If you are looking for the easiest option to dump RV black tanks, look no further than your home premises. Dumping a black water tank at home is hassle-free exercise if you can do it right by taking the recommended precautions. As you know, Black Water RV tanks collect wastewater from toilets and need periodic emptying.
Is Dumping RV Black Tanks at Home Legal?
The preference for dumping black water tanks at home continues to increase as many RV owners dread the pressure of driving to a dump station to empty the black tank and waiting for long hours.
In dumping black water tanks at home, you must follow EPA guidelines. Dumping a black water tank at home in the home septic system is technically legal. However, before dumping black water at home, you must make sure there are no penal laws that will attract hefty fines on you and also provoke protests from neighbors.
In some localities, specific locations are designed as black water dumpsites. These are alternatives to home dumping with tanks, including truck stops, gas stations, and rest areas.
Dumping your RV tanks at home is legal if the waste goes into an approved sewer system. But in no case must you drain your RV waste into storm drains.
If your home’s plumbing is securely connected to a private septic tank, it is alright to dump your black water tank at home.
When to Empty RV Black Tanks at Home
On the question of when to empty RV black tanks, the thumb rule is as soon as a black tank hits the two-thirds level, you can dump the RV black water tank.
You have to monitor the tank indicators to confirm the saturation level. If you want to dump the blank tank before the two-third mark, add more water to lift the volume contents to the desired level and then do the emptying.
To know the seriousness of dumping black water tanks at home, you must understand the contaminants and waste inside black water, formed from water released from the toilet in which urine, toilet paper, fecal matter, and flush water laden with harmful bacteria will be present.
Keep the Tools and Equipment Ready for Safe Dumping
A perfect draining of black water tanks at home requires specialized equipment. Therefore, it would be best if you kept ready the essential RV sewer supplies, which are readily available on Amazon.com. The critical tools include the following.
Gloves: You must wear gloves when handling RV black tank accessories. Since the hoses will come in direct touch with raw sewage, handling them with bare hands will be contagious and disgusting.
Sewer Hose: The hose is to let waste flow securely from the RV into a septic tank. For longer hoses, 20 foot Camco hose is a good option.
Sewer Hose Extension: A sewer hose extension will be urgent if the cleanout is at a good distance from your RV. You can buy the extension from the same brand as the same hose for a good fit.
Sewer Hose Supports: Sewer hose efficiently supports the smooth draining of RV wastewater. Clogs will block the flow if you allow a sewer to sit flat on the ground. Therefore you should not dump an RV tank without ensuring the sewer hose flows down from the RV to the waste outlet.
Reverse Flush Valve with Gate: To unplug clogs and flush out waste stuck in the bottom of the tank, you can rely on a reverse flush valve as a super tool. If it is a flush valve with a built-in gate, you can breathe easily as there will be more protection against leaks and drips.
Elbow Connector: You must use an elbow connector that connects to the end of an RV sewer hose. The L-shaped attachment will ensure no waste water leaks out by giving a secure fit to the dump station.
Flush Hose: If you are an RV owner, keep ready a garden hose that should be used exclusively to flush the black water tank. This is to avoid the risk of linking your drinking water hose to the RV’s sewer system.
Lubricant Spray: Regular maintenance is essential for black water tank valve handles. After emptying the tanks, RV owners should spray lubricant on these handles and pull them in and out a few times.
Avoid Chemicals during Dumping at Home
While dumping a black water tank at home, you must ensure no chemicals are used when emptying your black watertank. Else it will destroy all the good bacteria in your home septic system and cause further harm.
However, there are no restrictions on the use of chemicals at dump stations, unlike the strict advisory in dumping black water tanks at home. So now, look at the ways to dump RV’s black water tank at home.
Methods of Black Tank Dumping at Home
The success rate in your black tank dumping experience at home depends on how you execute each step and effectively use quality tools for the task.
The Bucket Method: The bucket method demands physical labor and creates hygiene issues. The bucket method requires you to pour down the black water waste into a bucket, carry it and finally empty it into your sewer or home toilet.
If you are doing the bucket method of dumping RV tanks at home, be careful not to fill the bucket to the full. Also, you must empty the bucket carefully into the home toilet and flush out the waste without letting the contents spill out from the bucket.
You will feel like resorting to the tedious bucket system when you do not have a long hose to dump the black water into the sewer system. However, in this bucket-filling exercise, you must protect yourself from hazardous waste by wearing protective gear.
Take the bucket you will be comfortable handling. Now place the bucket under the black water dump valve, fill it three-quarters full, carry it to the maintenance hole, and dump it.
You can also dump the black water in your toilet and flush out the load if the volume is moderate. But you will feel the tedium as the process is time-consuming and tiresome.
On the flip side, the issue with dumping black water at home via buckets is the spilling of raw sewage and issues coming from incompatible hose sizes. If your plumber can install a dedicated drain port to the sewer system or in your private septic tank, this problem can be solved.
Empty RV Black Tanks with Macerator: Then there is a comfortable option in home dumping RV tanks if you cannot dump the tank waste into your septic system.
In this case, you will use a Macerator to grind down the black tank’s waste and a pump to flush out the waste through a garden hose into your home toilet.
The macerator grinds the solid waste to a sludge form enabling faster flow through pipes, and is also easier to load onto buckets. However, buying a macerator pump and a pair of hoses will require some expenditure.
For you, the macerator investment will be value for money as the speed is high when it comes to emptying black water than the conventional gravity-driven drain hose process.
Macerator also gives you the advantage of connecting the waste hose to your toilet as well as near-distant sewer access ports.
Dumping through Septic Tank’s Access Port
If you cannot find access to your private septic system other than the toilet, try to open the access cap or hatch of your septic tank. This hatch is also used in sucking out solid waste via exhausters when the tank turns full.
You can open the hatch to feed the drain hose or the pipe from the macerator pump.
Dumping via Clean-Out Pipe
Most public or private septic sewer systems have a cleanout pipe that will be jutting out of the ground over the main sewer line with a cap on the top. Dumping the black water waste into this will be the easiest way to empty your black water.
This pipe also connects to the main sewer of the municipal system or your septic tank.
You can open the cleanout pipe slowly so that any harmful fumes or gas can escape, and you can insert the disposal hose into the open cleanout pipe. Most often, the cleanout pipe will have a bigger width than the disposal hose. Otherwise, you can use some adapters to feed it correctly.
Now, you connect the drainpipe to the RV black tank and open the drain valve. You must flush the black tank with clean water when the tank is entirely empty.
Dumping into a Manhole in Your Property
Suppose your septic system has no cleanout pipe, then dumping the black water tank at home is possible via maintenance holes (maintenance holes) in your property.
You can open the manhole and dump the black water so that the thick pipes inside will take care of the incoming waste’s passage to either your septic tank or into the municipal system.
As noted in all the above steps, you have to be prepared with a clear road map, the required tools, and the know-how on the different methods to get a perfect RV blackwater dumping experience.