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using bleach in black water holding tank

Yahoo Message Number: 84210
I searched 'bleach' on the forum and surprisingly it came up empty. We have found that adding a cup of bleach to maybe 3-5 gallons of water in the holding tank after dumping eliminates any and all residual smells. Especially if we drive it afterwards and the solution sloshes around in there. Anyone else tried this or know of any contraindications? We normally then add one or another waste breakdown chemicals once we start using the holding tank again. We have tried just adding various camping world chemicals for black water tanks afterwards and while they may do a good job dissolving tissue and the like, they don't seem to do much for odor elimination on a freshly dumped tank even after a saniflush. The bleach solution works best of anything we have found. I wouldn't think a bleach solution would have any adverse effects but I thought I would ask among others who have been dealing with holding tanks much longer than we have. thanks

Joe Burkle

2008 Country Coach Inspire 360 43' Founders Edition http://www. Wind-seeker.com/

Re: using bleach in black water holding tank

Reply #1 –
Yahoo Message Number: 84211
On CCO message page, use the search field for messages(right after the msgid search field). Don't use the 'search for other groups' field. There are 168 messages that contain bleach!!!

Herb

Group moderator

Re: using bleach in black water holding tank

Reply #2 –
Yahoo Message Number: 84212
Herb,

Here is what works for us. We have a 2005 Inspire and have tried all kinds of chemicals and no odor seems to alway show up. I went and purchased those vents that swivel and installed them on the vent pipe. Odor solved.

Stan, 2005
Inspife 51406

Begin forwarded message:

Re: using bleach in black water holding tank

Reply #3 –
Yahoo Message Number: 84214
What Stan said!! Worked for me also because they create a venturi effect even when parked.

John

05 Inspire #51399

Re: using bleach in black water holding tank

Reply #4 –
Yahoo Message Number: 84217
I also agree with the swivel vents.
I am not a chemist, but would be cautious of mixing chemicals. Unless you know exactly what you are doing the mixture could create a bomb, or a noxious gas.

Bob Wexler
SOB

Re: using bleach in black water holding tank

Reply #5 –
Yahoo Message Number: 84218
Joe - Thetford makes a "level gauge" cleaner we've used on several occasions which does include chlorine. This product is compatible with their Aqua-Chem product. The idea is to get your black water tank about 1/2 full (clean or dirty) and add the level gauge cleaner. The stuff isn't cheap either. The sloshing action when driving supposedly scrubs the interior of the tank. We've performed this ritual with the hopes it removes the sludge from the tank level sensor and restores its operation at the upper end (50 and over). Results have been hit or miss. Rid-X has worked pretty well for eating away the sludge but isn't compatible with chemicals that kill the enzymes. It has restored the gauge operation better than the level gauge cleaner. I draw attention to the gauge aspect of this only because I believe it's a good indicator of sludge. If the sensor works throughout its range then no excessive amounts of sludge exist. My assertion anyway.
We do the usual Santi-Flush routine and let the tank fill then dump it several times to encourage evacuation of solid matter. We use the Thetford toilet paper too. I'll spare everyone the details on my experiences with that product. The upper areas of the tank (50% and up) seem the most challenging to keep clean, however. On occasion we go for the preverbal douche rod down the hatch to change the spray pattern (different from Santi-Flush) against the side walls. You can get these at Camping World and they spray in a sphere off a garden hose connection. A simple little tool that works well. I jotted down some information in an article entitled "A Tale of Two Toilet Treatments" here: http://www.muniac.com/ubbthreads/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=158#Post158 It's my meager effort to become #1 in a #2 business.
Recently we've been experimenting with laundry detergent which is an expensive form of Cascade or Calgon. Initial results look promising.
As for bleach (sodium hypochlorite 6%), we found it eats away at the Rhino hose eventually. Some plastics aren't affected, however. And we know this because it comes in a plastic bottle. I'm not sure about the seals in your gate valve and other plastic parts used in the sewer system. Me thinks high density polyethylene and ABS would be fine. You'd think someone would give thought to this (perhaps they have) and design accordingly but this is in the world of RVs where good design practices take on new interpretations. A storage bottle and a short term "sweep" are two different things. Some plastics not rated for chlorine might well survive a quick flush and rinse. Your call on whether that's the direction you want to go in. As someone here so rightly pointed out, do be careful with chlorine compounds and their possible reactions with other agents and their possible adverse affects on containing materials. Ammonia + bleach, for example, is something to avoid.
Lots of good opinions and approaches will come forward on this subject. I guess a wide variety of empirical methods all seem to a degree reasonable providing they are safe and are performed with an understanding of possible adverse interactions. Common sense would suggest that one would use the least caustic approach to get satisfactory results for their own application. That said, other than our now defunct level gauge cleaning we don't use chlorine in the black water tank. If you are leaning towards a caustic agent, go with Aqua-Chem instead. My toilet full worth of an opinion. Jeannie and I aren't likely to receive the Team Green Clean award anytime in the near future. We hope we can still remain friends, however.

At 09:23 AM 11/30/2012, you wrote:

Re: using bleach in black water holding tank

Reply #6 –
Yahoo Message Number: 84225
Frederick Kovol wrote:

Quote
>Joe,

Google the issue first - sodium hypocloride deteriorates fiberglass over >time and the effect is cummulative.
Fred Kovol

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thanks Fred... I found a lot of people using on fiberglass boat hulls and in a pretty high concentration... couldn't find much about holdingg tanks... even after googling "using bleach in fiberglass holding tank"

but I did find this:

chlorine is highly corrosive, also highly destructive to rubber and breaks down hose resistance to odor permeation....which makes it a VERY bad choice as a holding tank product.
So I guess I have my answer... pity because it sure works well for the odors