Now that we have spent some six or more summers on the continent we were aware of some of the issues of being mirror image regards services and door. I can understand the sites are set up for European caravans as the huge majority of caravans are European but it can be awkward for a Brit van to use comfort/super all singing pitches without having to compromise somewhere. It’s usually the waste which is difficult to connect or even worse it’s uphill. I saw an idea where the grey waste is pumped out of the waste container powered from cigarette lighter socket in the battery box. I switched from inside by fitting a double switch where the under pelmet light switch was and feeding a cable from the live feed to the socket, up to the switch and back down to the socket. Works well and you wouldn’t know it was there.
My issue with this system is my old man memory insofar as I just forgot to empty the waste by switching the pump on and usually forgot to turn it off when the container was empty. I thought the only way to go was to automate the bit that I was responsible for. Now this has taken some thought and a small (£40) fortune to get right but it works really well.
Firstly I thought about getting some kind of float switch to automatically turn on the pump. When I tried the search on the bay of E it came up with bilge pumps. Of course that’s just what I needed. I then wanted something for it to sit in to catch the waste/grey water. I found a bucket on eBay with a lid which is low enough to allow for a fall to help with the drainage. I also had to find a way of straining the water to remove those odd peas and bits of onion which always find their way into the waste pipe. I drilled a 28mm hole in the lid of the bucket and the lid of a clix type small sealing pot. I then made a few holes in the base of the clix container and using sealant, stuck some mesh across the hole in the bottom as well as some standing up which allows for greater flow. I used some flexi convoluted pipe to join the bilge pump to the outlet pipe by using the sealing rubbers, which was a super tight fit. I bought a couple of reducers to allow the flexi pipe to fit nicely and fitted a small waterproof plug/socket to power the pump through the side of the bucket. Everything came via eBay and as stated, cost about £40 all in. I have to say it works really well and means it doesn’t matter if it’s uphill or not but also doesn’t depend on me remembering to switch the pump on. Win win!

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Well done you. A man after my own heart. Someone who can look at something and come up with an idea to make it better. Not many people left these days with a bit of ingenuity I'm afraid.