Yes it’s that subject again

[campervanannie]

So interesting piece on the news this morning it was about emptying raw sewage into the sea and a guy from who works for the environment explained that all RAINWATER AND SEWAGE GO DOWN THE SAME SYSTEM and end up at the same place and so during heavy rainstorms the system cannot cope and they discharge raw sewage into rivers and the sea they say to stop flooding.
Now there has been in the past lots of discussions about campers pouring their GREY waste down the roadside drains and campers in uproar saying you shouldn’t because it’s potentially poisoning fish by going into rivers well our little bit of grey waste will have little impact in comparison to what the water companies have been doing for years and yes I know there is a public perception but done discretely I cannot see the problem and I shall carry on doing it when I have no other choice now I have it from the horses mouth that it all ends up in the same sewage system and not in rivers unless they put it there.

 

[Goggles]

We discharge our grey down a drain or just let it go in a lay-by. Narrowboats discharge theirs straight into the canal or river. I can’t see a problem with it and I always use that bio green stuff washing up liquid.

 

[mariesnowgoose]

During droughts and water shortages you're advised to use your (used) washing up water, bath water etc for flushing the loo, watering the plants etc.

As long as there are no chemical nasties in your grey water it shouldn't be a big deal.

Like Annie says, objection is mostly down to perception. Discretion is good!

 

[1 Cup]

We all now know they are all bad at supply in services for us the public !. From MPs to utility companies, they all get paid well enough to do a good job, but choose otherwise. Their profit's will go up while our good will, will be diminished !.so give them SH#T. Aah and grey waste if any going.

Good will, not any more now there global profiteering .

 

[caledonia]

Not all storm water drains go into the sewage system, they may go directly to a river or stream .. as do many drains on motorways and main roads..

Grey water is generally harmless, but can contain chemicals and, it has the potential to transmit disease and should never be put down street drains , verges, or in lay-bays .

Some guidance on safe waste disposal

https://www.campa.org.uk/waste-disposal/

Grey water is used to keep the sewage drains moving normally.

 

[barryd]

I thought grey water was fine to deposit in drains and ditches? Certainly a lot of CL owners prefer you to dump it in the hedge.

Cant see what chemicals are in ours. The only thing that goes in it is bathroom water. I know I've washed in it but I'm really not that toxic.

 

[mistericeman]

Regs for grey water/foul water/sewerage etc are here on. Gov site...
IF you can be bothered...

Drainage and waste disposal: Approved Document H

Building regulation in England for foul water drainage and disposal.

www.gov.uk

But from memory...

Older houses often rainwater/foul together...

Modern stuff tends to be more separated...

WHEN local infrastructure allows...

IMHO our grey is likely to have little impact on local ecostructures etc...
Grey is fine on your garden etc Unless you use industrial agents and in great concentration...

Bit like me having a wild pee in some isolated spot....

3000 folks at a festival ALL Peeing in the same, spot is going to be unpleasant...
That said the thing that concerns me most about dumping grey in drains/verges etc etc
IS how OTHERS view it And use it as a big stick to beat us with

 

[Deleted member 86180]

Not all storm water drains go into the sewage system, they may go directly to a river or stream .. as do many drains on motorways and main roads..

Grey water is generally harmless, but can contain chemicals and, it has the potential to transmit disease and should never be put down street drains , verges, or in lay-bays .

Some guidance on safe waste disposal

https://www.campa.org.uk/waste-disposal/

I agree with CAMPA when they say grey water is “generally harmless”. I don’t see any details in their literature (following a quick read) about grey water having the potential to transmit diseases though or how this might happen?

What does it consist of? H2O, human skin, detergents determined safe following Beagle abuse . Everything a hedge loves.

Grey water can only cause harm to humans when pseudomonas builds up and this only happens when grey water tanks aren’t maintained properly (especially in warm weather). It can cause several infections (some serious), the real reason why flowers are generally not welcomed in hospitals - build up in vase water.

