Taming the Beast from the Outhouse © James Stoness
I’m sure a few of you old timers can relate to this story. When I was a wee lad, if I had to go, I walked across the yard to a little building by the back fence. It was a building everyone approached with trepidation. We tucked our noses down into our sweaters and tried to hold our breath, before opening the door. There were lots of old newspapers to read, but not many hung around long enough to even read the headlines.
Today, I don’t think I would go near one without a self-contained breathing pack. There were two of these outdoor toilets at my public school, one for boys and one for girls. Those little outbuildings had the foulest odours known to mankind. For those of you too young to remember this, perhaps you can relate it to what you might find in some portable toilets found at outdoor fairs.
Little did I know that years later I would be involved with RVs that have built-in toilets and have similar problems. To help resolve the problem, RVers have been dumping chemicals into their blackwater tanks with an aim to neutralizing the odours. Some of these chemicals contained formaldehyde which damages septic tanks, and in many campgrounds that is where their dumping stations send their waste.
After years of development, trials, and a new design, consumers now have the modern Blue Streak chemical and dispenser designed to tame the beast in your holding tank. You might well ask, “Why make another chemical, when there are already so many?”
The answer is in what it does. First of all, consider the convenience of adding the chemical to the dispenser. Just remove the lid on the dispenser and pour in your Blue Streak chemical. You don’t have to consider how much to add to the holding tank.
That leads us to a second consideration. The dispenser places a small amount of chemical into the bowl every time you flush the toilet. Let’s assume you are off for a weekend at the Sandbanks Park and you are using some other chemical. That raises a question of, ‘Should I pour in all of the bottle of the chemical I have, or just a little bit?’ And how much is a little bit? You are likely going to dump your tank at the park before heading home. Now, a lot of the chemical is wasted. With the Blue Streak dispenser the only chemical you have used would be the small amount dispensed each time you flushed the toilet. So, you can dump infrequently, or often. It doesn’t matter. It’s an economical way to treat your tank.
Another positive result of using Blue Streak and its dispenser is how clean your bathroom will smell. As the chemical works in the tank, the small amount of Blue Streak flushed through the toilet bowl disinfects and cleans the bowl, and what is left in your toilet bowl fills the room with a pleasant odour. It is also safe for septic tanks and does not contain any formaldehyde.
The chemical base is a mild ammonia. There is an added detergent providing a cleaning action, and there is also a lubricant to help keep drain valves moving easily, and to lubricate the toilet, an ideal combination.
The heart of the system is the patented T-valve. As water passes through, there is a venturi action that causes a suction in the line from the dispenser. A lot of work went into the development of this T-valve so it would dispense the correct amount of Blue Streak chemical with each flush. It is important that you do not put another brand of chemical in the dispenser as it could clog or otherwise ruin the venturi. It is never wise to mix different chemicals at any time unless you are positive there will be no violent chemical reaction.
The installation should be simple for most RVs. There are no wires or electricity required. You do need access room behind the toilet to reach the water line, which is cut, and the T-valve installed with the arrow in the correct direction of flow. There are excellent instructions with the Blue Streak dispensing kit, and the Blue Streak website has installation instructions for several types of toilets. It is important to remember to install the dispenser lower than the point where the water enters the toilet so that it does not drain down by gravity suction. Since it works by suction it is possible to place it in a lower storage cupboard if you find wall space is scarce in the bathroom.
Recently, at the Elkhart Open House, Blue Streak kits were installed in the Forest River outdoor bathroom trailer. What a great idea! And the great idea was enjoyed by everyone who had reason to visit the mobile privy.
Blue Steak has come up with a combination of chemical and dispenser that successfully ‘tames the beast from the outhouse’. Now let’s see manufacturers climbing aboard and including it in their RVs right from the factory.
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