I am trying to figure out how to live on the move, like an RV, and may need to collect and treat Black water (human waste and unsafe sludge for dumping). What would I need to do to treat any collected black water and when can I call it grey water, dump-it or call it soil and dispose of it? what are the legal and practical ramifications? what are the questionably legal suggestions? I assume I will be using a stander external water tank and generally will need to take a shower, cook, and clean. I should have access to a toilet for most of the time, either provided by a customer or provided by convenience i.e. a gas station.
assume you have a generator, an internal 40 gallon fresh water, potential for city water hookup and internal storage of 40 gallon black-grey water with a external 25 gallon tank for dumping. you need to clean, cook, bath, and perform you normal bodily functions in public. you can technically shower in public and have an external hook up. everything can run on propane, but need to charge an electrical circuit to operate the water tank and pump.
>can you shower in public if you are decent?
>can you clean your cookware in public and where can you dump the water?
>when can you dump grey water, what is grey water?
>how can you turn black water into grey water and then dump and where?
>is burning it an option?
you're just gonna have to go by a trailer park and pay get pumped from time to time
marinas are another option for a honey wagon
>honey wagon?
did not know about marinas.
I will honestly would try that, but I don't know the laws pertaining to that. If I was homesteading using an off-gas generator, that, wouldn't be much of a problem, but I think I would lack some equipment to compress the off-gas to LNG, which at that point I would have to be DOT approved for HAZMAT transportation because it is a combustible gas under pressure.
there is still the significant problem of the black-water, the solids can be burned, but the water? can I filter it and dump it as grey water? what are the legal requirements?
Distill it and burn the residue in an engine.
Easiest legal way to deal with black water is to just get one of these and then you can dump the portable holding tank portion in any toilet, or down an RV park style waste drain pipe.
https://www.thetford.com/product/porta-potti-365/
I "have" one of those, except it has a shower, toilet and two sinks attached to it, and a 40 gallon tank.
>what is grey water?
In a septic system, grey water is the liquid that flows out of the septic tank and into your leech field.
Black is the sludge that stays in the tank and must be periodically pumped out.
right... but by what authority? what laws am I generally beholden to.
What about some kind of biogas bag setup?
https://www.homebiogas.com/product/homebiogas-2/
if I was stationary I might try that, but I am mobile.
to do that as variances suggested above, I would need to somehow separate the grey water, legally dump that or get rid of that. Then I would need to sanitize the human waste to prevent death, disease, and/or a tolerable smell. the solids aren't that much of a problem as a mixture of diesel and fire can take care of that in short order. it is the water that I would need to separate and dump. most authorities do not like you just openly dumping black water anywhere except a waste water treatment plant or storage facility. since I am traveling, I don't have the luxury of a settling tank and drain line that most people use. which means every gallon I use I have to pack with me and dump. This takes up space, weight, and time. the goal is to reduce my maintenance, time spent sanitizing, and minimize weight. because I would be using an RV there is already a 55 gallon waste water tank, but this is not a settling tank and there is no safe way to draw off the grey water or to dump the grey water without getting into questionably illicit territory, as grey water cannot be dumped in such a way that it directly enters a public water way. You can irrigate an open field with grey water, however unlike dumping a stale water from a tub that collected rain water, grey water from human waste often has a smell and is explicitly not safe to drink for any reason. this isn't a problem for a homestead because you can use the sand/dirt to actually filter the grey water and reduce the smell to almost imperceptibility.
Easiest way is to get a macerating pump, this has a blade that chops up any solids in black water and lets you connect any kind of garden hose. Since you are mobile, you stop at a rest area or a gas station with outside restroom door; attach macerating pump and use the garden hose to get the black water to the toilet. Garden hose, cheap, macerating pump between 100 and 200 USD.
this may actually help me solve another problem, not dump location at residence, I can just run it down the pooper. thanks for the information.
>a gas station with outside restroom door
Those are almost extinct due to lawsuits from homosexuals.
>assume you perform your normal bodily functions in public
Doesn’t that solve the issue by default?
Showers.
Just pee in the woods or into a bottle, empty it out in the woods and toss it in the trash.
How to deal with poop:
>Poop gasifier if you want free cooking gas
>Poop incinerators are great for RVs, iirc a single propane tank can incinerate ~75 poops
>can you shower in public if you are decent?
I'm not sure I understand the question, but you're better off washing your body in a public bathroom, secluded or wooded area, with a bucket of warm water and a washcloth, than anywhere where people can see you.
>can you clean your cookware in public and where can you dump the water?
What do you mean by in public? You mean on the sidewalk? Probably not. You might have luck washing dishes in a public bathroom as long as the staff aren't buttholes and you don't leave a mess.
>when can you dump grey water, what is grey water?
I think you can just dump grey water on the ground.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greywater
It's water from sinks, showers, washing machines and dishwashers that's cleaner than blackwater but still not potable because of runoff from soiled clothes or waffle stomping.
>how can you turn black water into grey water and then dump and where?
I don't think you can.
>is burning it an option?
Yes.
>public bathroom
where?
the only shower/bathrooms I am aware of are truckstops and gyms, which you may need 50 memberships to cover the area of work.
Beaches often have free cold showers.
I am a man of the mountain and forest, I live on the dry land.
I own a shower, but I suppose you do have a point, I could strip bare ass naked and wash myself off in the shower to collect spillage and then dump bath water. that actually makes some sense.
You can find regular public bathrooms in restaurants, cafes, grocery stores, bookstores, public libraries, college campuses, hospitals, pretty much anywhere. You don't need a shower to wipe yourself down with a washrag dude.