How Does Your RV Bathroom Work?

For many RVers, traveling in a motorhome can become a seamless extension of their home life, and for full-time RVers, it might be their actual home. However, despite all of the modern luxuries that campers have to offer, there are some important differences you should be aware of — particularly in the RV bathroom.

The inside of RV bathrooms look very similar to household bathrooms, but they require very different daily habits and maintenance routines to keep them free from clogs and foul odors. In this guide, we’ll be covering how RV bathrooms differ from the bathrooms in your home, how to use camper toilets and showers, rules for RV wastewater holding tanks, and expert tips to keep your RV bathroom problem-free while camping.

Key Points About RV Bathrooms

• RV bathrooms are different from the bathrooms in your home because they rely on holding tanks to store liquid and waste until you can dump them at a designated location.
• Using an RV toilet is simple and easy, and doesn’t need to be something that makes you feel worried or uncomfortable. RV showers are also easy to use, and only require a little planning to avoid overuse.
• RV bathrooms require you to practice different daily habits and maintenance routines to keep them working properly while you’re out on the road.
• RV bathrooms can stay clog- and odor-free if you use the tried-and-tested guidelines that are outlined in The Unique Method.

RV Bathrooms vs. Household Bathrooms

While RV bathrooms and household bathrooms have most of the same fixtures, the way these bathrooms function are very different. Understanding the difference between how each style of bathroom works can help you use your RV bathroom correctly, and help you prevent clogs and foul odors from putting a damper on your next road trip.

RV Bathrooms

In an RV bathroom, when liquid and waste is flushed down the toilet, sink, and shower drains, it flows directly into two separate RV holding tanks called the black water and gray water holding tanks. Your RV has these two wastewater holding tanks because they are intended to store different types of waste.

• Black Water Holding Tank: An RV black water holding tank stores everything that is flushed down the toilet, and as a result, is considered unsanitary because it contains dangerous bacteria that requires careful handling.
• Gray Water Holding Tank: Alternatively, an RV gray water holding tank stores the liquid that comes from your sinks and showers, which typically contains grease, soaps, and detergents, and is generally considered less contaminated.

RV black tanks and gray tanks both have ventilation pipes that allow air pressure to be released as the tanks are filled. The vent pipes are typically positioned to leave the RV at the roof, or on one of the side walls.

Household Bathrooms

The bathrooms in your home are different from camper bathrooms because when liquid and waste is flushed down the toilets or drains, it flows directly into the city sewer system or septic system. Household bathrooms are also typically vented at the roof to allow foul odors and moisture to escape.

Homeowners need to know whether they are dealing with the city sewer system or septic system because different guidelines apply, but both options have fewer rules to follow and require less maintenance than RV bathrooms.

How to Use an RV Toilet

The most common type of RV toilet is a gravity flush toilet, which relies on water and gravity to create enough pressure to allow you to flush.

Steps for using an RV gravity-flush toilet:

• Add Water to the RV Toilet Bowl: Press down on the foot pedal, and add a few inches of water to the toilet bowl. You’ll need to add enough water to cover the seal, ensuring the water level is a few inches above. We recommend adding this water whenever the RV is stationary to act as a vapor barrier.
• Use the RV Toilet Normally: Make sure that only human waste, toilet paper, high quality bacteria- and enzyme-based black tank treatments, and water are the only things that are flushed down the toilet.
• Flush the RV Toilet: Hold down the foot pedal for at least 10 seconds whenever you flush, because this adds enough water to the black water tank to help prevent odors and clogs.
• Refill the RV Toilet Bowl After Each Use: Keeping a small amount of water in your toilet bowl, except when driving, acts as a vapor barrier, and helps prevent foul odors from escaping out of the black tank and into the living space of your RV.

For more detailed instructions about using RV toilets, read our guide: How to Use Your RV Toilet

How to Use an RV Shower

Using an RV shower is similar to using a shower at home, but with a few important guidelines.

RV Showers: Dry Camping & Boondocking

RV showers are limited by your camper’s fresh water tank capacity, water heater tank capacity, water heater type (tank vs. tankless), tankless water heater flow rate, and your gray water tank capacity. All of these features determine how to plan your shower usage, so that you can enjoy one of the greatest benefits of RV travel: Warm showers.

Easy guidelines to help you enjoy stress-free RV showers:

• Plan Shower Times: Spreading out shower times can allow your hot water supply to recover, ensuring family members aren’t stuck taking cold showers.
• Control Moisture: Be mindful of moisture and condensation buildup when showering by opening your bathroom roof vent and turning on the fan (if available) before showering. Some RVers also invest in an RV dehumidifier to further combat moisture.
• Minimize Water Usage: RV showers may only give you 5-10 minutes of hot water, depending on the tank size or flow rate (if you have a tankless water heater). Consider turning the water off as you use shampoo and body wash, only turning the water on to rinse during your shower routine.

When you’re done using your RV shower, it’s always recommended to rinse the shower and quickly scrub it down to prevent dirt and grime from building up throughout your trip.

RV Showers: Full-Hookup Camping

Using an RV shower while full-hookup camping is very similar to when you’re dry camping, but requires a slightly different approach.

If you are staying at a full-hookup campground with a “city water” source and sewer drain port, you have the option to leave your gray tank valve open (unlike when dry camping).

Prior to leaving your gray tank valve open, we recommend looking for signs of sewer flies. If the site is free of sewer flies, we recommend adding a p-trap bend in the sewer hose and filling it with water. This will function as an additional vapor barrier between the sewer port and the RV. From there, you can take longer showers without fear of filling the gray tank completely.

