Acceptable products in black water tank

[D2Reid]

This is basically a public service announcement about a potential problem. I am sure that there other experiences just as valid as mine, but here's my story.

We typically go grocery shopping once a week. Occasionally we will be far from a grocery store. It was during one of these times that we discovered we were out of toilet paper. No problem, we had a couple of boxes of Kleenex, all good right?

And it was until we got back into town on full hook up. I went to dump the black water tank and only a little trickle would come out, after a week of boondocking I knew that tank had more in it. What's wrong?

Well it appears that Kleenex does not break down as quickly nor as thoroughly as toilet paper, and it settles to the bottom. Can't prove it, just my thoughts on that. So I open the valve, trickle. Cycle a couple of times, trickle. Ok, time to break out the BW tank wash hose. Add water, add water, open valves; trickle.

Thoughts of huge repair bill because the tank was nearly full. I swapped the gate valve and the hose washout valve, being able to close the hose and then adding water from the bottom of the system and pushing it up... took a bit more than I anticipated but eventually the water coming in from the bottom of the tank pushed "the plug" up far enough to allow draining through the BW tank valve and out. 4 - 5 cycles of that and I finally got my BW tank to drain normally.

My point here being this; if you run out of toilet paper be aware that BW tanks are not full sewer systems and cannot handle denser paper products. Disposable wipes, kleenex, paper towels, etc. will not drain correctly and can possibly clog up your pipes.

On the lighter side: I finally scored 2 rolls of TP in a small market. Big signs about restricted purchase rules, only thing left was single ply DW does not like single ply.... got my two rolls and checked out. Got to the truck, tossed the new TP into the back seat started toward home. About 5 miles down the road DW says something I can't hear ( I have a little hearing problem), grabs the fly swatter, unbuckles, and turns around in her seat wailing away at the TP .

I can't see what's going on so pull over at the first opportunity, turn around. She wasn't wailing away at the TP, she was chastising the cat who had decided that daddy had put 2 new TP rolls in the back seat for her to play with digging her claws into and making little bitty tissue parts fly around.

[powerscol]

Next time per-charge your tank with 1 cup Dawn (Dawn is best as I have tried others) and 5 gal water. Some folks add a Tide pod to this mix. It will help break down the tissue (including Kleenex and paper napkins) and slick up the tank so things don't stick. When traveling it really goes to work breaking things apart. It also helps prevent the dreaded tower of paper and poo. Just be sure to use plenty of water when flushing.

Hope this helps

PS I also have one of those clear 90's with the hose fitting at the bend. I carry heavy baling wire in the tool box and have in the past opened the hose fitting on the bend and run the wire back into the tank. I bend a small auger hook on the wire end to help snag stuff. During the process I have a rag wrapped around the wire stuffed into the hose opening to prevent leaks when things let go. Since using the Dawn I have not needed to do this.

[theburgerts]

Simple rule, don't put anything that does not breakdown into the black tank.

Like when we visit Mexico, many places don't even want TP put down the toilet. There is always a small wastebasket near.

So, if it comes down to having to use the big CW book [emoji13], or whatever might be handy, just throw whatever into a small trashcan and throw it out every day.

Sent from LB's phone using Tapatalk

[jkwilson]

Even sewer systems struggle with facial tissues. They should never go down any toilet.