Our RV fresh and grey water tanks were by far the most frustrating thing to install in our Toyota Coaster motor home to date.
For those who do not know what RV grey water is and why you do or don’t need a tank, this next little bit is for you. And don’t worry! I had absolutely no idea before this whole process either!
WHAT IS RV GREY WATER?
RV grey water is any water that has been used in your motor home and would normally go down a sink or drain. For example, water from washing up, showering, or laundry.
DO I NEED A GREY WATER TANK?
This part is up to you.
Most RV’s or caravans have either a tank to catch the grey water, or a hose that takes the water from the source and lets the water out on the ground.
If you decide not to have a grey water tank, you can use a bucket instead. This is placed under the hose to catch the water and dispose of it elsewhere. While at first this is an easier and cheaper option, it does mean you are not classed as ‘fully self-contained’.
WHAT IS ‘FULLY SELF-CONTAINED’?
Being fully self contained means you are not relying on anyone or anything else. You do not need access to power, water, or a toilet, and you do not leave anything when you leave. This includes water on the ground!
The benefit of being fully self-contained is that you are not relying on others for access to resources. This means that you have more options to stay and park your motor home. After being on the road for some time now, we have found that so many of the free places to stay require you to be fully self-contained for this reason; that you do not need anything, except for somewhere to park.
This is the main reason we decided to build our bus with a grey water tank, and have decided after being on the road for a while it was definitely worth the effort.
HOW DO I DISPOSE OF MY GREY WATER?
Grey water tank disposal is simple! It is done at the same place you empty your motor home toilet; an RV dump point. Dump points are readily accessible and we have found using the Wikicamps App helps us to easily locate where they are.
If you decide to install a grey water tank, you can get the water from the tank and into the dump point via a grey water hose.
The grey water hose we purchased is a 10 metre, 25mm corrugated sullage hose from Caravans Plus. Even though this has worked well for us, it is quite difficult to connect to the 25mm barb on the tank and needs to be soaked in hot water first. A lot of people have since suggested that a normal 25mm PVC hose will do the trick, without these connection issues.
WHAT FRESH AND GREY WATER TANKS DID WE GET?
The fresh and grey water tanks were one of the first things we purchased and were bought from Custom Coaster Conversions. (Unfortunately they are no longer available here, however we have provided some alternative options below).
They are made from foodgrade poly, and measure approximately 600X380X380mm.
Each tank holds 70 litres. We have two tanks for our freshwater, and one for our greywater.
These RV tanks are specifically designed to fit underneath a Toyota Coaster bus, in front, and/or behind the rear wheels.
You have the option to get RV water tanks a similar size to this, or to measure up your space and have a tank installed inside or elsewhere on your motor home. We have seen so many people who install tanks underneath their bed, lounge, or even on their roof.
Whilst ours was marketed as a tank specific for a Toyota Coaster and is no longer available, there are a lot of other tank options out there. Companies such as Caravan RV Camping and Caravans Plus are a good start for generic tanks. There are also places that do custom sizes such as Atlas Tanks, and whilst we have not used them, a company called RV Tanks Australia look to have tanks specific for Toyota Coasters as well. Either way, a little research will help you to find one that works best for you.
HOW TO INSTALL THE FRESH AND GREY WATER TANKS
- Step 1 –
It’s time to get down and dirty and look underneath your Toyota Coaster and work out what space you have available, and where you can mount brackets to.
If you purchase the same RV water tanks as we did, they fit very well either behind or in front of the rear wheels.
Test that they sit snug up underneath the bus prior to making brackets, or any fittings to your tank. Its best to be safe and know they fit!
- Step 2 –
Once you have established a spot for your water tanks, the easiest thing to do first is to drill a hole for your breather (if your tank does not already have one). A breather is a spot where the air in the tank can escape, and allow you to fill them up with water instead. It reduces the pressure in the tanks, and allows them to fill quicker. It is important the breather is at the highest point possible on the tank, otherwise it will just leak water!
The tanks we purchased for our fresh and grey water do not already have this pre-built in them. So if you decide to create your own, or purchase one like ours, you will need to make this yourself.
For our breather, we used a 10mm barb to 3/4 inch BSP fitting.
To make our breather fit, we started with a 20mm spade piece to make a hole. Remember, it is important the breather is as high as possible on the tank. Once you have the hole cut, insert and silicone the breather in place. It is best to use a good quality silicone such as an automotive or marine one for this. We have since had issues with the breathers coming off and have had to re-attach.
- Step 3 –
Our water tank came with a spot already for a water inlet. So the next step for us was simply just screwing in our water inlet. This one we used is a 3/4 to 1 inch barb.
After this, we attached a 3/4 inch to 13mm barb to a pre-existing hole for the connection to our water pump.
- Step 4 –
Now that your tanks are ready to go under the bus it is time to work out some support pieces.
Underneath our Toyota Coaster, behind our rear wheels on the outside edge, there is not a lot of structural spots to attach brackets for a water tank. For us, that meant we needed to attach a piece of 30mm X 30mm angled steel between two structural pieces for support.
This piece was pre drilled and bolted into place using M8 hi tensile bolts.
- Step 5
Finally it is time to get the water tanks into place.
Each water tank requires 2 brackets; each bracket is made up of 3 pieces of 50mm flat bar steel, purchased from Bunnings.
It is easiest to prop your tanks up into place as there is no exact measurement; each piece will need to be measured and adjusted as you go.
The pieces are cut and hammered into shape according to where your tanks are positioned. After this they are then bolted to the shazzy using the same M8 hi tensile bolts.
Once all of your RV grey water and fresh water tanks are in place, it is time for plumbing, the job we enjoyed most – NOT!
Watch the fresh and grey water tank install on Youtube here 🙂
