Has anyone set up their rig to recycle grey water to use in their toilet yet? I have heard of some folks doing this but am not sure of their end results. They capture shower water in a tank and use it to flush the RV-type toilet.
Has anyone done this themselves and has it worked to your expectations? It seems like a great way to save water.
When boondocking for long periods of time, I have a plastic bucket I put in the sink to capture water from washing my hands and use that for flushing my toilet, but if I were to build another bus, reusing water would definitely be a consideration. Maybe I would try to build or buy a particle trap filter that can be dumped out weekly or something?
I am not so concerned about saving the planet as I am to extend my boondocking time.
Thoughts?
A superb idea and you have started the wheels (in my head) spinning. Looking forward to responses to this post!
How do you control the smell of BW it stinks to high heaven even with the snake oil deodorizer's, with a washing machine the smell gets even worse,now all the larger RV's have a bath and a 1/2 even more water
This definitely has the wheels spinning... I think the key will be filtration so you don't have pump problems. Beyond that, it would just be a separate capture tank (with an overflow to the black tank?) and a separate pump to the toilet fill line. Minor considerations: I would probably want the ability to still evacuate the capture tank through the black tank for pre-storage/winterization and rinse purposes. Would also have to make sure there is a minimum amount of water in that tank for flushing purposes.
If you have a grey tank I think the simplest solution would be an add on a water dispenser nozzle that would at the push of a button activate a electric pump to pump water into the toilet.
Maybe someone could print a 3D part to do this.
I only have a combined grey/black water tank in my bus. However I am slowly working away on a recirculating shower system which requires the installation of a marine grey water Y valve.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000O8FB7A/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1 (https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000O8FB7A/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1)
I suppose the recirculating shower system portion could be left pressurized with a tap off to the toilet for a direct water feed situation.
But then would you need a valve to switch between grey and fresh water?
Also do you subscribe to the water conservation process of "Yellow is mellow, brown must go..."
One of the mods that I am making to my water system is a water flow totalizer so I suppose I could start collecting usage.
Grey water can stink, especially in the warmer months. Filtering the water might help, but the smell might still be there. This idea might be more trouble than it is worth. The idea of conserving water is good, but it will have a price. We are not on the space station where everything including urine is recycled at great cost.
Our Grey water tank waste was always Sulphur smelling in warm weather. Even with some detergent and blue stuff.
Gary has a macerator toilet using recycled water would only add to problems with the macerator toilet he is always working on the toilet even using clean water
Quote from: luvrbus on December 12, 2022, 09:18:44 AM
Gary has a macerator toilet using recycled water would only add to problems with the macerator toilet he is always working on the toilet even using clean water
Well yeah! With the amount of Mexican food that boy consumes ROFLMAO!!
I have to totally drop the idea as I mentioned it to my wife and she said in no uncertain terms NO WAY! & that's an opinion I have to take seriously!
The ones who tried... we don't hear back...
Read between the lines...
I will not be doing it.
To do this, you need another pump, and it and the toilet machinery get gummed up with whatever is in the gray water, then you get to deal with all that early failure...
There's always somewhere else you can store more clean water, if maximum boondocking is your goal.
Filters? Plugged in no time.
Return to regularly scheduled programming.
Happy coaching!
Buswarrior
Most boats and yachts do NOT use the endless sea water to flush toilets-it just plainly stinks. I could imagine what using the gray water would smell like! Just keep it simple and use fresh water. I have 200gal fresh water on my truck with 110gal gray and 70gal black. I easily go 2 weeks with showers with my wife. Good Luck, TomC
When the wife does dishes,, instead of using the sink, she puts a large bowl or pan in the sink so she can empty it in the toilet instead of the gray tank.. My black tank is larger than gray and it works for us well.. The soapy water helps to clean the black also..>>>Dan
As a side bar our little bathroom sink can either be drained into the gray or the black tank. Our gray & black are each 74 gal. When boondocking the bathroom sink & toilet goes to black & the kitchen sink & shower goes to gray or in some cases goes to the ground. Having the bathroom sink drain into black helps with suspending the solids and soaping the black. In any case fresh water supply. On the shower head is a timed diverter solenoid that loops the fresh water back to the potable fresh tank until it warms then deactivates for instant hot at the shower head - saves a fair amount of fresh water!
It seems the amount of water to flush is less than that to shower. Of course your personal habits dictate these numbers but if saving water is the goal, I'd look to use less water when taking a shower or washing dishes.
If you know your going into the boonies get paper plates cups plastic forks spoons etc, use wet ones for personal hygiene, take a leak outside or wait til the waters brown flush it down. To me recycling water is gross and risk disease. Also buy a bunch of bottle (or gallons whatever) water for extra water capacity.
