Holding Tank Maintenance - Geo Method

[5thwheeler]

For over 2 years we used a home grown method of keeping our holding tanks clean & odor free. I bolded "holding" because that's what they are designed for - they are not septic tanks. Any off the shelf chemicals targeted at the RV industry that claim to break down waste are typically a gimmick and cost money that would be better spent elsewhere. A septic system breaks down waste and sometimes needs enzymes added to enhance its process. Its important to distinguish between a holding tank and a septic tank when reading the rest of this post.

We recently found an excellent article written by Charles Bruni that detailed a process similar to ours where he goes into great detail of how the system/process works.
With his permission we converted the article into an Adobe Acrobat .pdf file for download.
http://www.5thwheelforums.com/pdf/geomethod.pdf

I know that this will strike a cord with some readers due to its use of chorine but you need to remember that if it was harmful to septic systems and the environment then municipalities wouldn't add it to our drinking water.

[Tetoner]

I don't know anybody that uses RV toilet paper anymore. Talk about a rip-off, that's about as big a joke as most of the toilet chemicals sold commercially. Years ago, back in the "Prodigy" days, a bunch of us on that forum did a quite detailed test of toilet paper. RV toilet paper was the worst of all. Most any toilet paper that a section will desolve in a short time in a glass of water will do fine.
I don't believe in putting chemicals in MY black tanks, including clorox or bleach. I don't even put mouthwash in them. Seldom put anything in the gray tanks. I just put a little powder Bio-Green or Eco-save or sometimes plain ole Rid-X im my black tank and never have a problem. I've been to a jillion Escapade and other Rally seminars on the subject. to each his own IMHO.
Mike

[5thwheeler]

Never shake hands with a fellow RV'r - Just in case he is still using RV toilet paper.

[bstark]

That well known couple, Joe & Vicki Kieva, who write contributing articles for a number of RV publications recently described a simple test they performed using a number of different types/brands of T/P's. They put samples of each, with water, in equal sized tupperware containers and placed them on their shower floor to duplicate the slosh action in the holding tanks as they drove down the road. Some broke down marginally faster than others with the so-called (IIRC ) RV brand being the slowest.