Taking a Dump and Dumping the Tank

It ain't pretty but everyone has to do it. Using the bathroom in a RV is definitely different than using a regular one. Pretty much the toilet is a raised bowl with a hole in the bottom and a pedal on the side.

I will spare you any pictures of the inside :)

When you press the pedal half way down the bowl fills with water. When you press the pedal all the way down it opens the hole in the bottom and flushes the toilet. The toilet water or "black water" as it is called in RV lingo goes into a tank under the RV. Everything from the toilet collects in the black water tank until it is full, about one week, and then we empty it. Everything collecting in that tank isn't all liquid so we have to break it all down. At the beginning of every tank cycle we toss a chemical packet down the toilet hole.

The chemical packet dissolves in the tank and breaks everything down so that it all comes out of the tank smoothly. Like I said, it ain't pretty but everyone has to do it.

The black water tank isn't the only one that fills up and needs to be emptied, there is also the grey water tank. Grey water is the water from the sinks, shower and washing machine. Since there are so many sources of grey water that tank needs to be dumped at least twice a week.

Dumping the tanks has several steps. We need to shut off the water and disconnect the hose from the trailer's water supply and connect it to the tanks. We got quick connectors for the hose to make it easier when switching it from one to the other.

Then we open the black tank and let the sewage flow. We turn the water back on so that can help clean out the black tank. Opening the tanks is done by pulling a handle inside this compartment.

Once the black water tank is emptied we open the grey water tank. By opening the grey water tank second the grey water going through the hose helps clear the black water out of the sewer hose. When both tanks are emptied, we close them, shut the water off, switch the water hose back to the trailer's water supply, turn it back on and then we are done.

When we first moved into the trailer using the bathroom was kind of weird for me. It took me a little while to get comfortable with the idea of the way the toilet works but now it is just normal. The only thing I hate about using the toilet in the trailer is when I really have to pee. Before I use the toilet I need to fill it with water. Sitting there listening to and watching the water run is torture when you really gotta go!