I'm solidly in the "add more fresh water" camp and built a 275g fresh water tank.That will eventually run out but it'll be rare that happens before I can get to a good fresh water source. I have about as much interest in using gray water to flush as I do in using it to shower which is to say no thanks. I can imagine that could make the bathroom a pretty stinky place and I'm putting a lot of effort into making it less stinky. In my experience that is the bane of the RV life. I'm not about to start taking backwards steps.
Jim
I am amazed the price people like my wife pays for drinking water, she buys the Alkaline water that has the minerals removed then putback,she pays more for a gal of the stuff than you pay for a gal of diesel in Needles CA,She didn't care for my drink diesel it is better for you dig
Quote from: luvrbus on December 13, 2022, 08:06:35 AM
I am amazed the price people like my wife pays for drinking water, she buys the Alkaline water that has the minerals removed then putback,she pays more for a gal of the stuff than you pay for a gal of diesel in Needles CA,She didn't care for my drink diesel it is better for you dig
Ok I am sort of in her camp, though planning on lots of filters and water treatments for future additions to my water system.
Right now most of the water that I consume passes through the Keurig coffee/tea maker and hey I do buy the Alkaline water for it like she does.
I generally have three bottles open at any point in time. Which are:
1. Coffee maker
2. Medicine cabinet
3. Night stand for the middle of the night.
Not going to recycle water to the toilet, just don't use that much. shower uses more than flushing, washing dishes uses a bit too.
We buy bottled gallon water and keep on the counter for drinking, cooking, and espresso machine. Water in the tanks gets filtered on the way in. Works fine for shower, washing.
Good balance of storage and use so no changes here.
get one of these and problem solved with out having bottled water
https://www.amazon.com/APEC-Water-Systems-ROES-PHUV75-Ultra-Violet/dp/B07M9CPCPT/ref=sxin_15_pa_sp_search_thematic_sspa?content-id=amzn1.sym.4e7a2229-074e-44de-95c4-9fd858f46295%3Aamzn1.sym.4e7a2229-074e-44de-95c4-9fd858f46295&cv_ct_cx=reverse+osmosis+system&keywords=reverse+osmosis+system&pd_rd_i=B07M9CPCPT&pd_rd_r=94de5756-431e-4ba1-941f-db83fcc0e4b2&pd_rd_w=dPDJj&pd_rd_wg=8F84w&pf_rd_p=4e7a2229-074e-44de-95c4-9fd858f46295&pf_rd_r=XEPJJWVB5FYKP5CRAH7C&qid=1671022064&sr=1-3-a73d1c8c-2fd2-4f19-aa41-2df022bcb241-spons&psc=1&spLa=ZW5jcnlwdGVkUXVhbGlmaWVyPUExOUhQRUE4VUhBU1Y2JmVuY3J5cHRlZElkPUEwNDE5NTc3Tk8xTlpOTklYS1QzJmVuY3J5cHRlZEFkSWQ9QTEwMDIwNDQzODVETThGQUQ1RllBJndpZGdldE5hbWU9c3Bfc2VhcmNoX3RoZW1hdGljJmFjdGlvbj1jbGlja1JlZGlyZWN0JmRvTm90TG9nQ2xpY2s9dHJ1ZQ==
Some studies show that water in the southern region of the Mississippi River has already passed through seven human bodies. :o
Quote from: sledhead on December 14, 2022, 04:49:50 AM
get one of these and problem solved with out having bottled water
https://www.amazon.com/APEC-Water-Systems-ROES-PHUV75-Ultra-Violet/dp/B07M9CPCPT/ref=sxin_15_pa_sp_search_thematic_sspa?content-id=amzn1.sym.4e7a2229-074e-44de-95c4-9fd858f46295%3Aamzn1.sym.4e7a2229-074e-44de-95c4-9fd858f46295&cv_ct_cx=reverse+osmosis+system&keywords=reverse+osmosis+system&pd_rd_i=B07M9CPCPT&pd_rd_r=94de5756-431e-4ba1-941f-db83fcc0e4b2&pd_rd_w=dPDJj&pd_rd_wg=8F84w&pf_rd_p=4e7a2229-074e-44de-95c4-9fd858f46295&pf_rd_r=XEPJJWVB5FYKP5CRAH7C&qid=1671022064&sr=1-3-a73d1c8c-2fd2-4f19-aa41-2df022bcb241-spons&psc=1&spLa=ZW5jcnlwdGVkUXVhbGlmaWVyPUExOUhQRUE4VUhBU1Y2JmVuY3J5cHRlZElkPUEwNDE5NTc3Tk8xTlpOTklYS1QzJmVuY3J5cHRlZEFkSWQ9QTEwMDIwNDQzODVETThGQUQ1RllBJndpZGdldE5hbWU9c3Bfc2VhcmNoX3RoZW1hdGljJmFjdGlvbj1jbGlja1JlZGlyZWN0JmRvTm90TG9nQ2xpY2s9dHJ1ZQ==
Let her buy her water I don't need another system to maintain, LOL she buys test strips to check her bodies PH,my test strips for antifeeze don't work for her but I tried 8),I looked into one of those a few months ago changing filters every 75 gals would cost more than the bottled water
Quote from: dtcerrato on December 14, 2022, 05:31:33 AM
Some studies show that water in the southern region of the Mississippi River has already passed through seven human bodies. :o
If you consider the billions of people (don't forget the animals too) who have been drinking water since the beginning of time, the seven bodies is no doubt a minimum. Being that we are all drinking recycled water (since new water doesn't come from outer space), there's probably many more bodies than that!
