Drive off with Grey Waste Drain Tap Open WHY? (1 Viewer)

[Brightspark]

Why do so many motorhomers think its ok to drive around a site making their way to the exit with the 'grey waste' tap open. As wardens on a privately owned site we see it all the time. We have a dedicated motorhome waste drain & fresh water point. Don't get me wrong most do empty but there's a growing number that can't be bothered. In fact they stop to fill up with our water when they leave, god knows why they want to drive around the countryside with all that extra weight on board but then they can't be bothered to empty the waste tank at the same time. Argh!!

 

[f6c]

just plain lazy!

 

[Trikimiki]

What a waste

Why do so many motorhomers think its ok to drive around a site making their way to the exit with the 'grey waste' tap open. As wardens on a privately owned site we see it all the time. We have a dedicated motorhome waste drain & fresh water point. Don't get me wrong most do empty but there's a growing number that can't be bothered. In fact they stop to fill up with our water when they leave, god knows why they want to drive around the countryside with all that extra weight on board but then they can't be bothered to empty the waste tank at the same time. Argh!!

Sadly I did it yesterday. Emptied grey waste into water drain when tank pipe sheared.So headed of to the nearest garden centre with an aquatic section , and picked up a new pipe, Glasgow got a free wash so no harm done.:thumb::thumb:

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[alfandM]

yep lazy barstewards and inconsiderate

 

[JeanLuc]

Seems pretty daft to leave the grey tap open when travelling - I suppose they have to get out and close it if they want to use any of the water services on the journey home or to the next pitch. Or perhaps they expect to dump it straight onto the road then as well?
I have to admit to often filling with fresh water when leaving. We normally travel full and so arrive at a pitch with water on board. Saves hunting (sometimes in the dark) for the tap at a CS, or in some cases arriving and realising that I cannot easily get close enough to run the hose from the tap (and it's a pretty long hose).

 

[Gromett]

Rude, ignorant and inconsiderate and gives our hobby a really bad name.

However on the filling up before going... I do this because I am a fulltimer and like to have a full fresh water tank at all times as I never know when my next easy fill will come.:thumb: However your water bill is offset because I tend to turn up on your site with a full tank also and I use very very little leccy.

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[jonandshell]

We always travel full. As Gromett says, you can't always rely on water at your next stop, especially with the winter we've had. We've come across frozen services on aires regularly in winter.

As for the grey tap being left open, yes it's inconsiderate and lazy.

However, if you aren't dripping and you are in sub-zero conditions (ie skiing), leaving your valve open is advisable because once you shut it, it will be frozen shut for the rest of your holiday!

We simply bung a bucket underneath at every stop.:thumb:

 

[Jamwitt]

Just lazy don't no why must site have waste points if not I empty a bucket a time don't take long and the grey waste is soapy / can be greasy could be bad news for bike or motorbike on road surface :Angry:

 

[Jaws]

Please explain why lazy ? If we are empty we always run open to make sure there are no stale smells floating around...

Compared with some of the disgusting habits I have had the misfortune to witness some vanners develop ( throwing half eaten sandwiched out of a moving van, chucking tea out of a window etc etc ) dropping a few drips of water that at worst has SOAP contaminating it is pretty innocuous

And please explain to almost every site owner in the UK that many continental vans ( mine is Italian made but is right hand drive ) have a massive ( 4" ) dump valve right bang in the middle of the van and almost all sites that are so called motorhome friendly have a pathetic little hole close to an edge somewhere.

I need a proper grid type dump that is at least 6 to 8ft clear of a kerb or hedge or whatever and several feet wide and long ( as most of them are across Europe )
When I pull the dump tap open it is a tsunami that comes out of that massive hole !!

Quite frankly, and curbing what I would like to say, wishing to abide by Funs most excellent rules, the original comments are plenty good enough reason for me and thousands like me to avoid UK camp sites like the plague !!

