Hey Robert, so glad you posted to explain your logic. Man, do I wish you still had that Cortez, it's one of my favorite vintage coaches!!!

Loved the mouse story, probably seemed like a real good idea at the time.

Hey Robert, thanks for chiming back in! I really have found that RV tanks rarely need anything more than water to keep the good bacteria going, and the occasional high-power spray clean out (via spray wand lowered down the toilet if your RV doesn't have a built-in internal tank sprayer) to break up and rinse away stubborn solids. I too have heard good results with an occasional Rid-X treatment, although never tried it on my rig.

Just to keep the record straight on the subject of black tanks and septic tanks. Let's start with the smell. What causes it? It is methane that is the byproduct of bacteria feasting. You might think of your poop as bacteria food and methane is bacteria poop

So in your household septic system (or a municipal waste treatment facility) the goal is to keep bacteria well fed and happy as they merrily break down our waste. The opposite is true in your black water tank. Here the bacteria are our enemy. We want too starve them, make their lives miserable, kill the little buggers! If they don't eat and multiply, they can't make bacteria poop, and your "sh*t don't stink"
So, black tank treatments are bacteria killers, septic system treatments are bacteria promoters.

There you have it, the scoop on poop!

Ahhh, but the big question Robert is,......did the mouse leave too?

quote:

Robert Calrow
Cape Coral, FL

Were methane odoriferous the utility company would not put methyl mercaptan in natural gas to warn people of leaks.

Of course, you're correct about pure methane. Here is a better explanation and (potentially) a new low for Barthmobile

What is a fart and why does it smell?

Ever pull someone's finger and hear a weird noise come out of his or her butt?

Ever sit in a tub of water and see bubbles come out of your hiney?

This strange noise and vibrating sensation that came from your butt is most likely caused by a fart.

A fart is a combination of gases (nitrogen, carbon dioxide, oxygen, methane, and hydrogen sulfide) that travels from a person's stomach to their anus. When a person swallows too much air or eats foods that the human digestive system cannot digest easily gas becomes trapped in his/her stomach. The only way for this excess gas to exit the body is through the anus.

The gas that makes your farts stink is the hydrogen sulfide gas. This gas contains sulfur which causes farts to have a smelly odor. The more sulfur rich your diet, the more your farts will stink. Some foods that cause really smelly farts include: beans, cabbage, cheese, soda, and eggs.

A scientific name for a fart is flatus or flatulence.

The word fart is just one of many different terms used to describe the release of gasses from the human body. Other popular names for farts or farting include: gassers, stinkers, air biscuits, bombers, barking spiders, rotten eggs, and wet ones. You can pass gas, break wind, blast, beef, poof, rip one, let one fly, step on a duck, and cut the cheese.

Farts can be stinky, wet, loud, or silent but deadly. Pee-eeew!!!
Did you know?

On the average, a healthy person farts 16 times a day.
Hey guys, don't be fooled by girls who tell you that they never fart. Everyone farts, including girls. In fact, females fart just as much as males.
Many animals fart too. Cats, dogs, and cows. Elephants fart the most.
People fart the most in their sleep.
Farts that contain a large amount of methane & hydrogen can be flammable.

Good summary, Corey.

For the record, methane is odorless indeed. The bacterial process is the same as any digestion... complicated molecules are split into smaller intermediates, these in turn are split into even simpler molecules, extracting metabolic energy in the process.

The typical bacterial end product for nitrogen compounds will be ammonia (you know the smell!)

The carbon compounds (which were stinky to begin with) end up as carbon dioxide and water. It is the intermediates here that are bad: ketones, ethers, alcohols, acids (think vinegar) aldehydes (formaldehyde) and esters (think very fat person on very hot day or rancid butter) Oddly enough, some esters we regard as pleasant, like fruit and flower smells, go figure.

It is the sulfur that is the main culprit. (Just like when we burn coal..) As mentioned the gas co puts mercaptans (sulfur compound) in there because we are very sensitive to it (ppm range) and we find it offensive enough to provoke action. Almost all sulfides smell bad, most are toxic. All life forms contains some sulfur, therefore all waste systems have it. These end products are stinky and durable.

BTW: The odor in the gas used to be much more important. Before the days of pipelined natural gas (methane) the urban gas companies produced and distributed "coal gas." This gas was produced by reacting steam with hot coal resulting in a product containing half hydrogen and half CARBON MONOXIDE. This is why the gas was extremely deadly (don't put your head in the oven...) It made the odor very important. The gas was also saturated with water vapor, which is why they put "drip legs" at the end of each line. Today's gases (methane and propane) are fossil fuels, odorless, tasteless and not toxic. (You can suffocate in them but not because they are poisonous, they just don't contain oxygen)

Nitrates! (long thread!) are components of fertilizers.. You buy fertilizers with 3 numbers for N, P, and K (nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium) These 3 things are needed by most plants, mostly for protein production.
Nitrate and nitrite compounds are all soluble forms of nitrogen, that's why plants (and algae) like em. They also inhibit some (not all)bacterial growth and are used in foods like sausage and processed meats.

When added to the septic world they can inhibit bacteria in high concentrations, but if they run off into the groundwater the "grass may even be greener over the septic field." Agricultural fertilizer and pesticide runoff is a major threat to groundwater in many areas. This can have an effect on algae growth in lakes, etc. This is what drove the low phosphate detergent movement a few years back.

There's just no free lunch with additives.

PS: riddle: why do farts smell? (for deaf people!)

I've taken a different angle on my black holding tank. I don't put anything in my tank other than...well you know. If my tanks smell I don't know it. The power vent keeps the smells going out the stack and out of the living area.

I used a time delay relay that keeps the fan running for 1 minute after it is triggered. Right now it's activated manually but I plan on putting a microswitch on the toilet flush lever to make the fan run automatic.

I just did a rebuild of my toilet a few weeks ago and my tank didn't smell bad at all. I was told it might be due to the fan pulling oxygen into the tank. The bugs that break down waste don't like it. I don't know how true that is but when the temps start going up, I doubt the added air flow is going to make a difference. High temps and waste are going to smell. The positive venting will send it away from me.

Venting is the biggest problem. We don't care bout no steenkin' gases if they vent away! The positive ventilation of a small fan can't be beat. The composting toilets all use them, usually intermittent solar ones.

Guess if we do not fart we all would blow up ...

rb's never been a spammer. I've used about 10 different products, and Odorlos is what I've settled on - rb's right - it's the best out there.

BTW for those wanting to use Rid-X - no tank name-brand treatments use formaldehyde anymore.

re - Shadow man

Posted 02-16-2012 08:06 AM Hide Post
Ahhh, but the big question Robert is,......did the mouse leave too?

Yes Shadow man - After a generous blast and from the sound in in the kitchen drawer, I surmise he did a triple axle out the propane tank crevice that allowed him unlawful trespass - used steel wool to remedy the rodent intrusion.

rb