Flojet portable RV waste pump
A familar sight at when departing from a park at trip's end is the lineup at the dump station. And after waiting patiently for a kick at the can (so to speak), one may feel too rushed to do a proper job of cleaning the tanks... especially the black water tank.
Enter the Flojet Portable RV Waste Pump:
This handy device (coloquially known as the Poop Cannon) allows the RV owner to drain the grey and black water tanks at home. Waste particles are macerated (read: chopped) and pumped through a common garden hose into a home toilet (which we started with) or, even better, sewer cleanout (which we had installed in July of 2009).
Besides the trailer itself, four things are required to use it: power, a drain hose, a drain point, and a source of fresh water for flushing.
Power
I got the idea for the power connection from a camping friend. It involves a 7-pin connector to draw power from the trailer's battery and a cable long enough to reach the Poop Cannon when it's attached to the trailer's waste outlet:
Drain Hose
I picked up a 50', 3/4" diameter commercial grade hose and put it into dedicated service. One the output side I attached a 4' length of hose with no coupler on the end so as not to damage the toilet during discharge. When we converted to a cleanout the 4' length was removed.
Drain Point
For the first several uses we drained into the toilet. Unfortunately the faint smell of sewage still worked its way into the bathroom and, to a lesser degree, the house. A sealed system was what we needed, and that's what we got. Behold the cleanout:
When dumping the tanks it's a simple matter of undoing the cleanout's maintenance cap, installing the hose attachment cap and connecting the hose:
Voila... sealed system! The hose lives on a reel next to the cleanout and stays connected full-time.
Fresh Water
Fresh water in the form of a tap and garden hose is used with a tank wand to rinse out the black water tank once it's undergone an initial draining. It's also used to flush the Poop Cannon and the drain hose clean.
