No chemicals in grey tank.

[SilverCabin]

We use a gray tank deodorizer/cleaner product I think is sold under the TST brand. It's a lemony liquid and you can get it at Wally World. When we put Daisy away for awhile, we pour a little down each of the drains followed by a gallon of water equally distributed. This sits in the tank while we're not using it and when we are back on the road, we dispose of this tank in an RV dump station. We have never had any problems or smells with our gray tank following this procedure.

When we are traveling (moving each day instead of base camping), our daily routine is to use the pump and water in our fresh tank. Each morning we dump the grey water and refill the fresh tank. This keeps both tanks fresh and clean and we know the pump is working too.

If we are base camping and connected to a sewer, we let the gray water drain until the day before we need to dump the black tank. We save some wash water to use as a rinse for the hose. The only time we add any chemicals again is when we go back into storage.

The "old timers" have told me that when you dump gray water on the ground, where its allowed, you should dump it as it is made to prevent the possible side effects of too much wash water. To be as green as possible with a ground drain: (1) Strain all your wash water to make sure no garbage goes down the drain (you can get a sink strainer at Bed Bath and Beyond); (2) Drain at least 200 ft away from any natural ground water (rivers, streams, lakes, etc.), and (3) Eliminate all antibacterial soaps in your trailer--use only natural soaps. Following these rules you would do no harm.

Randy

[tkowalyk]

We put in digester into the gray tank if we are not using the RV for more than a month. We always use chemicals in the black tank -- I do not agree with Lev that using chemicals in the black tank makes no difference.

[Minnie's Mate]

I put enzymes in the black tank daily and dump it about once every 5 days. When we leave the campground to head home I flush the black tank really well and then let about 2-3 gallons of clear water to collect in the black tank and add a dose of enzymes about once per week until we go camping again. I tried a "green" environmentally friendly product that was pine scented...way too much pine smell. Smelled the bathroom up like Pinezol every time we flushed. I got rid of it and went back to the citrus scented enzyme stuff. I just put some of that down the drains in the sinks/showers daily.

[tpi]

I've never used chemicals in gray tank. I'm careful with dishwashing and very little food residue goes down the drain. Usually the gray water comes out smelling like shampoo or dish detergent.

[SilverCabin]

Originally Posted by Minnie's Mate

I put enzymes in the black tank daily and dump it about once every 5 days.

What product do you use in the Black Tank, and have you been happy with it, i.e., do you get any smell on a hot day with an almost full tank? I tried a free sample of something at Bozeman last year, and by the time our pumpout came (every four days) we were ready for that to go. I've always had good results with Thetford's formaldehyde free liquid, but the enzyme treatments sound interesting.

Randy

[Minnie's Mate]

Originally Posted by SilverCabin

What product do you use in the Black Tank, and have you been happy with it, i.e., do you get any smell on a hot day with an almost full tank?

Randy

Our Airstream dealer gave us a starter kit that included the orange powder, I forget the name, and we've never had a smell in the Airstream, even at Ft. Wilderness over the 4th of July week. Now, the effluent that comes out of the tank, now that is a different story (but not like a week's worth, probably like a day's worth). But I put a pouch in every day and break one pouch and wash it down the sink/shower drain every day after showers and drain the gray tank the next morning before showers. It is available at Wal-Mart.