emptying a cassette down a toilet

Big Lad

Free Member
Mar 9, 2015
106
74
Tamworth
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35,385
MH
Lunar Roadstar 570E
Exp
2015
Can someone explain if it's normal practice for people to empty their waste down a normal toilet on site, when theres an actual waste point that could be used?

my impression was they couldnt be ar**d to walk or move their vans to the disposal area, so every morning dumped it in the normal toilet block.
 
Not normal practice but I've been known to use a normal toilet when I couldn't find the elsan. Prefer to use an elsan though as then you can rinse.

On another note I often use the toilet at home as we havent got an easy to access sewer so am pretty good at doing the job tidily.
 
Not normal in my experience. Mind the CDP on the site we were on at Combe Martin was disgusting and I have written to the owner to let him know. I did use the CDP but it was tempting not to.
 
I have used toilets for the cassette if there is no other option but always take cleaning stuff and leave it at least as clean as I found it - usually better.

At home it goes down the loo and I use a shower hose to rinse out - no touching the cassette with the hose and it's all disinfected afterwards.

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the site was wild camping but has plenty of toilets and a new elsan disposal point. i know using the toilet at home or if theres no elsan disposal point would be ok, but i think this was just laziness on their part.
 
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many campsites have their own sewage works ,thats why thety have seperate elsan /chemical toilet dumps . the dumps are emtied by tankers and taken to special places that can handle chemical waste .
if chemical toiletrs get tipped down the toilets it does kill the bacteria in the campsites sewage systems .
this then entails the system being emptied completely washing out and then importing good sewage to the system .
it seems daft but i was once almost working on just one sewage system on a campsite near looe in cornwall . it actually took two goes to get the system going again as campers kept tipping toilets when it was night time just to save a little extra walking .
cost thousands to correct the stupidity of a few .
ideally dont use any chemicals at all or washing powder in the cassette, and only wash the cassette out after a long trip not every day.
 
Just a thought, did you actually see the deed being done, I usually kill 2 birds with one stone, /empty cassette, then go to the loo and wash hands and use facilities as required. Take cassette into loo with me after nearly 'losing ' one i had left outside
 
They dumped 2 cassettes a day down (2 different vans - both friends), so could in theory of not been using any chemicals. The toilet being where it was situated would of had its own waste tank which would need emptying at some point. i did say, if everyone did that, the tank would be full in no time.

The site policy does state no emptying of cassettes in the normal toilets whatsoever.

It was disappointing to watch as both vans were obviously seasoned motorhomers looking at some of the kit they were using around the van.

other motorhomers / campers nearby, looked on in disbelief as they brazenly did it. I wouldnt of fancied using the toilet after that had been chucked down it.
 
Scotzsue - I know what you mean, but the elsan point was 800 meters in the opposite direction. They took the cassette into the toilet and watering can then came back with it. even looked shifty the one morning after there were a couple already using the toilet, so hung around until they'd gone.

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Seems like sheer laziness to me. I was once advised (by the warden) to use a toilet at a CC site when the Elsan point was having some work done on it and we empty the cassette in our own downstairs toilet when we come home from a trip but always use the designated facilities on a site (permanent or temporary).
 
We came across this in Altea, Spain. Two Dutch campers (both friends) emptied their cassettes in the toilet, rather than walk the extra 10 metres to the point the owner had put in. OK, it all went to the same place and they didn't leave a mess, but the smell was awful if you were unfortunate to use the bathroom after they had emptied. They put their grey waste down the loo too!
 
many campsites have their own sewage works ,thats why thety have seperate elsan /chemical toilet dumps . the dumps are emtied by tankers and taken to special places that can handle chemical waste .
if chemical toiletrs get tipped down the toilets it does kill the bacteria in the campsites sewage systems .
this then entails the system being emptied completely washing out and then importing good sewage to the system .
it seems daft but i was once almost working on just one sewage system on a campsite near looe in cornwall . it actually took two goes to get the system going again as campers kept tipping toilets when it was night time just to save a little extra walking .
cost thousands to correct the stupidity of a few .
ideally dont use any chemicals at all or washing powder in the cassette, and only wash the cassette out after a long trip not every day.



We have to have our sewage plant pumped out due to chemicals killing the bacteria cost about £1000.

The chemical toilet goes to a another tank and gets pumped out due to chemicals .

Also seen a camper empty a cassette down a fresh water drain not sure what is wrong with some people.
 
Big lad,
They are all around us and couldn't care less, shouldn't say this but I think that is why society are slowly separating themselves and taking different routes for various services, just to stay away from them.
 
