Grey water
Interested in the views of other members on the subject of grey water and recycling waste water.
We only ever use the kitchen and bathroom sinks - never the shower, as we use club facilities.
We believe the waste water should be discharged straight into the ground as it can only be beneficial and not detrimental in this age of environmental awareness. This would also eliminate the weight of carrying waste containers etc, lightening the load on your caravan and fuel consumption.
….any thoughts?
Comments
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Any thoughts - I don’t want to pitch on top of someone’s dirty water but see no problem with it being discharged sensibly into hedgerows where permitted.
It’s down to the site owner what we do with it and most CLs are happy with the hedgerow method. To discharge it onto a HS, or any pitching area, or roadway is a big no-no in my opinion. You cannot guarantee that others will not be putting polluted water onto pitches so I think it’s best to have a general taboo.
Fuel consumption? I don’t get that.
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So you never use chemicals, washing up ,laundry or have any fatty residue from washing up in the sink,and on busy sites i do not want to be on pitches that smell of stale water or inudated with flies,that will be present around food residue
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Different people do have different uses of the water system in the caravan so the idea put forward could only ever work for some people. The waste should only have water used for washing, washing up and perhaps the tea remaining in a tea pot or similar, but we cannot have everyone draining it into the ground. It will inevitably have food particles from plates and a few other solids in it and this could build up and be a health issue over time, so the idea is not workable.
The weight of the waste container is unlikely to make any difference to the loading of the caravan and emptying it is no great hardship for most of us.
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As Tinwheeler suggests, always ask the site owner / land owner. They will usually have a prefference depending on their drainage system. If we were lucky enough to have a heatwave some may be happy for it to be spread along the bottom of a hedge.
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Like above but also I expect a clean pitch to pitch on. Watery/soapy/ food deposits will look and may smell horribly. If a grass pitch won't this hot water affect the grass?
I will try to do some calculations to see how much fuel is saved in not towing an empty wastemaster (approx 4.5Kg) in the caravan.
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The one place that I find this to be accepted is on the G D S F camping areas. Clean, fresh water standpipes, blocks of blue 'telephone box' style toilets, Black water dumps ( emptied daily ) are provided round the 600 acre site. Blocks of Showers are provided on at least two of the huge camping areas. Now If the Grey Water was to be disposed of in similar style to Club sites there would need to be a major, and I do mean major, drainage installation !!
Having said how it is I have to admit that the ground does not appear to suffer even when we get the regular wet summer weather and even in the driest, hottest years the ground takes it all and nasty niffs do not appear to be generated.
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Just to add to my post The G D S F website claims 170 acres are in use for Visitors camping, and 200,000 in total attend over the 5 days, so there must be about 20,000 - 25,000 camping there including the show people, staff etc etc. Now that's what I call a lot of grey water generated not forgetting the catering etc washers-up
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mmmm, might be worth it then
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I don't know what kind of food other caravanners are eating, but we never have 'fatty deposits' in our wastewater that 'look and smell terrible'. We never cook fatty dishes in our caravan...chips, bacon etc., ...and if we did, we would wash the dishes in the boiling hot water provided on site and not clog our wastepipes with muck.
The ground is the best filtration system ever invented...apart from the sea of course. Grass and soil is not 'affected' by hot water or mild chemicals like soap, and most sites we are on are gravel, which help even more with filtration. On the odd occasion a minute particle of sweetcorn or lettuce passes through the pipe, I'm sure the local wildlife would clear it before we had cleared the exit barrier.
I find it strange that caravanners have no hesitation or questions in pitching on an area of gravel or grass that numerous dogs could have recently soiled with urine and excrement, and yet baulk at the thought of grey water which has rinsed a couple of teeth and a cup or two. We have neighbours on site who have five large dogs in a penned off area instead of an awning. The owners remove the faeces but do not appear to exercise the pack - who are allowed to soil the area at will.
Ps. The fuel consumption would be less if not dragging large containers to empty grey water down a drain when it could be used in so many better ways.
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ps. all the 4.5kg wastemasters add up, and the lack of weight in our case means more shoes for me.
