Sludge isn't causing the odor
But I need a little more information to know what IS causing it--and so do you if you're gonna identify the source and get rid of it instead of trying first this and then that, just 'cuz someone--who prob'ly knows less than you do--told you to. Is the odor only inside the boat? Only out the vent line when the head is flushed? Both? You said you're gonna replace all the hoses...have you tested 'em to find out if they actually need replacing? If the odor is inside the boat, but not out the vent when the head is flushed, the odor isn't coming from the tank...it may BE the hoses...but it could also be the bilge or shower sump. Or it could be stagnant seawater trapped in the head intake, especially in the rim of the bowl. But whatever is causing it, flushing out the tank won't cure it. If odor comes out the tank vent line, changing the hoses inside the boat won't help, but flushing out the tank and modifying the vent should. The only "product" you really need to thoroughly flush out a holding tank is fresh water, and lots of it. Our own "C.P" (available from the online store here, as well as from B/US, and WM) is a bioenzymatic cleaner that will do an excellent job of cleaning the tank, but not till you flushed all the sludge out of it (are you sure there IS sludge...or just assuming there is?). Read all the articles in the "Reference Library" in the Head Mistress forum for the answers to a lot of your questions (including some it hasn't occurred to you to ask. The let's figure out what's actually causing the odor problem and fix that instead of fixing 14 things that "ain't broke" first.
