# Holding Tanks



## AbbeysRoad (Dec 22, 2008)

Hey everyone,

Looking for advice or experience with portable holding tanks. We are thinking of getting a 15-18 gallon tank to use while at sites without sewer hook-up. We tend to camp 5-7 days. I'm thinking that the RV holding tanks may not last the week with a family of four. We bought the 2009 Outback 250rs - 30 gallon holding tanks. The one tank I saw on-line was by Thetford. Had everything with it including attached sewer hose.

Thanks for your friendly advice.

Brad & Julie


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## Ghosty (Jan 17, 2005)

Keep in mind that the portable Holding tanks are ONLY for Grey water and never Black ....

SO with that said -- it all depends on how much water you are going to use -- if you are going to skip showers and use paper products (not sink washing) then and 18 Gallon tank is going to be fine since you have the 30 gallons plus now 18 gallons spare...

But if you are a heavy user of water then you will need a giant tank --


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## Oregon_Camper (Sep 13, 2004)

Are you thinking of using one for your Black tank? We camp for 7-10 days and don't have to empty the black tank. Our rule is you don't use the Outback toilet during the day. There are toilets (yea..sometimes pit toilet) in just about every campground, so try to get your family to use them during the day. This will make things MUCH better. Dumping your black tanks into a portable container isn't what they are made for. Could you do it...yea, but WOW that thing would STINK forever. And the risk of some spilling to pretty high and you would make some instant enemies around the campground if that happened.

For grey water, these tanks are great. Fill up 5 or 10 gallons and dump into a a grey water location or even a pit toilet. Depending on just how remote you really are, you might be able to dump the grey water directly from the Outback (using a clean hose) to a dry location.

Finally, paper plates and cups work great for us. We save on doing dishes (which means less grey water) and we use the plates/cups to start fires. Kind of a win-win for us.


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## Rip (Jul 13, 2006)

Ghosty said:


> Keep in mind that the portable Holding tanks are ONLY for Grey water and never Black ....
> 
> SO with that said -- it all depends on how much water you are going to use -- if you are going to skip showers and use paper products (not sink washing) then and 18 Gallon tank is going to be fine since you have the 30 gallons plus now 18 gallons spare...
> 
> But if you are a heavy user of water then you will need a giant tank --


What do you mean that portable Holding tanks are ONLY for Grey water and never Black !!!!!!!!!!!!!! You can use them for black !!!!! I do it all the time!!! That why they make them!!!!!!! To empty your tanks


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## Ghosty (Jan 17, 2005)

Rip said:


> What do you mean that portable Holding tanks are ONLY for Grey water and never Black !!!!!!!!!!!!!! You can use them for black !!!!! I do it all the time!!! That why they make them!!!!!!! To empty your tanks


Man how the heck do you clean it out ??? -- I figure my Outback has a 30 Gallon Black Tank -- if a family of four can fill that tank in 5 days then they really need to think about changing their diet









But seriously - I have never came close to filling my BlackTank even after 5 straight days -- yep i added the Blue stuff a couple of times during the visit to help manage odors -- but never thought about dumping it into a portable tank .....


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## OregonCampin (Mar 9, 2007)

I am with OC! We can dry camp in the middle of no where for up to 10 days if we keep the usage to a minimum. Bathroom is for night time / first trip in the morning. If we are out for a long trip, we do our dishes outside with bio soap and use paper cups/plates for eating off of. We pack extra water in blue jugs from Wally World just for this. I also keep water in a solar shower for washing dishes - it gets warm even when the sun is not out. When we are long trips, this saves the water for that shower every couple of days! We also have a pop-up shower/enclosure that we use for really long trips.

Up until we got the Outback we camped in the middle of no where with no facilities in a tent... you learn lots of secrets to conserving water when there is very little around to use.

We went on a 6 day trip and had 5 people using the black tank and still had plenty of space when we went to dump. It's all about teaching those around you how to keep the usage to a minimum.


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## Nathan (Jan 2, 2007)

Just as the others said, the Black tank should last if you are careful. We wouldn't be close with our family of 4 over the course of 5 days. The gray lasts 2-3 days if you are cautious, but do use the systems (That's a big part of the reason we have a TT after all







).

I have the 27gal thetford smart tote, and am fairly satisfied with it. IMO, if you are going to go through the hassle of hauling a portable tank to the dump station, you had might as well empty the trailer's tank...








The upsides are: 
-Dump whenever you need to, and the 27 gallon tank will nearly drain the OB's holding tank.








-No panicking when you realize that your friends kids left the water running in the sink after washing their hands (my son was well trained on water conservation by age 5)
-The tank has rather large wheels and tows nicely behind the truck
-The hose and other connections can all be completly opened which would allow you to thoroughly clean it when it starts smelling or if you ever drained the black tank into it (please clean it at home, not at the dump station







)

The downsides are:
-Tank gets VERY heavy when full (8lbs/gal * 27gal = 216lbs of water alone)... Don't think you are going to pull it uphill, or over rough terrain to get it to your truck
-Tank never completely drains because the drain is in the center of a tank with a flat bottom








-It's pretty big
-Filling is rather non-messy, but emptying it results in getting the water dumped on your hands (and feet if you aren't careful...







), another reason not to haul black water....


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## Ghosty (Jan 17, 2005)

Of course you could just hope it rains and then dump the grey water then and no one would ever notice... -- LOL ....

Ah come on !!! Like none of you have never done that also....


