Is enough info given on arrival at a site?
Just spent two weeks on a members only site and was witness to something that in over 30 years caravanning I had never seen, nor expected to see. Sitting looking out the window getting ready to enjoy my evening meal when up walks a chap to the unoccupied serviced pitch opposite me, carrying his obviously heavy and full toilet cassette and promptly sticks it down next to the pitch's fresh water supply and starts to unscrew the cap ready to empty the contents down the fresh water drain. I don't normally get involved in the likes of this, I'm on holiday to relax and not get involved in confrontations but felt I had to say something. At the same time I was out telling him he couldn't dump his toilet waste there the lady from the next van was out telling him the same and off he wandered in the direction of the disposal point. Made me wonder, was he just lazy and unhygienic or did he genuinely not know the correct procedure. Should more basic information be given out routinely to new arrivals rather than just assume everyone knows the correct way to do things?
The other side of the coin I suppose though is the likes of information that is clearly displayed on sites such as speed limits and one way signs but are blatantly ignored by some.
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I've never seen this sort of practice ever! I've always been given a site leaflet and most times the position of the shower/CCEP has been highlighted by the warden.
It does sound as this chap is totally new to caravanning/MH?
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We've seen it done before on a foreign site and reporting it didn't achieve anything. There are people who believe that as the drain is a foul sewer, no harm is done by putting it down there, that the rules about not doing it are unneccesary or wrong. Some sites we've seen on the continent provide toilet waste and grey waste connections and these do go to the same drainage system, and this probably misleads the uninformed/ignorant. Contamination of the facility where the connections are open is the risk of coarse - most of us know this. I would not accept that the person you spoke to was uninformed, and I would give no mercy if I saw it.
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When our friends were, as they say "on the network"they said that it was normally a waste of time adviseing new arrivals of any of the site info, as they were just wanting to get on site and set up and were not taking it in,as when they came back to advise of their pitch? the info that had been given verbally and was on the site info leaflet would be asked as if it had not been given in the first place
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On all the CC sites we have been to iv'e never been asked if we have a dog , yet on forestry commission sites (setthorns) they ask if you have a dog and give a little welcome pack ,containing local vet phone numbers and poo bag and a dog biscuit, and a reminder from the warden to keep your dog on a lead ,and everyone is happy
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Have never seen this but have twice stopped people emptying grey waste down the drinking water grid and then lifting their wastemasters up to the tap to swill them out?😡
Would suggest this guy was just bone idle!!
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In the "old days"with the cc it was part of the booking process that they would ask for the details of your party and if you had dogs?
Did they also advise on the forestry commission site to "stick and flick" the dog poo when walking in the forest
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Let's hope it was a complete novice! There are some people who won't read the rule book though. Also it's not easy,to take everything in on arrival.
The other club notes if you have a dog which I think is helpful. Recently in France they took the micro chip number in case of dogs going AWOL which seemed very sensible to me (except my dog passports were in a Safe place at the time!).
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Not everyone reading this thread may be aware of the serious contamination issue. It is not the drains that matter as they probably all join up fairly quickly.
Whatever the makers might like you to believe, the magic chemicals in the toilet do not instantly render any content inactive. When the chemical toilet is being emptied tiny particles spray out in the form of aerosols which can travel quite far even on a still day. There are many different nasties, though e-coli gets the big publicity, that can bring you anything from a slight rash to death.
If there is a safe distance I would put it at eight feet from the emptying point. Hands need washed afterwards, and so should clothing - but no-one is going to do that.
Certainly anything to do with fresh water supply should be kept outside that eight foot radius, and flushed through before filling.
It is a complete myth that you can't get contaminated from your own fecal material.
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The point I was making was the fact that they were lifting their wastemasters up to and leaning them against the drinking water tap to flush them out.
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I have never seen anyone try to empty the toilet except at the correct point but if I did i am sure I would speak to them.
What you need to know probably depends on your experience. We have been members for over 29 years and on a new to me site all I really need is a site plan. Having seen my membership card a lot of the time they simply say you know how top pitch to the peg and you need a white one and that can be about that. Newer members might need more but telling them to use the chemical toilet point should not be needed at all.
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I would have thought that all pipes lead to the pump station, Klargester, or whatever the site uses to dispose of its sate. It seems most unlikely that grey water would be taken anywhere else as it needs to be treated in volume, to remove debris. The odd tank full of grey water, although unpleasant , in a hedge is slightly different to tens of tanks being deposited.
However that said, I would have thought anyone who empties black water, onto a grating where debris can sit, and be smelt, is a shilling short of a pound.
That said, most gypsy toiletries seem to be emptied where they like and more often than not, down a road gully.
Rgds
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This is absolutely true. I remember when at work we were involved in fighting a particularly large outbreak of dysentery predominantly in school children who would then infect other family members.One of the ways in which it was finally brought under control was to ensure that all the surfaces near the toilets were disinfected four or five time a day, this was before the start of the day and after each break time. Obviously I'll children were excluded until testing negative.
Aerosol spread is well known in infectious disease control circles.
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That's a good post which I completely agree with. I would add that there is another issue - a lot of people are squeamish to talk about any subjects associated with grey waste, toilet waste treatment, disposal and hygienic practice. For some people the subject is off limits, some can't even bring themselves to say the words. I suppose it's similar to the ignorance of sex education. If these subjects are not discussed openly then ignorance will undoubtedly lead to incorrect practices. There is a thread on this forum right now in which the post describes a "preference to blue chemical in the toilet because it kills stuff".
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On a new commercial site this year where you could empty your toilet into a dedicated drain. Each pitch had 2 water taps one of which was dedicated drinking. If the person involved had only used sites like that then it's probably understand.
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Where the person intended to empty his cassette did have two taps,as it was sited midway between two pitches. The grey waste points are separate and directly behind each pitch. ( the site was Southport, for anyone familiar with the set up there)The occupied pitch on the one side had their blue water pipe connected to their aquaroll on one of the taps. If he had emptied his cassette there was no way he could have avoided splashing the contents directly over their water connection. Would have been much more than the spray others have mentioned.
Still cant make my mind up whether he was uneducated in caravan hygiene or what
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