RidX in a holding Tank?

[zeehag]

i found odorlos was just fine solo, without added bs to counteract the enzymes.
used it solo for over 5 yrs without smelly boat.

btw--i been living full time on boats since 1990. smell of head or holding tank was never a problem on my boats.

[jtsailjt]

Originally Posted by zeehag

i found odorlos was just fine solo, without added bs to counteract the enzymes.
used it solo for over 5 yrs without smelly boat.

btw--i been living full time on boats since 1990. smell of head or holding tank was never a problem on my boats.

I've had good luck with odorlos too. Definitely think it makes a big difference. Seems pretty pricey though!

I've used RidX regularly at our very simple septic system at our summer cottage. It's basically a 2'X3'X2' pit with the walls reinforced by pressure treated 2X4's so the sides don't cave in, and with a plywood cover and a couple inches of loose gravel on top of it but with no vent. The sewer pipe from the toilet terminates near the top of the pit. This simple pit was used daily during June-August by a family of 6, when due to some new construction, we had to dig it up in September. I wasn't looking forward to that day at all. But, even though countless rolls of TP as well as all the actual sewage had been flushed into it over the years, with only about a month long time interval since its last use, it was essentially an empty pit with NO bad odors and NO sign of anything resembling sewage or toilet paper. Just a small amount of some dry stuff that looked like the peat moss you buy to put in your garden. Sort of like a composting toilet that hasn't been used in quite awhile. We use RidX a couple of times a season and I've been amazed by how well it works. No idea if it would work in a holding tank though.

Zee, another thing that's contributing to your sweet smelling boat is that you are using the system regularly so it's constantly moving rather than frequently getting the chance to sit for weeks at a time so all the solids settle out and become a thick goo on the bottom of the tank where it's tough for oxygen to get to it to facilitate the growth of aerobic bacteria.

[Sea Q]

Originally Posted by FlyingCloud1937

This product is hands down the best I have found for holding tanks. Use it before you have to take something apart, it will make the job less then a rubber suit job.

I have 2 customers that had tank, and hose permeation in the 2 months, after a month of treatment, they no longer have that holding tank smell in the boat.

On one boat he had already scheduled a whole demo of the tanks, lines and toilets. He used it for a month, and now is happy he didn't spend the money.

The second boat had it so bad it caused the propane sensor in the same bilge to constantly alarm. And every time she flushed the head the whole of the marina smelled of holding tank. After one month the propane alarm doesn't sound, and the rest of the marina doesn't know when she flushes the head.
Noflex Digestor

It turns black water crystal clear in 2 hours, I have seen it demonstrated a number of times.

I have no affiliation with the manufacture... just 5 years of success stories.

Lloyd

#1 on Noflex
The Noflex does this all try it once and you will never go back

[HopCar]

I've heard so many good things about Noflex, I put it in stock. Haven't had a chance to try it myself yet.
Noflex Digester Sewage Treatment

[valhalla360]

Originally Posted by Roy M

I've built septic tanks and distribution fields for residences, and I've built holding tanks for boats. They are different. Septic tanks digest wastes using naturally occurring bacteria that flourish under low or no oxygen environments. Your gut is an example. These anaerobic bacteria break down waste, allowing some solids to settle out at the bottom of a septic tank. The digested waste (from the "guts" of the anaerobic beasties) then gets displaced by an equal volume of fresh waste entering the tank and the digested remains, along with a whole bunch of anaerobic bugs flows out into the distribution field, often a field of grass. Living in the dirt of the field are bunches of aerobic (oxygen consuming) bacteria. Anaerobic bacteria are killed by the high levels of oxygen, then they are consumed by the aerobic bugs. This natural cycle is safe enough that the EPA allows septic fields to be constructed within about a hundred yards of drinking water wells.

Holding tanks do nothing more than hold the waste, allowing some digestion by the anaerobic bacteria, until they are pumped out of the holding tank into a sewage pipe or the open sea. In either case, the anaerobic bacteria die from too much oxygen. In the meantime, they stink up the neighborhood with the products of their digestive soup.

