dumping tanks at home?

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braindead

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I've got a 3" (I think it's 3") sewer cleanout in my front yard near the driveway.. I was just wondering if it's okay to dump holding tanks into it?  It would be pretty handy to be able to dump at home, but I don't know for sure if this is doable?
 
I would say it depends upon where you live.  Some cities may have severe objections, while others may not.  Personally, I live outside city limits and when our house was built, sewers went to a lagoon.  Later, municipal sewers replaced the lagoon.  We have an outside stairwell to our basement and the drain there ties into the houses sewer system.  Our RV storage pad is right next to the stairwell, so dumping is no problem for me.
 
You'll have to check local codes, I can't dump in town in the street drains, or on any property under 10 acres.

But, I've also got a farm in Texas.  Due to the laws here, I can run raw sewage if I so desire, there are no laws against it.  I stopped by on my way back from FL where I went for Christmas. I had to empty just my grey water tank as I hadn't used the toilet, and then the fresh water to winterize it again.  There were no other dumps on my way back to where I store it, so I decided to dump my grey water in an out of the way low spot.  Talk about stink!  I did not think grey water could smell that bad.  By the next week when I got back, there was no smell, but I sure didn't want to stick around after I dumped it.  So you may get complaints even if it's legal there.

 
I'll check the local laws, I would be dumping into the sanitary sewer via the cleanout in my yard not just dumping in the yard ;-)
 
As long as you're dumping in a "sanitary" line (why the HECK to they call sewage lines sanitary? ???), and not a storm water drain line, there should be no issues.  The 3" cleanout in front of your house would be a sanitary line.  Sewage and gray water from your RV are the same as what comes from your home toilets and sinks.  I can't imagine an ordinance against this, but I'm no expert.  I used the cleanout in front of my house for years with prior rigs.  I now have a macerator and run a hose into a downstairs toilet.  I do 90% of my dumping at home.  We're not on the road much - YET!

Gordon
 
Yes, you can use your sewer cleanout to dump.  We also had a sewer cleanout in our front yard at our previous house.  We were there for 38 years and always dumped into it when we got home from a trip.  The only issue was slope.  We had to back up the driveway to a point fairly close to the house so the effluent would go downhill into the sewer cleanout which was fairly high up in the yard.  It doesn't flow uphill very well.  ;) We also used something called the Sewer Solution which is perfect for this application.  It uses a small (garden-size diameter) hose instead of the big 3-inch hose that comes with the RV.  It was easier to use and flowed better.  Because it's a clear hose you can tell when it's cleaned out (it's nice to also have an outside faucet nearby).

As others said, dumping into street drains is verboten because they often go into reservoirs of some sort.  You want to make sure it goes into the municipal sewerage system.  You're lucky to have a yard cleanout because many people don't - which is more problematic.

By the way, for people who might not understand what we're talking about here, the yard cleanout looks similar to the sewer hookup in campground except it's for the house.  If you get a clog of some sort, it's what the plumber person uses to get it cleaned out, especially if it's something like tree roots.  They often can go at the problem from the toilet, but the equipment doesn't always reach so they use the cleanout outside to work on it.

ArdraF
 
When we had a new septic system installed at our home base cottage a few years ago, we included an RV dump station riser right next to our coach parking spot when we submitted the plans to the building inspector. He told us we couldn't have an "RV dump station" on a residential system, but if we changed the name to a "cleanout", we'd be good to go.  ;D
 
I haven't checked the slope yet, but I think I may have it easy.  And there's a fresh water faucet handy as well....  Thanks for the info, I figured as long as I'm sure it's going to the sanitary sewer I'd be okay.  Just never had a situation where it was possible.

Thanks for the feedback everybody.
 
We were wondering about dumping in our septic tank.  I'm having it cleaned next summer as I have no idea how big it is, the seller said it was huge, but what is huge.

We don't intend to dump much but like when I came in this time there was some sewage in the black tank and it was to late for me to dump.  There don't seem to be many places here to dump sewage so we may need to do it here on occasion.

It sounds like a macerator might be a big help, need to read up on it.
 