Maybe in another 30 years, when the trees and hedgerows are all starting to die off due to GW, we might reconsider our disgust at grey water. If most club sites can cope with weeks of rain - as found in Scotland even in summer, I am sure a few litres of washing up water left behind by each van wouldn't lead to the catastrophic problem envisioned by some here!
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Where is the weight saving, and hence minuscule fuel saving, if you take more shoes instead of a wastemaster?
There's a world of difference between rainwater and soapy, mucky, food contaminated grey water from your caravan. I don’t appreciate being lectured about global warming or anything else and think you need to look a little deeper into your plan and be a bit more realistic.
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well I can't wait for this to rolled out across all hotels, SC, and B&B... to follow suit, just chuck your sink water out onto the grass. In fact I wonder if those who are so keen do this at home all the time? Or perhaps are these folk using dishwashers?
If the OP is so keen to help the environment then perhaps not towing and using up petrol/diesel and making emissions might help more than using a pitch to empty water on?
Actually on the very rare occasions I don't use a service pitch I would find emptying my waste near the caravan far easier than using the wastemaster.
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This post just proves ,that really its just a me me post as there are probably thousands of others, who if was as you suggest no need to "catch" waste water or hot water that DOES kill grass!!,and the dogs will not be on the same pitch, as would caravans emptying contaminated including fats, body fats included waste water every time the pitch is used, and most sites YOU may use are possibly on gravel but it depends on which part of the country as to what the ground type is it ,so the Idea you have mooted is dead in the water(waste) container as it should well be
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The shoe comment was my attempt at lightening the convo by the use of humour. As usual, there appears to be none on this discussion site.
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Natural treatment of waste water etc usually involves a filtration system where the waste gradually gets purified and damage to eco systems is minimised via reed beds or similar. Continuous disposal of waste water onto an area which doesn't have any type of filtration system in place will result in a build up of chemical deposits and an increase in de-oxygenated soil which is damaging to plant life, insects etc. Depositing waste in a hedgerow results in some type of filtration but if continuously directed onto a pitch it won't improve the soil environment because excessive water deposits remove nutrients and oxygen which gradually kills off bio-systems.
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...sorry, could you run that by me again? Didn’t understand a lot of it.
Of course dogs are on the same pitch as us..and have defecated and urinated under your awning....yes, YOUR awning that kills the grass beneath it. Unlike hot water...which most definitely does not!
and...’body fats’ ? In waste water? LOL please explain.
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As usual? Where d'you get that from? There’s plenty of humour here but it’s an odd mix to throw it in with a heavy lecture.
Tip, when attempting humour it pays to use a 😀 or two to make your intention clear. Happy to help👍🏻
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Heavy lecture?
Good grief.
And here was I thinking it was a discussion.
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"Of course dogs are on the same pitch as, and have defecated and pooped under your awning....yes, the awning that kills the grass beneath it. Unlike hot water...which most definitely does not!"
Why of course? There are rules in place to prevent that. Are you accusing members of breaking those rules?
According to the club, boiling water kills the grass. Just ask any warden.
You've managed to get saving the planet and stir up anti dog feelings all in one thread. Well done.😕
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More a diatribe, I feel.
Do you not think the club has already thought out and investigated all these avenues?
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Thank you for that! A sensible reply. However, I fail to see how this could happen on gravel or grass which for eight months of the year is being rained on.
Also, perhaps someone could explain why if my grey water is doing so much damage to the land under my caravan in what is basically a field...why are we dumping it, and worse from our caravan cassettes - into the sea?
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Who is dumping sewage into the sea? It’s what we have treatment plants for.
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No, I don’t - anymore than they thought out their long term plans to give their members internet on site...but that is another thread.
It’s often the case that the simplest things are not considered ...while of course, the wardens go off on one if you are two inches off the stop line when you arrive.
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Not where I live.
...what about the thousands of houses with septic tanks going straight into watercourses?
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I think we're getting to the crux of the matter now. This is just an excuse for an anti club rant.
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Please qualify your statement above and explain what ‘body fats’ are, and how they get into grey water.
Thanks!
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