Grey Tank (Kitchen Sink) Starting to Stink

[chaseav]

Oh, yeah I should add that this was on my own property. I only dumped the gray onto the grass through the sewer solution that brought it 40ft away and at times when the sun was out. I was amazed how quickly the sun evaporated it and the ground was sloped so the water disbursed too. The black tank I dumped into a portable tank which I towed away to a septic clean out. It all worked out really well... just had to buy 250ft more fresh water hose than I thought I would.

[xrvr]

Okay, your property, yours to do as you please. Not telling you to do this but, you can bury a fifty gallon barrel with holes in the bottom and sand underneath with a pipe on top and use this as a dump station. Your land, keep it discreet and away from your well. Use this for the black tank and do the gray water as you said. This is probably illegal, but it is your property.

[mandolindave]

A " honey dipper " pump truck was emptying the waste tanks of the camper next to mine, and had an equipment failure. He ended up having to dump about 20 gallons of grey water on my campsite. It smelled so bad, that I thought it was black water. I was really upset, and then more upset when the operator told me not to worry, and dumped more clean water over the spill. But just as he said the water soaked into the ground and the smell went away, in about 15 minutes. He said micro organisms in the soil made short work, of eating the bacteria. ( not advice..just a comment )

Here is the advice. Grey water that was once on your body, in your mouth, and on your dishes…..gets really nasty, really quick. To me putting perfume and chemicals in the grey tank, results in a smell that is not much better. Try using an enzyme treatment in your grey tank. Gone is the need to try to totally clean your tank…Gone is the fowling of the environment with chemicals.

You can use Ridex made for septic tanks. It's cheap and easy to find

[J. Morgan]

Or a quart of clorox poured down the drain into a mostly full gray tank can do amazing things in several hours...

[gwydir]

Highly recommend Unique brand RV Digest-it. Believe you can find it at Tru-Value and other hardware and RV stores. Works well, is safe.

[batman]

Perhaps I missed something, most of the posts suggest masking the odors with chemicals or even enzymes. Great.
However, having done a fare bit of plumbing. The P-trap is supposed to block any odors coming from the holding tanks. Regardless of what is in them. It is a physical water barrier.
However on some models they have a Studor vent between the P-trap and the holding tank (typically just behind the P-trap). In my opinion if you have odors from your sink and you have water in the trap. Check your Studor Vent!


-Dennis

[J. Morgan]

Clorine will kill the germs that cause stink, and then the chlorine evaporates.

Not masking odors, but eliminating them at their source. The source is ROT, whether in the tank, pipes, or traps.

[slowmover]

HEP-Vo Waterless Valve as alternative to p-trap.

As a rule, there's sort of never too much water in tanks. Evaporation is the biggest problem in creating long term stink.

I've used packaged chemicals, recommended methods, etcetera. These days some water softener and laundry detergent works well enough when premixed in 5-gl bucket. I use the distilled water that comes off the dehumidifier to flush at sinks or toilet; plain or with mix.

The clear Flush King is the other end.

If there is a smell I have learned to inspect vent stacks.

[Ted S.]

I use Pure Blue Power in the black and grey tanks. When finished dumping, I add a gallon or so of water and a few ounces of Blue Power.

When storing, sometimes I will fill both black and grey tanks with water and add 1/2 gallon of Blue Power and let it sit for 1-2 weeks. Seems to work well. When I dump after that it's like clear water with suds and zero smell.

[chaseav]

Originally Posted by avionstream

Okay, your property, yours to do as you please. Not telling you to do this but, you can bury a fifty gallon barrel with holes in the bottom and sand underneath with a pipe on top and use this as a dump station. Your land, keep it discreet and away from your well. Use this for the black tank and do the gray water as you said. This is probably illegal, but it is your property.

I came very, very close to doing this but the wife talked me out of it. Mostly because I'd be hand digging and would have made a huge mess. Great idea for a hunting camp though and yes, apart from being extremely illegal (mostly because you wouldn't get a permit or do a perc test) I could see this setup working very well.

[Lily&Me]

I'm with J. Morgan.

A little bit of Clorox down the sink keeps the odors away.

Not too much, and well diluted. Been doing this 8+ years.

I carry bleach tablets, that you can buy in the bleach section at WalMart.

Small, convenient, dissolve in a couple of cups of water....wipe down the toilet, step flush thingy, and anything else that would benefit from brightening....then pour it down the sink drain to clean and freshen things up.

Works every time.


Maggie