Using
a portable tote tank.
First
off what is a “Tote Tank” and why would you need one?
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| A Tote Tank or "Blue Boy" |
Our
Monaco motor home has a fancy electronic push button toilet. Unlike
regular RV toilets it isn’t connected directly to the black tank
but has a macerator built in that breaks up “Solids” then pumps
that thru a smaller hose to the tank. The toilet sets how much water
it uses to do this and we have found that despite adjusting how much
water it uses, it still fills the black tank in about 3 days if we
don’t take care.
If
we are “Boondocking” (camping without full hookups) then we are
severely limited to how long we can stay before we have to pack
everything up and go looking for a dump station.
This
is not very convenient.
Searching
on my favorite Craigslist I found somebody selling a used “Tote
Tank”.
This
is also known as a “Blue Boy”, obviously because of the color, they come in different colors from different manufacturers.
To
use this device first check it over. There is a connection on top
with a cap and bayonet type lugs, a small screwed cap at the other
end and finally a regular dump valve on the side.
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| The fill connection on top with cap in place |
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| The dump valve on the side |
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| The vent connection on top with cap in place |
There
are wheels on the bottom and a pull handle connected to the front
wheels.
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The handle pulls it and does the steering
|
Our
particular tote holds about 25 gallons and one thing to be aware of
is that water weighs about 8 pounds per gallon, so 25 gallons is
going to come to around 200 pounds! That’s a lot of weight to be
pulling so if you get the choice set up so you are on a fairly flat
spot with an easy route to the place you are going to dump.
So
where are you going to dump?
Many
campgrounds that have water and electric only at the sites have a stand-alone dump
station for grey and black water that you normally drive the RV to.
You can also pull your tote over there and empty it, but if its
uphill or a good distance away that could be stressful.
Look
at the pull handle. See the loop for pulling it? That also slips over
a tow ball like you may have on the back of your towed vehicle. If
you don’t go charging over there at high speed then you can pull the
tote to the dump station with a car.
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| This ring on the tow handle slips over the ball on your tow hitch |
We currently are camping at a friends farm. They are on a septic
system so we can easily pull the tote to the septic tank and by raising the
manhole lid we can hang the hose in and dump.
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| The septic tank manhole held open with a 4 x 4 and the hose hanging in. |
DON'T,
PLEASE DON'T dump into ditches, ponds or
fields. Obviously black water (Sewage) is going to stink but it can
also attract flies, critters and get into well water. BE RESPONSIBLE,
dump in a proper place. Yes that means grey water too which contains
grease and food scraps from the kitchen.
So
how do I go about using this thing?
I
start by getting into my coveralls and putting on gloves then
clearing a spot close to where my dump valves are in the rig. You
don’t want to be trying to drag the 200 pounds over your water hose
or electrical cord.
Next
I check that the dump valve on the tote is closed. If you don’t
know the history of a used unit, like ours, its a good idea to half
fill it with clean water first to make sure the seals on the dump
valve are tight. You don’t want to have 25 gallons of sewage
leaking out with no way to stop it.
Our
particular tote had plastic wheels. After a couple of uses the wheels
broke due to age and we replaced them with steel wheels from the
local Farm Supply store. You might want to check your for signs of
cracking if its and older unit. About a $15 fix.
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| The steel wheels replaced the broken plastic ones |
For
my first attempt I chose to dump the grey tank first because I
reasoned that if something disastrous happened I’d rather be
covered in soapy water than sewage. Luckily things went well!
If
you have problems thinking about raw sewage or coming in contact with
it then you may not be a candidate for owning a tote tank!!
Back
to the task.
If
you look at the dump valve on your RV and the sewer hose you will see
that the dump valve has “Male” lugs and one
end of the
hose has “Female” a one. The other end of a regular hose has a Male
lug. Now look at the fill connection on the top of the tote, it has
male lugs also,
so the hose can’t couple directly to the fill connection. The dump
valve on the tote also has male lugs.
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| A typical sewer hose with male end right and female end left |
This
requires either a special hose with female lugs at both ends, which
you can buy from a camping store, or a different approach.
On
my rig I use a 90 degree elbow fitting to connect to the campground
drain. The end of this will slip into the fill connection on the tote
BUT it won’t lock in place so BEWARE! If you don’t hold that
elbow when you pull the handle on the black tank drain the force of
the “Effluence” coming down the hose will make the hose jump out
of the fill connection and you will have it flowing every where.