Caroline, you should be able to use your septic tank as long as you don't use any of the chemicals with formaldehyde.  Many campgrounds in rural areas have septic tanks but forbid the use of formaldehyde because it kills the good bacteria that break down the waste.  We had a septic tank once and I occasionally broke up a one-pound block of baker's yeast into the toilet and flushed it well.  The yeast helped the bacterial action.

ArdraF
 
ArdraF said:
Caroline, you should be able to use your septic tank as long as you don't use any of the chemicals with formaldehyde.  Many campgrounds in rural areas have septic tanks but forbid the use of formaldehyde because it kills the good bacteria that break down the waste.  We had a septic tank once and I occasionally broke up a one-pound block of baker's yeast into the toilet and flushed it well.  The yeast helped the bacterial action.

ArdraF
Click to expand...

I dump a box of RidX in our septic quarterly. Haven't had a problem in 13 years.
 
We have always lived on septics, but with a washer really don't want all the water from it in our septic.  I'm wondering if this washer at this house drains into it or not.  I don't think the lady knew, her husband took care of most of that stuff.

I don't mind dumping the gray water in the yard if need but not the black tank.  I intend to stop at the truck stop north of Evansville and dump the tanks when coming in from the south.  Need to find a place when coming in from the north.

Sue Anne and I will not be traveling as fast as we did coming in from Houston.  I intend to drive 60 or 65 and stop often.  We may sleep at a truck stop on occasion and an RV site everyother night.  We will be in no hurry. Should make the diesel mileage better.  Tom didn't get a chance to get the hour meter on the generator so will just keep track on a notepad so I can calculate the usage and also the hours ran for oil change till he can get it on there. He still has things to fix, just to many to do's on his list.
 
The laundry room (washer and a laundry sink) at our place drains into a "dry well" rather than the septic system but that is no longer legal in our area (Florida). When the drywell silted up after 15+ years of use, I was told I could not [legally] replace it, so I did extensive "repairs" instead.

I also installed an extra access "cleanout" for the septic system near where the coach is parked and use a macerator pump to empty the tank if needed. I use the RV Sani-con Tank Buddy portable system, about halfway down on this page:
http://www.emptythetanks.com/order_online.htm
 
We had to replace our septic system 2 years ago and according to regs had to have a person design the system before a permit would be issued.  I told him I wanted a dump station for the RV  in the design.  No problem, we added an extra line from the camper to the septic tank. He also stated not use anti-bacterial soaps as they would not let the septic system do its thing, and no chemicals in the black tanks.  I was concerned about dumping 60 gal black water in the system a one shot, but he said that also was not a problem.
 
When we built our house about 14 years ago, we put in a new 1200 gallon septic system and an "RV dump station."  It's along side the driveway as I'm pulling the coach into the garage (a wonderful setup), and I've been using it for years. FWIW, we've been using chemicals in our blackwater tank forever (something I've considered getting away from), but I have never had any problems with the septic system.

Kev
 
A home user is unlikely to ever experience a problem from chemicals in the septic system because there simply isn't enough volume of the nasty stuff to harm it much.  You probably rinse more harmful chemicals down the sink and shower drains on a daily basis than your RV contributes with an occasional dump. Normal household bleaches and detergents are also harmful to the septic bacteria, but they are hardy little buggers who breed fast.

The problems can arise in an RV park septic where dozens, or even hundreds, of people dump all kinds of chemical-laced crap into the system. The proportion of chemical to normal bio-waste can be high, perhaps enough to severely impact the operation in some cases. However, there is also a lot of blame placed on those chemicals by park owners without any credible investigation as to the cause. A negative comment by the operator of a septic clean-out service does not constitute real evidence!
 
Gordon Groff said:
As long as you're dumping in a "sanitary" line [size=12pt](why the HECK to they call sewage lines sanitary? ???), [/size]
Click to expand...

Im with you.  NEVER could figure that one out.!!!

To the OP.  Dump away.  It is the same stuff as you would be flushing from the S&B.
 
I've also got a clean out in the driveway too. I use it to dump my tank right in to my own septic tanks. What's the difference? Same human waste either from a sticks and brick or a RV. It all processes the same in my septic tanks.
 
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