easy evap pond ideas?

skeetsh00ter · Post by **skeetsh00ter** » Fri Jul 13, 2007 2:10 pm

So here's the deal, 2 of us are going to be flying in from the east coast (atl baby). One of the things we're having a hard time figuring out is what to do for an evap pond.

Anyone have an easy suggestion?

The idea so far is just building a square frame w/ 2x4s and laying down black plastic to form a shallow box. Something maybe 3 or 4 ft. square. I was thinking that if we end up having too much water we can soak a sheet then hang that up to speed things up. Would that do the trick for 2 people using a moderate amount of water?

thanks yall

MikeVDS · Post by **MikeVDS** » Fri Jul 13, 2007 2:15 pm

That sounds like a good plan for 2 people. You probably won't need the sheet, but it should be a good enough back-up plan.

StevenGoodman · Post by **StevenGoodman** » Fri Jul 13, 2007 3:35 pm

Hanging up old towels is actually one of the fastest and easiest ways to evap water at BM. Just bring 4-5 old towels and put up a clothes line. They dry out amazingly fast.

I am just going to bring a couple of extra towels this year and hang them from my tent to dry.

Low humidity and wind work wonders!

meyouseek · Post by **meyouseek** » Fri Jul 13, 2007 3:46 pm

Damn that's a good idea. 8 years on the playa and I'm still learning simple and effective things like this.

thanks!!

robotland · Post by **robotland** » Fri Jul 13, 2007 4:10 pm

I'm fond of the black plastic cement-mixing utility tubs- Nice as a catchwater for under a solar shower or as a bathtub, too. But the black plastic sheeting works perfectly well and bundles up small at week's end.

skeetsh00ter · Post by **skeetsh00ter** » Sat Jul 14, 2007 1:27 pm

good deal, i guess i'll just stick w/ the plan then. thanks yall

DoctorIknow · Post by **DoctorIknow** » Mon Jul 16, 2007 12:52 pm

Socks also can absorb and evaporate lots of water.

The best way to prevent playa foot is to wear shoes and change socks 2-3 times a day. Come with two dozen of the cheapest white socks you can find and just use the the used ones for evaporation,,,,hang 'em up with closepins on a guy rope. Of course, they can be used for evaporation over and over.

DoctorIknow · Post by **DoctorIknow** » Sat Aug 15, 2009 3:59 pm

I've had many style evaporation ponds...the ones with burlap worked the best.... but this year I'd decided to just haul all the greywater back home because it drives me NUTS that stangers will, every year, find my pond and dump nasty meaty/greasy dishwater, gallons of showerwater, onetime even piss.

HOWEVER, I was just looking at my van, which has a nice ladder rack, and decided to make the pond on the roof of the van. It will be pretty big, too!

I have no time to be either a cop or a teacher to those who don't understand it is not cool to dump water in someones evap pond, and I just can't stand being angry out there, so the pond is stealthy this year...woo-hoo!

Thecatman · Post by **Thecatman** » Sat Aug 15, 2009 4:22 pm

Thats similar to one I made several years ago and still using. I used 1x4x4's, screwing them together with brass angle brackets and the laying out a black "contractor grade" trash bag. Soaking excess water with towels or sheets and then hanging them to dry in a tent might have a brief cooling effect as well.

dewnorth · Post by **dewnorth** » Sat Aug 15, 2009 4:28 pm

1) I'm wondering if anyone tried evaporation with chamois cloth. (The artificial kind--i.e.: the kind with the obnoxious TV commercials)

I expect chamois would pick up a lot of water. Not sure how well it wicks up water from a basin. And if it wicks a lot of water, would weight be an issue with any mechanized, rotating evaporator?

2) Thoughts on using a big floor-style room humidifier as the basis of an evaporator? Most of the body of the humidifier would be unnecessary. Already has a gear mechanism. Add wind and a fan to get the belt rotating. Also wondering if the humidifier's mesh belt might be ideal. (why try to re-invent the wheel?)

Absolut Jeenyus · Post by **Absolut Jeenyus** » Sat Aug 15, 2009 6:00 pm

DoctorIknow wrote:Socks also can absorb and evaporate lots of water.

The best way to prevent playa foot is to wear shoes and change socks 2-3 times a day. Come with two dozen of the cheapest white socks you can find and just use the the used ones for evaporation,,,,hang 'em up with closepins on a guy rope. Of course, they can be used for evaporation over and over.

lol.. WTF. You change your socks 3 times a day? lol.
And a sock couldn't hold much water. You going to evap your grey water a half a cup at a time lol. This just seems silly to me. lol.

DoctorIknow · Post by **DoctorIknow** » Sat Aug 15, 2009 7:37 pm

Absolut Jeenyus wrote:
DoctorIknow wrote:Socks also can absorb and evaporate lots of water.

The best way to prevent playa foot is to wear shoes and change socks 2-3 times a day. Come with two dozen of the cheapest white socks you can find and just use the the used ones for evaporation,,,,hang 'em up with closepins on a guy rope. Of course, they can be used for evaporation over and over.
lol.. WTF. You change your socks 3 times a day? lol.
And a sock couldn't hold much water. You going to evap your grey water a half a cup at a time lol. This just seems silly to me. lol.

I know, I thought it a joke when someone suggested it me, but I had dirty socks around and tried it. It evaporates the water much better than just black plastic, which usually isn't black by the 2nd day anyway.

