What, if any is the best way to reduce holding tank odors? I have an 18 gallon holding tank that has become so ripe that I can smell it when sailing. None of the odor is in the boat or around the head or holding tank. All the odor is coming from the vent. I have tried some stuff from WM called Odorlos but it does not seem to be helping at all. Any ideas? Tim R.
- Status
odor
Try a half gal of bleach the next time you pump out. It should take care of the stuff causing the odors. It may take a few pump outs to do the job, but a lot less money on your part. Try to keep tank pumped out and not let it sit more than a week.
Try a half gal of bleach the next time you pump out. It should take care of the stuff causing the odors. It may take a few pump outs to do the job, but a lot less money on your part. Try to keep tank pumped out and not let it sit more than a week.
KO
Tim - 2 things. 1- Use a product called KO. It is an enzyme that helps break down the odor causing bacteria naturaly - it is the only thing that works. I am sure Peggy will be her soon with a detailed breakdown of what you should do. 2 - Re-Route your vent to your transom. I did and the odor always just blows downwind (when I have it). Good luck - Rob
Tim - 2 things. 1- Use a product called KO. It is an enzyme that helps break down the odor causing bacteria naturaly - it is the only thing that works. I am sure Peggy will be her soon with a detailed breakdown of what you should do. 2 - Re-Route your vent to your transom. I did and the odor always just blows downwind (when I have it). Good luck - Rob
there are filters for the vent...
Tim, the PO of my boat left on board a new-in-the box charcoal filter for the vent line that never got installed because he didn't know where to put it. When I found a place for it and installed it, the minor "sulfur" smell that was always hanging around the boat went away (I'm pretty sure the smell was the holding tank and not the diesel fuel).
Tim, the PO of my boat left on board a new-in-the box charcoal filter for the vent line that never got installed because he didn't know where to put it. When I found a place for it and installed it, the minor "sulfur" smell that was always hanging around the boat went away (I'm pretty sure the smell was the holding tank and not the diesel fuel).
Bleach is a no-no
It's highly corrosive, damaging to sanitation hoses--making them more susceptible to odor permeation--and to rubber parts in toilets and macerator pumps. Tim...you tried Odorlos... Did you pump out and rinse out the tank first? Did you follow the directions? Or did you just dump some in and hope for the best? Odorlos should eliminate the odor if it's used according to directions. Any chemicals--including bleach!--must be flushed out of the tank before using it the first time. It should be added immediately after pumpout..and AGAIN when you come back to the boat if you pumpout at the end of the weekend just before the boat will sit for several days, because with very little in the tank, it quickly exhausts itself. And it also must be added once a week if the tank isn't pumped out. (All of this is on the bottle, btw.) Try it again, this time according to directions, and I think you'll be happy with the results. Rob, I dunno how K.O. can work at all since you've re-routed your vent to the transom...'cuz K.O. is not an enzyme, but live bacteria that must have plenty of oxygen to function aerobically...it can only prevent odor when it works aerobically. Venting out the transom prevent an outside air from getting into the tank unless a breeze is coming over your stern. I suspect you don't have any odor only as long as it takes to exhaust the limited supply of oxygen already in the tank...but once the tank is about half full, you start to have odor. Oxygen is the key odor elimination...odor cannot be created in an aerobic environment, only in anaerobic conditions. So for any tank product to be effective, the more oxygen that the vent can supply to the tank, the better. That means the vent line should be as short as possible (< 3' is ideal), as straight as possible--no bends or loops--and as close to horizontal as possible. And the larger the diameter, the better...'cuz the larger the diameter of the vent line, the more air exchange. Which also makes vent line filters a bad idea...they trap noxious gasses, but because they block the flow of air INTO the tank via the vent line, they also create the anaerobic condition that produces odor in the first place...they actually help to create the very problem they're sold to solve. They're also VERY expensive...about $50 each. They only last a season at best, and are toast immediately if they get wet...which, because heeling often spills tank contents out the vent, makes vent line filters an even worse idea on most sailboats than on boats that don't heel. Not only do they no longer work once they've gotten wet, but they also clog up, blocking the tank vent.
It's highly corrosive, damaging to sanitation hoses--making them more susceptible to odor permeation--and to rubber parts in toilets and macerator pumps. Tim...you tried Odorlos... Did you pump out and rinse out the tank first? Did you follow the directions? Or did you just dump some in and hope for the best? Odorlos should eliminate the odor if it's used according to directions. Any chemicals--including bleach!--must be flushed out of the tank before using it the first time. It should be added immediately after pumpout..and AGAIN when you come back to the boat if you pumpout at the end of the weekend just before the boat will sit for several days, because with very little in the tank, it quickly exhausts itself. And it also must be added once a week if the tank isn't pumped out. (All of this is on the bottle, btw.) Try it again, this time according to directions, and I think you'll be happy with the results. Rob, I dunno how K.O. can work at all since you've re-routed your vent to the transom...'cuz K.O. is not an enzyme, but live bacteria that must have plenty of oxygen to function aerobically...it can only prevent odor when it works aerobically. Venting out the transom prevent an outside air from getting into the tank unless a breeze is coming over your stern. I suspect you don't have any odor only as long as it takes to exhaust the limited supply of oxygen already in the tank...but once the tank is about half full, you start to have odor. Oxygen is the key odor elimination...odor cannot be created in an aerobic environment, only in anaerobic conditions. So for any tank product to be effective, the more oxygen that the vent can supply to the tank, the better. That means the vent line should be as short as possible (< 3' is ideal), as straight as possible--no bends or loops--and as close to horizontal as possible. And the larger the diameter, the better...'cuz the larger the diameter of the vent line, the more air exchange. Which also makes vent line filters a bad idea...they trap noxious gasses, but because they block the flow of air INTO the tank via the vent line, they also create the anaerobic condition that produces odor in the first place...they actually help to create the very problem they're sold to solve. They're also VERY expensive...about $50 each. They only last a season at best, and are toast immediately if they get wet...which, because heeling often spills tank contents out the vent, makes vent line filters an even worse idea on most sailboats than on boats that don't heel. Not only do they no longer work once they've gotten wet, but they also clog up, blocking the tank vent.
- Status