Ok..I know..pretty dumb question...We are just getting our first travel trailer. We had a pop up before, without a bathroom. Anyway...I am well versed at connecting water and electric connections, however never having had a sewer connection before, I am not sure how to "do it".
Meaning, when I pull into a site, and we connect, do I keep the blade valves OPEN all the time when connected to a sewer connection, or do I just open and DUMP when the holding tank is full??
Also, for camping where they don't have sewer connections on each site..I assume that one of those portable "blue" tanks comes in handy, so when full, you don' have to haul your camper up to the dumping station, and then back to the site..you can just pull the blue tank up and dump it.
So...how do you move those blue tanks, once they are full? Can you connect them to your hitch and pull them up the dump site?
Again, sorry for some dumb questions...but these have been floating around in my head, and not sure how to do this.
You can keep your gray valve open all the time, but you should allow the black tank to get at least 1/2 full before emptying. It is also a good idea to close the gray valve a day or so before emptying the black so you have a good supply of water to flush the hose after dumping the black tank.
As to the blue tote tank - most of the larger ones are designed to be towed slowly to the dump station.
NEVER leave the black tank valve open. Dump black tank only when at least 3/4 full and flush thoroughly.
Gray tanks open or closed are personal preference. Some like to close them a day or 2 before dumping black to rinse out the sewer hose but that's not really necessary if you flush the black tank.
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When parked leave both the gray and black tank valves CLOSED.
Otherwise you will have a mound of you know what stacked up in your tank.
When they get near full open the black valve and dump, and close.
Then open the gray valve and dump, and close.
Leaving the gray water in your tank when parked is used to wash out your hose every time you dump the black.
The blue totes are very heavy when full. Most hook them up to vehicle to tow to dump station.
Welcome to the wonderful world of RV'ing with holding tanks! You will love the fact of having your very own bathroom inside!
"We must be willing to get rid of the life we've planned,
so as to have the life that is waiting for us".
if you have sewer hookups, leave the Black tank CLOSED until you leave. you need to have a lot of water in the tank to help flush as much stuff as possible.
as far as the Gray tank, some leave it open and some keep it closed until they need to empty it.
the Gray tank will fill way faster than the Black tank, therefore needing to be dumped more often. newbies always worry about the Black tank, when it's the Gray tank you'll need to watch.
it's always good to close the Gray valve the day before you leave.
then you'll have gray water to flush the sewer hose after you've dumped the Black tank.
as far as blue tote tanks, i only use mine for gray water. we can go weeks before we fill the black tank.
i have a small 12 gallon one so i usually load it into my truck bed and take it to the dump station. i have pulled it to the station by hand.
the larger ones can be towed on the hitch ball of your vehicle or rolled by pulling it like a wagon.
Dan- Firefighter, Shawn- Musician/Entrepreneur, Zoe- Faithful Golden Retriever, 2007 Chevrolet Avalanche LS, 2007 Rockwood Roo 23SS w/Equalizer and Prodigy, and 5 Mtn. bikes and 2 Road bikes
I keep all my valves closed until I need to dump them, or are leaving, primarily to make sue anything in the sewer (flies, odors, or worse) do not find their way into my tanks. Easy enough to pull the lever when needed.
We typically fill the grey tank much faster than the black tank. And more than once if I leave the grey tank valve closed I have found myself standing in a couple inches of water in the shower because the tank was full.
So I generally leave the grey tank valve open. And I leave the black tank valve closed until the black tank is near full. When I see the black tank about half full I will close the grey tank valve to let it partially fill. I have a built in black tank flush system, but I still like to flush the hose with the grey water to get as much crude out as possible.
I think you've gotten the consistent advice that most will give here (dump the blank as full as possible and make sure your grey is full enough to flush everything out).
One additional piece, however, is to make sure you add a couple gallons of water back into the black tank after dumping. This base of water will help avoid problems with waste solidifying in the tank and causing problems!
Ever watch a rock being carried downstream in a creek by the flow of water?
That's what you want to happen when you dump your BLACK tank......heavy wall of water rushing down carrying everything with it. Dump black when full.
I also dump my GREY when full for same reason.......food particles/grease/soap scum. I want a heavy wall of water to carry that stuff out too.
And as suggested......add couple gallons of water back into waste tank so 'stuff' doesn't stick to bottom and dry out (Couple full toilet bowls works great).
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