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[Landy lover]

Must admit that it does annoy me - at the NEC show in February there was plenty of waste tanks and one of the requests was not to open drain taps on site - we saw people emptying aquarolls into the hedge row, down the storm drains and even just opening them where they were as well as motor homers just opening the valves and driving off with them open. Apart from this being against the 'rules' of the temporary site when the weather is cold with risk of snow and ice it shows total inconsideration for the people using that pitch and the site for following nights

 

[Snowbird]

I dont know how they drive around with the stink coming from the grey tank. I once emptied the grey tank and inadvertently left the tap open. Never made that mistake again oh:. It must draw the stench up the plugholes when you leave the tap open.

 

[motorhomer]

Re the fresh tank, we always travel with it full for the same reasons as others - we do not often stay on UK sites, and elsewhere you cannot be certain of the availability of water.

Re the waste, we would never do as the post said and drive round a site or a pitch with it open. But I have to admit to doing so occasionally on waste land - it is the ONLY way to be sure the tank is empty, which matters if you are then leaving your van unused in sub zero temperatures. But I do think the comments here are a bit extreme, it is water with a little soap in it, our tank is regularly cleaned with tank cleaner so it doesn't even smell much. It doesn't harm anything.

Re the waste disposal points, in this country they are usually woefully inadequate anyway. Our point is on the offside, some vans are nearside, some in the middle. The drains in the UK often need manhole covers to be lifted, (eg CC sites) which can be very difficult if the van is over them. Why we cannot have a trough the width of vans, with filling taps on either side, to cater for all vans, I do not understand.

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[dave newell]

At the opposite end of the scale we have been surprised by how many customers have asked "could I just fill up my fresh water tank befoe I leave?" and we aren't even a campsite we're just a workshop! We are on a water meter but strangely no one wants to pay for their share of wateroh:.

D.

 

[davejen]

I must agree with the OP but also it is ILLEGAL to allow something to happen which causes danger to other road users, imagine a motorcyclist behind a MH dumping soapy water on a bend. I leave you to consider the possible consequences.......
Cheers, Dave:Sad:

 

[Daveo2006]

Weve been on a few sites where things are a little awkward regarding filling and emptying. (not on best side for us ) but hey ho we just make the best of a bad situation.You cant please all the people all the time and if i was looking round at things to moan about all the time i dont think id want to bother being out in the van.We are supposed to be enjoying ourselves after all.So my advise is , don't get uptight about a drop of water

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[gordoncbrown]

I agree with whats been said , mostly. If I am heading home I will go to the drain point or use the bucket to empty the grey tank. Once empty I currently leave it open. Having a rethink now. :thumb:

 

[Brightspark]

Interesting replies & we now we understand why a customer fills up with fresh before they leave the site. The owners of the site that we work on installed a 'drive through' motorhome point that has a 10ft wide trough/grid that you drive over & stop at the appropriate point where the waste outlet is. In front at the water point (15 mtrs away) is a dedicated motorhome hose on a reel with a trigger style gun that can be pulled out to either side of a motorhome. Its still annoying when you see motorhomes blocking the road hooked up to a tap at a water point!

 

[aba]

not to mention all the crap thats going to stick to the back of the van after the tank contents have sprayed all over it.

i empty my grey tank when i need to and its quite a large tank for a euro motorhome at 160 litres but internally fitted between the double floors.

i have never had a problem with freezing of the drain tap as it is inside a heated locker just behind the rear axles.

i also have a 5 metre hose that fits onto the drain point under the van and a shorter half meter one so it don't matter to me which side the manhole is as i can get to it with the hose.

there is no excuse for just opening the tap and driving off i can't imagine how many miles i would have covered before my tank stopped dripping if i used the just open and dribbling a bit drain tap method used by so many but i dare say i could easily cover 10 miles.

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[Pikey Pete]

IMHO it's holding grey water in the tanks for longish periods is what causes it to smell.

I spend 6 months of the year in Spain and have always dropped grey water to ground. Even in the hottest weather there is no smell.

Many hold it in their tanks discharging it into the service point, every few days or so causing a smell and then driving away with the valve open, thus discharging the remaining stinking waste, across the campsite.

I do not believe that dropping grey waste to ground, unless on hard standing, does any harm at all and certainly in my experience does not cause a smell.

