From: John De Armond
Newsgroups: rec.outdoors.rv-travel
Subject: Re: Another Poop Sheet
Message-ID: <72vddv8la63ti3pm8tsk5ve592h2h9pbrm@4ax.com>
Date: Fri, 30 May 2003 02:53:37 -0400

On Thu, 29 May 2003 12:31:04 -0500, Bob Giddings <bobg@vcmails.com> wrote:

Oh God, Now you've done it, Bob.  A couple of years ago when I described the
same thing, using the manhole right outside my restaurant, the hue and cry was
deafening. Yada thought I was doing abortions on the street or something.  One
guy literally had tears on his keyboard as he described how horrible it would
be for the telephone guys to have to wade in my sh*t.  Guess he missed the
part about "sewer".  Others absolutely swore that I was contaminating the
river habitat of every creature from here to the left coast.  Guess they
couldn't tell the difference between "sanitary" and "storm" sewer.

>I dunno if this is legal.  There's nothing that's not illegal
>somewhere, including motherhood.  Maybe even apple pie.  But for me,
>dumping sewage into the sewer passes the ...ah... sniff test.  Would I
>do it on the road?  In a strange town?  Could be, in the absence of a
>proper dump.  It only takes minutes, and harms no one.  Maybe I would.
>But you'll never know about it.
>
>And I'm still considering one of those little blue tanks.

Given how fascism has taken such root in some parts of the country, my use of
sanitary sewer manholes would vary accordingly.  I'd certainly never do it
anywhere in yankeeland, along the left coast or in Atlanta.  OTOH, I routinely
do it here and occasionally in other Southern towns.

If you want to make it even easier, get one of those short 90 sewer elbows
made out of clear plastic like $CW$ sells.  Then you need no hose and you can
see when everything's finished and running clear water.

Regarding getting the covers off.  I've seen two different types around the
South.  The more modern type is solid and has a recessed bar in the center,
designed for a lifting hook.  A set of curved jaw vice-grips handles that one
quite nicely.

The other type, obsolete now that EPA wants rain water kept out of sanitary
sewers but still in common use, has a series of vent holes in the top and 2 or
more square or rectangular holes designed for a lifting tool.  My lifting tool
consists of a pair of old T-handle wrenches I bought at a flea market.  I cut
the socket wrench off the end, heated the end and hammered a tight 90 deg hook
on the end.  I simply hook a wrench in a hole on either side of the lid and
lift.  Had I not had the T-handle wrenches I'd have just welded together a
couple of hunks of 3/8" steel round stock to make the Tee.

Sometimes you'll find the lid stuck from the buildup of dirt.  A trick that
worked for me was to roll over the lid with my MH, sharply stabbing the brakes
when the front wheel was on the lid.  The shock jarred the lid loose enough to
lift.

Can't speak for everywhere but I KNOW that this is "OK" here in Cleveland.  On
more than one occasion I've had the local beat cop stop to chat (and usually
mooch some BBQ) while I've been dumping.  I try to do this only late at night
when there's no traffic on my street but on occasion I've had to do it earlier
and have had the cop direct traffic for me.