Is it safe to put a 1/2 gallon of bleach & 10 gallons water in the black tank

[Henry J Fate]

1/2 gallon of household bleach in 10 gallons of water will equal about 5000 ppm mix of bleach. This is a very high number. As a reference, shocking a pool requires 25-50 ppm and pool water safe for swimmers is under 5 ppm. Many campers add bleach to tanks. It works and it is cheap. When bleach is added to a tank be sure the water is first put into the tank and then add the bleach. The higher the ppm the less time the mix should be allowed to sit in the tank. Bleach is very effective for killing bacteria and the smelly odor build up in tanks.

It is possible to damage some components in the tank system. How much bleach for how long has alot of variables.

A safer mix of bleach would be to fill the tank to 3/4 full of water. Add the half gallon of bleach. Drive the coach around to slosh things up and then dump and rinse out the tank. Anything over 10 minutes is enough time to flush and rinse. The bleach has done its job in that amount of time. Any additional time left in the tank can only have negative results.

 

[John From Detroit]

Is it safe: Depends on how long it sits there
1/2 CUP would be better for 10 gallons

Is it necessary?  I mean that's one tank where I really don't worry about sanitization unless for some reason I need to work on it. 

 

[Tom55555]

Henry is right on but I've heard bacteria is a good thing for black tanks. But anyway, when my pool gets algae which happens once or twice a year. I put a bottle of algae stuff in and raise the chlorine level to 10 ppm. The next day the algae is dead and/or gone. They say not to swim until the chorine level drops to 5 ppm so 5000 ppm is like a nuclear bomb. I only use additives when I know I won't dump for a week or more. I've always used Thetford Aqua-Kem but there may be better products out there.

 

[scottydl]

"Good" bacteria is what breaks down the solids into liquids, in an RV black tank. That's why it generally is not advise to use bleach as a regular cleaner, as it counteracts the positive bacterial action by killing everything good along with the bad.

However if bleach is a once to provide some additional level of "clean" and it's rinsed out fairly quickly... followed by a few more water fill & dumps... then I doubt there would be any lasting negative effects. The contents of RV black tanks rarely stay in place for more than a few days or week without being dumped anyway, unlike home septic systems that may never be emptied and therefore must rely on ongoing bacterial action to manage the contents.

 

[disystox]

Hi.. when I got my first 5th wheel 10 years ago the  sales guy , a camper , said the sensors are not reliable  .  Seems like they have not improved  over the years.  When  I dump I watch the site glass to insure the tanks are empty . .. When camping we use past experience  to determine when the tanks reach two thirds level .  It is just  a educated guess that works for us.

 

[Tom55555]

Don't get me wrong, I use beach / chlorine but I don't like the smell. In controlled amounts it does exactly what it's supposed to do and I use too much of it in our fresh water tank because we don't drink it, just washing stuff, showering and flushing the toilet. Not recommending, just what we do.

Beach / chlorine won't break down toilet paper or poop or make your sensors more accurate. I use Aqua-Kem in my black tank if I'm not going to dump for a week. I Realize several people are going to give me a hard time but the stuff works but good luck on your sensors; we could write a book on that subject. We do like Dawn but we clean dishes with it.

 

[NY_Dutch]

The best "fix" I know of for misreading waste tank sensors is installing a SeeLevel II external sensor and monitor system. The  sensors are not in contact with the waste material, so no clogging can occur. In addition, the monitor displays in percentages for a much more accurate picture of your remaining tank capacities.


(Showing black tank reading a few minutes ago)

 

[Tom55555]

Dutch, Winnebago uses external sensors as standard. They are better but not 100% accurate, wouldn't you agree?

 

[NY_Dutch]

Dutch, Winnebago uses external sensors as standard. They are better but not 100% accurate, wouldn't you agree?

I don't know who's sensors/display Winnie uses, but the SeeLevel sensors have read reliably since I installed them in 2013 on this motorhome, just as they did on our previous one. I've heard of a few folks having a problem with a thick scum layer in the black tank causing misreading until rinsed, but we haven't had that problem. Maybe I rinse the tank often enough to avoid the problem...

