A gem of a product with an answer to
many RV'er's black water tank prayers.

Odorlos Holding Tank Treatment
www.odorlos.com
1-800-869-8764

No masking odor and works great at neutralizing
black water tank odor via enzyme action.

Picked up a 68 oz container for around $20.00
Has an internal measuring cup built into the bottle
and 1/2 cup per 40 gallons of tank size.

No formaldehyde and 100% Biodegradable.

We are between motorhomes now but have
a Theford Electric Porta-potty in our 2000 Chevy
Express conversion van.

Every thing we tried before got quite ripe smelling
within 3 weeks in the hot, summer Florida heat.

Then we came upon this jewel of a tank treatment
at West Marine. For this we are most grateful and
wish to spread the good news to fellow RV'ers.

Happy odorless motoring!

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Normally when I see a post like this my mind thinks "Not another site spammer again"... but, in your case, you've been on the forum for awhile and the pattern of your posts suggest that you insert links to help out, or to direct us to topics of interests.

I'm glad that you find this product decent. Also, the link you supplied doesn't go to a site that has a url extension that shows who directed us to their site, thus making money off of your inserted link. It doesn't now, nor has any of your posts in the past showed a behavior of tracking links or hawking products.

Most members however, will see this as a blatant commercial endorsement of a product and that perhaps you might be a distributor. Those are the facts, as I see them now and I wanted to chime in on this before other members reply to this as a spammer or something else.

I hope you don't take this as me singling you out. I'm not asking you to do anything differently than you've done for the past 5'ish years that you've been on our site. I just wanted to keep my inbox from receiving posts alerting me to someone who is posting or peddling garbage.

I also find it amusing that the site/link is under construction and there is nothing of value to read at that link.

So, I invite anyone else who has used this product, or have a favorite product they use for holding tank odor to chime in. Keep in mind, some of these products could damage an rv park septic system because it destroys valuable enzymes, which this product appears not to do.

Given the narrow formatting and lack of any personal text, that seems like an obvious cut and paste job (and thus spam) to me...

But regardless...

quote:

Originally posted by rb:
No masking odor and works great at neutralizing
black water tank odor via enzyme action.

So does water. In fact, that's how a black tank works. Just use plenty of it and send an extra bowl or two down the throne every now and then when camping. Dry tanks are stinky tanks.

quote:

Originally posted by rb:
Every thing we tried before got quite ripe smelling within 3 weeks in the hot, summer Florida heat.

Who would be camping for 3 weeks in Florida in a vehicle with no A/C without dumping the tanks? I guess I could see the unique needs in perhaps a Class B or conversion van potty as you mentioned, but those are designed to dump even more often due to the small capacities.

I'll stick with water!

quote:

Normally when I see a post like this my mind thinks "Not another site spammer again"... but, in your case, you've been on the forum for awhile and the pattern of your posts suggest that you insert links to help out, or to direct us to topics of interests.

Once again our BillNY looking after and protecting our interests. Thank you BillNY!

I constantly marvel at how many folks fall for the enzyme scam, it has been proven over and over that such products are worthless in septic systems
yet they maintain sales of millions a year. Now the other point is that "holding" tanks are not
"septic" tanks, nothing you add is going to process the sewage in any way, shape or form! Some
of the deodorants work pretty well (including the old Thetford product with formaldehyde, which is "biodegradable" by the way!), I also find a cup of borax will forestall any insect activity if you are trying to maximize the time between tank dumps.

quote:

Originally posted by scottydl:
Given the narrow formatting and lack of any personal text, that seems like an obvious cut and paste job (and thus spam) to me...

You know, I thought the same thing too so I searched blocks of his text looking for anywhere on the net where it's been duplicated. Haven't seen it yet... Now, if that site comes out of "Construction" with this text, then that's another story.

I'm watching and I try my best to keep "This Type Of Stuff" off of our boards. I was tempted to just delete it but thought that posting my concerns might be better in the long run. If someone else sees that text somewhere else, post it here in a link format and I'll trash this post.

He has been here for 5'ish years and researching past posts doesn't cause me to think he's another "Spammer" so... here's a leash, don't hang yourself.

quote:

own the throne every now and then when camping. Dry tanks are stinky tanks.

I have looked back at his posts and it is possible he's just a guy trying to contribute. I'm rather hoping he'll chime in here and give us a little more detail. If he's a scammer, he's not very good at it.

quote:

Originally posted by madrone:
I constantly marvel at how many folks fall for the enzyme scam...

