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CharlieM 
Senior Member 
Joined: 23 Nov 2012 Location: N. Colorado Online Status: Offline Posts: 1797 |
 Topic: Grey Water to Flush Toilet?Posted: 02 Aug 2013 at 1:37pm |
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I saw mentioned on another RV forum the use of gray water to flush the toilet. I guess this would require another small pump and some plumbing revision, but it might provide some benefits for water conservation and black tank cleanliness.
Anyone heard of or done this or have any thoughts? |
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Charlie
Northern Colorado OLD: 2013 RP-172, 2010 Honda Pilot 3.5L 4WD PRESENT: 2014 Camplite 21RBS, 2013 Supercharged Tacoma 4L V6 4WD |
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Outbound
podders Helping podders - pHp
Joined: 19 Nov 2009 Location: Oshawa, Ontario Online Status: Offline Posts: 767 |
Posted: 02 Aug 2013 at 2:36pm |
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Well, you'd need to add a draw tube to the grey tank, a second pump and a little bit of plumbing and electrical work, but it shouldn't be too hard to do and would cost about $150 in parts. My only mechanical concern would be that the filter on the pump would require a regular cleaning.
You'd want to make sure that your grey water is always reasonably clean. Shower water would be fine, but some changes to the dish washing procedure may be required - always wiping all food particles from dirty dishes before washing, and making sure that any greasy pots/pans/plates are cleaned up with paper towels (as opposed to washing grease down the sink). All the same, grey water often smells a bit musky, which may mean that "clean" water sitting in your toilet bowl may smell a bit off-putting. Personally, unless I regularly boondocked away from a source of fresh water, I wouldn't consider this mod. The toilet doesn't use that much water - maybe 15 gallons a week for two people. A strict regimen of "men must pee in the woods" would likely cut that by 4-5 gallons.
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Craig :: 2009 RP171 towed by a 2017 F150
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CharlieM
Senior Member
Joined: 23 Nov 2012 Location: N. Colorado Online Status: Offline Posts: 1797 |
Posted: 02 Aug 2013 at 2:57pm |
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Outbound,
All good and valid points and I've thought of them all. But being an incurable engineer I'm really solving a problem I really don't have yet. My comment on water conservation was more aimed at waste water storage space conservation than fresh water. The gray tank always fills up way before the black tank. And I often catch the dish washing water and put it down the toilet. Anyway, I'm not off to do this tomorrow so thanks for the thoughts. |
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Charlie
Northern Colorado OLD: 2013 RP-172, 2010 Honda Pilot 3.5L 4WD PRESENT: 2014 Camplite 21RBS, 2013 Supercharged Tacoma 4L V6 4WD |
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kymooses
Senior Member
Joined: 01 Aug 2010 Location: Louisville, Ky Online Status: Offline Posts: 1807 |
Posted: 02 Aug 2013 at 3:34pm |
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This will be an interesting mod to see put into place! Good luck.
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techntrek
Admin Group - pHp 
Joined: 29 Jul 2009 Location: MD Online Status: Offline Posts: 9059 |
Posted: 02 Aug 2013 at 6:44pm |
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I'd suggest a filter before the pump, something easily cleanable and easy to get to because I agree particulates will be a problem.
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Tars Tarkas
Senior Member
Joined: 14 Jan 2013 Location: Near Nashville Online Status: Offline Posts: 1446 |
Posted: 02 Aug 2013 at 7:08pm |
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It might be worth considering one of those end-caps with a garden hose hookup for the grey water tank. Just fill up a milk jug or two to leave by the toilet for flushing. Much cheaper and same impact on grey water accumulation.
TT |
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Outbound
podders Helping podders - pHp
Joined: 19 Nov 2009 Location: Oshawa, Ontario Online Status: Offline Posts: 767 |
Posted: 02 Aug 2013 at 11:59pm |
Ah, well that's a fish of a different colour. For dumping my waste tanks at home, I have a FloJet RV Waste Pump, which is a mascerator/pump combo that hooks up to the 3" waste valve, grinds everything and pumps it out a 5/8" garden hose; I installed a quick-connect on my sewer stack at home and it keeps everything tidy. While on an extended stay at a provincial park which had no on-site sewer connection (and I had to break camp and tow the r-pod to the dump station), it occurred to me that I could use my FloJet to pump grey water into my black tank by simply connecting the pump to the r-pod's sewer outlet, opening the valve for the grey tank and placing the free end of the garden hose down the toilet. Its not elegant, but it used equipment that I already own and had tucked away in the storage bay. On another forum, I did read about a creative solution where a pump was installed between tanks for the sole purpose of moving grey water to the black tank. The switch to run the pump was installed inside close to the monitor panel so that tank levels could be watched during the process.
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Craig :: 2009 RP171 towed by a 2017 F150
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Grey Water to Flush Toilet?