When I first got our little pop up camper, I didn’t know the first thing about fresh water, gray water, or black water systems. I mean, I knew black water was the stinky stuff, but not much more than that. 😉
We have a sink in the PUP, but technically I had no idea where the water came from or where it went–or what the difference was when we camped with hookups versus dry camping. I wasn’t even sure what to do with waste water at the campground. After a little bit of research, I figured it all out, and it’s really not all that hard. If you’re just getting your first pop up camper, you may have some of the same questions I did. Now that we’ve found a system that works well for us, I thought I’d share how we collect and dispose of our gray water.
Okay, so first off… what is gray water exactly? Well, gray water is the relatively clean waste water from your camper sinks and showers. It may contain stuff like soap, toothpaste, and food particles. I learned from our years of tent camping that most campgrounds don’t allow you to dump your gray water on the ground. Actually, all of the campgrounds we’ve ever visited have had waste water regulations. It’s best to ask for the campground’s specific waste water rules beforehand. Some allow you to dump gray water in the campground toilets or comfort stations. Others make you haul it to the dump station. It’s one of the first questions we ask when we check in to the campground.
Our pop up has a gray water drain on the back of the camper. It was even marked for us… before we removed all the decals during our exterior painting project. 😉 We purchased that black drain connector so that we could connect our gray water drain to a regular garden hose. Then all we needed to do was run a hose from our drain to our gray water container or sewer drain. When we are at a campsite with full hookups, our set up looks like the picture above. We purchased different colored hoses, and we store them separately, so our gray water hose is never confused with our fresh water hose. Ew! 😛
Because we are using a hose for the sewer drain, we purchased a sewer fitting on Amazon so we wouldn’t get any leaks or odors while we were hooked up. It works like a dream, and I love it when we have full hookups. When we are camping in some more remote areas, though, full hookups are never an option. In those instances, we rely on a tank of some sort to collect our gray water.
You don’t really have to do anything fancy for a gray water tank. In fact, on our most recent trip, we arrived at our first campsite to realize we’d forgotten our usual gray water tank. A gallon sized water bottle worked fine, although, we had to empty it quite a bit.
We hit the store before our next stop and picked up a 7-gallon Aquatainer, which held a little bit more gray water. These are available at Wal-Mart and many sporting goods stores, but you can also pick one up on Amazon. Many people use these for their normal gray water tanks, which is perfectly fine. I feel like it fills up a little too quickly for us when we are camping, and I prefer to go as long as possible before I make the trip to the dump station. It’s also pretty heavy and awkward to carry once it is full.
This is our usual gray water tank. We love using this 15- gallon Barker Tote Tank to collect our sink water. We bought it on Amazon, but I’ve also seen them at Camping World. It is a little pricey, but for us it is worth every penny. It holds much more than the Aquatainer, and it has wheels, so we can roll it to the gray water disposal area. It also has a hitch attachment, so we can hook it up to our vehicle and tow it to the dump station. A short length of garden hose runs from the drain connector to the tote tank. Recently, Mr. TypeTwoFun used some PVC pipe and fittings to construct a little vent so the sink would drain faster.
We never really had a huge problem with the sink backing up to begin with, but I have noticed that this little mod does help things drain faster. It’s a really simple mod and worth the 15 minutes it took to put together. The parts are all things you can find in the plumbing section of your hardware store, but make sure the top fitting is a hose swivel fitting. The longest piece of PVC pipe is the actual vent. Ours is about 12″ tall because I didn’t want to find space to store anything longer, but technically, you’d like to have your vent higher than your sink drain–just in case you do have the sink back up. You’ll have water coming out the vent otherwise. Again, we have never had any issues with the sink backing up, so it’s never been a big deal for us.
We use the drain connector and garden hose method to drain our gray water because they are easy, versatile, and take up very little room in the camper. You don’t have to use that method, though. If you find that your sink is draining too slow for your liking, you may want to adopt a system that uses larger PVC pipe or flexible hose to drain the gray water. If you’re interested, there are some great ideas on the Pop Up Portal forums you could check out.
When we first got our tote tank, it had hard plastic wheels on it. While there is nothing really wrong with the plastic wheels, they made SO much noise when we would drag the tote to the disposal area. When we towed it behind the car, people would come out of their campsites and up to the road to see what was going on. It was more than a little embarrassing. 🙁 Mr. TypeTwoFun decided to replace the plastic wheels with 8″ pneumatic tires. You can find them at home improvement stores and such or on Amazon, but we found ours for cheap at Harbor Freight.
Mr. TypeTwoFun just popped the axle nut off one end and removed the axle. Then he replaced the tote tank tires with the pneumatic ones. To keep the new tires from rubbing on the tank, he added a few washers with an inner diameter of 5/8″. We didn’t do that when we first replaced the tires, and had some pretty severe wear on the tank after a few months.
Once we added the washers, everything was much better. Thread your tire, 3 washers, and the black spacer (this came on the axle originally) onto the axle and insert it into the channel in the bottom of the tank. Then thread the black spacer, three washers, and pneumatic tire on the other end. Gently tap the axle nut in place with a hammer.
