Gray water
tanks accumulate soap scum on the sides of the tanks because most of
the time people leave the valve open when camping so the tank merely
has water pass through it. Old soap scum along with food particles
eventually will combine to make some nasty odors. If you have been
camping for any length of time you will hear many different ways to
freshen the gray water tank and in turn improve the accuracy of your
holding tank gauge.
Before your next camping trip go to a pool supply store and buy a
32 ounce bottle of de-foamer solution. This is used in spa’s to
eliminate the foam caused by detergent residue in peoples swimming
suits. Stop and pick up 2 lbs of baking soda. Now after your next
camping trip and before you head home fill the gray water tank about a
third of the way. Add 6 ounces of the de-foaming agent down the kitchen
sink and let the faucet run for a few minutes. Okay now drive home. The
sloshing of the tank will neutralize soap scum and wash the tank walls
clean. Leave this solution in the tank until you head out for your next
camping trip or next campground. Before you head out add the 2 lbs of
baking soda through the kitchen sink running water again for a few
minutes. When you get to the campground dump the tank and you have
cleaned out the gray water tank.
Black water tanks are cleaned a
little differently but moving the camper sloshing the mix around helps
it get cleaned out also. So you could do both on the same trip. First,
one of the biggest mistakes campers make is keeping the black water
valve open when camping. This is a no no as that allows the liquid to leave the tank and
solids to build up. In the good old days all there was was
a very strong smelling blue liquid that had formaldehyde in it. It did
a very good job on odors but was very hard on campground septic
systems. Today you have dozens of choices and the most environmentally
correct are the enzymatic additives available from any camping supply
store. These do a great job breaking down solids and actually help
septic systems but don’t do as good a job of controlling odors like a
formaldehyde based tank additive. You should wait till the tank is at
least 1/2 full before dumping to allow these chemicals to act and
liquefy wastes. If you have been camping and keeping the black tank
valve open you can still clean the tank. Either way starting with an
empty tank fill balck water tank about 1/3 of the way and add the
recommended amount of black water tank additive. Some people have said
adding a bag of ice will help but I find the tank gets clean enough
from the constant sloshing of the water/additive mix. Drive home or to
the next campground and at the next available hookup dump the tank.
This should be enough to clean the tank and restore accuracy to the
black water tank gauge.
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