Quote from: luvrbus on December 14, 2022, 06:02:29 AM
Let her buy her water I don't need another system to maintain, LOL she buys test strips to check her bodies PH,my test strips for antifeeze don't work for her but I tried 8),I looked into one of those a few months ago changing filters every 75 gals would cost more than the bottled water
the system in the coach I change the filters once a year and the cost is about $45 for all
at work we are on town water ( smells and tastes like pool water )
so I put a similar system in and we are going on 4 years without changing the filters with still great tasting water and no pool smell
this is used just for drinking and coffee , some cooking
In all our travels last two summers, we used campsite water with one of those blue sausage Camco filter. All drinking water was then run through a Brita. We also bought some gallons of water at Walmart for making iced tea. Also some bottled water for convince in the truck while travelling.
We travel with a Berky I don't know if they work or not, but she believes it does,they seem overpriced to me and filters are very expensive for a Berky.She runs all the cooking and dogs' water through the Berky from the tank
We drink water out of our potable water tank through a small dedicated filtered faucet for 43 years now. Once in a blue moon we'll empty the tank, fill it with fresh water with a cup of bleach, drain it, fill it again with fresh water and a quart of white vinegar, then empty it and flush it and fill fresh. What I tend to be concerned with is city water that tastes like pool water or chlorine. Chlorine kills 99.9% of germs, when chlorine is present in PPM more than it should be (and it happens a lot) it means the water is being shocked due to contaminants. Yeah Dad also had his hands in the municipal water department - nightmare stories...
Chlorine's life is short lived in only last for a few hours,water suppliers usually do it around midnight while you are asleep,and some will blow it out a fire hydrant before you wake up.Needle CA is the hot spot for MJ growers now and they use only non treated water from the Colorado River,that weed doesn't do good with Chlorine, I take it
Geez - whatever we've been drinking hasn't kiilled us old farts yet. keep on drinking what y'all drinking.
Filter at the bus and hose coming in. In winter you can not use it on the outside or it will freeze and not let water in so have to move it to the supply valve they have here under a black tub that has a light you plug in and the 100 watt bulb keeps everything warm. We also have 5 5 gallon blue bottle that are piped to the kitchen sink with their own faucet and pump. We fill these bottle when in bad water areas like Arizona and Texas and even OK. We get the clean filtered machine water. :^ We never drink water out of our fresh water tank.
Quote from: windtrader on December 16, 2022, 08:47:44 AM
Geez - whatever we've been drinking hasn't kiilled us old farts yet. keep on drinking what y'all drinking.
As long as it has an acholic impact that preserves LOL!!!
Quote from: Dave5Cs on December 16, 2022, 11:11:33 AM
Filter at the bus and hose coming in. In winter you can not use it on the outside or it will freeze and not let water in so have to move it to the supply valve they have here under a black tub that has a light you plug in and the 100 watt bulb keeps everything warm. We also have 5 5 gallon blue bottle that are piped to the kitchen sink with their own faucet and pump. We fill these bottle when in bad water areas like Arizona and Texas and even OK. We get the clean filtered machine water. :^ We never drink water out of our fresh water tank.
Dude, when the pipe freezes, you pack up and head south!
Pipes are not freezing because we have figured it out. Had it happen once and then you start thinking. Heated hoses 100 watt lights in a big tub over the supply and filter etc. a heater is in the wet bay also.
If the wife wasn't going through all this liver stuff we would be heading south. But from what we are seeing there isn't much better down there. :^
Quote from: Dave5Cs on December 17, 2022, 09:38:19 AM
Pipes are not freezing because we have figured it out. Had it happen once and then you start thinking. Heated hoses 100 watt lights in a big tub over the supply and filter etc. a heater is in the wet bay also.
If the wife wasn't going through all this liver stuff we would be heading south. But from what we are seeing there isn't much better down there. :^
don't leave dave - i really still want to visit you and Doreen in the dead of winter so i can check it off my bucket list. I told nanette about the biggest catholic church in your town, born catholic and school and all that but did not get too excited.
hang in there, shortest day of year next week! lol