Black tank question

Dutchmansport....I understand what propose but I find it difficult to belive that the gray water will rush to the black tank with enough speed or force to fill it much at all. The idea just doesn`t seem to add up for me!

Oh, never even considered the dump tanks for that. I couldnt think of a practical reason for one, until you mentioned it. :)

Well I already have the tank treatment, though could always use it in my house septic. I currently just buy a big bag of yeast and flush it down the toilet. Cheap and effective.

As far as Dawn, another good practical use for it. Bet they never thought to advertise, Hey you can dump it in your Poo tank so it cleans out nicely! :) I use Dawn to remove the wax from my vehicles paint when doing a clay bar cleaning, before applying Zaino polish. Works great for that too.

Acdii wrote:
...It's too bad that I can't get my trailer within 15' of my septic tank, then I could drain it at home if I have to...

It's just not real practical to back my trailer at home to reach my septic tank. But I devised a work around. I have a Barker Blue Tote (32 gallons ... that hold 4 shower of water without spilling over ... AHHH!!! now you know why I dump after 4 showers!)...

Anyway, I dump into my tote at home, then attach the tote to my riding lawn mower and drag it to my septic tank and drain. This works GREAT!

It's just an idea! Something that might work for you, especially if you already have a tote! :)

There are a few members on this Forum that use a macerator pump and dump through a hose into their home's sewer system. That may alleviate some worry about arriving home with tank contents.

You don't need to have digestion going on in your holding tank. Having plenty of water to help dissolve solids and the agitation when on the road will break down sewage faster than any bacterial method.

Adding soap or a surfactant to the holding tank helps to get everything more slippery. I use cheap laundry products, occasionally. Cheap softener tends to have more perfume added, a nice byproduct of buying inexpensive water softener.

Good write up, thanks. Great, one more item on the list now! LOL At least I found a nice plastic container to store the wet hoses in.

You are correct in the fact you need your black tank full before dumping. But! I broke that rule several years ago and (for me) it does not matter how much is in the black tank. I dump every day when camping and here's how I do it, and my black tank is cleaned out very well every time.

I'm assuming you have a travel trailer since you posted in this forum. And I'm assuming your black and grey tanks discharge through the same outlet, 2 valves, but 1 outlet. If so, here's what you can do to successfully clean the black tank, no matter how much or little is in the tank; you backflush the gray water into the black tank and then drain the black tank. I repeat this 3 times, or as long as the gray water lasts.

First, this saves water and makes use of the gray water.
Second, it REALLY pulls "stuff" from the black tank.

The secret to success is to purchase a "Flush King" style valve with the clear section and attach to your tanks outlet. There are several knock-off brands that are cheaper and do exactly the same thing. Mine is not a "Flush King", but it's basically the same thing.

The second thing you need is water in the gray tank. I found out that 4 showers add just about the right amount needed to do a good back flush of te black tank. Remember, shower water goes into the gray tank.

You can do it with less water in the gray tank, you may only get 1 back flush, but that will be enough to clean the tanks. Repeat back flushes ALWAYS pulls more out of the black.

Steps:

Step 1: Attach Flush King (all 3 valves are closed).
Step 2: Attach sewer hose to Flush King and the campground sewer.
Step 3: Open the Flush King valve and the black tank valve and drain the black tank completely. (Here again, it doesn't matter how full the tank is.
Step 4: Close the Flush King valve, leave the black tank valve open, and now open the gray valve. This will flush the gray water into the black tank with a lot of force dislodging EVERYTHING remaining.
Step 5: Count to 10 so the two tanks equalize.
Step 6: Close the Gray valve.
Step 7: Open the Flush King valve. This will now drain the black tank again pulling more "stuff" out. You can see it with that clear section in the Flush King. You'll be very surprised how much more comes out, even if your black tank was 100% full, more will come out when you backflush.
Step 8: When the black tank quits running again, close the Flush King valve, leaving the black tank valve open, and open the gray again and repeat the process again. The second back flush will pull even MORE out!
Step 9: Repeat a 3rd time if you have sufficient gray water.

Here's a photo of the set up:



A- is the Flush King Valve
B- is my black tank valve
C- is my gray tank valve
D- is a hose you can attach to your Flush King. By closing the Flush King valve and leaving either tank valve open, you can add water to the tanks and back flush that way, it's just a lot slower
E- is the sewer hose

Steps for a 1 time flush:
Step 1: Open A, open B, Close C
Step 2: Close A, open B, open C
Step 3: Close C, open A, open B

Once you've done this, I think you'll find yourself doing it every time you drain your black tank. And the nice thing is, you can back flush without having to depend upon a full Black Tank.

As an added precaution, after draining your black tank and doing the back flush, add a couple gallons to the black tank and drive to your next destination. The added water to the tank while in transit will shake up anything remaining, and wash inside the tank. Add a few squirts of Dawn Dish washing liquid too, and your tanks will always be clean. Not to mention getting the inside of your tank nice and slippery!

Thats what I was thinking to do, but wanted to confirm first. Just as long as I am not driving home with full tanks. :) My trailer has a built in tank flush, which I intend to use thoroughly.

It's too bad that I can't get my trailer within 15' of my septic tank, then I could drain it at home if I have to, in case we do a short local boondock. Too many trees in the way.

Even when we have FHU, I generally don't hook up the hose until we're leaving. Gives both tanks time to fill and get a better flush out. I also us the "city water" gratuitously to fill the black tank before pulling the T handle.

Yep, got the email notification and it was a garbled mess, and I was like WTH? Edited it.

The holding tank of an RV is not the same as a septic tank for a house; there will be little to no breakdown over time. You are right, though, that it's best to let the black tank get as full as possible before dumping it, just to flush everything out easier. No reason not to do the same with the gray tank either. We can generally go 4 days camping without having to dump, though if we are moving on after 2-3 nights, we'll usually dump all waste tanks when leaving the CG, just so we're not carrying the extra weight of the wastewater around.

JMHO, but the cryptic title of your post may not serve to get you as many responses as you might like. I'd suggest titling your posts in a way that we know what's likely to be addressed in them.