Working for companies that deal with septic system installation I've been lead to believe that the naturally occurring enzymes "Break Down The Waste" and adding certain chemical can kill the enzymes that are already present.

I'm not saying that you "need to add" enzymes, only that certain chemicals kill them and that could be bad in a septic system. No? Wrong? Right? I really don't know as it's not covered in any classes I would have taken.

If anyone has a counter point then I would hope you could "Set Me Straight" so I don't repeat bad info in the future. You're not making me look bad, as you'll be doing me a favor. I don't have that type of background to know what to think about this. I love posts like these as it helps broaden my knowledge base, and hopefully others as well.

quote:

Originally posted by Bill N.Y.:
Keep in mind, some of these products could damage an rv park septic system because it destroys valuable enzymes, which this product appears not to do.

I am not an expert, so that statement by me is based purely on "What I Think I Know".

When it comes to septic systems, I really don't know $#!+.

quote:

has been proven over and over that such products are worthless in septic systems

Please cite some of this proof. Proper ventilation of the septic area can help a great deal in eliminating odor in the living quarters.as in dry composting septic systems. google it.

One of the major contributors on my favorite boat forum swears by Rid-X. He says you must get the tank clean prior to using it because the residual formaldehyde will cause problems with its bio-work. These folks are longtime owners and livaboard almost every weekend during the summer. Heading to the pump-out station is not a regular excursion so I tend to believe his story. His wife would not put up with off odors in her living quarters.

The septic system mostly is a drain field to allow the soluble materials and excess water to run away. If it weren't for the solids we wouldn't need a tank but solids will plug the field and require digging up and cleanout.

The tank is primarily a settling tank and sometimes a biochemical digester if conditions are right. Normally the input sewer pipe is higher than the outflow and the outflow has an elbow to keep it below the surface. This allows insoluble solids to settle to the bottom, eventually accumulating. The exit elbow bypasses any floating scum and allows only dissolved "clears" into the drain field.

In the absence of bacterial enzymatic action the solids just accumulate until they are pumped out by routine maintenance, or they fill the tank and plug the field.

In the presence of the bacteria, organic waste is their "food" and they can break it down for energy, producing soluble products (less solid) and (more!) stinky gases. This can extend the interval between required pumping almost indefinitely if the bacteria are happy and don't get too little or too much "food." (ie composting toilets) Not all systems have the correct nutrient, pH and temperatures to allow this to happen, varies a lot.

Chemical additives have no use in the home system. Any bacteria that could thrive will already be there, if conditions are right they'll be happily venting methane, ammonia, etc out your drain stack vent. If not the additives won't change things.

The odor control issues in RVs are IMHO mostly trapping/venting issues and poor toilet design. For sure the odor control chemicals can reduce the problem (they WILL kill the bacteria) but good vents would reduce the need. Those chemicals will be harmful to septic system bacteria and worse, may run out of the field before biodegrading, into the groundwater. Again, the effect on the septic tank "ecosystem" may be variable depending on its original state of health.

I try to avoid them and just dump often.

quote:

Originally posted by Steve VW:
Those chemicals will be harmful to septic system bacteria and worse, may run out of the field before biodegrading, into the groundwater.

That was my concern... people dumping into a septic system at a campground, or even their own septic system, back at their house when I stated...

quote:

Originally posted by Bill N.Y.:
Keep in mind, some of these products could damage an rv park septic system because it destroys valuable enzymes, which this product appears not to do.

It would be nice to know what is in the stuff..

Other than nonreactive masking fragrances none of the active ingredients like chlorine, peroxides, formaldehyde or ozone are microbe friendly. These all indeed destroy odor molecules but also will destroy enzymes (which are biological catalysts made of protein) and all forms of life. On the plus side, once they have reacted, their reduced forms are common harmless chloride and oxide compounds, so they are safe to release when diluted and depleted.

Bacteria and enzymes have very specific target molecules, are very sensitive to pH, temperature and concentration. Human E. coli for instance, functions well at body temp but is dormant in a cold septic tank. Other soil/earth types are the main players here.

Since the RV tank is above ground and gets nice and warm it can become biologically active in an unpleasant way and begin produce additional nasty odors on its own. Here is where venting is so important.

Some of the so-called "odor preventers" are less toxic (hopefully) substances that mess with pH or salt content, etc. attempting to jive the bacteria without being frankly environmentally toxic. Still kills the bugs but can't treat pre-existing odors.

