Pans are wiped out before washing to remove all food from our greywater. We also take our trash to the campsite dumpsters a few times a day so we don’t attract bears and other critters.
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