If it's illegal then it applies to ALL....tent campers, pop-ups, trailers, MHs etc.
If not illegal then......that's why they make a drain line end cap with a garden hose connection so one can hook up hose, run it out to tree, bush, woods and slowly drain.
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It's not illegal in most places to pour greywater in/on the ground- but it IS illegal to create a nuisance by doing so. Grease and food particles do attract vermin, plus they smell nasty.
Here's how we were advised by a forest service employee to dispose of greywater in the woods etc.:
Choose a location at least a hundred feet from streams/lakes. Dig a hole a foot or so deep, place greywater drainhose in it, and drain slowly enough that the hole doesn't overtop. Backfill and tamp down the hole when finished.
We always go a step further and dump a couple of buckets of cold ashes from the ever-present fire ring in the hole while dumping- natural filtration/odor control!
If allowed, "burning off" the grease/food residue before backfilling is better yet.
" Not every mind that wanders is lost. " With apologies toJ.R.R. Tolkien
Out of all this, the one State noted for the most "per capita environmentalist", is rethinking Gray Water is California. While you would be hard pressed to be given permission to dump gray water in a Forrest, (State or Federal), CA changed some laws in 2009 favoring resue of "Gray Household water". It allows for household use of gray water to maintain gardens etc. Very radical departure from previously laws. Interpreting the laws may take a lawyer, but it might be perfectly acceptable to distribute gray water on private property or at your home. Local restrictions can and do apply, but even environmental lobbies see the Benifits of reclaimed Gray Water at home. Just FYI
"Montana Law
Regulating Waste Disposal from Recreational Vehicles
Montana law regulates the storage and disposal of waste materials from recreational vehicles. The law reads:
"Liquid wastes from sinks, showers, toilets or baths are not allowed to accumulate on the ground surface. Such waste must be discharged into the sewage system serving the trailer court or campground or into an alternate system approved by the department and local health authority."
Kitchen waste water must be held in a watertight and sanitary container. The waste water can be dumped only in a designated waste water sump, a flush toilet, or a trailer holding tank dump station. Pit toilets and sealed vault toilets are not approved dump sites. Kitchen waste water must not be drained onto the ground or into an open container.
Protect your environment. Obey the law."
Seems to me that is pretty clear...
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There is no reason a RVer couldn't dump their water just as a tenter.
We have two dish basins that we have used for a few decades when we had a dry TT or tented. When we washed the dishes, the water was tossed in a different area each time. Those same basins fit right in our sinks in the TT. We use them to dump the dish water in the toilet but they just as easily could be take out to the bushes as we did for decades.
Same with a quick navy shower, what is it a few gals? After you are done, drain it in a bucket and take it out to the woods.
That at least makes it so you are not dumping your whole grey tank ay once on one spot.
Better yet, know your capacities and usage and plan accordingly.
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I'm sure there are curtious, less impactful ways to dump grey water while camping but if this becomes acceptable the reality will be some dumbarse drops 5 days worth of science experiment on his way out of the site that you/me are about to pull into ...sorry to be cynical but that is what would happen more often than carefully spreading a dish here and there like some suggest.
mowermech wrote: "Montana Law
Regulating Waste Disposal from Recreational Vehicles
Montana law regulates the storage and disposal of waste materials from recreational vehicles. The law reads:
"Liquid wastes from sinks, showers, toilets or baths are not allowed to accumulate on the ground surface. Such waste must be discharged into the sewage system serving the trailer court or campground or into an alternate system approved by the department and local health authority."
Kitchen waste water must be held in a watertight and sanitary container. The waste water can be dumped only in a designated waste water sump, a flush toilet, or a trailer holding tank dump station. Pit toilets and sealed vault toilets are not approved dump sites. Kitchen waste water must not be drained onto the ground or into an open container.
Protect your environment. Obey the law."
Seems to me that is pretty clear...
You will note that says waste from RVs. When we are dry camping and in conservation mode we operate much like tent campers doing dishes outdoors. In that spirit we dump the water from the tubs we are doing dishes in per the local rules. In Oregon they have gray water drains in some campgrounds. If nothing is available we disperse it.
I suspect RVer's are monitored a bit closer because all it takes is one slip-up when pulling handles and you have a nice, e-coli infested mess? (Most tenters don't poo in the dishwater...LOL)
...and then there still are houses (residences) that are dumping their sewage into ponds, creeks, etc. because they have only passed from family member to family member. I personally know of 2 that did not get septic systems until the mid 2000s.
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