What black tank treatment do you use in your AI

[dznf0g]

Recently started using the Rid-X brand of RV liquid. It is an enzyme based treatment and I have been very impressed with its solid and paper breakdown capability.

[Siegmann]

I too just started using the Rid-X product. Just curious, how have you evaluated the "solid and paper breakdown capability"?

[dznf0g]

Originally Posted by Siegmann

I too just started using the Rid-X product. Just curious, how have you evaluated the "solid and paper breakdown capability"?

Wellll, Gotta get a little gross for that answer. I used to see and hear the "plop" of solids and wads of paper toward the end of the dump cycle as "things" would drop into the dump station port. No more. Also, I can see straight down to the tank through my toilet, right at the low end of the tank where the exit to the dump valve is. Whereas, I used to see pretty complete paper sheets and "preserved" solids, I now see only a thin slurry and very small paper particles. When empty and looking down the toilet, there is virtually nothing left, without, or prior to, flushing with clear water.

[Siegmann]

Thanks..... I think.

[Caffeinated]

I've been using the commercial enzyme products sold at camping world for years. No real issue, other than in hot weather I have to use more.

Mike

[TinShack]

Originally Posted by Caffeinated

I've been using the commercial enzyme products sold at camping world for years. No real issue, other than in hot weather I have to use more.

Mike

Ditto, I've tried a lot of different stuff and found this Pure Power Blue Waste Digester to work the best for me.

[Laidback1]

Great info folks. Thanks!
What's your process when you dump the black tank and then put up your AI for the next adventure? Do you use the same treatment in the tank? Add water? add something else?

Mark


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[Royce]

I have used Unique for 7 summers now. No odor and the tank drains completely.
Unique Natural Products | RV Digest-It Holding Tank Treatment | Safe Products That Work

[Marks71]

Originally Posted by Laidback1

Great info folks. Thanks!
What's your process when you dump the black tank and then put up your AI for the next adventure? Do you use the same treatment in the tank? Add water? add something else?

Mark


Sent from my iPhone using Airstream Forums

see my post #19 above. Don't have time to look back now, but sure I've read that in one of the AI manuals, or that AI book that everyone has.

[mandolindave]

I did a side by side test. That sealed the deal. ( besides the environmental reasons )

Ridex is cheaper than the bottled RV enzyme treatments.

RV waste tanks are really VERY much like septic tanks in a lot of respects.

Also, Enzyme treatment systems don't call for a spotless waste tank. They actually work better when they have something to feed on

But the reason I am responding is that I was just told by a " country " plumber who always deals with septic tanks, that Bakers Yeast is the way to go. ( and you can use the enzymes in conjunction with the bakers yeast )

And to answer posters other question. Grey tanks get almost as nasty as black tanks.( I know this because the camper next to me had a grey water mishap ) If I had a grey tank, I would use enzymes on it too.

[cactusjk]

Ours came with a bottle of Walex Pure Power toilet treatment and some Bio-Pak tablets. Sounds like both have pretty good reviews unless I am missing something?

[hshovic]

I look down the hole, and it is clean as a whistle. Ok, not quite that clean, but free of all visible material. That's after 80,000 miles.

I just manage the blackwater. Keep til 1/2 full, then dump immediately after driving. Allow a bit of graywater up that side after dumping (keeps material from jamming black valve).

Use plenty of water when flushing the toilet.

When on hookups, follow the same procedure. Don't leave anything open to dribble out and crust over. (ewww..)

When storing, make sure there is nothing in the tanks. This keeps settlement from becoming a problem.

No treatments, no smell, no problem!

[Lily&Me]

Photobum here recently recommended a cup of Borax and 1/2 cup liquid Tide after dumping, followed by a gallon of hot water.

I'm going to be trying that tomorrow, and I'll let y'all know how it works.


Maggie

[slowmover]

Among other things I tend to use water softener. Hard water makes problems worse, so far as I can tell.

[cactusjk]

So is this stuff bad for the tanks?

Originally Posted by cactusjk

Ours came with a bottle of Walex Pure Power toilet treatment and some Bio-Pak tablets. Sounds like both have pretty good reviews unless I am missing something?

[2hamsinacan]

We were fulltimers from 2006 to 2012 and sometimers after that. We have always used only nature's own cleaning agent in our tanks...plenty of plain old water and never have had any odor or other problems. It was easier to manage with larger black tanks in our 30' Airstream Excella and later in our 40' Foretravel Class A. . .not as easy, but doable in our 19' Casita travel trailer (15 gal black tank). I also used a Flush King to back flush the Casita (the Excella and Foretravel had their own flush systems). We are planning to buy a Grand Tour AI later this year, and plan to use the H2O method with it. We'll see how that goes.

[Lily&Me]

Originally Posted by Lily&Me

Photobum here recently recommended a cup of Borax and 1/2 cup liquid Tide after dumping, followed by a gallon of hot water.

I'm going to be trying that tomorrow, and I'll let y'all know how it works.


Maggie

After dumping my tanks Monday morning, I dropped these down the toilet, followed by hot water.

I liked the idea of this mixture sloshing around my empty black tank as I drove home, and it certainly does have a nice scent.

I am planning to add no other chemicals to the black tank...we'll see.

I have also stopped dropping toilet paper down there, as the paper seems to generally be the biggest consumer of water for flushing, and is also what wants to adhere internally.

I bought some small, scented trash bags, and put one on a small, peel&stick hook on the bathroom wall...where no one can see it but me...then tied it off for the trash when full.

This method will conserve black tank capacity as well as water.


Maggie

[InterBlog]

Originally Posted by Lily&Me

...

I have also stopped dropping toilet paper down there, as the paper seems to generally be the biggest consumer of water for flushing, and is also what wants to adhere internally....

That is how certain other countries handle it as a matter of course, including Mexico. As procedures go, it may work in certain limited-use scenarios but not very well at the height of summer in the subtropics. One of my industrial clients with a predominantly Mexican-origin workforce actually pays someone a full time wage to stand in the restroom and enforce the company policy that the toilet paper goes into toilet and not the trash bin, because old habits are hard to break. If this isn't done, the odors are too strong and that has a deleterious impact on business as clients and investors wonder why the plant smells so bad.

[xrvr]

We stayed at a cg in the keys that had a large Latino clientele, the bathrooms smelled terrible because the waste bins were full of used tp.

[Lily&Me]

I believe that a small scented bag, tied off and disposed of, shouldn't be a problem.


Maggie