If you have 12 socks, that's about 2sq.ft. of wicking area that is more efficient than just water on plastic.......everything helps the sorry ass plain vanilla evap pools, of which more water leaks from or is dumped on the playa when it's time to leave than is evaporated throughout the week, at least from what I see on Sunday or Monday!

swampdog · Post by **swampdog** » Sat Aug 15, 2009 8:09 pm

I think I've just invented a GREAT small camp shower & evap system. I used PVC to build 2 cross pieces - 2 4.5 ft uprights, some tee fittings, and a 4 ft cross piece (all times 2). So I've got 2 3 sided rectangles out of PVC. I put crosswise tees on top and stood these up 4 ft apart on rebar and threaded tie down straps from my truck through the crosswise tees. This is easier than it sounds. Basically I've now got a 4 ft square "clothesline" with 2 sides PVC and 2 sides tie down strap, 4.5 ft in the air.

Ok, now put towels on the cross bars. You can arrange them to hang as low as you want, and fill in the gaps as much as you want. Use spring clips (giant metal clothespins) to clip each towel to itself so they don't blow away. My test run is currently supporting 6 towels.

When I get to the playa I'll build this with black plastic under it and ringed by 1x4 pieces with the black plastic duct taped to it.

So, I'll have a shower enclosure for those who want privacy. Then I'll have towels to absorb and evap the shower or (CLEAN FILTERED) kitchen gray water. I figure I'll be able to evap a gallon or two a day, easily - which ought to be enough for a small camp that is reasonably careful about water.

I think after test building it, I'm going to add cross pieces of PVC (over the tie down straps) for greater strength and stability.

Total cost:
4 PVC@ about $2.50
4 mil black plastic about $12.
6 rebar total (4 for uprights, 2 to attach tie downs to) - about $6
16 ft truck tie downs - if you don't already have some - mebbe $20?
Towels - $0 to $30 depending how you get them
4 large tees - $2.50
4 small tees - $1.50
4 6 ft 1x4 - $12.00

so for about $40 to $90 depending on what you've already got, you get shower space and gray water disposal. It's collapsible, sturdy, and efficient.

I'll post more after I get back to tell y'all how well it works. Or doesn't. My track record on gray water disposal isn't good, but this seems so simple it's just gotta work. Right?

Elorrum · Post by **Elorrum** » Sun Aug 16, 2009 9:37 am

I did the clothesline with microfiber washcloths which are cheap... it worked fine. A synthetic car chamois would work well too I think. Old towels, great, why buy new stuff for this purpose? I also just used a 5 gallon empty container and collected the grey water. I used a funnel with aquarium floss as a filter. As a solo camper without a big gray water issue, the second approach was less time consuming, and cleaner. The surface area of anything outside your car is something to consider if you need to pack it back into your car.

vikb · Post by **vikb** » Sun Aug 16, 2009 5:44 pm

skeetsh00ter wrote:So here's the deal, 2 of us are going to be flying in from the east coast (atl baby). One of the things we're having a hard time figuring out is what to do for an evap pond.

Anyone have an easy suggestion?

The idea so far is just building a square frame w/ 2x4s and laying down black plastic to form a shallow box. Something maybe 3 or 4 ft. square. I was thinking that if we end up having too much water we can soak a sheet then hang that up to speed things up. Would that do the trick for 2 people using a moderate amount of water?

thanks yall

My GF and I are doing this. We'll have a 6' x 4' collection area 4" deep. If you assume you don't want it more than 3/4 full that still gives you 8 cubic feet of water storage. I'm not sure how fast it will evaporate, but I'm happy to collect whatever is left on the last day and take it back out with me. It came in a container so it can leave in a container if it doesn't evaporate.

You can use scrap 2' sections of 2" x 4" to build something to stand on so your feet aren't in the gray water.

I like some of the fancier evaporation setups I read about, but I don't want to spend the time/effort to do anything more complex.

cheers,

Vik

Playa Tom · Post by **Playa Tom** » Sun Aug 16, 2009 8:26 pm

I just pour my greywater into a bucket, find an evaporation pond, wait for the campers to leave and pour it in their pond. Works great!

StevenGoodman · Post by **StevenGoodman** » Sun Aug 16, 2009 11:15 pm

You don't want a "standard" black plastic evap pond to get more than about 1/2" deep. Deeper is bad.

If you need to evap more, use towels.

Or just take it home.

Martini Steve

vikb · Post by **vikb** » Mon Aug 17, 2009 6:44 am

StevenGoodman wrote:You don't want a "standard" black plastic evap pond to get more than about 1/2" deep. Deeper is bad.

If you need to evap more, use towels.

Or just take it home.

Martini Steve

Good point. I hadn't thought of that. I may bring an old towel with me just to aid in the evap process. Although for my 6' x 4' pond 0.5" is still 1 cubic foot or 28L of grey water. That's more than double what my GF and I will produce in a day.

Post by **AntiM** » Mon Aug 17, 2009 7:02 am

A problem we have had in the past: people sneaking their greywater into our evap pond at night. It wasn't even a very big one, we'd go to sleep with it near empty, and it would be half full in the morning. Hence our mobile pond now.

Homiesinheaven · Post by **Homiesinheaven** » Mon Aug 17, 2009 12:01 pm

just two of you?! i wouldnt bother with an evaporation pond at all. use the towels method and haul the rest of the water out with you. it wont be that much at all. i think you'll have more fun if you keep it simple.

easy evap pond ideas?

easy evap pond ideas?

Anyone tried 1) chamois cloth 2) Floor humidifier mechanism?

small camp evap

Re: easy evap pond ideas?