RV Black Water Holding Tank Maintenance

↓ When it comes to maintaining your RV Black Water Holding Tank, there are many opinions out there. In Episode 45, I give a little history lesson on Holding Tank Chemicals and how they have evolved and made their way onto the shelves of an RV Store near you. More importantly, though, is which Holding Tank Chemical (Product) should you choose and what you should expect.

One point I need to clarify before I start to ramble on. I go back and forth between the terms Chemical and Product because, in today's world, not everything we put in our Holding Tanks can be called a chemical. Many products are not chemical-based products! They can be considered safe for the environment. Some products are safer than others, and that is part of the debate when it comes time to empty the Black Water Tank.

When choosing a Holding Tank Product, there are 4 objectives that you should try to accomplish. All 4 objectives should be considered equally important when that wonderful time comes to empty it!

1) The Toilet Paper Should be broken down.

2) The Solids should be broken down.

3) The Sensors should be clean and working.

4) The tank itself should be clean with little or no residual buildup.

Toilet Paper:

Not all toilet paper breaks down or liquefies when soaked in a bath of human waste or in plain water. In the past, we sold a Toilet Paper that was so cheap we could sell 6 rolls for a buck! It was also biodegradable and worked well in RV Holding Tanks. My Dad's sales pitch was really simple when someone asked if you could use it in an RV? He would reply "It works so good it melts in your hands". He just said, "What do you expect for a buck?" During the winter season, we would sell 500 rolls a day; it was quite a lead to get people in the store. Back to reality now!

Even though RV Toilet is a little spendy, it is the paper you really want to use in your tank; it breaks down more easily than residential Toilet Paper. When you couple RV Toilet Paper with a holding tank product designed to break down waste, you can't go wrong.

Solids:

The solids can either be preserved or broken down, depending on the Chemical/Product that you use. Thetford AquaKem Blue is a formaldehyde-based product that works well to mask odors. It is not effective at breaking down solids or toilet paper within the required time in an RV Holding Tank. A Bacterial Enzyme product, such as Pure Power Blue, is ideal for breaking down solids and toilet paper quickly.

I need to confess that I was formerly the President of OP Products, the manufacturer of Pure Power Green and Blue. With that said I very familiar with and tested most of the products on the market and I am pro Pure Power because it really works. My brothers and I launched Pure Power at a time when it was almost impossible to get a new Holding Tank Product into a store, let alone into the distribution channels. We broke through not because of our spectacular sales pitches, but because of the quality of Pure Power, and it worked as we said, and at that time, there was no other product like it. If you find a similar product and it works, by all means, continue to use it. I am just using Pure Power as an example of a product that I know firsthand that works.

Sensors:

The Sensors for the Holding Tank Gauges can be a real pain when they aren't working properly. Quite often, they are inaccurate due to Waste and/or Toilet Paper hung on them. When you use a product designed to break down the waste and liquefy toilet paper, it will naturally clean the sensors. If you use such a product, you should have well-functioning sensors most of the time.

I want to emphasize "most of the time", these are not sensors that are used on the space shuttle. These are made by the RV Industry, and bless their hearts for trying to get it right. Pure Power is the product that I recommend for ongoing Sensor Maintenance. If you experience serious issues, you can try Sensor Power as a proven solution. It uses specialized cleaning agents to give the sensors a Deep Cleaning.

The Tank:

The tank should be free of side-wall buildup after it is emptied and flushed. This will help prevent future odors caused by a dirty tank. It is obviously hard to peek inside your holding tank to see what is going on, and that is where a reliable Holding Tank Product comes in. If you continue to have odors and sensor problems,s you might need to change flavors.

If you accomplish these four steps in maintaining your RV Holding Tank, you will be, as they say, "A Happy Camper"! For more details and holding tank tips, listen to the full episode.

↓Listen Now!

The post ↓Episode 45 – The What and How to Maintain Your Black Water Tank appeared first on Radio Arizona RV.