How to Maintain Your RV Toilet

It is important to properly maintain the toilet in your RV to avoid smelly problems. Maintaining a toilet in a RV is not complicated and you should be able to avoid problems if you follow these guidelines.

HOW THE RV TOILET WORKS

The RV toilet is plumbed basically the same way a toilet is in a house. The only exception is that the sewage is held in a holding tank in the RV. The holding tank is called the black water tank. Because the sewage is held in a tank in the RV, the sewage must be disposed of by you.

PREVENTING SMELLY TOILET ODORS

Chemicals must be put in an RV toilet to prevent sewage odors and to aid in the breakdown of sewage. There are several brands of RV toilet chemicals available at RV stores or online. A few of the popular brands are Aqua-Kem, Enviro-Chem and TST. The chemicals provide odor control and help to break down toilet tissue and waste for easier emptying of the black water tank.

The chemicals come in liquid form, powdered form, and easy drop in packet form. They all the work the same and are simply a matter of preference. To use the chemicals, you simply pour the product into the toilet and flush with plenty of water. Follow the package directions for the suggested amount of the product to use.

WHAT NOT TO PUT INTO YOUR TOILET

Do not put anything into your toilet that can not be easily broken down by the toilet chemicals. Basically that means, do not put anything into the toilet besides toilet paper. No paper towels, feminine products, q tips and etc. These items will not break down in the black water tank and will cause the plumbing system to clog.

Only use toilet paper that is septic tank safe. RV stores sell toilet paper specifically designed for RV toilets. Toilet paper designed for RVs and septic tanks break down much faster than regular toilet paper and help to prevent clogging.

Only use toilet bowl cleaners specifically designed for RV toilets. These can be purchased at RV stores. Other cleaners can be too harsh for your RV toilet systems and break down the seals in your plumbing and black water tank and potentially cause plumbing leaks.

EMPTYING YOUR BLACK WATER TANK

You should keep your black water tank closed until it is at least three quarters full. You do this for two reasons. One, it gives the toilet chemicals a chance to break down the tissue and waste. Two, a full tank flows faster through the sewer hoses, making the tank much easier to empty.

To empty your black water tank, follow these directions:

1) Make sure your sewer hose is connected to the RV and to the sewer that you will be emptying it into.

2)Make sure that your gray water tank is closed. Your gray water tank, is the tank that holds the water from the sinks and shower in your RV.

3) Open the black water tank and let it empty into the sewer.

4) When the black water tank is empty, close the tank.

5) Open the gray water tank and let it fully drain into the sewer.

If you tend to keep your gray water tank open all of the time, then close it a day or more before you empty the black water tank. The reason for doing this, is that the gray water will help flush the sewage from the black water tank out of the sewer hoses and therefore clean out the sewer hoses and reduce smell.

When you are done emptying your tanks, make sure your black water tank is closed and put new toilet chemicals into the toilet.

HELPFUL TIPS

It is a good idea to wear disposable gloves when emptying the black water tank because sometimes the sewer hoses develop leaks.

If your black water tank seems really dirty or smelly, flush the tank out with water. You can do this by pouring water into the toilet and draining the black water tank again. If flushing the tank with water does not solve the problem, you can buy special chemicals from a RV store that is designed to aid in cleaning the tank when flushing it.