RV Sewer hookup at home - How to build?

[LarryLarry]

Howdy -

I'm new to the forum.  Used to be on the old Compuserve RV forum many moons ago though...

Anyway - I want to put in an RV sewer hookup where I keep my trailer and am wondering what I need to do for the end that the sewer hose will connect to.  I assume some sort of an "S" needs to be done to keep the smell from coming out.  I will be using 4" black ABS.

Thanks, Larry

 

[Tom]

Hi Larry and welcome back.

There may be a local code requirement you need to meet, so I don't know about the P-trap issue. At the "open end" I'd suggest you use a female threaded coupling and a screw-in plug. That will allow you to have a fume-free conection to the RV and to prevent any odors when you're not hooked up.

 

[Jim Godward]

Larry,

When we lived in CA I jsut used the cleanout plug.  Hooked up when I needed to dump and then disconnected till next time.

 

[John From Detroit]

I am having a sewer hookup installed,,, There are many options, the clean out plug is the easiest (unless, of course it's in the basement like mine is) I'm tapping the line to the "Street" (Alley) and doing it right but a contractor is doing it, kind of expensive as those pipes tend to be down a bit, Mine is at least 10 feet below grade, possibly 30-60

Yet another option is the SEWAGE PUMP  or Macerator pump which you can buy at most RV supply places such as your (or my) dealer and/or Camping World.

This is a pump with fittings to fit the RV and a standard garden hose.  The one I have is 12vdc powered

Took some looking to get a 50' BLACK garden hose (I got a good size one 3/4" I think) will work with up to a 1" hose and will pump waste over 100 feet if I get more hose.

100 feet should be enough to reach into the bathroom window and to the toilet bowel if you have to.

NOTES: Flush black water, then gray (Same as usuall) and optional rinse

Note 2: I got a black hose because of one simply reason.. I have exactly ONE black garden hose  so if the hose is white, clear, green, gray, or any color OTHER THAN BLACK, it's fresh water only.  Black is for USED

 

[Gary RV_Wizard]

I've never seen a P-trap in an RV park sewer hook-up (and as a workamper I've had the opportunity to work on quite a few).  For one thing, the pipes often are not deep enough to leave room for a trap.   

I usually let my sewer hose form its own trap, i.e. it lays right on the ground and then humps up to go up and over into the fitting.  That leaves water in the hose to block any possible odor returns and also saves me the bother of one of those fancy racks that try to keep the hose running at a downward slant to the fitting.

If you are just using the fitting to dump occasionaly an dnot ever leaving it continupusly open, odors are not an issue anyway.  I'd go with the straight-up pipe with a threaded fitting on the end. No P trap (unless local codes requre it).  If you call it a clean-out, there should be no such requirement.

 

[Smoky1]

I use the commercial sanicon macerator.? At the end it humps up, like RV roamer describes, and ends in a fitting that can be secured to the cleanout port.? the nice thing about using a commercial macerator is that if properly designed like the Sanicon, it will pump waste as far as 300 feet and go up 20 feet in elevation.

OH, forgot to add ... I would strongly recommend not using formaldehyde based chemicals in your holding tank if you hook up to sceptic sewers.  You do not want to ruin the natural antibacterial action of the sceptic system.  I always use Rid-X, no matter what I am hooked up to.  Since I started doing that, I discovered there is less odor than anything else I have used.  In fact there is no odor at all.

 

[Jeff3]

Larry:

Don't know how far your m/h sits from the house but we use a Sewer Solution water powered venturi/macerator that works great for us-very clean and easy to install and use. When on the road I disconnect it and use a regular hose to make dumps faster at rest stops. It also uses a small diameter hose that creates its own P trap at the connector. I have used it to pump 20' without a problem and the manufacturer claims 30' if you need it. Not as powerful as a macerator but less exspensive, easier to install, and will not require disassembly if it plugs up (Which it never has in two years.)

 

[Carl L]

Howdy -

I'm new to the forum.? Used to be on the old Compuserve RV forum many moons ago though...

Anyway - I want to put in an RV sewer hookup where I keep my trailer and am wondering what I need to do for the end that the sewer hose will connect to.? I assume some sort of an "S" needs to be done to keep the smell from coming out.? I will be using 4" black ABS.

