Does your rig have a washer and dryer? I kinda assume so.
But how do you dump your tanks, get rid of your garbage and other issues that usually cannot be solved boondocked for long periods?
-Don- Douglas, AZ
Hello Don,
Towering above all other items, water is the one that is most limiting (in our experience). The freshwater tank is 100 gallons, and we carry an extra 75 gallons in the trailer. With 175 gallons, at an average usage of 8 gallons a day, we can comfortably go for about 22 days before needing to find an outside source. If a location with a water faucet can't be located, or is too far away, we carry a water filtration system capable of producing about 15 gallons a day of drinkable water from just about any source (stream, drainage ditch, pond, etc...).
Yes, the coach had a washer and a dryer. The dryer was removed to produce more storage. We found things dry quickly the old fashion way, on a clothes line. The washing machine is used very infrequently, mainly because it is relatively small, and uses a lot of water. Underwear being the limiting article of clothing, we have enough to last 3 weeks. By the time 3 weeks passes, we usually have a large amount of laundry. Our usual routine is to use a laundromat with those nice large machines, and we're not using our precious water. If there's no laundromat available, then we will use the onboard washing machine to do one load, usually consisting mostly of underwear.
The tanks really aren't much of an issue. The coach has a bath and a half. The wife uses the half bath with the standard flushing toilet, emptying into the blackwater holding tank. So it only needs to be emptied about once every 3 weeks. Sometimes 4 weeks. When it's time to empty, we try to locate a standard dumping station. An alternative is dairy farms. We found that if asked nicely, most dairy farmers don't care of we dump 45 gallons of blackwater into their manure pond, which already contains 2 or 3 hundred thousand gallons of cow manure. The farmers are usually quite curious about the coach. Sometimes we are invited for lunch. As a last resort, most people living in rural areas are on a septic system, accessible outside. Again, asked politely and in a friendly manner, most will let us dump the blackwater directly into the septic tank. It's amazing how agreeable people are if approached respectfully, and in a friendly positive manner. (And they're really curious about the coach....)
I use the full bathroom, which has an AirHead composting toilet. Been using it every day for years. Can't say enough positive things about it. The urine container is emptied about every 4 days, into a portable 36 gallon Rhino blackwater container. (I empty the portable container when the onboard blackwater tank is emptied. Sometimes, if the coach can't be maneuvered close enough to the dump location, the portable container is used to empty the onboard tank. It may take two trips.) The solids container of the AirHead only needs to be emptied about once every 6 weeks. Very convenient. Its contents (securely enclosed in a double layer of Hefty trash bags) may be deposited in any dumpster at a fuel stop.
I hope that answers your questions.
