Evaporation pond

dnightshade · Post by **dnightshade** » Wed Aug 04, 2010 6:33 pm

What are your thoughts about grey water and when it's necessary to build an evaporation pond?

There is a small group of 3-4 people going with me to the playa. We will also be camping with a larger group of people (maybe as many as 20 of in an unorganized camp). Everyone is expected to bring their own stuff. One of the people I'm going down with is considering bringing their camping shower that they already own. We've been told a few times that a evaporation pond might not be necessary by other people camping in the larger group with us despite us planning to build one. However, we feel like it'll be more likely to be necessary if we do bring shower down. We also want to minimize our grey water.

We are iffy about bringing down the shower... we are considering it since we have the space and are already in possession of it. We also figure it'd be useful when considering the grey water that might be produced from washing dishes as well.

capjbadger · Post by **capjbadger** » Wed Aug 04, 2010 6:38 pm

Please do a search. There is already a ton of threads on here about this very subject.

-Badger

TomServo · Post by **TomServo** » Wed Aug 04, 2010 6:40 pm

This issue has been discussed again, and again and again. But I think the popular method is a black plastic sheet. We made a 5'x5' square out of PVC to place under the sheet, thus, creating a pool. I would use it sparingly, and also bring spray bottles.

dnightshade · Post by **dnightshade** » Wed Aug 04, 2010 6:55 pm

I know how to build one. I was more asking an opinion of when an evaporation pond would be deemed necessary.

TomServo · Post by **TomServo** » Wed Aug 04, 2010 7:05 pm

dnightshade wrote:I know how to build one. I was more asking an opinion of when an evaporation pond would be deemed necessary.

Id use it strictly for showering. If your not running a bar, and have minimal waste water, it may be worth your time, to build another. Just use it often! Don't dump it all at once.

ibdave · Post by **ibdave** » Wed Aug 04, 2010 7:08 pm

just be equip'ed to haul out any grey water that didn't float away. Seen plenty of people wondering how to deal with it. Also, most of the time people dumping wash water in..

dnightshade · Post by **dnightshade** » Wed Aug 04, 2010 7:11 pm

Okay good point.

I know one my friends mentioned something to me before about dumping small amounts of grey water in port-a-potties. I don't know if that's a taboo thing to do or not. I rather following regulations as close as possible but also minimize waste.

theCryptofishist · Post by **theCryptofishist** » Wed Aug 04, 2010 7:14 pm

Don't Dump Water in the Porta Potties! If it doesn't come from your body, it doesn't go in the potty. Memorize this.
If you go with an evap pond take the shower down on Friday and everyone in camp should push the broom around when they go past it.

PS If it doesn't come from your body, it doesn't go in the potty.

dnightshade · Post by **dnightshade** » Wed Aug 04, 2010 7:16 pm

That's what I thought I heard but thanks for the reminder. :)

kman · Post by **kman** » Wed Aug 04, 2010 11:49 pm

Go work out to get filthy, and put a bunch of dirt in your hair that'll be annoying to wash out.

Take a shower with the camping shower, over a kiddie pool, and collect all the water.

Pour it into milk jugs or something.

Now you have an idea as to the worst case scenario (per shower), of how much grey water you might have to cart off.

Use the evap pond to the extent possible, and just be ready to take water away if it doesn't all go away. The key to evap ponds is don't overfill them.. once they get too full, they don't work nearly as well... actually, they pretty much stop working altogether at that point.

If you need (or want) serious, guaranteed [near-]total evaporation, make a grey water fountain cascading down hardware mesh... search out the plans on this site. It's more complicated to get set up, but by all reports they're incredibly effective... unlike most evap ponds.

crstophr · Post by **crstophr** » Thu Aug 05, 2010 10:59 am

Passive ponds have to be BIG to work at all. Ours will be 24' x 8' for a camp of ~20. And our stinky camp members shower infrequently.
Bring a broom and use it to spread out the water. The playa is uneven and little pools will form. The more surface area of water, the better it will evap.
Stop dumping in the pond 48 hours before you leave to give time for the remainder to evaporate
Active systems are much more effective. See evapotron or fountain pump over mesh.
Keep ice and food in separate large freezer bags in your coolers. Then you can drink the clean water. Your body then becomes the active evaporation system and waste can be delivered to the JOTS via your bladder.

Token · Post by **Token** » Thu Aug 05, 2010 11:34 am

Getting clean and refreshed at BM does not necessarily need to involve a shower or vast amounts of water.

A tarp, two towels and either a Hudson sprayer or couple washcloths and a gallon of water will do just fine fo' a full body wash.

If you have a full head of long hair that needs washing, you might need a big bowl and a second gallon of water.

Having a bathing buddy helps a lot.

If you build an evap pond of any size, random unexpected people in your camp will "accidentally" use it, and odds are good a bowl of marinara pasta and several urinal incidents will complement all the sticky body grime.

DoctorIknow · Post by **DoctorIknow** » Thu Aug 05, 2010 3:05 pm

Many think evap ponds just plain suck. If it's not neighbors dumping their dishwater in it, then it's two days of overcast. And sucking up that mess at the end is obviously a failure when you can see hundreds of "dumps" from evap ponds late Monday afternoon...

Spend a lot of time making something that works, or just take all greywater back home (which is my system.) Heck, you bring the water out, you already have the containers!

A collection device can take less time (and money) to prepare than some very creative wind or power driven device that evaporates water.

For all pics of these devices, go to:
http://picasaweb.google.com/DoctorIKnow ... lonBuckets#

But here are the highlights of a containment system that also keeps the feet from touching playa mud in the bottom of a kiddie pool:

Of course, a 2.75" or 3" hole (?) is drilled in both the plywood and the kiddie pool....

In the above pic, be sure to make each progressive intake hole in the 5 gallon buckets be about 1.5" lower than the previous bucket outlet. All buckets fed from one bucket. The first bucket will hold almost 5 gallons, the last bucket about 3, and then you can save time empty them all at once into your containers when the last bucket is full.

And, for that nasty dish washing water, filter it thru a layer of burlap (NOT anything more sheer) put in a touch of bleach, and take it home. Dry the burlap with the encrusted glarm in the sun and it is ready for the garbage. Bring about 5 pieces of burlap. Cut the top off a 5 gallon bucket to hold the burlap in place.

For both systems, it's helpful to have a BIG funnel.

And if you want a major investment (but a funnel works great):

or this:

Evaporation pond

Evaporation pond

Shower water containment and Dish water filter systems