That’s a great use for your grey water The only thing to make sure you strain out any large scraps of food, which could have the unintended consequence of attracting animals to the campfire in the future. Otherwise, we think that’s a great tip.

I am a health inspector at a local public health department and the FDA food code allows chlorine (bleach) or quat sanitizer and both are equally effective. I recommend having test strips to check sanitizer concentrations.

Bears are attracted to any scent left in the woods. Even food properly stored in a bear-proof canister, it will perk their interest. Since it is impossible to eliminate all smells, the main goal to break the “smells = food” connection. Broadcasting your wastewater will disperse the smell, but if you did a good job straining out any food particulates, there won’t be any food.

Is there any danger of broadcasting your gray water in areas where bears live? In other words, will bears be attracted to any scents left in the gray water?

Thank you!

Thanks for the question. The hope with the bleach/steramine is that it’s so diluted that it will have minimal impact on the surrounding ecology. This is also why the broadcasting dispersal technique is so important. The greater the dilution, the larger the area it is spread over, the less the impact. Obviously, zero bleach in the wilderness is ideal, so it’s a trade-off. If you’re in a super-sensitive area, then perhaps you can make the personal decision not to completely sanitize your dishes and just clean them with biodegradable soap.

We’re going to be making some updates to this post shortly. This is one of the things we wanted to touch. Thank you for bringing it up.