You may have issues with the original axle being too short to accommodate all the new components. We did. If that happens, you can purchase a new piece of 5/8″ diameter metal rod and cut it to size with a hacksaw or wheel grinder. We purchased ours at Home Depot for around $8. Mr. TypeTwoFun cut it about 3/4″ longer than the original axle, and it solved the problem.
Once the axle nut is in place, check to make sure your tires aren’t rubbing on the sides of your tank, and you’re good to go. If you want to run a bead of plastic epoxy down the channel before you insert the axle, it will make things more secure. It isn’t necessary, though.
When your tank is full, you can drag it to the disposal area easily. The large black cap on the tank hooks to a flexible sewer hose, which is included with the tank. You can just attach the hose, insert the end into the designated disposal area, and tip the tote forward to empty the tank. Easy peasy!
Our tank came with the hitch attachment, which I love. When the dump station is a good distance from our site, we just hook the tank up to the trailer hitch and tow it to the disposal area. Mr. TypeTwoFun isn’t embarrassed drive it down to the dump station anymore. Yay! 😀
Keep in mind that every pop up camper is different, so your system may not be just like mine. You might have a completely different way of doing things. My way isn’t the only way–it’s just what works best for us. If you’ve got a different way to deal with your PUP’s gray water, I’d love to hear it. Feel free to share it in the comments section or on our Facebook page.
Happy Camping!
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Happy Camping!
I never knew we needed a grey water tank, I always thought “grey water” came from the bathroom and being we didn’t have a bathroom our kitchen drain ran out in to the ground….Oops! After our first trip we hooked a hose up to lead it away from the site on our next trip…. another oops :0( I am so thankful for posts like these ;0)
Yep! Each campground is different, so check with the rangers to find out how to dispose of your gray water at that particular campground.
If you are boondocking, and are allowed to dispose of your waste water on the ground, make sure you are using environmentally friendly soaps and cleaners. 🙂
What is your inside water system? Is there a water pump installed or do you hand pump? The previous owners of our popup took out all the plumbing, so we are starting from scratch!
Wow! That sounds like a project! We have a water pump and hot water heater, and I love it. I can’t imagine ever taking it out. Do you still have a water tank?
No water tank! We are starting with a sink with a hole (no drain)!
I have to replace my water line to the tank underneath the pop up. But what am suppose to look for to activate a water pump? Is there a switch? The faucet has two knobs. One for city and one for water tank. But even if I had water in the tank what would make it pump up to the faucet? Btw its a 2003 Coleman Cheyenne. if that matters
You should have a water pump for your tank, Chris. Our pump is located inside the dinette bench next to the sink. Lift up one of the cushions, and you have access to it. We’ve got a brown toggle switch on the swing galley to turn the pump on and off. Do you have the user’s manual for your camper? If not, there are many pop up camper manuals on the PopUpPortal. You can find that link here:
POP UP PORTAL USER MANUALS
We purchased a portable tote for gray & black water use but can’t figure where we can store it away while traveling on the road. Since it will be used for black water, keeping it inside the camper is not acceptable nor in the back of the car. The rear of camper has the spare tire centered over bumper so no room there. Battery and propane sets on front tongue area so no room there either. Thought of setting up some kind of bike rake on rear bumper in front of spare tire. Any suggestions?
I haven’t found a really good solution for ours yet, either. We only use it for gray water, though, so we keep it inside the PUP. What about mounting it underneath the camper like this? 🙂
I am adding/welding a tow-receiver to the back of my camper (with the frame welded supports).
This will allow me to add a little platform to the back of my camper for a generator and a cooler.
This might be an option for black water. It’s a process, and might be expensive (if you don’t have a buddy who welds or a tow-platform).
I bought the receiver-tube at Harbor Freight for <$20. I found an example of a receiver addition online.
Good-Luck!!
Just wanted to say thank you for sharing and all the great info. 2 questions about your gray water system. 1) have you found a way to determine when your gray water tank is full? 2) with your shower and sink – does it empty to one exit or do you have a gray water exit for both? If 2 exits did you do 2 tanks or combine them to 1 exit then to your gray tank?
Have a great day!
We don’t have a shower, David. Just the one drain from our sink. 🙂
Most tent trailers are not self contained – Some of the High Wall models are. For ours (2001 Starcraft), there is a drain directly under the shower and behind the sink. We made the mistake of not trying out everything at home first before trying to use the shower on a trip. LOL.
How did you husband get that axle nut off the Tote? I was banging on mine for like 30min with no luck. Now re reading this i think i might try taking the entire axle off and replacing it with a rod from HD. Hopefully that will hammer out easier. Thanks for the info!
Did you figure it out, Travis? Mr. TypeTwoFun says there are barbs inside that axle nut, so he pried it off. 🙂
Thanks for writing back! I am slowly moving on it, I think I am going to just do a whole new axle setup with new nuts. Thanks!
