Sanitizing Tanks Options

[Texasrvers]

Recently I was at a Walmart (and no, this is not a post about parking there) and was buying chemicals for the black water tank when another customer (an RVer also, I assume) asked me what I used to sanitizes my tanks. At first I thought he meant the fresh water tank, but soon discovered he was talking about the gray and black water tanks. He told me that about once a month (and more often in hot weather) he fills both tanks to capacity with water (after dumping them) and then adds bleach. He lets that stand for a day or so and then dumps and rinses the tanks.

All we have ever done is run water through the gray water tank and back wash the black water tank. We do keep the drop in chemical packets in the black water tank when in use, but we have never done the bleach treatment.

Is this something we should be doing? Does anyone else "sanitize" their gray and black water tanks?

[dalsgal]

Adding bleach actually kills the "good" bacteria that helps prevent odors. We travel in our bus and have never added anything to our tanks and have never had any odor problem at all. We let our tank get nearly full and then dump. If you dump too often you end up with lots of sludge in the bottom of your tank. We run a couple of gallons of fresh water into the tank, flush that and close the tank.

We just recently had a camper here that developed an odor problem and we found he was adding bleach any time he smelled anything. We had him keep his tank closed, add a couple of spoonfuls of Rid-ex and when the tank was full to dump again. Then he added a bit more of the Rid-ex and, again, let the tank fill before dumping. He has not had any odor problem since then.

[FosterImposters]

...add a couple of spoonfuls of Rid-ex ...

We were advised, and used this product with a new septic system back when we lived in a stick house in the country. I think the concept was to assist in breaking up kitchen (garbage disposal type) waste in one's septic system. Was not just to 'seed' a new system, but strongly recommended to use on a regular basis.

Was intrigued when this came up in another thread, and am curious how many of us (full-timers or not)use a wee-bit in their RV holding tanks like dalsgal?

[jan-n-john]

We were advised, and used this product with a new septic system back when we lived in a stick house in the country. I think the concept was to assist in breaking up kitchen (garbage disposal type) waste in one's septic system. Was not just to 'seed' a new system, but strongly recommended to use on a regular basis.

Was intrigued when this came up in another thread, and am curious how many of us (full-timers or not)use a wee-bit in their RV holding tanks like dalsgal?

FWIW, I've researched the topic of Rid-X some, as it applies to its intended use in home septic systems, and have found that the authorities (such as the water quality folks in various states) have different opinions, some saying it's harmful and never use it and others saying it's beneficial. So take your choice of advice. I suppose a small amount in your black tank won't cause much harm and might help something.

As to the idea of "sterilizing" your tanks, I agree that it's probably not a great idea, just like constantly "sanitizing" your kitchen counters is also a bad idea, not to mention ineffective in the first place. My reaction to the OP is that the guy he met in the Wal-mart (and/or his wife) is a bit "anal." Life is not about everything being neat and pretty and safe at all times, and certainly RVing entails some personal involvement with certain processes that at home are taken care of for us and seldom enter our minds. Part of the charm????

As for me, I just make sure there's a decent amount of water in the black tank when I dump, and let it go at that. We get a little odor from time to time, and when we do my wife, bless her heart, calls that to my attention, sometimes with vigor, so I pour in some blue stuff but no big deal. But then I grew up on a farm, and thus shoveled lots of poop in my day, so maybe one's view of all this depends on where one is coming from.