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Old 04-29-2018, 03:07 PM   #15
HeadMistress
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City: AR
Join Date: Jul 2009
Posts: 2,515
One more thing, the holding tank should have a vent filter...

No, it shouldn't except as a last resort. Vent filters actually help to cause the very problem they're sold to solve (why couldn't I have invented something that does that???) because they impede the flow of fresh air needed to PREVENT odor.

Sewage—all organic material--contains both aerobic (needs oxygen) and anaerobic bacteria (functions in the absence of oxygen); but only the anaerobic bacteria produce foul-smelling, and also highly toxic, gasses--sulfur dioxide, hydrogen sulfide--and also methane, which is odorless. But when organic matter breaks down aerobically, it converts to CO2, which is an odorless gas, and water. So, as long as there is a sufficient supply of oxygen to the tank, and an aerobic treatment is added to aid that which naturally occurs in sewage, the aerobic bacteria thrive and overpower the anaerobic bacteria, and the system cannot produce odor. Filters make it impossible to create an aerobic environment in the tank.

A larger diameter vent line that's short, straight an relatively horizontal is usually enough to provide the oxygen needed...but even when that's not possible, the answer isn't a filter...aeration is.

Chemical tank products don't help because they kill the bacteria needed to break down waste. Thetford tank treatments are all highly toxic chemicals--formaldehyde, gluteraldehyde or quaternary ammonium compound. OdoBan from Walmart is another highly toxic product. To maintain a tank aerobically requires products that work WITH nature instead of against it. There are several on the market...No-Flex Digester, Odorlos, Raritan K.O. are the most well known.

That's the short version....the long version is in my book.

Peggie
"If you can't explain it to a six year old, you don't completely understand it yourself." --Albert Einstein

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© 2024 Peggie Hall
Specializing in marine sanitation since '87.
Author "The NEW Get Rid of Boat Odors"
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