Any plumber knows the meaning of this term. And when “it” no longer flows downhill, he stands to make money by finding out why and fixing the problem. To the RV owner, keeping “it” flowing downhill usually is not a money issue, but can lead to great frustration and messy sanitation issues both for you and those who use your RV space after you.
Perhaps you have pulled into a park and encountered…
a fouled area surrounding the sanitary connection point of the parking space that you have selected. Visual clues are easy to find. You can only imagine what might have occurred here before you arrived. Maybe something similar has even happened in the past to you?
The designers and craftsmen who built your RV follow the Plumbing Codes in the construction of your sanitary piping system with proper slope from the waste tanks to the outlet port of your RV discharge. So keeping “it” flowing to the discharge connection point usually is not a problem. But keeping “it” flowing properly to the park system sanitary pipe connection point is your responsibility if you want to avoid making a mess of this already sometimes tricky, but necessary, procedure of connecting and disconnecting your “stinky slinky”.
Why should this matter to you? The most common cause of accidental sewage waste spill is due to the release of unexpected trapped waste inside your sewer hose. You can’t see what’s inside this hose, and “it” hides in any dip or reversed slope section of the pipe that it can find. The bigger the dip, or trap as it’s called, the more of “it” is lurking, waiting to rush out of the hose when you disconnect. To practice good housekeeping at your site, you should guard against such spillage. After all, no one wants to encounter a spill that can be both unsightly and unsanitary. And certainly no one wants to track any of this stuff, including incidental bacteria, back inside their RV.
Spillage can easily occur at either end of the hose when disconnecting if waste is allowed to remain trapped inside. And if you have ever had your sewer hose to freeze in cold weather with trapped accumulations inside, you will never want this to happen again.
The obvious solution to minimizing spillage problems is to make sure that your sewer hose slopes continuously from your RV outlet to the park’s connection point, thereby keeping the hose interior as free from accumulated waste as possible. Imagine, if you will, dropping a marble into the sewer hose at your RV outlet. Ideally, this imaginary marble would roll continuously along the bottom of your hose and fall into the park sewer hose connection pipe at the end. But due to many reasons, this is not always as simple as stated. Laying your hose along the ground is rarely the best solution to proper and continuous downward slope. The ground between your RV and the connection point may be not sloped as you desire, or there may be obstacles in your path. Or your hose may be arranged to cross over your water hose, your electrical cable, or even your sewer hose itself if you have used a section that is way too long. Often, the park has a concrete pad to anchor the connection point piping and this pad is raised above the surrounding grade level, introducing an uphill situation near the connection point right where you don’t want it. Marbles don’t roll far uphill.
There are numerous commercially available aids for achieving proper slope on your sewer hose. There are plastic, or metal, or even sophisticated expanding devices that cradle your hose and use the built-in slope designed into the device to help keep “it” flowing. I have observed countless improvised devices that do the same thing, everything from long plastic gutter sections, PVC pipe sections sawn lengthwise to form a trough, and bricks, sticks and even flower pots on which to rest the hose to achieve the desired slope. Be prepared for whatever it takes to connect properly and be a good camping neighbor. Take the necessary steps to keep things contained where they should be, and keep that marble rolling!
yudamann
Antsy
What about dump stations? Do you have tips for when you are dumping at a dump station? Seems like I’m always struggling with that.
I did find this great book “RVers Guide to Dump Stations” that lists the locations of stations, at http://www.RVbookstore.com, but I could really use some advice on better ways to keep things “flowing” while doing the dumping.
Thanks!
Dave Crowe
The “Dandy Dumper” looked so good I ordered ne on the spot. I can hardly wait until I get it to try the first time.
My coach is a Holiday Ramble Navigator with only 9-inches clearance between the botton of the utility bay and the ground. I have tried the expandable supports but the are all to high.
Walt Labree
It’s all good information on dumping Black and Gray Water tanks but the most useful item I found is the clear plastic fitting used between the tanks outlet and the dump hose. Imagine being able to see what is coming out of your tanks, water, toilet paper, xxxx and whatever. You probably will use your flushing device more or will be adding a water flushing device very soon as you are now able to see how well you have dumped and cleaned you tanks. I have been using a clear plastic adapter in my flushing procedure for a few years and would not be without one.
Bob Zagami
This is an excellent post on an age-old problem. It amazes me that most RV manufacturers continue to use inexpensive cable pulls that almost gurantee that at some point in your RV travels you will experience that Robin Williams moment and get your own version of a fecal shower.
I did notice that Carriage Inc. (I do not work for Carriage) has significantly upgraded their customer waste management experiences with an incredible Cam Loc system from Phase Four Industries (I don’t work for them either) that makes it virtually impossible for the hose to detach from the RV. The receptacle nozzle is also fool proof and this is a giant step in the right direction for the industry to finally pay attention to the most dreaded task any RVer faces in their challenges to truly enjoy the RV lifestyle.
Manufacturers should be solving this problem for the unsuspecting consumer and not leaving the decisions on what might, or might not work, when it comes to emptying their holding tanks!
As they say in the movies ….. help is on the way!
Mark Skotek
I keep the drain valves closed on the black water tank. When it is full or near full I dump it so the solids don’t seperate from the liquid. If I am not leaving I will close the valve until it is near full or I an leaving the campsite. After its final black water dump, I make sure the gray water was saved to flush the hose out. after that I do coaxe the liquid out then pool more water in the hose and then I am very satisfied
Jack Francis
Thank you for this simple, logical explanation.
If you don’t have devices (accordian bridges, hard half-pipes or anything similar) to elevate your drain hose , just pick up your hose a little at a time – starting at the outlet – and lift it a few feet at a time so that the liquid flows to the drain. Think “slinky”. Wear rubber/plastic gloves to protect your hands. Wash your hands thoroughly after dumping (or at least, use a alchohol-base hand sanitizer) to defeat the bugs.
Flush out the drain hose! Don’t use your fresh water hose; carry and use a separate hose just for this purpose. Sure it’s a little work, but it beats the Hell out of getting a big attack of the s–ts from e-coli or any other stray bug.
And again, wash/sanitize your hands after you put all the stuff away!!