Handy Products for Emptying Your Black Tank

Living in an RV is a lot like living in a house at times. With the right setup you can have all the comforts of a house anywhere you park. There are many ways that living in an RV differs quite a bit from sticks and bricks living. One of those ways is the waste, more specifically the waste we humans create from the things we eat and drink.

RVs come with toilets in order to comfortably relieve ourselves of said waste, but, unlike a residential home, it doesn’t just flush away to become a city sewer problem. RV human waste is collected in a plastic tank below the floor known as the “black tank.” This tank is emptied at an RV dump station. Simply dumping the black water is not always enough to maintain a black tank.

Imagine taking a bath after rolling in the mud. Some of the grime will mix with the water and be buoyant enough to float on the top while other types of dirt will either mix with the water or sink to the bottom. After getting out of the bathtub we generally pull the drain plug and the water goes down. All of the dirt that had mixed with the water disappears along with it. The heavier particles and the ones that float will get left behind.

The water doesn’t have enough momentum to pull all of the heaviest stuff down the drain with it and the lighter particles get caught on the heavier ones at the bottom of the tub as the water level quickly drains to nothing. There are two ways to get the left behind dirt out of the tub: wipe it out or use water with more momentum to push the dirt towards the drain like a cup of water or a showerhead.

This same thing happens in your black tank every time you dump it. Except the particles are not made of mud or dirt. These left behind bits of toilet paper and waste can build up over time. It is important to give the black tank a good cleaning every month or so. Since no one in their right mind would try to manually scrub out their doo doo tank by hand even if they could, below are some products that can help keep your black tank sparkling.

Related Read: Invaluable Black Tank Tips

Garden Hose

First things first, if you are going to be forcing water through your black tank and messing with sewer hoses, you don’t want to use your fresh water hose for this. You can avoid contamination by having a high-quality drinking water hose and a separate hose for cleaning things out. Fortunately, the hose for cleaning the black tank doesn’t have to be a high-quality, expensive hose. Any garden hose long enough to reach where you need is good enough.

Clear Backflush Adapter

There are several companies that make a product like this. Essentially it is a clear adapter that fits on your sewer hose and has an attachment for a garden hose. Once you have dumped your tank, you can turn the hose on and this adapter shoots water into the black tank from the drain side in order to get those particles still hanging on to the bottom. The adapter is clear so that you can see when the tank has been rinsed thoroughly.

Related Read: How To Properly Empty Your Black Tank

This adapter can be used to rinse out your grey tank, as well. It is recommended that you clean one at a time so as not to cross contaminate the gray and black tanks. To do this, you simply close off the grey tank and rinse out the black tank. Once done, close the black tank valve and open the grey one to rinse it.

This adapter is a good way to ensure your sewer hose doesn't have any surprises in it. Once you have cleaned both tanks, you can shut both valves and run the water through to make sure the sewer hose doesn’t have anything left over in it.

RV Tank Wand

This product works quite like the previous one, except the opposite end. The Tank Wand attaches to a garden hose. Run the flexible end down your toilet and into the tank. The bottom of it swivels from the water pressure giving you a 360-degree cleaning radius. This product is great for cleaning off the debris that gets stuck to the walls and the sensors of your black tank. Having both this and the adapter above are more than likely the most important devices for keeping you black tank clean.

Chemicals

There are those that are against putting chemicals in their tanks or dumping them down sewers or septic tanks. We always make sure that the black tank chemicals we buy are environmentally friendly as possible. There are a number liquids and packets that stores sell. Drop the recommended amount in your tank to help keep the smell down and break down the waste faster. If you have been anywhere near the RV section at Walmart, you have seen them.

When we are about to do a rinse of our black tank, however, we like to use something to help break down all of the things that get stuck to the walls of the tank and the sensors. A company by the name of Walex makes a product called Commando. It’s a super concentrated enzyme that will dissolve all of the hard crusty and stuck debris from your tank. It also claims to lubricate the seals of the valves.

To use it, you simply drop a packet into your empty black tank and fill it up with water until all the sensors are covered. Let it sit for 12 hours and then rinse the tank. How well does it work? I couldn’t tell you exactly as I've never stuck my head in my black tank, but we know for sure it cleans off the sensors in the tank better than water alone.

Conclusion

There are many types of sewer hoses and probably many other gadgets for your black tank than I have mentioned here. I have listed what I think are the most important and useful to me in 4+ years of living in my RV. In a nutshell, if you use an environmentally friendly cleaner to loosen up the debris and then rinse the tank from the top and bottom end until the water runs clear, your black tank should stay in the business of hauling your business for many years.