Technically, this is a hack that I should’ve included when I did the series of posts about the composting toilet. That 5-part series is listed at the bottom of the post. The reason is that you should not consider converting the sewer hose to a garden hose if you have a black tank. The bulk of a black tank (even if you don’t throw toilet paper into it) risks not fitting through a garden hose. And that would be one nasty mess to unclog and clean.

Now some black tanks come with a macerator that chops all the solids into small pieces. But, I have to say, even with one of those, I suspect a garden hose as a sewer hose wouldn’t be a wise idea.

In other words, this is probably only a good option for those with composting toilets, cassette toilets or other set up where you are only draining a gray tank.

This was a hack I heard about from Paula, another Oliver owner, at the 2019 Oliver Travel Trailer owners’ rally. So, here’s a shout-out to her because I never heard of such a thing. And, even after nearly three years on the road, I’ve also never seen someone else have this sewer set up.

Why I Decided Converting the Sewer Hose Was a Good Idea

I may not have decided that converting the sewer hose was a good idea just because. However, one day during my stay in Deming, New Mexico, I emptied the gray tank and discovered water coming out of the hose. Luckily it was only gray water.

At first I thought it was a loose connection and the water dripping off the hose was just because that was the lowest point. But, upon further investigation, I found two cracks (each a couple inches long) in the plastic of the slinky sewer hose. Probably a combination of the push-and-pull of the slinky action based on me extending it to connect to the sewer drain and smooshing it to get it stored away in my bumper after unhooking. Plus, temperature changes from one stop to the next.

I did the ol’ duct tape fix. And then contemplated buying a replacement section of hose. That’s when I remembered this hack and decided converting the sewer hose was the best solution. I mean, replacing the sewer hose, likely, meant more cracks a couple years down the road.

I dug around in the old gray matter to remember what I’d learned at the Oliver rally. And then, six months later–finally–I ended up converting the sewer hose to a garden hose. Below are the step-by-step, easy instructions.

One note: I’d recommend doing this conversion while you have a little gray water in the gray tank so that you can test everything when you are done.

Hack: Converting the Sewer Hose

Photo is of a blue and white garden hose rolled up, two black end caps for an RV sewer hose, and a black and orange sewer connection fitting still in the original box.

Supplies You ‘ll Need:

Back, lower half of a white travel trailer. Can see the bumper, the case for the spare tire as well as the blinkers.

STEP 1: Locate your sewer hose connection.

In the case of the Oliver, the sewer hose connection is in the back bumper. The process should be the same no matter what type of RV you have or where your sewer connection is.

Small outlet with two black handles. One says black tank and the other says gray tank. A person's hand is pushing in the gray tank handle.

Step 2: Be sure your gray tank is closed. You don’t want to start working and have icky dirty gray water splash on you.

Back, lower half of a white travel trailer. Can see the bumper, the case for the spare tire as well as the blinkers. Bumper is opened and a gray sewer hose is coming out of it.

Step 3: Follow your sewer hose up to the connection and unhook it. A little water might come out but that’s okay. It’s just water that was sitting in the hose.

In this photo, can you make out my blue duct tape? It was my patch job when the hose cracked.

Inside a silver bumper, photo is a close up of the place were an RV sewer hose is attached. The tube is 3" black round.

Step 4: Wipe away any grime or gunk where the new sewer hose will attach to the RV’s sewer outlet. Notice the four small round things on the outside of the connection? That’s where the new sewer hose piece will hook and twist on.

A close up on both ends of a blue and white garden hose. A black 3" piece of round plastic is attached to either end. The round piece has a string off of it with a small cap on the end.

Step 5: Tightly attach the drain adapter and valve cap to the applicable ends of your garden hose. Each one only fits on one end so you can’t mix these up.

Same shot as above except now the adapter with hose is attached. Still a very close up shot.

Step 6: Attach the waste valve cap to the sewer line connection of your RV.

One note here. The valve cap attaches with those little hooks (which you can see well in the photo below) to the sewer line that has little round pieces that stick out (which you can see in the photo above this one). The hooks grab on to the pieces that stick out and then you twist it to secure it tight. It’s worth taking the time before you purchase your supplies to make sure the valve cap you want lines up correctly with the sewer line.

In my case, my sewer line has four pieces that stick out though my valve cap only had two hooks. But, because everything was equidistant from each other, the two hooks lined up with two of the sticking out pieces.

The guy at Camping World (and, admittedly, he didn’t seem to know too much) said that some valve caps or sewer lines might have three. So while two and four are compatible with each other, three and four would not be. Does that make sense?

The end of a hose with the black adapter attached. Than attached to that is the short orange and black slinky-like sewer seal.

Step 7: Attach the sewer seal to the gray tank drain adapter on the other end of the hose.

Step 8: Open the gray tank to make sure all fittings are tight and there are no leaks or misalignment. Obviously, it is best if you are hooked up to a sewer drain. I was boondocking so did mine in the street. However, I only let a little bit out. Remember, without a black tank, the water is not sewage and, therefore, not a bio-hazard. That said, gray water can be pretty stinky because of all that standing water with used soap, shampoo, dirty dish grim, etc.

Back, lower half of a white travel trailer. Can see the bumper, the case for the spare tire as well as the blinkers. Bumper is opened and the white and blue garden hose with the sewer seal is tucked into it.

Step 9: Tuck away the garden hose that will now serve as the sewer hose. Bonus: the garden hose takes up a lot less room so I created space in the bumper for something else. Maybe my drinking water hose?

I will admit that I kept the good section of the slink sewer hose. Just in case. If converting the sewer hose to a garden hose turns out to be easy and a good solution, then I’ll toss or give-away my slinky sewer hose sections. But to be cautious, I’m keeping it for now.

Bonus Hack

Since I was looking at and thinking about the bumper, I decided to polish it as part of converting the sewer hose to a garden hose.

Before I got on the road, I purchased a couple thousand dollars worth of supplies based on recommendations I picked up on other blogs, the Oliver forum, etc. It is not something I recommend. I ended up with stuff I never used and stuff that wasn’t right for me or my trailer.

But, that said, this tube of chrome polish is something I’ve been carrying around since before I was in the RV. It was nice to get the chance to use it for the first time. Of course, that’s more about me not polishing my bumper than about the product. The Simichrome Polish was a recommendation from another Oliver owner. I’m sure there are a fair number of good products out there for any polishing needs you have.

Photo of the tube of polishing paste sitting on a textured bumper. Tube is yellow and red with write writing. It says Simichrome Polish.

Wash area clean. Use a clean rag to spread the pink polishing paste over the chrome area. Wipe off. Then buff with a clean cloth. It’s a pretty easy task.

Close up of the back of the trailer in previous photos to show the silver back bumper.

Finished. Nice and shiny. Hmm…maybe I won’t wait another two and a half years before the next polish.

Other Composting Toilet Posts:

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