Oi, Oi Jon, how do I select a tank for my glamp?
How do I select a waste tank for my glampsite?
This is part two of a series of mini-blogs where JT, Glampsan’s General Manager helps you select the right sized tank for your glampsite. In this blog, we will look at choosing the right sewage waste tank size against the amount of glamping guests you have.
Big tank or little tank JT? At Glampsan, we get this question all a time.
If you are operating your glamping site in an off-grid location, where you capture all your guests’ waste in a holding tank, then it is critical to have the right tank to deal the volume of whiffy-waste created by your guests. Also, remember, you’ll need a safety reserve as your tanker removal company might not get to you straight away if your waste sanitation tank is close to being full.
Key waste and toilet facts!
- We all go to the loo about 6-8 times a day. Alcohol and coffee consumption may even increase this.
- Even glampers will want a shower once a day. They’ll also want to wash, brush teeth, and cook too. Duh!
- So, even though we are talking glamping, no matter how far "off-grid," people expect home-from-home comforts when it comes to using ‘the facilities’ etc
In an average everyday home environment, each person uses around 35-gallons a day (roughly 150-litres) a day. That is the worst case scenario, assuming that they are staying in all day, and using water for washing machines, and dishwashers etc. For a family (of four) that’s roughly 130-gallons per day. However, in a glamping context, people tend to use less water. Here’s a couple of case studies that illustrate this for you: appropriate holding tank sizes for waste produced over a weekend or a week’s stay.
Case study 1
Say a Glamping Business has bought a 2-person Shepherd’s Hut, which comes equipped with a standard toilet cistern, a sink and an electric shower. The business offers both full weekly rentals and short-term, weekend only occupancy. No cooking facilities are provided, but a small fridge, toaster and a kettle are installed so that a simple breakfast and drinks can be prepared. This is a walking area, so visitors will typically be off-site during the daytime. Although this is not an exact science, potential waste creation, per person, per day:
Hence, 2 visitors for a two-day weekend will add (2 x 208 litres) an estimated 416-litres (or 92-gallons) into a waste collection tank. So, if you add some contingency on that plus a bit of leeway for tanker collection then our plastic waste tank, the Mini Flat-Tank range starting at 160-gallons, would be ideal. And that’s the smallest Flat-Tank we sell. These sewage Flat-Tanks are a great and simple solution for each Shepherd's hut on your site. They could be sited directly under the cabin, slightly behind the cabin or partially buried a short distance away. You will then need to regularly schedule the waste removal tanker to pump this out and take waste away for each Shepherd's Hut.
It’s useful to bear in mind that tanker access will be needed to get to each Shepherd Hut. We’ll get to that in the next blog in the series.
For a 7-day stay, the tank size would work out at approx. 3000-litres (say 670-gallons) with contingency added. We have a 750-gallon Flat-Tank for that. So, that would cover this with some contingency. In this case, the collection would be arranged in 7-day intervals for all tanks to be emptied during the same visit.
Case study 2
This Glamping Business has installed a 4-person log cabin, which comes equipped with all mod-cons, a standard toilet cistern, a sink and an electric shower – woo-hoo! The business offers both full weekly rentals and short-term, and weekend only occupancy. Limited cooking facilities are provided alongside a small fridge, toaster.
The venue offers on-site entertainment for kids, so families may likely stay on site all day. The activities provided are likely to mean an increase in washing and showering.
Potential waste creation, per person, per day:
Hence, 4 visitors for a weekend will add (2 x 840 litres) an estimated 1680-litres (roughly 375-gallons) into a waste collection tank. Our 500-gallon Flat-Tank would quickly take care of this.
For a week’s stay that would be 5880-litres (or 1,300-gallons). With some built-in contingency, 2 of our 1000-gallon Flat-Tanks would be the most ideal solution for this scenario. We can simply couple or link the two tanks together and place them side-by-side. It’s also a simple way to prolong the interval between tanker removal too. The Flat-Tanks need to be suitably located nearby, or if possible, even underneath the pod or cabin if it is raised above the ground level. In this way, the holding tanks can be hidden from view, but still, be accessible for waste removal purposes.
- Both our above ground plastic effluent Flat-Tank and Mini Flat-Tank ranges are linkable. That is multiple tanks (of the same type) so that the waste flows into the first tank and then the second tank and then waste levels in each tank rise at the same time.
- Linking tanks is easy and allows ultimate flexibility: single tanks are easily manoeuvred and can be readily linked and unlinked (e.g. at the end of the use/hire period) to revert to standalone tanks.
So, there you have it – there is an art to selecting a waste sewage tank after all. At Glampsan, we’ll take that problem away from you. We’ll happily help you select whatever the right sized tank is for your specific need. Whether that’s a tank for a Shepherds Hut, a Treehouse, or a cluster of luxury pods, or a super-big glamp-camp, we can help you get your investment just right. Simply give us a call.
In our next blog in this series, we will look at waste removal and collection tankers.
And one more thing, we’re big on Social Media too
One of our passions is that we love using social media like Facebook, Twitter and Instagram in quirky and fun ways to appeal to you rather than trawl through endless emails. And we have lots of fun with video too, to get our messages across to you. So, please look out for our posts and join in with our world-wide-rave and like and follow us back.”
Have we told you that we believe we make (probably) the most awesome plastic sewage waste Flat Tanks in the universe? But, perhaps we’re biased!
Click here to explore other Glampsan blogs and here for 6 reasons why our Flat Tanks are big deal.
Sincerely, JT
0800 999 6010
