Why Using Lots of Water in your RV Toilet and Black Tank is Crucial

Water is one of the most beneficial things you can add to your RV toilet and black water holding tank. In fact, adding water to your RV toilet and black tanks is basically the same as a human drinking water for survival — it’s a must-have, a non-negotiable.

The benefits of adding water to your camper’s toilet and black tank are numerous, helping to prevent clogs, block odors, and keep your sensors functioning properly. And while some RVers get caught in the trap of trying to over-conserve water while camping, using enough water can save you time, money, and headaches while out on the road.

In this article we’re going to cover why using plenty of water in your RV is so important, and how to use water effectively as outlined by The Unique Method.

Key Points About Water Usage in RV Toilets & Black Tanks

• The two places where you should always use plenty of water in your RV are in the RV toilet and in the RV black tank.
• Keeping water in your RV toilet is important because it acts as a vapor barrier, blocking odors from wafting up from the black tank and into the living space of the RV.
• Water protects RV black tanks by eliminating odors, preventing pyramid plugs, activating tank treatments like RV Digest-It Ultra, and ensuring your black tank is full enough for an effective tank dump.
• Following the water usage and RV tank treatment guidelines that are outlined by The Unique Method can help you avoid 99% of camper wastewater issues before they even occur.

Why is Using More Water Important in an RV?

Many RVers struggle with clogs, foul odors, and misreading sensors, and are constantly looking for ways to avoid these problems. The truth is that most of these issues stem from not using enough water in RV toilets and black tanks.

The good news is that water is very accessible, and that campers can enjoy worry-free holding tanks without expensive equipment, gimmicks, or frequent visits to RV service centers.

How Water Helps Your RV Toilet

Adding water to the toilet bowl before and after every flush acts as a vapor barrier, blocking odors that rise from the black water tank. This can help prevent unpleasant smells from making it into the RV.

Using enough water also helps transport waste to the black tank effectively, and can prevent clogs in the line between the RV toilet and the tank itself.

How Water Helps Your RV Black Water Holding Tank

Water supports your RV black tank in a variety of ways:

• Hot temperatures are one of the leading causes of smelly RV black tanks, and fresh water helps cool the tank and reduce odors.
• Water prevents pyramid plugs and compacted tanks in RV black tanks by softening the waste so that it dips below the water line and can’t cling to the walls and floor of the tank.
• The waste-digesting, aerobic bacteria in high-quality tank treatments like RV Digest-It Ultra need water to survive, and use the water to reach the waste they are intended to break down.
• Adding enough water to your RV black tank allows your tank to be full enough for an effective tank dump (dumping your tank when it is 2/3 full or more).

How to Use Enough Water in RV Toilets & Black Tanks: The Unique Method

Now that you know how important water is for your RV toilets and black tanks, let’s look at some practical ways to use water effectively according to The Unique Method.

Over 30 years of solving wastewater problems professionally, the team at Unique Camping + Marine developed The Unique Method — a simple set of rules that can allow you to camp without RV toilet odors, clogs, and misreading sensors.

The Unique Method is a 50/50 method of following the right process and using the right products. Next, we’ll look at some of the practical water usage recommendations that are outlined in The Unique Method.

How to Use Plenty of Water in Your RV Toilet

Using an RV toilet is a little different than using your toilet at home. The most common type of RV toilet is a gravity flush toilet, which uses water and gravity to provide enough pressure for flushing.

If you’re new to RV toilets, we recommend reading our guide:How to Use Your RV Toilet

1. Fill Your RV Toilet Bowl Before Each Use

Make sure to fill your RV toilet bowl with water before you use it — this will help solid waste flow easily down the line, and deter any trapped odors from rising during the flush.

While flushing can help rinse the toilet bowl, using an RV toilet without water allows waste to stick to the dry walls, making it more difficult to clean. Similarly, the water from flushing may not be enough to transport the waste to the RV black tank smoothly, causing waste buildup in the pipes themselves.

2. Use Enough Water When Flushing Your RV Toilet

Hold down the flush mechanism for at least 10 seconds each time you flush your RV toilet to continually add water to your black tank. This allows the waste to easily transfer from the RV toilet to the black tank, preventing clogs.

If you’re worried about using too much water, don’t stress. Flushing for 10 seconds in an RV toilet only equates to approximately a half gallon of water. To put this into perspective, home toilets typically flush 1.6 gallons of water per flush.

Adding this extra water to the RV’s black tank with each flush helps prevent odors by keeping solid waste below the water line, which softens it to prevent clogs and adds another odor-blocking vapor barrier.

3. Keep Several Inches of Water in Your RV Toilet Bowl

We recommend keeping a small amount of water in your RV toilet bowl at times, except when driving. Keeping water in the RV toilet bowl acts as a vapor barrier, and stops unpleasant odors inside the black tank from wafting up and into the living space of your RV.

If you find yourself dealing with an RV toilet clog, don’t panic, read our guide: Clearing RV Toilet Clogs

How to Use Plenty of Water in Your RV Black Tank

Using enough water in your RV black tank is easy if you’re already using enough water in your RV toilet, since all of the water from the toilet flows directly into the black tank. However, let’s look at a few additional ways to use water effectively in your RV black tank.

1. Always Keep Your RV Black Tank Valve Closed

Unless you are actively dumping your tank, you should keep your black tank valve closed.

