Using Water Hose to Flush Sewer?

[Protagonist]

Originally Posted by jsutro

When I must drive to the dump station, I'll pour some ice cubes through the toilet first. Tends to sploch around and break up any solids, resulting in a "cleaner" black tank.

Wish I could, but my macerator pump won't crush ice.

[cwf]

Originally Posted by Protagonist

Wish I could, but my macerator pump won't crush ice.

Can't you just let it slosh around and melt then pump?

[Protagonist]

Originally Posted by cwf

Can't you just let it slosh around and melt then pump?

Depends on how long I want to drive laps of the campground before hitting the dump station.

[Minno]

Bleach solution is good for killing most bacteria, but bleach usually starts to degrade after it has been mixed with water in about 24 hours. When we used bleach solution to disinfect things in the past at work, we had to change out the solution after 24 hours. It's probably effective a little longer than that, but that was our protocol. Keeping bleach solution around in a spray bottle for months, is not an effective disinfectant. Luckily it's cheap, and you can dump it out and remix with little economic effect.
MRSA is still evolving and getting more virulent. There are community based strains, unfortunately. A couple of the hospitals here in Minneapolis/St Paul are routinely testing every patient admission for nasal MRSA .
VRE (Vancomycin Resistant Enterococcus) is also out there, but I haven't heard of a community based source - yet. It lives more in the intestinal tract and urine. MRSA, on the other hand, can be ANYWHERE in the body. Most people who contract infections have a decreased immunity at the time of infection due to surgery, illness, etc. It's tough to fight and requires some powerful antibiotics IV for weeks and weeks. Normal healthy people do not usually just contract MRSA without provocation.
HANDWASHING is the best way to prevent infection. Gloves are helpful when dumping your tanks, but you need to WASH your HANDS afterwards with soap and water. Gloves are not totally impervious, and you cannot count on them to completely protect you.
Lesson over.

Kay, R.N.

[eubank]

Just for a little more peace of mind when using a single hose, I'd get one of the inexpensive backflow preventers and place it between the hose and the Airstream:




Lynn

[MrUKToad]

On the subject of the relative position of the flush inlet and the city water inlet, my 28' International's flush inlet is a good distance from everything else - I wondered why and now I know!

[PharmGeek]

My new AS (bunkhouse) I'm told has a macerate pump between the head and the black tank - no ice for me - how many models use this feature (im told in specific cases it's used to move stuff uphill to accommodate a design element)

[PharmGeek]

Also - as it relates - if needed to clean off "stuff" that is visible debris - then even chlorine can fail - as it must penetrate said "stuff" - this stuff would need to be removed physically then spray with disinfectant

That is why they filter our sewage first then treat chemically - yuck

[dkottum]

Originally Posted by MrUKToad

On the subject of the relative position of the flush inlet and the city water inlet, my 28' International's flush inlet is a good distance from everything else - I wondered why and now I know!

Some are close, some not. Most probably it's not a sanitation consideration but rather wherever it fits. Looking at mine, it's close but that's how things fit together.

The more I read here, the more I realize cross-contamination is more about how this equipment is handled and less about the equipment itself. Good to rethink the procedures.

doug

[nickmeloy]

Originally Posted by eubank

Just for a little more peace of mind when using a single hose, I'd get one of the inexpensive backflow preventers and place it between the hose and the Airstream:




Lynn

Per AS, our 2006 30' Classic has a check valve in the black tank flushing system. See below.

"
Hello, Yes the black tank flush has a check valve in that system."