Water recycle kit (shower for flushing etc.)

Coachgeo

Explorer
Excellent, and the grease in the water will provide underbody corrosion protection.

Grease would be from kitchen sink...... and that is usually considered black effluent cause of food bacteria thus would not actually be connected to grey water storage. Least "black" is the definition of kitchen sink effluent in most places in the US these days. Not sure if camper builders define it that way or not. Dang.. like the idea of occasional spray of rust prevention:sombrero:
 
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pugslyyy

Expedition Vehicle Engineer Guy
Grease would be from kitchen sink...... and that is usually considered black effluent cause of food bacteria thus would not actually be connected to grey water storage. Least "black" is the definition of kitchen sink effluent in most places in the US these days. Not sure if camper builders define it that way or not. Dang.. like the idea of occasional spray of rust prevention:sombrero:

Uh, black = poo and pee. Grey = everything else.

The more formal definition is that black water is water that has come into contact with fecal matter, so if your kitchen sink needs to go into the black water tank you are doing it wrong. :)
 

Coachgeo

Explorer
Uh, black = poo and pee. Grey = everything else.

The more formal definition is that black water is water that has come into contact with fecal matter, so if your kitchen sink needs to go into the black water tank you are doing it wrong. :)
That is incorrect these days. Least in the TX county I last lived that is no longer the definition and from have found since then this seems to be the case in most counties these days. For example you can NOT use kitchen sink effluant to water your garden. It is considered BLACK. Here is a more up to date water recycle system that shows this.

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The bottom portion of the image shows dishwashing but that is the "dishwasher" not a sink. Diswashers are required to reach a certain temp to kill bacteria. That is only effluant that touches food that can go into grey.
 
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Coachgeo

Explorer
No need to google for real old material. Dealt with this definition first hand with past county I lived in TX which was EXTREMELY rural. Was a total shock they defined kitchen as Black..... thus the info is straight from horses mouth. Though did review the county regulations after told that; cause honestly thought the county regulator was full of shiat (hahah.... get the pun... :sombrero:) but found that at that time (2012?) discovering many counties; including one I lived in, now defined kitchen as Black effluent. As you show though, Not all areas define it that way..... but many do.

Like you ..... I think it is a bit ridiculous... but it is what it is.

.... so overall to the readers be aware different regulations exist and may vary on what is black and grey. How this affects a camper?? Who knows; maybe not at all? Other countries maybe entirely different as well.
 
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pugslyyy

Expedition Vehicle Engineer Guy
Ah okay, if you are going to build a custom system and divert sink water into your black tank then reprocessing the grey might make more sense, but your black tank is going to fill up more quickly with the dish water anyways, so not sure what is really gained.

You should understand that your definition of black and grey water doesn't align with the RV industry, so that may be the disconnect on the discussion here. (The relevant standard is ANSI/NFPA 1192 section 7.5)
 
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doug720

Expedition Leader
As far as grey water being classified - Once any water comes in contact with a drain pipe, it is classified as "Black water." This is standard health code practice when dealing with waste water and contact with it.

In addition, California considers Grey water to be the same as black for disposal, and dumping grey or black on public lands is illegal. Same for Arizona, any Federal Park, Monument or property. You can not legally dispose of grey water down a storm drain.

I guess a recycling system could be made to work, but it seems like a lot of expense, effort and potential risk to do it. Carrying extra water is not that hard, and a good idea no matter. It seems to be a fix to a problem that few would ever need solved to go camping for a week?

I can see the need in space, but if crossing the Sahara, or maybe the outback, carrying extra water would be far more important than where to dump waste water...
 

pugslyyy

Expedition Vehicle Engineer Guy
In addition, California considers Grey water to be the same as black for disposal, and dumping grey or black on public lands is illegal. Same for Arizona, any Federal Park, Monument or property. You can not legally dispose of grey water down a storm drain.

We were camping in a municipal or state park in Louisiana once (forget which) and I will always remember when I asked about the dump station - they told me to just dump the grey into the ditch and then drive down the road a mile and dump the black into their dump station. I was pretty shocked.
 

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