RV Sewage capacities

[AlanB]

Wondering what a camper has for grey and black tanks combined in gallons, and how often it would normally (on average) need to dump with two adults living in it?

Put in a park model Mobile for my dad at the house and going to have to pump from a pony tank to my septic and was wondering what size pony tank I should be thinking along the lines of?

Current thought is a poly farm type tank from TSC / Rural King with a submersible sewage pump with float in there. Hook everything up with camlock fittings and soft lines so if I do need to service it, I disconnect and pull everything out from under the trailer to work on it. Still be a mess, but surely better to do a "small" mess and get it out in the open then to try and handle that under the trailer.

Thoughts and ideas appreciated.

 

[Skyco]

Park models by definition don't have tanks.
There is no "normal" size in other RVs, capacities are all over the place.
As far as two adults generating X amount of waste....how much do they eat:laughing:

 

[2manyrocks]

My recollection is that the tank deodorant you put in RV's is not good for your septic system. It would be better to dump this in the public wastewater treatment system.

You can buy a blue poly waste tank that will connect via the camper's sewer hose and collect the waste in there. They come in various sizes at various prices. If you get too big a tank, they can be heavy to move around. The campground name for them is "rolling blue thunder" because that's about what they sound like when you see one rolling down the road in a campground to the waste dump.

You don't want to fill up some huge storage tank on the RV and then have to haul it off little by little in the external tank.

The potty water doesn't add up quickly, but the grey water from washing and bathing will add up much more quickly.

Hope this helps.

 

[CurlyDave]

I have seen new houses set up this way, with a sewage tank and submersible pump. This is actually a fairly standard installation. You can buy a sewage tank and pump as a packaged unit for $500-$1000.

Do a Google search for "sewage tank and pump".

There are specific requirements for sewage tanks and pumps, so don't try to use something else, it will cost just as much and not meet code.

 

[Dmace]

My 27ft travel trailer has a 36 gallon gray (waste water) tank and a 36 gallon black (sewage) tank. With 3 showers and no baths plus normal water usage and washing dishes, the tank is full about 3/4 of the way through the day. The sewage tank could probably go 3-4 days but that is only from the toilet and nothing else.

When designing a septic system, most states use the rule of 150 gallons per day per bedroom to size a tank/leach field and that assumes one bedroom is double occupancy. So they figure two people will average 150-200 gallons per day between toilets, showers, sinks, etc...

I would get a 200 gallon pump box with an appropriate sized in-tank pump with auto on/off float and call it good. You can get the pump boxes for under $500.

 

[Bird]

A few years ago, one of my brothers bought 10 acres that was completely undeveloped. When we built his house, he had an aerobic sewer system installed. A year or two later, the other brother, who was living in a motorhome moved onto the property. They contacted the licensed installer who had installed the aerobic system to see what it would cost to put in a smaller system for the motorhome, and instead he suggested a 50 gallon tank that he installed in the ground by the motorhome with a mascerator and pump and then ran a 2" PVC line from there to the original aerobic system. That worked just fine.

 

[deepNdirt]

I have worked in new subdivisions where the builder has brought in a office /construction trailer with bathroom/plumbing, there is also a portable waist tank put in just under the trailer above ground and easy access to the clean out, Looks like approx 200 gal.tank then once per week the port-a-potty person comes by and pumps it out..... this may be something you might think of.....

 

[charlz]

As already mentioned a small sewage tank with pump is the way to go. Fairly common in renovations etc. where there is not enough slope to move the sewage by gravity. Google 'sewage ejector pump'.

 

[dreamer]

Wondering what a camper has for grey and black tanks combined in gallons, and how often it would normally (on average) need to dump with two adults living in it?

AlanB,

Our motorhome has a 50 gallon black tank and a 50 gallon grey water tank. Being ultra-conservative on water useage, my wife and I have gone 10 days before having to dump. This is with daily (military) showers too.

This is not average useage. I would say average conservative useage would be <30 gallons per day per person. Good luck.

dreamer.