New Motorhome Waste Points
After a recent visit to the Seacroft site at Cromer where they have installed one of the new generation motohome waste points I thought some of you might be interested to see what they are like. They are certainly a major improvement on the old type with the drain covers. Strangely they have not yet converted the original one near the site entrance?
David
Comments
-
What are the two manholes for?
Must say, CAMC appear to have got their design better than C&CC, who still appear to be installing a manhole size drain point (albeit with a mesh cover, so no need to lift it).
We saw more than one draining their tank, at least a foot away from the drain point. Poor aim, I guess?
0 -
David, are the top two pics of the new areangement and the bottom one the old MHSP?
on the whole, it looks 'much more like it', however, in the top pictures, is there sufficient room for other vehicles to pass a stationary MH? looks a bit tight in the picture...
...and what are the two manhole covers for? i thought the new design was to get rid of these heavy, poorly placed 'things'?
0 -
Three cheers for the grid.
0 -
Please excuse my ignorance.
Are these new drains intended for waste water (from dishwashing, hand washing, etc). or are they intended for the discharge of sewage (from toilets).?
They look to have been installed in the centre of a roadway, directly in front of pitches. Is that a sensible location from the point of view of traffic flow, or from the point of view of health and hygiene?
0 -
" Phew ".0 -
There seemed to be plenty of room for other outfits to pass. It's a one way system so the layby in longer from behind the picture.
Regarding the drain covers at the new facility I did ask one of the wardens but he suggested they were for rodding to keep pipes clear. However one of the reasons the Club seem to have been reluctant to install this type of open grill is because of the possibility of people dumping black waste and I wonder if that is the purpose of the drain covers although my attempts at finding the right answer was not successful!!!
The final picture is of the original waste point which is still in use.
ET they are just intended for waste grey water not sewage as far as I am aware.
Hope that helps.
David
0 -
you're excused, ET
these are for grey waste, the sort of stuff a caravanner catches in their wastemaster.
most MH use a cassette toilet as in a touring caravan, though some (very large vans...) do have a 'black tank' which is emptied where the warden tells them to empty it.....
0 -
Most MHs have cassette type loos for sewage (black) waste, so these are emptied same as those in caravans. The grid is intended to get rid of grey waste, shower water, pot wash water. What goes into a Waste Master if a caravan. The canny Motorhomer doesn't foul their onboard tank with greasy or smelly water, and certainly what comes out of our onboard tank wouldn't hurt to go into hedgerow behind a pitch, which is what some CLs and private sites allow. Club Sites are more heavily used so perhaps not a good idea.
If we were in a caravan close to this grid, there is probably no reason why WM grey water couldn't go down it providing it isn't in use by a MH. Having said that, I would not be stopping on a pitch opposite watching MHs dumping all day! Not my idea of a good pitch.
Step in right direction for Club though. We have been on CLs that have such grids for waste in place, Club is a tad behind times as usual.
Edit:apologies BB and DK, I was interrupted typing out a reply, sorry to repeat your answers.
0 -
The grids are similar to many on the Aires in France.
The problem is usually that the waste water (grey) doesn't always go directly down the grid but manages to saturate the surrounding area if the vehicle and it's waste tap aren't directly over the grid.
Looking at the photos it isn't easy to tell if they've 'shaped' the tarmac to encourage the water to flow into the grid or spread over the road.
Any grey water lying on the tarmac will smell, no matter how clean you think it is, and surrounding pitches will be within nostril distance especially in warm dry weather.
And, trust me, there's always one who decides to pour the cassette waste down the grid ….........
0 -
The adjacent pitches are allocated to motor caravans and any "mistakes" at the discharge facility will result in them getting their own back.
0 -
As long as they work and are ecologically and wildlife friendly then I'm all for these. However, I've seen some abroad which leave much to be desired being a death trap to reptiles, amphibians, small mammals and bird life. Not good at all save the lazy human users!
Here is a good example in this country!
0 -
If the wardens are unsure (and there doesn't appear to be any signs to tell you what goes down there) I must say, I'm not too surprised (but somewhat dismayed) that people have made mistakes and dumped their toilet contents there.
I wonder why many people do miss the grate when emptying? Surely they must get out and open the tap, at which point they would see that they are not properly aligned with the grate?
0 -
Thank you to my motohoming friends for reassurance about the purpose of these new drains.
Some of the ones I have seen in France clearly are used for dumping sewage from "black" waste tanks - the giveaway is all the toilet paper dried on the covering grid. But those drains were all outside any campsite, and because I go to smaller, less developed sites I can't think that I have ever seen this sort of drain inside a campsite in France.
I am relieved to hear that no one with a "black" waste tank will use these new drains on Club sites for dumping sewage. I suppose the Club is now making special provision for them?
0 -
a good point about the shaping/profiling of the surrounding area to give a much, much larger catchment area for the grey water dumping.
with this type of arrangement, the driver can easily 'feel' where the extent of the sloping is and then knows the van dump valve is within the 'catchment area', a real boon if a solo traveller.
then just pull the waste lever, dump the water and away.
an even better designed dump point would have a convenient hose for rinsing any excess away, as many conscientious MHers do
0 -
How long before a motorhomer reverses over a caravanner emptying their waste hog in the drain because it's nearest?
Environmental issues aside {I assume the Club has considered these], it looks a big improvement for those of us who attach a 1m hose to the end of their waste pipe. Wardens could easily put up a sign in the new colours telling people how to use the facility if the site experiences misuse.
Perhaps we motorhomers will start believing the Club listens to us!
0
