Interesting article about grey water disposal on "highway drains"....

[Garfields]

I use ph neutral snow foam and shampoo.

I’m guessing I’m ok to continue

Would you put your gold fish in it though

 

[Langtoftlad]

Just musing... is a "Code of Practice" a law? Or just a recommendation?

 

[L' Hobo]

Just musing... is a "Code of Practice" a law? Or just a recommendation?

The latter which is hoped to be adhered to.

 

[Garfields]

Apologies, I used "water company" assuming it was them, I wasnt involved with the paperwork etc, , but the water goes out of the building, and down the same drains the roof water goes and links with the black metal 5 bar road grids.

they did have to asses where the water ran too though I remember being told that

Very possible in older buildings that the foul sewer, roof drains and yard drains went to the same combined sewer. Road gullies less so and should be separate.
It's one of the reasons sewerage ends up in rivers after heavy rain. Modern buildings it is kept seperate or at least should be.
While work is always ongoing to upgrade and maintain the old systems there is very little done to separate foul and rainwater from older systems.

 

[L' Hobo]

Would you put your gold fish in it though

That is perhaps the criteria we should all follow before irresponsibly allowing it to drain anywhere, including the highway. Water is becoming a scarce resource, all over the world, perhaps we should all think about how we use/waste it?

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[Garfields]

Just to clarify I wash my car and van at home.
I also empty my gray water at home
Both onto hard standing.
No sign that I am impacting on the environment at the location but I'm sure if you tested the area in enough detail there would be traces of brake dust, detergents and road film etc.
I've not lost any sleep over it.

 

[ceejayt]

I only ever use organic in our black tank. This is emptied either in a designated drop eg CMC drive over grid (macerated so all liquid) followed by the grey water OR I empty it onto our long term compost at the top of the garden

Grey water often emptied directly onto our grass when I arrive home - never seen any problems with either of the above

 

[Langtoftlad]

The latter which is hoped to be adhered to.

...and I expect adherence becomes part of planning conditions for any future developments.
Perhaps not so much for the average Joe washing his car at the weekend.

 

[ontheroadagain]

Very possible in older buildings that the foul sewer, roof drains and yard drains went to the same combined sewer.

Our house (built 1959) is like that. All into the same drain including grey waste from house.

 

[ontheroadagain]

What about all the road salt in winter that ends up getting washed down the drains. Surely that is more damaging to plants, fish etc. than a bit of soapy water.

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[funflair]

I only ever use organic in our black tank. This is emptied either in a designated drop eg CMC drive over grid (macerated so all liquid) followed by the grey water OR I empty it onto our long term compost at the top of the garden

Grey water often emptied directly onto our grass when I arrive home - never seen any problems with either of the above

Last time I emptied both black and grey went on the front garden, the hedge has never been as green

 

[DBK]

What about all the road salt in winter that ends up getting washed down the drains. Surely that is more damaging to plants, fish etc. than a bit of soapy water.

Yes, it can cause serious damage to lakes and rivers. When I lived in Germany we were in a region where they were not allowed to salt the roads in winter because of the impact on water. Winter tyres, snow chains or studded tyres were then needed on vehicles.

 

[L' Hobo]

Yes, it can cause serious damage to lakes and rivers. When I lived in Germany we were in a region where they were not allowed to salt the roads in winter because of the impact on water. Winter tyres, snow chains or studded tyres were then needed on vehicles.

Most of the 'salt' that goes on our roads, comes from a mine in England, I THINK! So maybe? not as harmful as might be first thought?

 

[Silver-Fox]

Would you put your gold fish in it though

Yep, so long as I’d used a whisk to put oxygen into the water

 

[Barclaybasher]

Would you put your gold fish in it though

I lived on a boat in a harbour in the 1980s when toilets were just pumped raw into the water. Every time you pumped out the toilet there would be a, 'feeding frenzy' of fish around the outlet - folks used to fish there........not for me though

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[prenteye]

Laybys stink anyway because there are not enough 'services' for truck drivers.....or us!

I think most 'outrage' online comes from motorhomers themselves - so few incidents but so much 'shouting' - no wonder we get a bad press - talk about shooting yourselves in the foot

Oh yes lay-bys can be very bad. Toilets out of action on A120 near Stansted airport - result lots of impromptu toileting including a massive on a footpath.

 

[gus-lopez]

’m sure this is frowned upon in Germany

And illegal in Spain, even washing it at your own fenced and gated house is a criminal offence. Only legal washing areas are garage ones and the purpose built standalone type ,all of which recycle the water

Toilets out of action on A120 near Stansted airport - result lots of impromptu toileting including a massive on a footpath.

Been closed since 2019,if I recall correctly?
Same as arrest area on A303 toilets are opened at 8am and closed at 5pm.whats that all about,?

