Dumping the grey in the hedgerow.. (1 Viewer)

scotjimland

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Jul 25, 2007
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I've always thought that there was absolutely nothing wrong with dumping grey in a hedgerow and in times of drought it was beneficial but would never consider doing on a site that had grey dumping facilities ... so you can understand my surprise when the owner of the CL we are on actually instructed me to do just this, he said it saves him money by not needing to pump out his tank.. and he had cleared this with the Caravan Club...
Well, I was only too happy to comply and deployed the 15ft of slinky into the the hedge... but I wonder what other site owners/wardens would say about this. Has anyone else ever been instructed to do this ?

I should add, he stressed GREY ONLY , NO BLACK .. :ROFLMAO::ROFLMAO:
 
L

Lindy-C

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We've always dumped our grey on the front lawn........the rabbits seem to love it :Doh: :ROFLMAO:
 

Road Runner

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We've always dumped our grey on the front lawn........the rabbits seem to love it :Doh: :ROFLMAO:

There you were telling us it was flooding in your area:winky::roflmto:

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ruffingitsmoothly

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Hi

When we were in the Isle of Wight a couple of years ago we were told the same thing by the owner of the site to dump our grey wastewater in the hedgerow. I must say that those hedgerows were thriving on it too!

Regards Pat
 

GJH

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I've seen a discussion of this elsewhere and the upshot seems to be that if the owner of the site/land doesn't mind then it is OK to use hedgerows but if there is a signed disposal point then that should be used.

When on a recognised camp site we use the disposal point if necessary - though if only there for a few days and using shower blocks and washing up facilities we may not have much grey water so would often dispose of it like household grey water once we get back home.

When at ECWS musters we tend to have a lot more grey water from showers/washing up but the convention is to dump it in hedgerows (a reasonable distance from tents/vans) in those circumstances.

Black water is a totally different matter and always disposed of at the facility provided by the place we are staying.

Graham

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Jim

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It will do harm if too much grey is poured in the same place. In the UK its diluted enough by the rain that its probably OK. When in warmer climes, the stink from Motorhomes where the owner can't be bothered to empty the grey in a proper place is sometimes very evident. :whatthe:
 
Oct 14, 2007
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I have had the same instructions from a CL in Kent, apparently it cost a fortune to have storage tanks emptied.
 

eddie

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Well! On the basis that most drains on campsites are soakaways it matters not in my opinion. We are more than happy for people around the edge of our site to use the hedge. If you use the "dribble" technique where the valve is open a little the water is not in the tank long enough to start the smelling process, but the partial closed valve stops the shower water gushing out all in one go, and the bubbles that come with it:Smile:

For the record, we ask people when dumping their black tanks to use sufficient grey to rinse out their hose and then dump the rest on the grass or gravel surrounding the dump station.

This is good for the land and also at about £130 per 1000 gallons to dispose of "hazdous waste" it is not normal poo it is a high concentrate poo with chemical in:Sad: so we dont want to be paying those rates for grey water!

as Tesco's say Every little helps

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Jim

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This is good for the land and also at about £130 per 1000 gallons to dispose of "hazdous waste" it is not normal poo it is a high concentrate poo with chemical in:Sad: so we dont want to be paying those rates for grey water!

as Tesco's say Every little helps


There is a farmer near me that has a cesspit for the main house sewage, he says they haven't emptied it in 20 years.:Eeek: I am glad that they are below us on the Mountain.:Cool:
 

Sundowners

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On the CL site where our RV is normally parked there are several m/homes that visit for a few days at a time, they remove a small bit of turf , insert a short length of rigid plastic pipe and run the grey straight into this, when they leave they remove the pipe, replace the turf and you wouldn't know where their water went. I must add that the ground is very sandy, it seems like a good idea to me for short stays.
Nigel
 

TerryL

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Several times on CL's we've been told to dump GREY waste into the hedges, happy to oblige although we try to do it away from the pitches. However at one site in Portugal we were told to use the ditch surrounding the site, which resulted in an infestation of flies, enough for us to have to move.

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Jan 23, 2016
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I've always thought that there was absolutely nothing wrong with dumping grey in a hedgerow and in times of drought it was beneficial but would never consider doing on a site that had grey dumping facilities ... so you can understand my surprise when the owner of the CL we are on actually instructed me to do just this, he said it saves him money by not needing to pump out his tank.. and he had cleared this with the Caravan Club...
Well, I was only too happy to comply and deployed the 15ft of slinky into the the hedge... but I wonder what other site owners/wardens would say about this. Has anyone else ever been instructed to do this ?