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| The 90 degree clear elbow used at campground drain connections |
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| The elbow fits the filler but doesn't lock in BEWARE |
Don’t say I didn’t warn you! The best thing is to have that
special hose.
If
you have a long hose make sure it is sitting on top of the tote
before you start draining otherwise you will have a full tote and a
hose full of sewage and not enough room in the tote for the contents
of the hose. Worse still that full hose will empty as soon as you
disconnect it from the tote.
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| Set up ready, hose sits on top to stop it filling with waste water, vent cap is off. |
I
find it best to use a clear
elbow at the tote filler so I
can see how full its getting and allow room for the contents of the
hose after I
shut
the black or grey tank drain valve.
Now
to start emptying the black tank on the RV.
At
this point you might think about having a garden hose close by for
washing down spillages and/or yourself. You probably shouldn’t be
wearing clothes you like a lot either! My rig has the outside shower
connection right at the dump valves.
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| The wet bay on my rig with outdoor shower on left, |
Ensure
the tote drain valve is closed. Remove the filler cap AND THE VENT
CAP, that’s the smaller screw cap on the top of the tote. The
reason for this is that the water filling the tote will push air out
as it fills. If you don’t have the vent open that air will force
its way back out of the FILLER and spray the contents of the hose
everywhere.
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| Vent cap off. |
Connect
the sewer hose to the RV dump valve and the other end to the tote.
SLOWLY open the dump valve on the RV, I like to open and close it
again repeatedly until I am sure everything is connected properly and
there are no leaks at any of the connections. I would recommend not
just pulling the valve fully opening and stepping away. Let it drain
slowly and watch how the tank fills. If you set up like me with the elbow, put your foot on the elbow as you open the dump valve. Keep your hand on the valve ready to close it instantly if things go wrong. Watch
the vent connection too because
if the tank overflows then its going to come shooting out of the vent
hole first.
I
like to only fill the tank about ¾ full for several reasons. First
that hose still contains several gallons of waste water, second that
tote is heavy when it’s full and third I don’t want that "waste" water shooting out of the vent.
When
the tote is as full as you like it, close the drain valve on the RV.
Now you have to get the hose emptied. The good news is that water
flows down hill, so if you carefully lift the end close to the RV
drain valve above the level of the filler the water should flow to
the tote. DONT just take the hose off the tote or the drain valve
before emptying the hose or it will be all over the ground and your
feet. You should hear the water running around in the hose so work
the hose a couple of times to get it as empty as you can.
I
then take the hose off the RV drain valve because ON MY RIG that
connection is higher than the fill connection on the tote. I keep the
open end of the hose as high as I can then lift it up vertically so the hose
empties completely before taking it off the tote.
Now I put the fill connection cap and the vent cap back on the tote before
I move it.
The
routine I have at the farm uses 2 sewer hoses, one at the rig and one
at the septic tank. That way I don’t have to keep moving the hose
when I move the tank.
At
the tank I lever up the manhole cover and prop it open with a piece
of wood. I run the end of the hose over the lip
of the manhole and position the tote so that it is a straight shot
from the drain valve to the manhole and the tote is above the lip of
the manhole to ensure complete draining of the tote.
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| Ready to empty the tote. Hose in manhole, vent cap off. |
When
I’m ready to drain I remove the vent cap off the tote, attach the
hose to the dump valve on the tote then slowly open the dump valve
and let it empty. If the vent cap is still on the tank it won't drain.
I
close the dump valve and raise the hose closest to the dump valve to
empty the hose before disconnection the hose. I put the vent cap back
on and pull the empty tote back to the RV.
Our
RV tank is about 50 gallons so depending how full it was it may take
2 or 3 trips backwards and forwards to empty it.
I
like to start this routine with full black AND GREY tanks, here is
why.
After
the RV black tank is empty you have to deal with cleaning the tank
and the hoses. If you have a full grey water tank you can empty that
into the tote and take that to the dump station too. The grey water
will wash out the tote and hoses so after 2 or 3 trips they will only
need a minimum of rinsing with the hose at the dump station.
My
Blue Boy doesn’t get a lot of use but when we occasionally need it
its much better than having to pack up the RV, pull in the slides,
raise the jacks, put away the hoses and cables and drive to the dump
station IN MY OPINION.
No
doubt there are more experienced people than me who can suggest
better ways of doing this, please feel free to comment on this post
so we can all benefit from your knowledge.
