Burying gray water?

[ReluctantTraveler]

In the US, generally speaking you cannot dispose of a gray water tank on the ground.

But what about burying it, like you would cassette toilet waste?

I've done some research and have been unable to find anything on this. Curious to hear how y'all handle this when out in remote places for extended periods of time.

 

[IdaSHO]

Actually, it is legal within most dispersed camping areas provided it is well enough away from surface water. Developed campgrounds and some special public lands, it is typically illegal.

Id advise to check local regs first, and if you cannot find a definitive, use your judgement.
And that judgement should included the volume of dumped water we are talking about.

Our camper doesnt have a shower or flush toilet, so our grey water waste is very little and essentially limited to food prep, dish water and hand/body/teeth cleaning waste. A typical day we will have leas than a couple of gallons. So our grey water when parked for more than a few days in a place I deem is okay to do so, is drained via a hose to the ground.

So if you are talking about a family if 4 with daily showers, its a completely different discussion.

 

[Mickey Bitsko]

I capture in a 5gal bucket and dispose in a restroom or pit toilet.
Gray water is extremely toxic ,especially if it has dish soap in it.

 

[ReluctantTraveler]

Actually, it is legal within most dispersed camping areas provided it is well enough away from surface water. Developed campgrounds and some special public lands, it is typically illegal.

From what I understand, this is only true in BLM-managed land. In parks or land managed by the Department of Interior or NPS, for example, dumping of gray or wash water is explicitly forbidden.

On the East Coast, where we currently spend most of our time, there's almost no BLM land. Most parks are managed by other federal departments or are state land.

Id advise to check local regs first, and if you cannot find a definitive, use your judgement.
And that judgement should included the volume of dumped water we are talking about.

"Use common sense and don't be a jerk" feels like a good guideline. Tent campers are given much more liberty with wash water in large part because they generate so much less of it.

 

[ReluctantTraveler]

Gray water is extremely toxic ,especially if it has dish soap in it.

I believe it very much depends on what's actually in your gray/wash water. Not all soaps are created equal. While all soap is harmful in some ways, something with "exfoliating beads" and such is far more damaging that small amounts of biodegrable soap.

I capture in a 5gal bucket and dispose in a restroom or pit toilet.

This was something else I'd considered, though from what I read dumping gray water in pit toilets is generally frowned upon as well as it can overload a system designed for small amounts of waste at a time.

I suppose 5 gallons or less fits that criteria, though.

 

[IdaSHO]

From what I understand, this is only true in BLM-managed land. In parks or land managed by the Department of Interior or NPS, for example, dumping of gray or wash water is explicitly forbidden.

Honestly, due to a handful of reasons national parks are never even on our radar. BLM last I checked actually forbids it. Most of our travels involve national forest lands, which unless it is posted somewhere when you enter those lands, allows it.

https://www.fs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_DOCUMENTS/stelprdb5196126.pdf

 

[JaSAn]

Best to ask the controlling authority of the public land you are visiting.

 

[mep1811]

GREY WATER Is old dishwater, which should not be dumped just anywhere. To wash yourself or your dishes, carry water 200 feet away from streams or lakes and use small amounts of biodegradable soap. Scatter strained dishwater In the backcountry be sure to dump gray water away from any fresh water sources and use biodegradable soap. Campgrounds usually have designated areas for dumping gray water.

 

[mep1811]

We take showers out in the field. The shower is outdoors so there is no way to not get some grey water on the ground.

 

[vintageracer]

My how times change.

My 1957 T-20 Avion Camper Trailer has a factory toilet seat that dumps out the bottom of the trailer directly on the ground.

 

[Ozarker]

I kinda get it, but when I think of gray water, I think about all the cattle, the deer, the buffalo, the rabbits, the cats and dogs, the wolves, the foxes, the turtles, even the freaking birds that crap in the woods.

Why is it human crap is so toxic and the rest of the living species on earth that crap aren't so toxic?

Gray water isn't even crap, it can just be water than ran over my beer mug to wash it out! How freaking toxic is that compared to rain water full of carbon or whatever else is in the air?

It's pretty much authorities finding something to regulate to charge you with some crime to fine **************** and make you get in line with the capitalistic toilet businesses that reign over you.

Now, being responsible, I'd take that environmentally responsible soap junk, no, I don't want to harm the environment, but seriously, water? Think about it, you can't destroy water, might take longer to filter out bad stuff, but water evaporates, nature cleans it, it falls back to earth as rain.

It's ridiculous to go there, it's clearly a function of regulation and economic penalties for mankind alone, if you do this we will fine you and make you a bad dude in society. Forget them, i'm dumping gray water on the freaking ground where it belongs to filter out and add to the water table. BTW, I don't use bleach!

 

[ReluctantTraveler]

Most of our travels involve national forest lands, which unless it is posted somewhere when you enter those lands, allows it.

https://www.fs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_DOCUMENTS/stelprdb5196126.pdf

Today I learned! Thanks, Kenny!

 

[ReluctantTraveler]

My how times change.

My 1957 T-20 Avion Camper Trailer has a factory toilet seat that dumps out the bottom of the trailer directly on the ground.

There's no way that's real!

 

[vintageracer]

Yes it's REAL!

 

[ReluctantTraveler]

Yes it's REAL!

I'm gonna need a photo or something. That's absurd!