Pseudomonas causes a whole range of infections, all avoidable by routine tank sterilisation and hand washing following contact.

Whether you choose to dispose of yours in a hedge or down a designated grey waste is neither here nor there to me, I don’t think either method poses any risk to the environment, my worry is about handling during disposal…….personal view and no, I wouldn’t drop sterilised grey water into a hedge

As for black waste, we saw Netherlanders a few years ago dropping it at Den Oever on the seaward side of the Afsluitdijk instead of using a nearby Aire. Not pleasant at all and totally out of order

 

[jagmanx]

We are on a farm site ...
The horses cows sheep and goats are being totally unreasonable, shitting and peeing everwhere !
And as for the pigs !!!!
On a serious note the farmer asks that we dispose of our grey water in the hedgerows around the camping field.
As has been posted even the contents of a cassette CAN safely be deposited into the main drainage system
eg via a road drain.
Ensuring to rinse the grill after with grey water.
However perception is key and to date we have always managed to be more "polite"

 

[Fisherman]

When I wash my car guess were all the dirty grey water goes.
I cannot believe what all the fuss is about.
Although if you do dispose of the grey stuff it should be done discreetly, as the public may think it’s more sinister than it actually is.

 

[runnach]

Thriving car wash business not far from me, 7 day a week business, there is no holding tank when operatives in full swing. No card payments taken, more like a launderette business, with no Dot Cotton in sight!

 

[trevskoda]

I only have gray, sorry blackish water at xmas, and down the drain and into the sewerage sys it goes, with the van my holding tank is 100ltrs and I have never had it even a qtr full, I can dump it at home or open the outlet valve a tad on a wet rainy day along the road no problem.

 

[Deleted member 86180]

We are on a farm site ...
The horses cows sheep and goats are being totally unreasonable, shitting and peeing everwhere !
And as for the pigs !!!!
On a serious note the farmer asks that we dispose of our grey water in the hedgerows around the camping field.
As has been posted even the contents of a cassette CAN safely be deposited into the main drainage system
eg via a road drain.
Ensuring to rinse the grill after with grey water.
However perception is key and to date we have always managed to be more "polite"

Farm animals, yes get that, that’s what they do and that’s what farm land is for. I’m not so sure that “the contents of a cassette CAN safely be deposited into the main drainage system eg via a road drain”. In my opinion that would very much depend upon what you use to break down the contents of your cassette and whether the ‘main drainage’ is built to handle it. What about septic tanks, bio tablets are one thing and just about acceptable, but how do you know where your black waste is going and what coping mechanisms are in place to accept it?

That’s why I would never dispose of black waste in any unofficial ‘main drain’. As for draining the grill with grey water, that doesn’t sit comfortably with me either.

Each to their own I guess, but how can you be sure about where these liquids are going and what harm they may cause?

 

[campervanannie]

Regs for grey water/foul water/sewerage etc are here on. Gov site...
IF you can be bothered...

Drainage and waste disposal: Approved Document H

Building regulation in England for foul water drainage and disposal.

www.gov.uk

But from memory...

Older houses often rainwater/foul together...

Modern stuff tends to be more separated...

WHEN local infrastructure allows...

IMHO our grey is likely to have little impact on local ecostructures etc...
Grey is fine on your garden etc Unless you use industrial agents and in great concentration...

Bit like me having a wild pee in some isolated spot....

3000 folks at a festival ALL Peeing in the same, spot is going to be unpleasant...
That said the thing that concerns me most about dumping grey in drains/verges etc etc
IS how OTHERS view it And use it as a big stick to beat us with

Discretion is key

 

[jagmanx]

Farm animals, yes get that, that’s what they do and that’s what farm land is for. I’m not so sure that “the contents of a cassette CAN safely be deposited into the main drainage system eg via a road drain”. In my opinion that would very much depend upon what you use to break down the contents of your cassette and whether the ‘main drainage’ is built to handle it. What about septic tanks, bio tablets are one thing and just about acceptable, but how do you know where your black waste is going and what coping mechanisms are in place to accept it?

