Dumping RV waste into a home septic tank

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roaring40s

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Jul 7, 2010
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Greetings,
  I'm new to this forum so here goes. I have an older 5th wheel (Newmar) and my wife and I are leaving it at our daughter's home for the summer/fall before we head out for the winter. We just got dinged for $45 for a honey dipper to come by and offload our black tank. We could go to a free State campground nearby to dump but it is really very hard to back into the spot we have in her yard.
  Our daughter has a nearby septic that is pretty level with our outflow pipe.
Question; We want to hook our holding tank up with her septic and wanted some input from folks who have, cautions, problems etc.
  Also is there some device that can hook semi-permantly with the 3" "observation" hole in the top of the septic tank that will prevens odors from escaping?
Any help, thanks
Dave    :)
 
 
I am putting a Tee in the line from my house to my septic tank.  I figured it this way, I am probably more careful about what goes into my TT black tank than what goes in my home toilet so that will not be an issue.  I would not do it if I were using chemicals in the black tank.  Otherwise it's all the same stuff.
 
I'll let someone else answer as to whether dumping in a septic tank is OK. I don't see why not.

However, if you are using chemicals in your black tank, as many do, I would not want you dumping in my septic tank. The chemicals would kill off the natural bacteria that "process" the waste. If you do it, do it only au natural.

Ray D  ;)
 
roaring40s said:
We want to hook our holding tank up with her septic and wanted some input from folks who have, cautions, problems etc.

You have to decide whether to leave the hose in place or just deploy it when dumping.  Another alternative is to bury a pipe, if you're going to be there all summer.

If it's nearly level but you don't have at least 1/8" per foot of fall then you can use the "sewer solution" which uses a water jet to move things along.  I have one and it works OK as long as no one flushes a tampon.  They're around $100.

Otherwise if you have enough fall you can use a regular "slinky."  You may need or want a ramp of some kind.  You can buy them or make them from lumber.

  Also is there some device that can hook semi-permantly with the 3" "observation" hole in the top of the septic tank that will prevens odors from escaping?

Yes, the "sewer solution" comes with one, or you can get them for use with the "slinky" from RV places, tweetys.com, campingworld.com, and the other usual suspects.

Be sure that the "observation hole" isn't also a vent.  In some septic system installations, where the observation hole is not capped, it must be left open.
 
What you are calling an "observation hole" is more likely a cleanout for the septic pipe. I have one that I use often, be carefull what chemicals are used.  I use "Rid-ex" in my black tank because it is good for my septic tank also.  You will be better off to allow the black tank to fill at least half full and then dump and rinse  rather than leaving the hose connected full time.>>>Dan
 
The size of the septic system makes a difference. If you suddenly dump 75-100 gallons of waste into a 500 gallon septic, you are severely stressing it. If 1000 gallons (typical of recent construction), then it is less a concern.

I'd leave the gray water drain open so it trickles in the same as it does from the house. And i'd dump the black when it is half full, which should keep the dump volume to the 20-30 gallon range. The system will likely handle that ok.

Do not use typical RV holding tank chemicals - they could shut down the septic system's natural bacterial action. You can probably use an enzyme based treatment if you feel you must have something, but most of us do fine with no chemicals at all.
 
Hi,
  Thanks to all for your help, especially not using chemicals which I currently am using. Honey dipper one more time I guess.
Dave--new guy
 
There are several issues.. Having grown up with a Septic tank/dry well and later drain field system I have some experience

For one thing... The bacteria in the tank are, as I recall anarobic (Thrive in the ABSENCE of fresh air/oxygen)  Thus when you cut the pipe to put in your T fitting and inject air into the system you may kill the bacteria... Rid-X fixes this

Of course you need to 1: Put a trap between the inlet fitting and the line or
2: "T" in "up" line of the last trap

A good point, if they have a vent line that runs up the side of the house.. The clean out port works well, or you can "T" into it with a 3/4 inch female garden hose fitting (Drill, tap and seal) MAKE sure the fitting is FEMALE, and feed it with a macerator....  Macerators are nice... Use a BLACK garden hose please and label it.. Mine is 50 feet if I"m not mistaken (I'm going to check Saturday.. Just now it's "in use")

Next: IF you use chemicals in your tank.. Some of those chemicals are not kind to septic tank bacteria.. So please do not.

The only other concern is the SIZE of the septic tank.. Some are kind of small and hitting them with 20-100 gallons of sewage all at one time.. OVERLOAD.

NOTE.. in this case the macerator is the best way to dump.
 
When you stop using chemicals, prime your black tank by adding a couple of gallons of water to it after you dump.  The easiest way to do this is to fill the toilet to the top with water by pressing the pedal halfway, then flush the water into the tank.  Do this a couple of times until you have water covering the floor of the tank under the commode.  This helps the solids spread out and dissolve instead of just piling up under the toilet.

Actually, priming the tank with a couple of gallons of water is useful whether you use chemicals or not.  Otherwise the chemicals just fill the drain line and don't circulate through the rest of the tank until the contents get up to that level.
 
I would not suggest dumping a full tank into the septic at one time.  As indicated earlier, it will surge the tank and possibly push solids from the sludge cap in the septic tank into the drainfield, which can give you big problems.  FOR SURE DO NOT discharge anything into the observation cap which is located on the outlet end of the septic tank.  Beneith this is a baffel which prevents solids from the sludge cap from running out into the drainfield.  By discharging the RV here you will be running solids and paper directly into the drainfield, which will plug it.

The only proper connection would be to cut in a tee on the line running from the house to the septic tank and then I would only let your RV drain as if normal use or drain the RV tanks slowly without surging.
 
For what its worth, I have learned a boatload on this topic... 8)Never an issue I really thought much about, but....
#1 I never knew the RV Chem stuff would hurt a septic, fact I figured it would help. Guess I was waaaaay wrong....
#2 I figured load up and dump, but overloading a septic really makes sense. I was wrooong again....

 
If you dump the tank when it is half full it will be no different than dumping a bath tub as far as volume goes. 
 
A lot of these posts say "don't use chemicals when dumping into septic tanks".

Most of the camping we do is in campgrounds with septic tanks. Everyone uses chemicals. I've never been told not to by any CG management.

Bruce
 
I will let the campgrounds find out if the chemicals harm their systems.  I will have to pay if my system fails, SO no chemicals in mine.
 
My suggestion would be to go on line and read ?how a septic system works?.
There sever types of systems.  You have conventional, aerobic, and lpd systems. They all work differently. All of them should be capable of handling the liquids. The solids are the problem. Even with proper bacteria in a conventional system they will need pumped out  eventually. With proper bacteria this could be a very long time but the solids never break down 100%. There will always be some byproduct. The worst thing in a system is what goes down your kitchen sink. A good rule of thumb is if it didn?t come out of you don?t put it into your system. I know some people with older systems that wont flush toilet paper because it takes too long to break down.
Aerobic systems use chlorine to disinfect the fluids and spray them on top of the ground to be evaporated.
Once again, find out the type of system you are dealing with and read about it or contact the health department where you are at and they can answer any question you might have. I have  used septic systems my whole life and like anything else a little maintenance goes a long way.
Hope this helped you out.
 
No reason not to, just let the black tank get at least half full so you get good flow.
 
capvan said:
A lot of these posts say "don't use chemicals when dumping into septic tanks".

Most of the camping we do is in campgrounds with septic tanks. Everyone uses chemicals. I've never been told not to by any CG management.

Bruce


campgrounds pump out their tanks,, not a true septic tank
 
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