 

[InvictaMoto]

Oops. I usually drain my grey out at the site before I leave but on occasions I have let it run onto the grass pitch as we have been asked to do so by CL owners to keep their hedges and borders alive. I have also used puriclean in my tanks and after a few miles wasting diesel have let it drop into the road side drain right alongside my driveway or into the trap at the local CAMC club where as a member and know the wardens I can pop in....

 

[hja]

Oops. I usually drain my grey out at the site before I leave but on occasions I have let it run onto the grass pitch as we have been asked to do so by CL owners to keep their hedges and borders alive. I have also used puriclean in my tanks and after a few miles wasting diesel have let it drop into the road side drain right alongside my driveway or into the trap at the local CAMC club where as a member and know the wardens I can pop in....

I think grey onto hedges or trees is different to letting it drain onto the pitch itself.

 

[DBK]

Most of the 'salt' that goes on our roads, comes from a mine in England, I THINK! So maybe? not as harmful as might be first thought?

There's a huge difference between salt deep under the Earth and the same salt being washed into a river or lake.

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[L' Hobo]

There's a huge difference between salt deep under the Earth and the same salt being washed into a river or lake.

My point exactly!

 

[dazandandrea]

I very recently had the enjoyable delights of sitting in very very slow moving traffic on the M1 near Nottingham.
4 lane section so just a meter or so to the concrete culvert that carries water off the highway and into the drains.
Said culvert had, within 200 meters, 1 rather squashed and mangled Badger, a similar dear and something else that i couldnt quite make out.
Along with these, shredded tyres, fag ends, webbing straps, numerous fag packets, bottles , packets of all sorts.

Im not going to worry any more about a bit of water coming out of my grey tank anymore.

 

[L' Hobo]

I very recently had the enjoyable delights of sitting in very very slow moving traffic on the M1 near Nottingham.
4 lane section so just a meter or so to the concrete culvert that carries water off the highway and into the drains.
Said culvert had, within 200 meters, 1 rather squashed and mangled Badger, a similar dear and something else that i couldnt quite make out.
Along with these, shredded tyres, fag ends, webbing straps, numerous fag packets, bottles , packets of all sorts.

Im not going to worry any more about a bit of water coming out of my grey tank anymore.

All of that detritus liquid, goes into holding reservoirs beside the motorways, not into the drainage system I believe. These can be best seen in the SE area of the M25 and other places.

 

[L' Hobo]

My point exactly!

What is put on the road, is not salt as in brine, it's dug from underground somewhere in Cheshire I believe. Commonly known as Rock Salt!

 

[DBK]

What is put on the road, is not salt as in brine, it's dug from underground somewhere in Cheshire I believe. Commonly known as Rock Salt!

Rock salt is mostly sodium chloride* with the addition of various trace elements. The deposits were formed when ancient seas dried up.

* The stuff you put on your chips.

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[mitzimad]

over 200 beach huts near us and at least a quarter have sinks draining onto the grass

 

[Pausim]

over 200 beach huts near us and at least a quarter have sinks draining onto the grass

Has the grass died or is it looking as healthy as the rest?

 

[Ray-Vic]

We've not been in a position to consider dumping grey into drains as we are newbies (6 months) and have, to date, been able to book fully serviced pitches or use the service points at the sites we've been to, so not really considered this issue and have enjoyed all the comments on this thread. However, on a recent trip to Whitemead in the Forest of Dean we witnessed three different motorhomes dumping their grey waste on the roads within the site as they were driving off, leaving a fairly substantial trail of pretty mucky looking waste in places, which we were both thought was pretty inconsiderate seeing as there were a large number of children playing, cycling and scootering on these roads, as well as people walking dogs etc. There was a perfectly good service point to use, which we did when leaving, so I was more than a little surprised that people would be happy to dump in this way. I spoke with the site manager about this and she said the issue has become so much worse since 'lockdowns', with far more people now seemingly not caring and simply ignoring the clearly noted rules (her words and thoughts).

In addition to this, on another site in Hastings we saw the motorhome on the pitch next to us dump off his whole grey tank on his grass pitch when we were no more than 50 yards from a clearly visible service point with grey dump.

We're really enjoying our entry into motor homing, using it quite a lot, but things like this have been a bit of a surprise and a disappointment for us personally as the facility is there, why not use it?

 

[dazandandrea]

All of that detritus liquid, goes into holding reservoirs beside the motorways, not into the drainage system I believe. These can be best seen in the SE area of the M25 and other places.

Not on the M1 up around Chesterfield, Sheffield and Rotherham.

 

[DavidG58]

Not on the M1 up around Chesterfield, Sheffield and Rotherham.

But these dead animals will be picked up along with most of the litter long before it turns to liquid

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}