 

[Tom55555]

I use Aqua-Kem, no smell whatsoever but the gauge isn't that accurate in my opinion but we use normal toilet paper. I'm not getting into that with my wife. It's accurate enough and as they say, happy wife , happy life... LOL

 

[Blues Driver]

Perfectly safe, in my opinion, but perhaps not the most effective for removing gunk from the sensors.  I'd use either a degreasing detergent (e.g. Dawn) or a septic tank enzyme cleaner like RidX or Roebic K37 or K87.  Or both the detergent and the enzymes, mixed in the water.
The sensors get shorted out with a combination of sludge and partially digested TP. You aren't killing bacteria - you are dissolving the sludgy gunk.

How much Roebic ? How often?  Will the detergent kill the enzymes?
Thanks,
Pat

 

[Gary RV_Wizard]

Follow the directions on the Roebic container, but it's typically for a system size of 1000 gallons, so I'd use 1/8 or 1/4 of that amount (still overkill!).  I suggest once a year as regular maintenance, but there is no harm in doing more often if needed.

The enzymes/microbes are resistant to soaps & detergents but I wouldn't intentionally mix a detergent with the Roebic or RidX.  If you want to do both methods, do first one, then the other. I don't think order makes a difference.  Neither is magic and each tank situation is likley to be a bit different.  Neither method may help if the tank sensors have undissolved toilet paper clotted on them.

 

[Ex-Calif]

While I would use bleach for cleaning a system I would not leave bleach in the system at all.

Bleach and urine create Chlorine gas which is toxic. I learned this years ago when I was routinely cleaning a cement dog kennel with bleach. Chloine gas or chloramine gas will definitely irritate your lungs and cause coughing.

I am not a chemist but I think this is pretty accurate. Google it...

 

[dnr733]

I am new but going down the Happy Camper trail.  It seems to have a lot of positive response.
Having a couples camper, we have smaller tanks.  I believe mine is only about 23 gals.  Our gauges have barely crossed into the 3/4 full area so it is what we expected.
But I don't want to take up any extra space (adding gallons and driving) then camping.  That could put me over the mark for a longer weekend.

So here is my question.  In using Happy Camper, do you leave that in while storing?  Add it once you get to the site? Add some water/solution before you travel to the site?

 

[Monarch4me]

There?s a utube video on using borax and dawn dish soap. We tried it and it works! It fixed the. Sensor problem

 

[Tom55555]

Lot's of opinions including me. I've used this stuff for over 20 years and we use the same toilet paper in our RV as our home. Perhaps they all work but this is really convenient. Just pour one bottle in the toilet if you're not going to dump within a week; the stuff lasts for months.

https://www.walmart.com/ip/Aqua-Kem-RV-Holding-Tank-Treatment-Deodorant-Waste-Digester-Detergent-6x8-oz-pack-Thetford-03106/103591130?athcpid=103591130&athpgid=athenaItemPage&athcgid=null&athznid=PWVUB&athieid=v0&athstid=CS004&athguid=e8f92524-007-17549fe6e14674&athancid=null&athena=true

 

[Dragginourbedaround]

My daughter and S-I-L use Happy Camper and they swear by it. I've used many different concoctions and settled on just Dawn and water. We have the opposite problem, our black tank sensors work great, but the grey tank sensors were never accurate. I would've preferred the grey worked and the black didn't because I could just look down into the black tank. Can't do that with the grey.

 

[dnr733]

So is that what you guys leave in there while storing as well?

 

[Dragginourbedaround]

So is that what you guys leave in there while storing as well?

When we were storing: at the last CG we would clean it first, then fill it half way with water and Dawn and let it splash around on the ride home. Then find a place to drain it and fill it with enough plain water to sufficiently cover the bottom of the tank.

 

[scottydl]

Once cleaned out, we leave our black tank completely dry (with dump valves and cap left OPEN) while in storage in the off season. A veteran forum member here recommended that several years ago, and it's worked great. The principle is that there's nothing substantial in the tank that needs to be kept wet, and any residual stuff doesn't stink when it's completely dry and ventilating out the dump valve.

Of course my storage is our second gravel driveway about 50 feet from the house, so if there are a few initial drips of water onto the ground it won't matter to anyone else. Otherwise I'd agree with Gene that keeping 4-5 gallons of water on the bottom of the tank is all you should need. It evaporates over time so it doesn't hurt to pour another gallon down the toilet every month or two.