Full-hookup campers are still limited by the amount of hot water available from the water heater, but the gray tank capacity will no longer be a variable.

Important Note: Always leave your black tank valve closed, except when actively dumping, to prevent black tank clogs and pyramid plugs.

RV Holding Tanks: What’s Safe to Flush Down RV Toilets & Drains

One of the biggest differences between RV bathrooms and household bathrooms is what is safe to go down the drains. Because RVs rely on holding tanks to store waste temporarily, campers need to be more mindful about what is flushed down toilets and drains.

Not sure if it’s safe to flush something down the toilet or sink drain? Find answers in our detailed guide: What to Allow in Your RV Holding Tanks

Rules for RV Black Tanks

The only things that should ever make it into your RV black water holding tank(s) are water, urine, poop, toilet paper, and high-quality, bacteria- and enzyme-based tank treatments like RV Digest-It Plus Ultra.

Feminine products, flushable wipes, paper towels, trash, plastics, and other items will not break down properly in your black tank, and will almost certainly cause clogs.

Rules for RV Gray Tanks

In RV gray water holding tanks, the most important thing you can do is limit what goes down your sink, shower, and tub drains. You should scrape plates clean before washing dishes, never dump grease down drains, and avoid cleaning with harsh chemical or antibacterial cleaners.

When grease, food particles, soap, scum, hair, and other debris make it into your holding tank, that’s when unpleasant odors, clogs, and misreading sensors can occur.

By installing screens or strainers, you can catch these clog-causing items ahead of time. We recommend installing them on all drains, and we like these for sink drains, and these for shower and tub drains

Tips to Keep Your RV Bathroom Clean & Fresh

You can avoid clogs, foul odors, and misreading holding tank sensors by caring for your RV bathroom with a few simple techniques.

After solving wastewater problems professionally for over 30 years, we developed The Unique Method, a proven, science-backed, and easy-to-follow approach to treating your RV wastewater holding tanks that will help you prevent 99% of problems before they even occur.

The Unique Method addresses the three most important aspects of RV wastewater management by providing effective odor elimination, efficient solid waste breakdown, and effortless sensor cleaning.

Expert tips for worry-free RV bathrooms as outlined by The Unique Method:

• Use your RV holding tank valves correctly (black is always closed; gray is open when on hook-ups, and closed when dry camping/boondocking). Important Note: You should only leave the gray tank valve open if you’ve confirmed the campsite sewer port is free of sewer flies, and we recommend adding a p-trap to the water sewer drain hose for further odor and pest protection.
• Treat your RV black water holding tanks with a high-quality bacteria and enzyme treatment like RV Digest-It Plus Ultra.
• Keep water in your RV toilet bowl at all times (unless driving). This creates a vapor barrier, preventing foul smells from wafting into your RV bathroom.
• Fill your RV toilet bowl with water before you use it. This helps solid waste move through the line easier, and deters trapped odors from rising up into the camper bathroom when flushing.
• Use plenty of water every time you flush your RV toilet by holding the flush pedal down for 10 seconds. Water keeps RV holding tanks cooler (hot tanks are the leading cause of foul odors), prevents pyramid plugs and compacted tanks, and allows waste-digesting aerobic bacteria to reach all of the waste that needs to be broken down.
• Dump your RV black tanks every 3-5 days for optimum odor control.
• Rinse your RV black tank thoroughly after each dump (filling completely with water, and dumping the contents). Learn how.
• Prevent as much grease and food debris as possible from getting in your RV gray tank. Install screens or strainers on all drains to keep debris out of your tanks. We like these sink drains, and these shower and tub drains
• Opt for RV-friendly cleaners like Unique Scrub-It RV toilet bowl cleaner. Avoid cleaning your toilet, sinks, dishes or showers with chemical or antibacterial cleaners that disrupt beneficial bacteria.
• Try to maintain the temperature of RV holding tanks (not too hot or cold). Using plenty of water in your holding tanks helps significantly.
• Deep clean your RV black water tank using Unique Clean-It, at least twice per year or every 5-10 dumps (for full time RVers). Learn how.
• Deep clean your RV gray water holding tank using Dawn Ultra at the end of each dry camping/boondocking trip (for dry campers/boondockers), and twice per year (for primarily hook-up campers). Learn how.
• Store your RV with the black tank full of water and a bottle of Unique Store-It, when the risk of freezing isn’t a concern.
• Deep clean and empty your gray tank before putting the RV in storage.

Following these simple and straightforward rules can help ensure that your RV bathroom experience is smooth and pleasant while out on the road.

For full details about how to care for your RV’s holding tanks, read our guide: Enjoy Problem-Free Holding Tanks With The Unique Method

Mastering the RV Bathroom: On-The-Go Comfort and Convenience

Being able to comfortably and confidently use your camper bathroom is one of the main benefits of having an RV. While your RV bathroom may require you to adjust your daily habits slightly, and practice additional maintenance routines, avoiding problems before they occur by using The Unique Method can make each adventure smooth and problem-free.

No matter how closely you follow the recommended RV bathroom guidelines, we know that not everything always goes as planned. If you find yourself struggling with RV bathroom clogs and odors, don’t worry! That’s what we’re here for. Contact our experienced and professional Customer Service Team, and they’ll be able to help get your RV bathroom and holding tanks running smoothly in no time.