Can we talk toilet paper?

jimh425 wrote:

sasquatchgeoff wrote:
It's usually where I put my fish

Yuck, I thought you said your ice was in your waste tank. ;)

With a family of four, space is at a premium :)

sasquatchgeoff wrote:
It's usually where I put my fish

Yuck, I thought you said your ice was in your waste tank. ;)

ICE is just expensive WATER (I get all I want for free at the lot where I park my rig)
ICE does not have scrubbing properties (Agreed, but it seems to dislodge heavier deposits at the bottom and the upper sides of the tank)

Use a high water to solids ratio when flushing toilet (Agreed - MANDATORY)
Dump when tank is 3/4 or higher level
add water back to tank so it does NOT dry out...stuff can't stick and get hard when kept wet. (Agreed, the melted ice always provides the "starter" liquid that keeps the tank from drying out)

ICE is for drinks not waste tank (I don't drink, and I never use ice for beverages. It's usually where I put my fish):)

My family and I have been on the road and living in our truck camper for the past 10 months... the four of us use the toilet every single day and dumping the black tank has been catch as catch can, so sometimes every day and sometimes just once a week. While boondocking we do our best to conserve water which means that we use as little as possible for flushing. We have also been at campgrounds with full hook-ups and used a bowl-full of water with every flush. When we do dump, some of the dump stations have had water available for rinsing the black tank (my TC has a built-in tank flush system), and some haven't. That's a whole lot of variables.

I have purchased every imaginable kind of toilet paper; I started with super-soft two-ply stuff, but it caused complete clogs of the black water tank outlet on several occasions (not fun)... Then I switched to the one-ply RV stuff, which never caused a clog, but my wife and kids complained about its "functionality". Finally a few months ago I switched to Cottonelle brand "Clean Ripple". This stuff is inexpensive, available everywhere. It is single-ply, and septic safe, but it also feels thick and does its intended job very very well. No complaints from the family and no more clogs.

I'm sure that there are other brands that work well, but this is the one that I've decided to stick with from here on out



Cheers,
-Mark

sasquatchgeoff wrote:
We use regular paper. Always dump a full tank. Before heading out, with an empty tank, I throw 15 lbs of ice in the tank, then drive for an hour on a winding road. The ice breaks up the accumulated deposits, then they are released in the next dump.

ICE is just expensive WATER
ICE does not have scrubbing properties

Use a high water to solids ratio when flushing toilet
Dump when tank is 3/4 or higher level
add water back to tank so it does NOT dry out...stuff can't stick and get hard when kept wet.

ICE is for drinks not waste tank

We use regular paper. Always dump a full tank. Before heading out, with an empty tank, I throw 15 lbs of ice in the tank, then drive for an hour on a winding road. The ice breaks up the accumulated deposits, then they are released in the next dump.

I always wondered about what paper was supposed to be used in a camper, now I know.
Having said that, I have never had an occasion to use the toilet in my camper, I always find somewhere else to go.
I grew up without a bathroom in my house. I remodeled the house in 2007 and installed a bathroom.
While I use the shower, I only use the toilet maybe once a day.I live on a large ranch and am usually miles away from the house when the time to goes comes. I just do what the cows do.
In the camper I do keep water in the bowl, but have the lid duct taped shut.

blueglide wrote:
I am not sure why one would choose to use that method in a RV since the blackwater tank is simply a holding tank to later be dumped into a proper sewer system than can handle paper, etc.

There are some key elements in this sentence .

Yes the blackwater tank is a simple holding tank , almost anything that goes down the toilet will come out the hose , then it is someone else's problem .

Proper sewer system . Municipal treatment plant , rural septic system ( most campgrounds , rest stops , and rural homes) pit toilet . Only the first will filter out wipes , napkins , etc.

Please think of what happens down the line .


This is not aimed at Blueglide or anyone else in particular .

In many countries other than the United States and Canada it is common to dispose of paper in dedicated bins since the plumbing systems are not set up to handle toilet paper. I am not sure why one would choose to use that method in a RV since the blackwater tank is simply a holding tank to later be dumped into a proper sewer system than can handle paper, etc. But hey, to each his own! :R In my original post I inquired if folks were experiencing problems I was unaware of using household paper in their systems...it appears from those responses that problems are rare or not at all.

SugarHillCTD wrote:
We just hang a plastic bag in the bathroom and the paper goes in there, not into the toilet.

No it does not smell.

This practice is common in countries where fresh water is in short supply.