When you leave your black tank valve closed, you allow the liquid levels to rise inside of your black tank, which can soften waste, act as a vapor barrier to prevent unpleasant odors from rising, allow tank treatments to completely liquefy the waste, and help prevent debris from sticking to tank sensors.

Leaving your black water tank valve open is one of the fastest ways to develop clogs.

When you leave your RV black tank valve open, the liquids in the tank flow out as expected, but the solid waste and toilet paper are left behind. Eventually, the solid waste will build up on top of itself and form a pyramid plug. Whether you’re on hook-ups or not, it is essential that the black tank valve remain closed unless you are actively dumping a full tank.

Important Note: You may be one of the fortunate campers that has left your black water tank valve open without experiencing any problems. But after working with hundreds of RVers to address clogs, we can confidently tell you that it’s only a matter of time before your luck runs out. We strongly recommend that you change this practice while you’re still ahead.

Guide: Why It’s Crucial to Keep Your RV Black Water Valve Closed

2. Use Water With High-Quality Bacteria- and Enzyme Based RV Tank Treatments

Treating your RV black tank regularly ensures that waste is broken down effectively while managing odors.

You should only use high-quality RV black tank treatments that combine bacteria and enzymes. This powerhouse combination is the only way to adequately liquefy toilet paper and human waste, eliminate odors at the source without masking them with dangerous chemicals or synthetic fragrances, and help prevent misreading sensors.

Having enough water in your RV black tank ensures that the waste-digesting, aerobic-bacteria and enzymes can both survive and reach the waste that needs to be broken down.

The best RV black tank treatment is RV Digest-It Ultra, which includes a proprietary combination of bacteria and enzymes that work quickly and effectively to keep your black tank free from clogs, odors, and misreading sensors.

Guides:

• Why You Should Use a High-Quality Waste Digester in Your RV
• Why Are Bacteria and Enzymes Good For Your RV Holding Tanks?

3. Rinse Your RV Black Water Tank With Water After Each Dump

Rinsing your RV black water holding tank after each dump can help keep it free from build up that can lead to clogs and foul odors in your RV.

The most effective way to rinse your black tank is to fill it completely with clean water, and then dump the contents. Repeat this 1-2 times to thoroughly rinse your black tank.

Important Note: This method is far more effective for thoroughly rinsing a tank than using internally mounted tank rinsers, tank wands, or external tank flushes. Our extensive testing of these external devices has proven that they are highly ineffective for the majority of RV wastewater systems. The only way to be sure you’ve drained all the remaining waste out is to routinely fill and dump your tanks.

Guide: How to Flush Your RV Holding Tank

Video: Why It’s Important to Rinse Your Black Tank

4. Deep Clean Your RV Black Tank Regularly: Water & Clean-It

Regularly cleaning your RV black water tank is important because keeping the holding tanks clean and free from build-up is key to avoiding clogs and foul odors in your RV.

These issues can arise if waste is allowed to linger in crevices, tank ledges, sensor probes, and low points in your tanks, leading to serious problems at the most inconvenient times.

Supplies you need to deep clean your black water tank:

• Water
• Bacteria- and enzyme-based cleaner (Unique Clean-It)
• Time

Unique Clean-It is specifically designed for deep cleaning your RV black tank. The remarkable combination of water, bacteria, and enzymes removes waste from the tank walls and floor, removes debris from sensors, and lubricates your valves and seals.

There is a reason why Clean-It is the best selling black tank deep cleaner on the market! It is the strongest, most effective tank cleaner in the industry, it’s safe to use in all RVs and motorhomes, and is 100% satisfaction guaranteed.

Guide: How to Deep Clean RV Black Water Holding Tanks

5. Prepare Your RV Black Tank for Storage: Fresh Water & Store-It

When it comes to storing your RV, the best practice is to dump it at a station on your way home, or immediately upon your return, so you don’t accidentally forget about it and have to deal with a compacted tank during your next trip. Learn: Where to Dump Your RV Holding Tanks

When you store an RV for long periods of time, the water in the tank will eventually evaporate (or leak out of faulty tank valves) and leave dried waste and toilet paper behind. The solid waste will harden along the bottom of the tank and block the discharge line, making it impossible to dump later.

When you are preparing for RV storage, we recommend filling your black tank with water and Store-It, allowing the formula to work while your RV is not in use.

Important Note: Never store your RV with a full holding tank if temperatures are expected to drop below freezing, and never store your RV with waste still in the tank.

Guide: How to Prepare Your RV Holding Tanks for Storage

Video: What To Do With Your RV Holding Tanks Before Storing Your RV

Proper Water Use: Your First Step Toward Problem-Free RV Toilets & Holding Tanks

Combining the power of water with the tried, tested, and proven methods and products outlined in The Unique Method, offers you complete peace of mind while out on the road.

Water is the cornerstone of RV wastewater management, and using plenty of water allows you to use your RV toilet and black tank without fear of messy clogs, foul odors, and misreading sensors while camping.

If you find yourself struggling with lingering odors, persistent clogs, or the guidelines in The Unique Method, don’t worry. Stop wasting time browsing the internet for questionable advice, and reach out to the friendly and professional Customer Support Team at Unique Camping + Marine, where expert advice is only one call or email away.