You should enquire why they do it. We all get a bad name from such practices
 
it may amaze many but even local sewage works get messed up with chemicals being put down the wrong drains . many smaller villages etc have small works that cant take loads of chemicals .
lots are just cesspits that get pumped out every week. mind not fully as bacteria is required to stay in the pit and get to work as toilets are flushed .
you may find if you have a word with your local sewage works /water company they will let you visit a works and tell you all about what happens there . i found it a very interesting job and did sewage work ever summer for years . also a freshwater works you may get to visit . thats interesting as well. i worked both but mainly sewage as others didnt want to do it .
once you get over the smell it really can be very interesting and better than being in a science class.
 
You need to be careful dumping in public loos :)

Around 5am one morning I went with my full cassette to the Chichester cattle market toilets. I had a small rucksack that was used exclusively for carrying the toilet cassette, along with a bleach spray and paper towels to clean up if necessary. I saw that one of the 4 cubicles was occupied but couldn't hear anyone, so maybe it was locked and out of order.

I carefully and slowly emptied my full cassette, woosh, dollop, woooosh dollop, whooosh, spladoosh This woke a drunk scottish guy in the locked cubicle

"Jeeeeeesus Chriiiist are you awright pal?"
"Aye I'm fine mate, or I will be in a minute"

I left the loo giggling like a child.

A very similar thing happened to Pusser, (bless im) he's a better story teller that me. This is a scanned page from his book, Pussers progress.


pusser.png

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You need to be careful dumping in public loos :)

Around 5am one morning I went with my full cassette to the Chichester cattle market toilets. I had a small rucksack that was used exclusively for carrying the toilet cassette, along with a bleach spray and paper towels to clean up if necessary. I saw that one of the 4 cubicles was occupied but couldn't hear anyone, so maybe it was locked and out of order.

I carefully and slowly emptied my full cassette, woosh, dollop, woooosh dollop, whooosh, spladoosh This woke a drunk scottish guy in the locked cubicle

"Jeeeeeesus Chriiiist are you awright pal?"
"Aye I'm fine mate, or I will be in a minute"

I left the loo giggling like a child.

A very similar thing happened to Pusser, (bless im) he's a better story teller that me. This is a scanned page from his book, Pussers progress.


View attachment 106177
Dear old Pusser R. I. P.
What a very funny man.
Every now and again I have another look at Pussers Progress and it always has me in tears of laughter, no matter how many times I read it.

Richard.
 
Scotzsue - I know what you mean, but the elsan point was 800 meters in the opposite direction. They took the cassette into the toilet and watering can then came back with it. even looked shifty the one morning after there were a couple already using the toilet, so hung around until they'd gone.
800 mtrs? That's a big site.
 
ideally dont use any chemicals at all or washing powder in the cassette, and only wash the cassette out after a long trip not every day.

A tip that I think I got from here was brewer's yeast tablets. I put 3 in the cassette during warm weather and 4 or 5 if it's cold - we do empty our cassette every day (2 adults & 3 kids mean I have to!). So easy to do, a big pot of tablets is only a few pounds on Ebay, the smell is more pleasant than the horrible blue chemical, it's environmentally better and it shouldn't matter if it ends up in a septic tank.

I seem to remember that an old farmer's trick to get a new septic tank going with bacteria was to chuck some dead rabbits in there!
 
Bio liquid does not smell that bad and DOES NOT kill the cesspit or the water treatment system. It DOES however break down the products of bum into manageable material that is liquidish and not lumpyish. Always use it and no problems.

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A tip that I think I g
Bio liquid does not smell that bad and DOES NOT kill the cesspit or the water treatment system. It DOES however break down the products of bum into manageable material that is liquidish and not lumpyish. Always use it and no problems.
the scientists on south west water might not agree with you. thats where i got my info from . i worked for them for about 8 summers . its meant to be better than the blue but not really.
 
ten pints of guness and when it passes thrught it usualy got enug bacteria and yeast to get any sytem gowing
bill
 
I seem to recall that whether a chemical was bio friendly was a matter of whether it contained formaldehyde or not. If there is a useable chemical dump point, and one with an anti-nappy fixed mesh over it does not qualify, then it's simply courtesy to use it in preference to a toilet even if it means a bit of hard work carrying the cassette there. However, sometimes there's only a public toilet available in which case I carry a hose specifically for rinsing the cassette which fits over a normal sink tap. The rule is to always ensure that you leave no sign that you've been there.
 
I seem to recall that whether a chemical was bio friendly was a matter of whether it contained formaldehyde or not. If there is a useable chemical dump point, and one with an anti-nappy fixed mesh over it does not qualify, then it's simply courtesy to use it in preference to a toilet even if it means a bit of hard work carrying the cassette there. However, sometimes there's only a public toilet available in which case I carry a hose specifically for rinsing the cassette which fits over a normal sink tap. The rule is to always ensure that you leave no sign that you've been there.
Why would there only be a public toilet available on a camp site? Surely an Elsan point is required in order to qualify for a licence or exemption certificate isn't it? Even meet/THS sites have a suitable manhole at least.

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