In times of drought how often are we told not to put the washing up water down the sink but to pour it on the garden.

Pete:Cool:

 

[aba]

just an idea for those that find it difficult aiming the valve over a manhole is to fit a cheap camera just to the side of the valve looking straight down and wire it to your reversing monitor then you can see exactly where the dump will drop.

 

[maz]

The only time I do shut the waste valve is when I'm driving. Rest of the time valve is open draining into a bucket (15L I think). Bucket gets emptied once (maybe twice) a day, combined with a trip to the service point with toilet cassette or fresh water container. Not exactly difficult or time consuming.

On day of departure I shut the valve so that morning's shower water is retained in the tank. Add a capful of bio washing liquid to the tank so that it has a good swill around while driving. That and keeping the sink traps clean ensures that the waste water tank stays smelling sweet.

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[duane0001]

What a thread
My waste tank has a massive drain hole bang in the middle of the van and to be honest with you, I never close it, its always open, I rarely use sites because I am not a massive fan of "Rules"
Thats just the way I roll (and enjoy myself) after all, Its only water.

 

[Snowbird]

Do as you like in your own garden, but the garden we are talking about here is used by all.

 

[aba]

IMHO it's holding grey water in the tanks for longish periods is what causes it to smell.

I spend 6 months of the year in Spain and have always dropped grey water to ground. Even in the hottest weather there is no smell.

Many hold it in their tanks discharging it into the service point, every few days or so causing a smell and then driving away with the valve open, thus discharging the remaining stinking waste, across the campsite.

I do not believe that dropping grey waste to ground, unless on hard standing, does any harm at all and certainly in my experience does not cause a smell.

In times of drought how often are we told not to put the washing up water down the sink but to pour it on the garden.

Pete:Cool:

its the driving away with the valve open that is the problem not smells if you shut the valve and bung the plugs in the sinks and shower there are no smells and before pulling the plugs out just run a bit of water to re-fill the smell traps.

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[gordoncbrown]

just an idea for those that find it difficult aiming the valve over a manhole is to fit a cheap camera just to the side of the valve looking straight down and wire it to your reversing monitor then you can see exactly where the dump will drop.

I thought about doing this before but it was too much messing about. Much easier to ask the boss to jump out and let me know when it's lined up.:thumb:

 

[Daveo2006]

just an idea for those that find it difficult aiming the valve over a manhole is to fit a cheap camera just to the side of the valve looking straight down and wire it to your reversing monitor then you can see exactly where the dump will drop.

and let the wife sit in the cab? i dont think so.

 

[Daveo2006]

and let the wife sit in the cab? i dont think so.

"Little bit more,little bit more "

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[maz]

In front at the water point (15 mtrs away) is a dedicated motorhome hose on a reel with a trigger style gun that can be pulled out to either side of a motorhome. Its still annoying when you see motorhomes blocking the road hooked up to a tap at a water point!

I don't use other people's water hoses for fresh water. For one thing, I don't know what other campers might have been using it for. For another, is it food grade? I also don't want a trigger style gun fitment as I'd have to stand holding it in place.

I don't block a road while filling up but, if I can park up by a service point so that the tap is on the right side and I only have to fish out my shortest length of hose I will do so. It takes me about the same time to fill my tank as it takes two caravanners to fill an aquaroll. I don't think that's unreasonable.

 

[My Dog Likes Fishing]

Blinking heck people what's the big deal.

What does it matter if like most of us we fill up our tanks before we set off for pastures new. Are you on a water meter ? It's our fuel not that it makes much difference.

As for grey waste it's a bit of soapy water that I'm pretty sure a modern tyre can cope with it. Different to spilling diesel on the road. If you've emptied and drive off with the valve open it's hardly going to bring down the 11th chapter of the Hells Angels is it!!!

Is this going to be the next set of rules introduced at club sites?

 

[icantremember]

On the contrary to driving off with the grey water tap open, I leave water in the tank which, while traveling, will swill around thereby dissolving any sludge to be drained off as soon as I reach home.

I also like others, try to arrive on site with a full tank of fresh water and will top-up on leaving if moving to another site but not if homeward bound.

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