Black Tank Treatments: The Good, The Bad, And The Downright Crappy

Early on in your career as an RV owner you may fall in to one of two camps: Camp one, where you have successful, knowledgeable, long-term RV-er’s, to give you all the information you need, to be successful yourself and enjoy the RV life to its fullest, or camp two, a camp filled with others silly, unfounded, ramblings about “whatcha ought to do” based on zero actual experience. Camp two is where you’ll find heavy recommendations for expensive, yet sub-par tank treatments. So here we’ll break down (pun intended!) a couple of the “top” tank treatments, find out what makes them good, what makes them bad, and where to put your money for the best possible result!

Here’s the line-up:

1.      Happy Campers Odor Free

2.      Camco TST MAX RV

3.      Unique RV Digest-it

4.      TankTechsRX

Happy Campers Oder Free

Happy camper is a fair choice, not the best but certainly not the worst! Happy Campers treatment is a highly concentrated and water-activated monohydrate blend of minerals and micronutrients that claims to eliminate bad odor. They claim 1 scoop of Happy Camper holding tank treatment will treat and eliminate odors in up to a 40-gallon holding tank. The holding tank treatment also claims to be unaffected by extreme hot or cold temperatures and is completely safe for RV plumbing and septic systems(duh).

In my experience using the product, it does in fact do what it claims (mostly) and eliminates smell coming back up from your toilet, which in my opinion is the extent of what can be reasonably expected where scent mitigation is concerned. Where I believe this product could do better, is the breaking down of any and all solids in the tank. I tended to see a fairly inconsistent slurry when dumping my black tank, containing a decent amount of half-broken-down toilet paper, and half-broken-down solids.

So, are there better treatments? Yes. But if you are using the Happy Campers Oder free tank treatment there is no need to panic, just use up your product and get a better one next time!

Camco TST MAX RV Tank Treatment

Awesome looking packaging, catchy colors, and you can probably buy it at the bodega in the heart of NYC, and can even get it in a pod, this stuff is everywhere.

It’s everywhere, and it’s TERRIBLE! That’s right I’m saying it, the stuff stinks, both literally and metaphorically. Camco is not your friend, they’re just like every other corporate owned company, selling you stuff and telling you, you need it and how great their product is (insert a very soap-box-y rant about the dangerous “anode rod” they’ll happily sell you for an aluminum tanked Atwood/Dometic)

Here’s the truth about the stuff: Its nothing more than a perfume agent to keep the smell from something back up your toilet which it does not do well. It does nothing to break down the contents of your holding tank, and in the case of pods can actually clog everything up or create a pyramid of their own.

Unlike my advice on the Happy Campers product, this one you throw out and immediately get something better. If you continue using it you will have issues, it’s just a matter of time!

Unique RV Digest-it

Unique’s digest-it gets a big win for its availability at Walmart! They claim to do a good job of dissolving solids and in my experience, they’re not stretching the facts. This is a pretty clean cut tank additive, there’s not much to write about it, it’s in the top 3 additives for me! It’s cost effective and did I mention it’s available at Walmart? If you’re a person that doesn’t like ordering online, pick this guy up at the store, you won’t regret it!  

TankTechs RX

This is it, the (in my opinion) best option available right now, TankTechs RX. I can’t overstate my love for small businesses, typically you’re going to get a better product, at a better price, and find out tricks of the given industry that the big guys would never tell you! That’s TankTechs, their product is the best and they offer free valuable info on their site, sadly it’s not the cheapest but it is the best! You also get the added benefit of being “Green and Clean” naturally made and non-harmful, it’s full probiotic! It’s a natural solution that rocks, and again, a pretty clean-cut winner that will do you well!

Thanks so much for reading and I hope you’ve learned just a little bit more about the world of RV’s! Before you go, I think it’s important to say, at this point there is no tank product on the market that will do the Job of good tank maintenance, and I don’t foresee one coming. It’s important to keep up on your tank rinse’s (roughly every second tank) not dumping too often (letting your tank additive do its job) and most importantly, the seldom mentioned, professional tank cleaning, to lose that heavy struvite.

See you on the road!

-Ergon RV