Partial Hook-up Sites and Gray Water

[Tent Camping Mom]

This Poll is for Partial Hook-up Sites:

While reading another camping forum, I read a report from someone who had a bad experience at FW. He could not find a place to dump his gray water and had to go through a lot of red-tape to get it done. The post really worried me about something he said. He noticed many pop-ups and trailers running the hose in the bushes. Surely not! But I can’t say it’s not true because I haven’t actually looked (but I will in October! ). I know Florida has some of the strictest laws regarding gray and black water disposal but if a dump station isn’t available; couldn’t you use the toilet at the CS?

So, out of curiosity, I created this anonymous poll to see how many of you do “the hose in the bushes” or how you handle it. I made it anonymous so hopefully everyone will be honest in their selection. Comments are welcome.

 

[Tent Camping Mom]

Bump...

Looks like one person does none of the above...wonder what it could be? I guess I could add a few more options:

Pour it in the canal.
Fill water balloons.
Shoot it into space.
Make coffee with it.
Distill it and reuse it.
Sell it on Ebay as Elton John's sweat.

Anything else?

 

[John VN]

While biking around the 1500 and 2000 loops I saw many pop-ups with hose into bushes.

Not sure what the rules are but I would think that CMs would see this and say something if not allowed.

 

[Rhonda]

Sell it on Ebay as Elton John's sweat.

And I bet somebody would bid on it too!! LOL!

 

[stacktester]

IMHO Disney put themselves in a situation by not having sewer on these loops. It's a given already that campers/motorhomes aren't going to fit in these sites. I saw several pop ups last week with the blue tanks attached to them. I think it would be a pretty good distance to take this tank to a site with sewer. At the very least I would hope there is a central dump station in these loops. All the present situation provides is for gray water to be dumped because people think oh well it's just shower water. I am guilty of dumping gray water out when I got my first camper. I was told not to worry but I know better now. I have an outside shower so I use that as much as possible when we're out 4 wheeling so the gray tank doesn't fill up.

 

[proudmomof4]

The only thing I have in my pop-up which uses water is a sink which we just use to rinse things, so the water coming out of the drain is pretty clean, we just let it drain into the bushes.

 

[stacktester]

I'm going to alert the FW office tomorrow. Just kidding. I really don't see how gray water is bad and this is my reason. I have an outdoor shower and if I use it gray water is on the ground. Is it because it sits in a tank for a while? Does it ferment? I can see if you have like a bunch of food in it now. I always wash dishes outside too. I dunno, I think it's just hoopla.

 

[okeydokey]

We have a small chemical toilet in our popup and last week we were advised to take it to a dump station in loop 18. It is the only loop where you can dispose this.

 

[ftwildernessguy]

We have a small chemical toilet in our popup and last week we were advised to take it to a dump station in loop 18. It is the only loop where you can dispose this.

Where is the dump station? I didn't think there were any at FW.

 

[Tent Camping Mom]

I'm going to alert the FW office tomorrow. Just kidding. I really don't see how gray water is bad and this is my reason. I have an outdoor shower and if I use it gray water is on the ground. Is it because it sits in a tank for a while? Does it ferment? I can see if you have like a bunch of food in it now. I always wash dishes outside too. I dunno, I think it's just hoopla.

Lol. Actually, I'm sure "management" knows about it but like many other things, it probably won't get enforced until there's a problem. It is Florida law, and if I'm not mistaken, Florida's DOH classifies kitchen sink water as sewage (black water) so it must be disposed of properly in a sewer/dump station.

As far as outside showers, I don't see a problem "environmentally" with that, unless everybody and their brother does the same thing in the same spot. Most soaps are biodegradable and some actually helps the environment

 

[Colson39]

Where is the dump station? I didn't think there were any at FW.

Yea, I've never heard of a dump station at FW? I have heard of people being sent to certain sites, but not an actual dump station?

 

[always quiet]

We have a small chemical toilet in our popup and last week we were advised to take it to a dump station in loop 18. It is the only loop where you can dispose this.

Ahhh...unless I am going nuts, there is NO Loop 18!

 

[Colson39]

Ahhh...unless I am going nuts, there is NO Loop 18!

It's on the other side of River Country, don't you know!!!

 

[ftwildernessguy]

I assumed they were talking about the 1800 loop, since a lot of people for some reason shorten the pet loops into 16,17, 18 and 1900. This is my territory in the Fort, and I have never seen a dump station there.

 

[stacktester]

When we were at the fort the other day I saw this guy carrying one of those little porta potties to a empty site. Didn't follow him to see how it went lol. I just can't carry sewage.

 

[clkelley]

I have my porta potty bucket and I just carry it to the bathroom and dump it in the toilet. Once I get my camper and "might" have dish water, I'll do the same thing. But at Disney I don't cook so not really a problem, maybe just an occassional rinsing out of my hot chocolate mug and washing my hands.

 

[Tent Camping Mom]

At another campground, I saw a guy who had a tank with wheels (he was wheeling it to the comfort station). I think that would be a good solution for transporting without having to lug a filled bucket. Just did another little bit of research and found this nifty site filled with lots of info:
http://www.title-3.com/GrayWater.htm

They have a picture of a sewage drain at FW. I understand the gray water is going into the PVC pipe, but ewww... What is that second hole? Is that like an overflow or what?

 

[stacktester]

LOL, that's an air vent like your car has where the gas goes in and that's probably a leaf or something. I doubt anybody would take a pic with dung in it lol. Camper poo doesn't look like that anyway because it get's broken down by the chemicals. How do I know? Because like many of you I've had and seen accidents with sewer hoses but that's a whole another thread.

 

[Escape Artist]

Well, I answered "none of the above."

Fortunately (for me!), getting rid of gray water is DH's problem, and when we were at the fort (May 26-June 6), he was instructed to take it to the 1900 loop to dump it. So if you saw a guy driving reeeeeeally slowly towing a big blue water tank behind a silver Honda Odyssey minivan, that was him!

(BTW, big blue and it's little towbar came from Camping World, if anybody's looking for one. DH says not to even think of getting one without the towbar. That tank gets heavy!)

FWIW, our gray water can get pretty gross and I would never let it just run on the ground. The tank often gets a cheesy smell, probably due to some milk going down there and stewing for a few days. You'd think 5 people's worth of toothpaste plus soap from handwashing would take care of that, but nooooooo!

I wish they had a place to dump gray water in 1500 and 2000 comfort stations. We've camped at a several state and national parks with better setups for gray water disposal. Disney sure didn't make it easy to do the right thing on this subject.

I was grossed out by the option to "bring it home!" I've brought home some wacky souveniers in my time, but yikes! Ewwwwwww.

Sue in Texas
...depressed on re-entry...

 

[Tent Camping Mom]

Camper poo doesn't look like that anyway because it get's broken down by the chemicals. How do I know? Because like many of you I've had and seen accidents with sewer hoses but that's a whole another thread.

Lol...you read my mind. Are the accidents anything like what Robin Williams went through in the movie RV? I know nothing about RVs but I loved that show.