Keeping Waste Tanks Smelling Clean (or at least trying)

[Mod_Squad]

Any tips? A tech suggested urinal mints... not too sure how those would hold up in the waste tank, would it be damaging to my customers' lawns... etc.

Thoughts? Suggestions?

 

[Mike Draper]

Don't use your TM.

 

[MarkCermak]

Rinse it well at the end of every work day. If a particularly nasty day, use some deo or hydrocide/odorcide, etc.

 

[Al]

scrub and rince at end of day, that slimey build up of crud shouldn't be there, no crud = no stink

8)

 

[rhyde]

Don’t dump in custys lawn

Bleach, baking soda & hot water at the end of the day

 

[Al]

really?

somebody told me bleach was bad for the aluminum tank?

 

[Rex Tyus]

really?

somebody told me bleach was bad for the aluminum tank?

I prefer ammonia to bleach. I think you are correct. Bleach comes with an assortment of possible problems. Plus ammonia is cheaper and completely volatile.

 

[Brian R]

I don't believe I could even get into my waste tank with out taking it out...well almost.
If you have it sealed well, it shouldn't stink that much...mine doesn't. Maybe it is coming from you vac port which you could plug up after each job...maybe your drain tube?

I would just suck some Quat-a-lot after the last job or during the day.

 

[SRI Cleaning]

I have heard people using chlorine tablets like for a pool, but i dont know how long they last.

 

[steve g]

my tank smells like ass right now, if the customer is around when I first fire it up, I will squirt some kill odor right on the mesh blower filter first, the best thing to keep your tank smelling good is a 3" pool tablet, it smells like a swimming pool when you fire it up, but a lot of people say its hard on aluminum so I don't run them anymore, although my tank is so bad right now I may just put one in anyways

 

[bob vawter]

Aluminum tanks?....ya right!!

And WHY would ya wanna clean it...it's jus gonna get dirty on the first job ...anyway!

 

[packfancjh]

Bio Modifier or Hydrocide works well for me as well as rinsing frequently.

 

[John Watson]

From 1 that doesn't clean our waste tank on a regular basis, I can only say what we do do.. Huh?

I dump at the end of the day, every day the machine is used. If even for just a spot cleaning job for we have found that using the knee high filter system and having a plug in our inlet hose when not in use keeps the fowel smell from entering the truck. If we leave anything in the tank overnight upon start up we will fill the area around the truck (Usaly the clients drive way) with that awful stentch. I occasionally will suck a 1-10 mixture of bleach through the waste system. My waste tank is made of aluminium, is over 20 years old and has never leaked or been repaired. It has stunk real bad a time or two tho

 

[Larry Cobb]

John;

Twenty years on that Aluminum tank shows a good design.

Some we have out are slightly over 20 years old and still working.

Who originally made your tank ??

Larry

 

[Russ Goddard]

I used the chlorine tablets. They do help, I don't really know how long they last. I'd drop one in every week or so. I also drained the tank each day. On occasion I'd forget and really notice the smell the next morning.

If you drain it regularly and rinse it even weekly, shouldn't smell. For a quick fix you can suck a gallon of bleach thru your vacuum hose.

 

[mikecoz]

I have heard of good results by spraying some flourosil floral into the vacuum port before and after each day. Makes the whole machine smell like flowers.

 

[lesterj2]

i fired up my machine today to see how the wand and solution hose I do have works... And as I was checking pressure I satarted smelling a stinch smell... But at the same time the garbage truck passed by... I wonder which was it smelling that bad but hopefully it was the damm truck...

 

[Out of Character - 0]

We have been using 2 urinal disks to a tank, they seem to help but I think they stink themselves. You can smell cherry stench when we first fire up.

 

[bob vawter]

Lester..it was your tank...

the human body sheds approx 65 to 70 lbs of human skin cells every year per person...now depending HOW MANY people and how long they stay IN the house that can be a considerable amount of human skin tissue you has in yor tank...and we ain't even mentioned the snot, boogers and OTHER bodily fluids that yous pull outta the carpet...Now leave that mixture sit for over the weekend and, yes Lester...you DO have a dED body in yor waste tank.....

 

[Guest]

I read in readers digest that urinal blocks cause penile cancer.

 

[Brian R]

Lester..it was your tank...

the human body sheds approx 65 to 70 lbs of human skin cells every year per person...now depending HOW MANY people and how long they stay IN the house that can be a considerable amount of human skin tissue you has in yor tank...and we ain't even mentioned the snot, boogers and OTHER bodily fluids that yous pull outta the carpet...Now leave that mixture sit for over the weekend and, yes Lester...you DO have a dED body in yor waste tank.....

oh God...OH G...

 

[rhyde]

really?

somebody told me bleach was bad for the aluminum tank?

real men have stainless steel waste tanks...

 

[Brian R]

really?

somebody told me bleach was bad for the aluminum tank?

real men have stainless steel waste tanks... :lol:

Mines Blue...YAY!!

 

[bob vawter]

Brian...glad i could make yor day!

 

[Brian R]

Brian...glad i could make yor day!

OH GOD...I CAN'T STOP

I CAN'T STO......

 

[Dolly Llama]

Any tips? A tech suggested urinal mints... not too sure how those would hold up in the waste tank, would it be damaging to my customers' lawns... etc.

Thoughts? Suggestions?

along with rising it out regularly...

get a good complete drain at the end of the day.
if you drain at the car wash, most bays are sloped toward the catch basin.
Pull in so your van "tilts" the right way to get a thorough draining.
Same applies if you dump at shop/home.

Leave the vac port open at night.
That allows air into the tank and stuff doesn't "forment" as bad


..L.T.A.

 

[John Watson]

Larry, My tank and unit was made by Jim E. Miller in Langly, BC, Canadia. He called his company JEM Mobile cleaning systems, He was a one-two man shop. He made most of Nation Wides units (Canadian Lo baller/ Bait n switcher) and for Canadian School districts.
Being made out of 3/16 AL also helps.

 

[Shawn Forsythe]

When someone suggests using bleach, chlorine tablets, or another strong oxidizer on a waste tank, I'm sure that some suppliers sport an evil grin, knowing that it is the surest way to accelerate the sale of a replacement tank.... But don't do it. It will drastically shorten the life of an aluminum tank, and contrary to conventional thought, doesn't do 304SS any good either.

Simply keeping it clean with daily rinsing is enough for most. In more extreme situations, use a relatively inert (corrosion-wise) sewage deodorizer such as Odorcide or Hydrocide.

 

[Jim Martin]

Keep it simple................just rinse it out at the end of the day........

 

[Curtis Pennington]

Couple of good water jobs back to back helps....