As they said in industry in the 60's "the solution to pollution is dilution..." Most all of this stuff, if allowed to react with excess waste and depleted/diluted before it runs out will have minimal long term risk (unlike heavy metals, radioisotopes (God forbid) or aromatic hydrocarbons.) As long as the receiving septic system is fairly large and the discharge is well diluted then flushed/rinsed there should be little risk.

quote:

Originally posted by Steve VW:
It would be nice to know what is in the stuff..

Sodium Nitrate.

Wow - did I set off a reaction - not my intention.

Robert here from Cape Coral, Florida

My disabled wife and myself have used this product
for the last 3 years in our Thetford electric Porta Potty in our 2000 Chevy Express Van.

Prior to using this product, which we found at West Marine, we had used the Thetford Blue formaldehyde holding tank chemical, then tried the orange citrus based chemical, neither suppressed the odor very long.

Now this product which I have no affiliation with was the first that worked for us and wished I had it back in 1991-1995 when fulltiming in our 21' Cortez Motorhome.

The information was taken off the container, you might find it at Camping World or RV supply houses.

After reading your posts, I went to the website listed on the container www.odorlos.com which brings up website under construction - which does make my post look suspect - but I was merely passing on something which finally worked for us and yes I change the Porta Potty only after a few months as we only do #1 in it.

Here is the entire text from the back of the bottle:

Odorlos holding tank treatment eliminates all odors while breaking down wast and tissue. Odorlos also lubricates the valves, contains no formaldehyde and is 100% biodegradable. Odorlos works without masking perfumes or staining dyes - it eliminates odors naturally, effectively and environmentally friendly, this technology is used for odor control world wide by waste treatment and water treatment plants.

Contents: A nutrient for the naturally occurring bacteria in the waste consisting of nitrate, magnesium and potassium.

Manufactured by:
Hydro Agri North America Inc.
100 North Tampa Street, Suite 3200
Tampa, Florida 33602 U.S.A.

For more information call 1-800-869-8764
http://www.odorlos.com or email: sales@odorlos.com
The UPC barcode on the container reads:
7 6363004930 5

That's the story - and as one Bill H above deduced, nitrate is a component.

If anyone is a chemist perhaps they could reverse engineer this by chemical analysis - then you could make it yourself for pennies.

Cctimtation mentions Rid-X from one of his boat forums.

That might work great as well - I believe it has the digestive
enzymes, Trpysin and Chymotrypsin in it - which interestingly enough
are major digestive enzymes found in Pancreatin extracted from hogs.

Dr. William Donald Kelly DDS who wrote One Answer to Cancer maintains that Chymotrypsin is an agent which can stop the progression of cancer and used it successfully for many years.

Wouldn't that be interesting if in your little box of Rid-X septic cleaner, you had a solution for reversing cancer?

Now I have one more recommendation that I just sent to Tina who lost her beautiful Barth to fire which was caused by theft - this might save some other Barth coaches from being stolen, and again no, I have no relation to or interest in the product called Burglarbomb, nor have tried it yet and yes their website is working so here goes:

Tina - should you get another coach there is a inexpensive theft prevention device called Burglarbomb for around $60 that when trips floods an RV, jewelry store, up to 2000 sq. ft with concentrated pepper spray - very effective.
Here is a link: http://burglarbomb.com

When I had my 21' Cortez motorhome back in 1994 in Rockport, TX in April, we were plagued by a mouse in one of our drawers. I made the mistake of taking pepper spray at 3 AM and spraying in into the drawer where he was foraging and shutting the drawer quickly to contain the spray - Wrong!

My significant other and myself had to evacuate the coach in pajamas and slippers and stay outside for a couple of hours til it was aired out sufficiently so we were not persistently coughing from cayenne pepper extract still in the air - trust me, it doesn't take much.

Another great idea I had - I bought two pepper sprays for personal protection and then wondered if they would really work. So I removed my glasses, had my significant other on hand with bowl of water, washcloth and towels and proceeded at arms length to look at the camera (pepper spray) depress the button and take one full on in the face.

Guess what...it really does work - 20 minutes gasping and burning eyes every time I tried to open them. Next day I took a shower and started hollering when I washed my face as the trapped pepper spray oil that got caught in the folds of my outer eyelid now were released to drain down into my eyes - not as dramatic as the day before, but very uncomfortable.

The smallest BurglarBomb expels 4 ounces (1/2 Cup) of this potent brew into the atmosphere, so I think it will have a deterrent effect on any would be thieves or intruders.

All the best,

Robert Calrow
Cape Coral, FL

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