Wow that’s for a great article. I like what you did with the vented plumbing but I’m having difficulty finding the parts. My garden hose is so slow! Can you tell me more about the swivel hose fitting and what size piping? Thanks
Mr. TypeTwoFun says it is nothing special–just regular old schedule 40 3/4″ PVC sprinkler pipe. You can find it and the swivel hose fitting in the plumbing section of Home Depot. 🙂
Ok that helps a lot. I’ll check out the irrigation piping parts.
I’ve been stalking your site for a few weeks now,lol. My wife and I just bought our first pop up. It’s a 98 Dutchmen. It was already in pretty good shape, but we plan on making updates as we go along. I’ve already washed it with the erasers, waxed it with the Protect All, and figured out the cassette toilet, thanks to your site!
My question is what is the hitch adapter that you use with your 15 gallon tank? Our camper came with one of those tanks and I would much rather tow it than load it in my Jeep. Thanks for taking the time to put all this information up!
Here’s the link to that bracket, Brandon. I would make sure it fits your tank before you purchase it, though. I’m not sure they are universal. 🙂
BARKER TOTE TANK TOWING BRACKET
Do you have instructions/pics of how to mount the gray water tank under the pop up so you don’t have to store it inside.
It takes up so much room.
Thanks!
I don’t, Teresa. I’m not sure how you would do it on our camper without doing some sort of welding, and we don’t have a welder. You’d also need to buy a low-profile tank. The one we have (in the post above) doesn’t fit underneath our camper. You might want to check out PopUpPortal.com for some ideas. I think I recall seeing that someone there had done it. 🙂
Why not store it on top when the pop up is closed? And open you need it off to use.
We have an ABS roof, Liv, so we try to to attach or store anything on top of our PUP–too much stress. The potential for cracking and delamination is too great. That might be a good idea for those that already have roof racks, though. 🙂
Maybe bike racks (or driving vehicle roof rack) & 2 tie-downs ea across and the other way like “#”
Thank you for all the Great tips and idea’s ! We are new to pop up camping and look forward to reading all the articles. Our 95 Coleman needs some work to be sure…..! Thanks again !
So glad I stumbled across this article! My husband and I were just discussing what we can do differently with our gray water system. Currently we just have a short garden hose running into a 5 gallon bucket with a lid but it fills up so fast! I never thought about draining into the sewer if full hookups are available, but we might have to check out that tank too! Love your website and all of your great info! We love our pup we bought last summer and are planning a trip to the black hills in June!
Can you tell me where the water comes in and where it goes out? Im new to the pop up world. I have a 2000 rovckwood.
That all depends, Glenda. If you are using city water hookups, you should have a place to connect your hose outside the camper. You can see in this picture where we have connected our blue hose from the campground spigot to the water intake on the side of our camper. When we are camping without hookups, the water comes from the tank under the camper, which we usually fill before we leave. The white hose coming out from the camper is where our gray water drains from the sink into the sewer. When we don’t have full hookups, we hook the small hose and vent to a gray water container and dump that according to campground regulations. 🙂
Love your site and getting schooled by the pop up princess! Where exactly did you get the black elbow piece that connects to the actual trailer drain?
Amazon. Has this “Valterra T01-0091VP 1-1/2″ x 3/4″ 90° Drain Connector”. It’s a 1 1/2 inner diameter to 3/4″
OMG, THANK YOU!!! I’m not so anxious about setting this stuff up now. Newbie, just gave up tents as I need A/C & a real kitchen!!
Popup Princess is a life saver! I have a 3 year old popup, bought brand new. I never knew what to do. I got a manual that doesn’t help and professionals that think I can figure it out. I wondered why people would stare at my popup when grey water was running out the side. The dealer said it was legal so I didn’t do anything. Thank you for your blog!
The Grey Water Vent looks like a great solution to slow drains! What size PVC do you use? It looks like some of the parts (hose adapter) are somewhat hard to find (special order at home depot). Do you have suggestions on where to find the part?
Thanks!
We didn’t have any problem finding the parts at our local Home Depot. It is all standard 3/4″ PVC pipe.
Just out of curiosity, where do you transport yours? Inside the camper?
Yes, but if we are taking a long trip and have a lot of stuff packed, we will sometimes take the smaller AquaTainer. It takes up less room. 🙂
Thanks for this. Even used your link to buy the few things on amazon you recommended. Very useful and detailed.
Awesome, Rachael! Glad to hear it helped. 😀
Larissa, do you happen to know why the shower drain in most pups drains off the FRONT of the camper? I’ll never understand this…
I don’t, Forrest. We don’t have a shower in our PUP, so I haven’t actually gotten a good look at the drain on one. You might ask on PopUpPortal.com. 🙂
OMG! Thank you for this We bought an older 98 pop up and haven’t even bothered to use our sink inside since I had no idea where to hook up a hose or where to drain anything!. I have read about black and grey water but most videos I cam across were for travel trailers and not pop ups
Hello,
Your advice is wonderful!!
We are getting our first pop up and we are clueless! Are the gray and blue hoses just regular garden hoses? I just hook them right up to the side?
Yep! I’d recommend finding a drinking water hose from the RV section for your fresh water hookups.