Peggie Hall describes all of this in her book (listed somewhere in CF). She proposed a different approach to handling this natural phenomenon, making the holding tank well ventilated and providing a source of aerobic bacteria to transform the wretched soup into a less smelly and biologically safer brew. This aerobically transformed waste is what the primary phase of sewage treatment is all about. Sewage plants would smell a whole lot worse without oxygenation and aerobic treatment.

Rid-X supposedly supplies doses of anaerobic bacteria to consume the solid wastes and help liquefy as much as possible. I have no idea of the role of the magnesium, but based on what some folks have said about "clarifying the waste water", it might have more to do with simply speeding up precipitation of waste solids. It doesn't reduce the products (especially the odor producing components) of bacterial digestion of waste.

To address the issue of the smell of holding tanks, wouldn't it be faster and more efficient, given an equal period of storage in a holding tank, to consider the aerobic digester concept? Those who are touting composting toilets are using this principle, probably without even knowing what is happening. I've been using it for many years, and mine is the only tank on our dock of liveaboards that doesn't stink.

A lot of truth in this. It's been a few years since my engineering classes covered it but unless there is something broken, you don't need to add anything to a septic system and it only in rare situations that you should need it pumped. You add a dose of the magic bacteria every time you deposit a #2. Unless you are dumping bleach down the toilet, there are plenty of bacteria and enzymes already present.

In a holding tank system, it's totally different. It's purely about storage until you can pump it out. There may be a little decomposition but purely incidental.

The one idea that I've not seen done but could work is to plumb an aquarium air pump in at the bottom of the holding tank to provide a continous flow of oxygen into the system. You would have to figure out how much air and how much power for the pump. Plus you probably need a way to service the outlet periodically to clear any blockages (yeah, that sounds fun). As long as you can get enough oxygen into the water, it should go aerobic and the smells should largely cease. The hoses are likely an issue and that's where most of the smells really come from.

Of course a composter does this in a lot simpler manner by eliminating the hoses and the surface of the water which keeps oxygen out.

[colemj]

Originally Posted by valhalla360

The one idea that I've not seen done but could work is to plumb an aquarium air pump in at the bottom of the holding tank to provide a continous flow of oxygen into the system.

There used to be a commercial system that did just this - aquarium air pump and hose with diffuser. I don't know if it still exists.

Mark

[valhalla360]

Originally Posted by colemj

There used to be a commercial system that did just this - aquarium air pump and hose with diffuser. I don't know if it still exists.

Mark

It wouldn't be hard or expensive to rig up (assuming you have decent access to the holding tank) and if you spent most of your time at dock, the power consumption would be irrelevant.

If you are at anchor, power consumption would likely be a concern.

Sewage treatment plants use this exact method on a much larger scale.

I think the bigger trick though it treating the hoses. My impression is most smells aren't due to the tank but the hoses.

[HopCar]

Groco sells this system to pump air into your holding tank.

SANITATION / TOILET

DIMENSIONS
SAMPLE INSTALLATION

MODELS

STK Series
Sweettank Odor Neutralization System

The SweetTank™ concept has been developed by GROCO® to stop odors in yacht and RV holding tanks without the use of chemicals or filters.

SweetTank™ comes as standard equipment on Thermopure-2® Type-I MSD, and is optional with GROCO® Type-III MSD units (specifically Model ZDS).We also offer SweetTank™ in several retrofit kits to fit existing holding tanks. Contact GROCO® for the exact kit to accommodate your specific application needs.

HOW IT WORKS Aerobic and anaerobic bacteria coexist naturally in raw sewage. It is the anaerobic bacteria that produce undesirable odors. Introducing a constant flow of air into the tank produces an oxygen-rich environment in which bacteria cannot thrive, thus eliminating unpleasant odors.
The compact module that constantly delivers oxygen to the holding tank requires less than 3 watts of DC power. Also available in an AC model.

INSTALLATION

• SweetTank™ screws into a 1-1/2 NPT threaded fitting in the top or side of the tank.
  
• If the tank has no 1-1/2" NPT opening, aeration equipment is installed into a 2-1/2" hole cut in the tank top or side. All mounting hardware is included.
  
  
• STK-18 fits tanks up to 18" deep. Contact GROCO for installation in tanks deeper than 18".