That’s why I would never dispose of black waste in any unofficial ‘main drain’. As for draining the grill with grey water, that doesn’t sit comfortably with me either.

Each to their own I guess, but how can you be sure about where these liquids are going and what harm they may cause?

Please re read my post.
1 not advocating it but logical given it all goes to the same place.
2 not expecting we will ever do.
3 at new dover road P&R (as an example) he grill to the dump is often dirty with toilet paper as perhaps
The grill is not lifted.or not rinsed
4 septic tanks differ but this thread is not about septic tanks.

The reference to animals was not a serious point

 

[Fisherman]

I think we tie ourselves up in knots trying to appease people. Walking along the east neuk in Fife I noticed sewage pipes heading out to sea for approx 400m. Walk along many other coastlines and you will see the same. So say one of the towns in East Neuk fitted an elsan point, were do we think it may end up.
I am not in anyway condoning or would ever empty a cassette inappropriately, just making what I regard as a valid point. As for grey water by the time the rain has landed on a rooftop, ran down a drainpipe, then along a road to a drain, from there along the drains to its final destination it’s not rain water any longer.

But how things look is important to us in these trying times, how we are perceived by others, is actually more important than these practical considerations. Poor PR has consequences for us all.

 

[caledonia]

Only in old properties , but in any case my post was about dumping grey into storm drains that may NOT be connected to the sewage system and go directly into a river or stream.. NOT combined systems ..

WHAT IS STORM WATER AND WHAT IS FOUL WATER?​

Storm water is simply rain and surface water. It should be uncontaminated and can therefore be discharged into the ground via a soakaway, or into a watercourse. Foul water is waste water from the kitchens, bathrooms etc of buildings, which discharges into the drainage system to be carried to treatment plants.

IS STORM AND FOUL WATER ALWAYS SEPARATE?​

Some old properties still have combined drainage, where storm water and foul water are removed from the site together and all sent to water treatment. On all new sites, the two drainage types are separate, reducing the burden on water treatment and allowing clean water to be returned to the environment.

WHAT IS A CROSS-CONNECTION?​

In the event of a storm water drain and a foul water drain being connected when they should be kept separate, a cross-connection is said to have occurred. Storm water draining into a foul drain or sewer is like a combined drain.

Foul drainage discharging into storm drainage, however, contaminates clean water and can pollute a watercourse. Such a situation can result in expensive remedial works and, depending on the scale of pollution, fines as well. Working with a civil engineering contractor who can deliver drainage works without errors on that scale gives housing developers reassurance and peace of mind.

Ok then…

 

[Deleted member 86180]

Please re read my post.
1 not advocating it but logical given it all goes to the same place.
2 not expecting we will ever do.
3 at new dover road P&R (as an example) he grill to the dump is often dirty with toilet paper as perhaps
The grill is not lifted.or not rinsed
4 septic tanks differ but this thread is not about septic tanks.

The reference to animals was not a serious point

I re read your post. It hasn’t changed or invalidated my opinions though

 

[Derekoak]

I live in a 1930s semi the rain water off the roof goes into the sewer with the toilet a bathwater. A combined system. It all goes to a sewerage works that is supposed to clean it before it goes into a river. The fact that sewage works are not acting for public health is shocking, but is not an excuse for anything other than political pressure to stop them!
Road drains do not go to sewage works and with modern houses rainwater goes to water courses too. These water courses might go to a drinking water treatment plant.
In mountainous areas we carefully get drinking water direct from springs and if high enough streams. I already check that the streams do not cross any road because roads are pollution sources already, but don't make it worse.
If you open a manhole and empty do you have a map of where that drain goes?emptying toilet cassettes into any old drain will not with certainty send it to a sewage works. It should not be done.
Grey water WITHOUT DETERGENTS just might be OK in a lowland watercourse and is fine in a hedge if spread widely so it does not run off.
Someone mentioned the sea, at least that will not be drinking water.