Black & Grey tank chemicals - What do you use ?

[Dakota98]

I'm using Calgon & deorderizer in the black tank now. What else can I do ?

[mrw8i]

I'm not shy, my sh!t3 stinks. Use plenty of water and an off the shelf deodorizer. The gray water is nasty as well, don't use anything in there; maybe I should.

[TechWriter]

2gypsies wrote:

We dry camp a lot and one thing you could do is to save your dish water for when you need to flush 'heavy' stuff. Pee doesn't require extra water.

Our dish water typically ends up in the black tank. However, since our black tank is smaller than our gray tank, dish water also ends up in our gray tank.

Anyway, we find that occasional use of bleach in both tanks is still necessary.

[rondeb]

Use the orange one (smells orange) from Walmart and use the gray water product they also have. I put Calgon in both the Gray and Black. The Calgon is a water softener and helps stop the hard water build up in the tanks.

[stetwood]

H20 (water)

[2gypsies1]

TechWriter wrote:

While I think flushing with plain water is the best method, it's not always possible. Not everyone camps at full hookup sites so unlimited tank flushing isn't always possible.

We dry camp a lot and one thing you could do is to save your dish water for when you need to flush 'heavy' stuff. Pee doesn't require extra water.

[rockhillmanor]

I don't smell anything coming out of the vent. I guess it dissipates before it reaches ground level.
In any case perfumed poo smells just as bad to me as natural organic poo.

I never did either until I headed South!

The whole black tank issue simply was not one when I RV'd in Wisconson. Spent years traveling around in the Midwest as a weekend RV'er. Didn't even give thought to the black tank except to dump daily or at the end of the weekend.

THEN.....one month in Florida in the Summer with no hook-ups trying to stretch my having to break camp to move MH to dump off site.......made ME a believer of good chems in the black tank to control odor!

Also, dumping at dump stations or CG hookups without sealed caps on opening and sewer hose can be a gagger. With chems in the black tank it is not.

Trust me fill a holding tank in a MH in 98 degree humid weather and letting it sit any length of time and you WILL start to smell it coming from somewhere and definitely when dumping! :W

BTW: There IS a difference between chems that actually 'control/eliminate' odors and ones that just add 'perfume' which I agree IMHO is even worse.

[jerem0621]

Water...lots and lots of water...solved one of my friends stinky tank issues with...water. Lots Nd lots of water.

[wbwood]

TST and lots of water

[pawatt]

We use only water.

[Clay_L]

rockhillmanor wrote:

Clay L wrote:
.. Except for the roof vent it is a sealed system. If the odor is not coming from the roof vent then you have a problem that needs to be fixed.....

And who on earth would want to smell it coming out of the vent?

Using holding tank chemicals not deodorants, prevents any smell from wafting down over your picnic table.:W

=Dakota98 "dollar Orange" ?????????

:B
I meant to type Dollar Store!
For just a buck you can buy a quart of generic lemon cleaner.

I find this bottle of liquid cleaner is just right for cleaning any grease off and deodorizing the 'gray' tank preventing odors from stray food stuffs that go down the kitchen sink.

I don't smell anything coming out of the vent. I guess it dissipates before it reaches ground level.
In any case perfumed poo smells just as bad to me as natural organic poo.

[love2rvcamp]

X2 on Happy Camper. Easy to use no strong smells and goes in gray tank as well

[valhalla360]

FrankShore wrote:
I create bacteria in the tanks to help eat away the gunk, grime and build up. This is the stuff I use

RV Digest-It

Buy a gallon of it and just put 4 oz into the tanks 24 hours before you plan on dumping! 4oz isn't a lot! This stuff is potent!

I create bacteria for the tanks too but I do it the all natural way. I chew up food, pass it thru my internal system and add a new deposit every time I flush.

You don't need to add baceria and other chemicals won't help break things down any faster. More importantly, the systems aren't designed to break things down. They are holding tanks not decomposition tanks.

Just make sure to use plenty of water and as long as the vent is clear, you should never notice an odor and you shouldn't get any blockages.

[TechWriter]

mowermech wrote:
Keep in mind that if your black tank "goes south", it just might have ammonia in it (urine becomes ammonia when it ages). Ammonia plus chlorine bleach (sodium hypochlorite) reacts violently, giving off chlorine gas, which is deadly.
Be careful.

Since pee is mostly just water and since your gray and black tanks are vented, there's very little chance of this happening.

[mowermech]

Keep in mind that if your black tank "goes south", it just might have ammonia in it (urine becomes ammonia when it ages). Ammonia plus chlorine bleach (sodium hypochlorite) reacts violently, giving off chlorine gas, which is deadly.
Be careful.