Where do you dump your wetvac?

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drew.haynes

New member
Mine has about 3 inches of water in the bottom, if you can call it that. It smells like S**T, it's black, and it has tons of paper, plastic, and dead plant scraps in it! Where do you dump yours?
 
Man I can just see me trying to dump that all in the toilet without making a huge mess. And god only knows if it would all FIT IN the toilet or flush. Gonna pass on that one. The only other times I'd dumped it it WAS in a neighbor's backyard, but it was vacant at the time. Not so sure I should go dumping stuff where people actually live, they'll probably know it's me! I'm always outside working on stuff and using my vacuum and detailing supplies.
 
drew.haynes said:
Man I can just see me trying to dump that all in the toilet without making a huge mess. And god only knows if it would all FIT IN the toilet or flush. Gonna pass on that one.
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Sounds like you are going to have to get some rubber gloves on and fish the solid stuff out. I would toss the solid stuff (and the gloves) in a sealed plastic garbage bag and put it in your outside garbage can. The liquid stuff should be able to be flushed down the toilet.



Also, you may want to drain your wet vac on a more frequent basis to control the smell or I wonder if a half cup of clorox bleach would help?
 
I'm interested to see what some others do on a regular basis as I've been wondering this my self. I always fish out the solids and drain the rest but since I live in a town home community and next to a lake. What do you guys with professional water reclamation system do?
 
drew.haynes said:
Mine has about 3 inches of water in the bottom, if you can call it that. It smells like S**T, it's black, and it has tons of paper, plastic, and dead plant scraps in it! Where do you dump yours?
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I'd dump it in a heavy duty black garbage bag and put it in the trash.



In the future try to use a filter bag for normal vacuuming and remove it when you wet-vac (and clean it up before putting the bag back in). It is a bit of a hassle but it helps prevent stuff like this from happening. I have one Shop-Vac with a bag and another (Ridgid) that I dedicate to wet use. The 12 gallon Ridgid always goes on sale at HD the day after Thanksgiving for about ~ $30.
 
If I fish out all the solids, can I just dump all the liquid down a street drain? I feel shady if any neighbors see me, but I mean, it's just nasty dirty water, that's what goes down there anyway every time rain washes down the street!
 
Also, that 12 gallon ridgid is what I have but DAMN, I know I paid more than 30 for it. It's been a couple years. Lol.



How about just put like two trash bags in the tub next time so they can handle the weight, tuck them over the sides.. so I can just take the top off, tie them and toss them out!
 
drew.haynes said:
Also, that 12 gallon ridgid is what I have but DAMN, I know I paid more than 30 for it. It's been a couple years. Lol.



How about just put like two trash bags in the tub next time so they can handle the weight, tuck them over the sides.. so I can just take the top off, tie them and toss them out!
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You could try that, but I think the bags will get sucked onto the motor/filter.



The only thing I don't like about that Ridgid is they don't make a filter bag to fit it. If they did I'd get rid of my other vac.
 
I mainly use the shop vac for dry waste, but if I need to vac liquid...I empty the dirt first.



If you are in a situation where you are ROUTINELY using a vet vac for liquid and solids, here is a tip.

Get a 5 gallon bucket and drill a few 1" holes near the bottom, put some screening in the bucket to cover the holes and fill 1/3 full with sand. You can drain the vac onto the sand and the water will filter through the sand, leaving all the "junk" on the surface which can be scraped off (or you can just dump the whole bucket with sand and crud into the trash after it dries out).
 
drew.haynes said:
If I fish out all the solids, can I just dump all the liquid down a street drain? I feel shady if any neighbors see me, but I mean, it's just nasty dirty water, that's what goes down there anyway every time rain washes down the street!
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I live in a neighborhood that didn't have public sewage and so therefore the storm drain from the street actually ends in my backyard (working with the county to get it piped all the way through) and I can't stand to see (and have to pick up) all the garbage that goes through my yard when it rains. Do me (and my kids and dogs) a favor and try not to put too much $*@% down the drain. I too pull the solids out and then dump the liquid in the toilet and rinse in the tub.
 
I have a utility sink in my garage. Just get one of those noodle strainers from walmart for a few bucks and dump everything threw that and down the drain. Make sure you follow up with a few gallons of clean water to flush it down. That way it goes to the treatment plant and doesn't end up in the lakes and rivers so quick.
 
drew.haynes said:
If I fish out all the solids, can I just dump all the liquid down a street drain? I feel shady if any neighbors see me, but I mean, it's just nasty dirty water, that's what goes down there anyway every time rain washes down the street!
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Depends on how your sewers are set up. Where I live, there's a cleanout at the bottom of it, so the solids stay out of the water stream and get dug out once a quarter or so.



However, I would never do such a thing, and I always dispose of my shopvac remnants through a licensed contractor:grinno:
 
If your street drains don't just end up in someone's back yard, IE a larger town, I don't see what is wrong with just dumping it in the storm drain. Nothing worse goes down there during rain storm and I didn't see you mention anything nasty or potentially hazardous. As far as dumping it in the tub, as mentioned, it all still ends up in the same place!!

I would have probably just dumped it out in the street gutter without thinking about it. LOL
 
nighttraingirl said:
If your street drains don't just end up in someone's back yard, IE a larger town, I don't see what is wrong with just dumping it in the storm drain. Nothing worse goes down there during rain storm and I didn't see you mention anything nasty or potentially hazardous. As far as dumping it in the tub, as mentioned, it all still ends up in the same place!!

I would have probably just dumped it out in the street gutter without thinking about it. LOL
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Around here because the stormwater runoff and sewage pipes are combined when there are heavy downpours the contents of the system get dumped unfiltered into Lake Erie :wall. Because of this I'd advise against dumping during a rainstorm into the street gutters unless you know that the sewage/stormwater are separate systems and are both treated.
 
C'mon - it's just dirty water - I just dump mine out back (live in the country) and come back later to scoop up the 'hair ball'... and if there's no plastics or other inorganics, nature can take it's course.



Ashes to ashes, dust to dust.
 
abbeysdad said:
C'mon - it's just dirty water - I just dump mine out back (live in the country) and come back later to scoop up the 'hair ball'... and if there's no plastics or other inorganics, nature can take it's course.



Ashes to ashes, dust to dust.
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I do the exact same, but I live in the country as well... just dump it, let it dry, then pick out the coins/plastic stuff.
 
tamponteaser said:
..... Get a 5 gallon bucket and drill a few 1" holes near the bottom, put some screening in the bucket to cover the holes and fill 1/3 full with sand. You can drain the vac onto the sand and the water will filter through the sand, leaving all the "junk" on the surface which can be scraped off (or you can just dump the whole bucket with sand and crud into the trash after it dries out).
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This is the best solution I've read so far. Excellent idea:up



another idea is take a plastic outdoor flower pot, one of those black plastic containers which already has holes in it, then throw some rocks in it so the holes don't get blocked solid, and fill it halfway with sand. Same exact idea, just a smaller container.



JOE
 
Solids in the shop vac tub will stay put while you slowly pour the liquid into the toilet. Drain as much liquid as you can, and flush. Anything left should be put into an old wal-mart bag and put into the trash.



Ideally you should dump the tub when changing from dry to wet.
 
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