Flushing/cleaning the waste tank

[baz]

FYI...

A month or so back I had my manual head replaced with an electric operated head - a Tecmar ECO Easyfit fresh water flush head operation. While discussing things about this replacement I also learned about keeping the waste tank clear of evil smells etc.

When pumping the waste tank fill it with dock side water before pumping. Then pump it out. Then repeat by filling it again with dock side water and pump out again. Repeat this one more time. This should get all the crud out of the tank and leave the tank in fair condition.

This is the same technique used for pumping out septic house tanks. That is, backfill the tank one or more times to loosen up things in the bottom of the tank.

I did this yesterday at my dock side pump out. They had replaced the old pump at my Edmonds Marina WA and the new one is very powerful and did a great job. Now any smells begone. :lol:

 

[trailertrawlerkismet]

Something else I have done is to add a small amount of Dawn dish soap into the toilet after you've pumped the holding tank each time. This keeps things from sticking inside of the tank. Another thing I've heard of but have not done is to add ice cubes to your holding tank after you had a pump out and are going back out onto the water. The story I heard was that the ice cubes, with some water in the tank moving around in the tank causes things to get loosened up for the next pump out.

 

[abcandjrc]

We also used to add a dash of detergent to our tanks. Dump a gallon of vinegar in the tank occasionally, too. It will disolve calcium deposits which inevitably form in the tanks. In addition to getting rid of the calcium itself, it makes the sides of the tanks "cleaner" so other contents tend to wash out better.

 

[Portugeezer]

I have taken boating guru Don Casey's advice and added a strainer to the intake line so as to reduce the amount of algae entering the septic system. He says that algae contributes greatly to bad odours as it tends to accumulate along all parts of the system. Certainly, when I removed the mesh strainer at the fresh water pump to clean it, it had a layer of smelly algae on it...and this is from the fresh water supply! The sea-strainer for the engine cooling water is constantly being cleaned of algae, so it goes to show that algae is abundant in any source of water. I suspect that the intake line strainer for the septic system will exhibit the same characteristic build-up when I begin using it.

 

[knotflying]

Go with an Airhead composting toilet and believe me all your holding tank and flush issues go away!

 

[JerryE]

I second Knotflying! We're on a mission to keep our waters clean and avoid carrying around 30+ sloshing gallons of you-know-what. As others have said in previous posts, even if you try to keep your waste tank clean eventually the plastic will darken and you won't be able to see the level of stuff in it to know when to pump. Keep it simple.