I should add, he stressed GREY ONLY , NO BLACK .. :ROFLMAO::ROFLMAO:

A site that I use just to the north of Hereford has a sign on each pitch inviting you to dump your grey tank into the hedges.

With my old caravan therev was no grey water tank just pipes from the sinks and shower that emptied below the caravan, not knowing any better it never occured to me to put a bucket of some other container below the van.

Most of my caravaning was wilding in Spain, so when I moved on the local cattle had a day of luxury dining. :)

Grey Water.JPG
 

mfw

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I tend to use grey water to rinse cassette out when dumping in waste point rather than just wasting clean water when that is done i'm more than happy to empty rest in hedgerow if wanted
 

ymfb

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We have stopped at two CLs in recent months, one asked us to dispose of our grey waste in the unmowed areas, the other in a ditch alongside the site.

Any detergents are so diluted as to not cause a problem for the grass and plants.

Reading back earlier in the thread, if a cess pit has sufficient bugs it shouldn’t need emptying. People used to kill rabbits, hang them until really infested and drop them in to promote bio digestion.

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Jim

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We have stopped at two CLs in recent months, one asked us to dispose of our grey waste in the unmowed areas, the other in a ditch alongside the site.

Any detergents are so diluted as to not cause a problem for the grass and plants.

Reading back earlier in the thread, if a cess pit has sufficient bugs it shouldn’t need emptying. People used to kill rabbits, hang them until really infested and drop them in to promote bio digestion.

A cesspit is nothing more than a holding tank so the bugs don't matter, it will always need emptying. (y) . You mean Septic tank (y)
 

ymfb

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A cesspit is nothing more than a holding tank so the bugs don't matter, it will always need emptying. (y) . You mean Septic tank (y)
I bow to your superior knowledge on the subject:D
 

Enword

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In dry times we always catch all our waste (domestic) water for the garden, shower,sinks,washing machine etc to no ill effect, when in France on site we've been asked to run our grey hose to the hedge.

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Basildog

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I try to use our grey water to wash car parks and the road surface on roundabouts if possible (y)
 

maxi77

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It is not that long ago that the Government was asking home owners to collect grey water fir garden wztering during hosepipe bans.
 
Oct 29, 2016
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It is not that long ago that the Government was asking home owners to collect grey water fir garden wztering during hosepipe bans.
You just wait!, now you have mentioned hosepipe bans, they will be upon us in a matter of days!
Never ceases to amaze me how we can have the wettest of winters,floods everywhere, then a few weeks of sun, then the media starts showing pictures of stand pipes and dried up reservoirs.
The population is ever increasing, and yet no extra water storage provision is made.
Thames water down here loses more water through leaky pipes that is used by us, everyone now on water meters so they can just hike up the cost per cubic meter.
Why is also that they assume that every lire of fresh water out a tap, goes back as grey or black down a sewage system?, so every cubic meter used to water the garden, wash the van & car etc is charged as sewage also.

Sorry for the thread drift, I am a tight old bugger I know, but we will all be peeing in our own hedgerows (watered down with beer additives) if the water rates go up again :D
Les

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Last edited:
Nov 25, 2013
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Don’t you remember being told to empty your bath water and other domestic water from home on the garden. In a previous drought I diverted all my waste water onto the garden to help the plants. When I lived at home on our farm the contents of the cesspit were sprayed over the fields- human slurry if you like. Loads of nitrogen. Boy did the crops grow well in those areas!!
Please let’s not be too politically correct here, every Cl I have used always run the grey into the hedgerow.
In this heatwave needs must!!!!!
 
Sep 3, 2012
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We have been using our shower water and some sink waste water to water our potted plants and borders and refill our empty rain barrels. Not the sweetest of water but the plants don't seem to mind(y)
 
Aug 6, 2013
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You just wait!, now you have mentioned hosepipe bans, they will be upon us in a matter of days!
Never ceases to amaze me how we can have the wettest of winters,floods everywhere, then a few weeks of sun, then the media starts showing pictures of stand pipes and dried up reservoirs.
The population is ever increasing, and yet no extra water storage provision is made.
Thames water down here loses more water through leaky pipes that is used by us, everyone now on water meters so they can just hike up the cost per cubic meter.
Why is also that they assume that every lire of fresh water out a tap, goes back as grey or black down a sewage system?, so every cubic meter used to water the garden, wash the van & car etc is charged as sewage also.

Sorry for the thread drift, I am a tight old bugger I know, but we will all be peeing in our own hedgerows (watered down with beer additives) if the water rates go up again :D
Les
In Cumbria it's diluted so we use much less :D.

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