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## tdvffjohn (Mar 10, 2005)

Ghosty said:


> Of course you could just hope it rains and then dump the grey water then and no one would ever notice... -- LOL ....
> 
> Ah come on !!! Like none of you have never done that also....


You can wash yourself outside with a hose, you can wash your supper dishes outside using a hose. Go down to the stream or lake to take a bath. Tenters don t have holding tanks. But heaven forbid you let any grey water on the ground. My father used to drill a few small holes in the 5 gallon pail the sink water drained into from our pop up days.

Rainy nights are good once in a while


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## matty1 (Mar 7, 2005)

I use mine for both black and grey...it cleans out very easily. I have the 25 Gallon 4 Wheeler Tote-Along; like others have said it is BIG, takes up space, and is heavy if full....but with this size i never have to worry about multiple trips to drain. I picked this one because of the side drain with valve, makes dumping a breeze, I use my macerator pump, leave the tote attached to the bumper of the truck or in the bed and a long hose to it so I don't have to manually pull it any distance; After filling it I drive right up to the dump, attach a short section of hose and pull the valve... cleanup is easy, hose it out. I think keeping it in the bed of the trick is easier, pulling it with the little plastic wheels is LOUD and I am soo afraid of a wheel breaking, it falling, valve opening...and everyone watching.....murphy's law. I need to mod it to use rubber wheels or something.


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## mmblantz (Jul 1, 2007)

I have the largest thetford. With a group of 6 I usually have to empty the grey daily but my black tank lasts at least a week and it never goes in the thetford. Get the big one....it tows behind TV much better than smaller ones---Mike


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## daslobo777 (Mar 24, 2007)

Our family apparently eats pretty lightly when we camp - because we never come close to ever filling the black tank in 5-6 days of camping. If we are dry camping for extended periods, I always take 2 of the blue 7-gal Wal-Mart water jugs to drain off the gray water. With 2 containers I can handle 14 gallons at a time and easily handle the containers by hand.


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## bradnjess (Mar 25, 2007)

tdvffjohn said:


> Of course you could just hope it rains and then dump the grey water then and no one would ever notice... -- LOL ....
> 
> Ah come on !!! Like none of you have never done that also....


You can wash yourself outside with a hose, you can wash your supper dishes outside using a hose. Go down to the stream or lake to take a bath. Tenters don t have holding tanks. But heaven forbid you let any grey water on the ground. My father used to drill a few small holes in the 5 gallon pail the sink water drained into from our pop up days.

Rainy nights are good once in a while








[/quote]
I talked about doing this on here one time and based on some of the responses you'd have thought I was the driver of the Dave Mathews bus on that Chicago bridge.















Oh well.


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## bradnjess (Mar 25, 2007)

Nathan said:


> if you ever drained the black tank into it (please clean it at home, not at the dump station
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Wouldn't the dump station be better suited and be a more appropriate place to dump and clean a portable tank rather than at home? Or do you mean don't do it at a dump station if there are people waiting to dump? If you're talking about the later then I might understand, but it still seems easier to clean at the dump station while the sewer hose is still attached than at home.









Brad


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## OutbackPM (Sep 14, 2005)

I have a 27 gal tank which as Nathan said is very heavey when full. Thats OK if you are on a hard surface. I was at Virginia beach with water and electric only hook up on sand. I had to trough the sand to get the tank low enough to drain the Outback but it took all my eldest sons strengh and mine to pull it out to get to the truck.

If I were to do it again I would go for a smaller tank and do 2 trips if that is what it takes. Even on a hard surface its heavey to handle and at the dump station you want to maintain control of it so you don't make a mess every where.

This was also the time I was thankfull for my wife's 'no pooping' rule for the black tank.

Good luck


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## Nathan (Jan 2, 2007)

bradnjess said:


> if you ever drained the black tank into it (please clean it at home, not at the dump station
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Wouldn't the dump station be better suited and be a more appropriate place to dump and clean a portable tank rather than at home? Or do you mean don't do it at a dump station if there are people waiting to dump? If you're talking about the later then I might understand, but it still seems easier to clean at the dump station while the sewer hose is still attached than at home.









Brad
[/quote]
Sorry, I wasn't clear.








I was implying the latter. I have no problem with flushing the tanks at the dump station as that only takes a few minutes. If you want to, you can disassemble the hose and the vent valve to allow for a very thorough scrubbing of the tank. It would be very time consuming for a dump station though and you will end up with water everywhere (yes, I've done it.... accessible screws and hose clamps are just asking to be removed!







). Anyway, most tanks have a connection to flush them out that you can do right at the dump station.


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## outback loft (Sep 22, 2008)

AbbeysRoad said:


> Hey everyone,
> 
> Looking for advice or experience with portable holding tanks. We are thinking of getting a 15-18 gallon tank to use while at sites without sewer hook-up. We tend to camp 5-7 days. I'm thinking that the RV holding tanks may not last the week with a family of four. We bought the 2009 Outback 250rs - 30 gallon holding tanks. The one tank I saw on-line was by Thetford. Had everything with it including attached sewer hose.
> 
> ...


The portable holding tank is a must have if you plan on staying in one location for more than a weekend, or have more than two people using the onboard facilities. I had the thetford tan with the hose attached and had swivel wheels on the front. I tossed it in with my old trailer when I sold it. The issue with the thetford one is that the hose is connected in the middle, and does not allow you to drain completely. The swivel wheels are useless on soft ground, and just as bad on pavement. I am looking at Barker Manufacturing for my next one. I borrowed it the end of the season, and it worked much better.


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