Black Tank (Where the Poop Does Go)

Questions about the handling of the black water come up most frequently - especially since the movie RV came out! Many people are a little embarrassed about asking questions about this issue

The back tank is where the contents of your toilet go. You want to make sure that no other objects get but into the toilet than bodily wastes, special toilet paper, water, and chemicals. No Kleenex, no tampons, and no sanitary napkins. Provide a covered waste can for these objects and educate any visitors before a problem happens!

Grandchildren are fascinated with RV toilets but strange objects will clog your system and ruin your valve! Watch those little darlings carefully!

Chemicals are added to the tank with a few gallons of water after dumping to help dissolve the toilet paper and solids. These products also keep your coach from becoming smelly! I prefer to use the packets since I once had the granules clog the toilet closing mechanism and I had to work on clearing the particles out of the sealing gasket. During that cleaning process I used an emory board - and yes it slipped out of my hand and ended up in the black tank. Yes, of course it clogged the valve but fortunately we were able to flush the tank until we were able to work it out! My husband was not pleased...

Black tanks and toilets contain bacteria and the bacteria is necessary fact of life. The important thing is not to contaminate anything (like people, pets, and food) with the bacteria so caution is required. Gloves should be considered a necessity. When connecting your sewer hose put on gloves first. You can buy cheap vinyl gloves from Home Depot or Lowes in the paint department or any hardware or pharmacy. Keep a box of gloves in your compartment where you can easily slip them on before handling your sewer hose.

Dumping procedure: put on your gloves, lock on your sewer hose to your discharge pipe and securely place the other end into the sewer opening. Many states or towns require you to have a "donut" around your hose to seal the sewer opening. Your nose and the neighbors will appreciate this! Make sure the hose is weighted down by a foot or a rock so it won't pop out of the hole. Open up your black valve and let the black tank drain. We prefer not to drain the black tank unless it is more than half full so we can get a good drain. Flush the black tank if you have this option available. Close the black valve and now open up the grey water tank valve. Let this drain then close the valve. Disconnect the sewer hose from the RV and keep the end elevated and keep lifting the hose to all the fluid goes into the sewer. At this point you can flush the sewer hose with water available from the dump site or perhaps your own RV has a shower in the utility bay or you may have a water hose available. Never allow a drinking hose to touch a sewer hose!!!! Store your sewer hose and then remove your gloves by pulling off from the cuff. Wash your hands well with soap and water and then dispose of the gloves and any paper toweling used.

That's all there is to doing this - it will become routine and with good seals not as bad as you might think.

If for some reason you have a spill - it is your responsibility to clean up. For sanitary reasons - wash the spill down the drain then rinse with a bleach solution. Remember to always carry bleach on board!