Tips on Disposing Waste from Your RV
Probably the least charming aspect of traveling or living in an RV is emptying the black and gray water tanks of your RV. Nevertheless, this is an unavoidable task (unless you refrain from using water altogether). While you may not have the time of your life carrying out this task, you can become more adept at it and somewhat ease the process. Here are tips on disposing waste from your RV.
Stay Sanitary
Don’t do any dumping without wearing rubber gloves. These will prevent any bacteria from getting directly on your skin, and it will help you to keep from spreading them around afterward. Once you have the gloves on, you can proceed to handle the black water hose and dump valves. Be mindful of what you touch and try to minimize contact with anything that you might handle later with bare hands. When you finish dumping, take off the gloves in such a way that they turn inside-out so that nothing accidentally gets exposed to the dirty side.
Use Helpful Chemicals
You don’t have to suffer the full brunt of the smell and have problems with residue when emptying a tank. With the aid of specifically designed chemicals that you add to the black water tank, you can control the odors and break up solid waste so that it doesn’t get stuck or remain in the tank as you are draining it out. You can also pour buckets of water into the toilet to further supplement the work of the chemicals and clean out as many solids as possible.
Mind the Cold
Traveling through cold temperatures can freeze the wastewater in your holding tanks solid, preventing you from getting rid of it altogether. Since water expands as it becomes ice, this may also damage your draining pipes and valve so that they leak when the water does become liquid once again. In the end, you’ll have a messy catastrophe on your hands. However, you can stop this from happening by installing heaters onto your holding tanks, drain pipes, and gate valves. These heaters come in the form of flat patches that you can stick onto susceptible areas. They have sensors that check the temperature of the water held within and maintain the waste at a temperature where it won’t freeze. This way, there will be no holdups when you arrive at the dump station.