Depends.? If you plan to use the connection just for dumping you do not need a p-trap.? ?Just unhook after the dump and seal the connection with a screw plug.? ?If you intend to keep connected to live in the trailer, then you need an odor seal and a p-trap if you want to leave the grey water open to the sewer. [Never leave? a black water tank open.? ?Leave it closed and dump when 3/4s full.]? ?As RV Romer said, you can form a p-trap with the trailer's sewer hose easily enough.

However you are connecting to a house sewer system.? You are going to have to follow county/city sewer regulations and will need to know them and may even have to get a permit.? And sewerage has practical installation requirements -- like maximum and minimum gradients for gravity flow sewers.? ?Read up on them, lest you build yourself a semi-permanent sewage blockage. ? ?

 

[Tom]

And sewerage has practical installation requirements -- like maximum and minimum gradients for gravity flow sewers.  Read up on them, lest you build yourself a semi-permanent sewage blockage.

That almost happened to me at our last house when I put in a 40'x15' concrete pad for the RV. Before puring concrete I was getting ready to run a sewer connection into the house sewer and decided to have a concractor friend look at it. After going under the house, he said "there won't be enough slope on the sewer pipe from the pad".

 

[Ron3]

When running sewer lines you have to be carefull to get the proper slope.  To little or too much slope has the same results.  Blockage.

 

[Smoky1]

Unless you install a Sanicon.

 

[CalTex]

Ron

I am curious, how does too much slope cause blockage?

 

[Ron3]

Ron

I am curious, how does too much slope cause blockage?

The way it was explained to me by a master plumber is that is the slope is too great in a horizontal run then the water will drain too fast and the solids are left behind which will cause build up eventually creating a blockage.? ?I had this happen once when we had a trailer house and the front bathroom sewer was separate from the other sewer connection.? Had a sewer pipe that run about thirty feet to the park drain.? Even with the pipe supported with no dips it plugged up.? After correcting the plugged condition I reduced the slope and put a 90 elbow on the end into the sewer as instructed and never had another plugged line while there.? I can't recall what the maximum slope angle is suppose to be now since we haven't had to deal with that for over thirty years.

 

[CalTex]

Ron

Thanks for the explanation, it makes sense I guess.

 

[John From Detroit]

The way it was explained to me by a master plumber ...........

Some years ago I worked for a man who was running for Drain Comissioner (I was helping him to build a "Dairy Queen" type store)

I got very much the same explanation.  You want a specific slope (often defined in the code) or a vertical drop. One or the other

NOTE: If you can, put your sloping section as far underground as you can.  There are other reasons for this

 

[Ron3]

NOTE: If you can, put your sloping section as far underground as you can.  There are other reasons for this

Michigan code is probably similar to Montana which requires a buried horizontal sewer line to be 6ft minimum below the surface as I recall.  Frozen sewer ling will also cause blockage.

 

[Carl L]

Michigan code is probably similar to Montana which requires a buried horizontal sewer line to be 6ft minimum below the surface as I recall.? Frozen sewer ling will also cause blockage.

Us West Los Angele?os don't have such worries and I suspect Floridians don't either.? In fact, since most of us don't have basements we can't have such worries ;D.

 

[LarryLarry]

Thanks for all the good info.  I am told by the plumber who just did my new kitchen that you want 1/4" drop every foot, or 1" every 4 feet if you will.  I was also told that if you have too much drop it reduces the downward-spiraling action that naturally occurs keeing the pipe clear.

I'm in So. Calif. and we don't have the freeze issues so I will be matching the depth of our recently-installed sewer lines.  For all intents, it will in fact just be a 'clean-out'.

 

[Ron3]

Glad you had access to someone that knows the slope requirments.  I know the slope is critical for proper function.

 

[JerArdra]

When I lived in California I used the Sewer Solution (WWW.SEWERSOLUTION.COM).  It was inexpensive and would pump out the black tank through a 3/4 garden hose for 50 feet or more.  I pumped to one of the outside cleanout sewer connections in the front yard.  It worked great.  I had to pump about 20 feet and also about 10 inches up hill.  Go to their web site.

JerryF