It’s all about timely tending of toilets.
Water was so high in our RV port-a-potty like tank, I could see waves when I opened the stool lid. Darn! Was I waiting for visual proof of need to act before draining the black water?! What was I thinking? Obviously, I wasn’t. A foul, almost palpable, odor came in waves, initially only when I opened the toilet, eventually filling the bathroom regardless of lid status.
I knew the drill, theoretically. Outside, I called to a campground neighbor who looked like he must know all about matters travel trailer.
“Yes ma’am, just close the grey water, then open the black. Yup, like that. Easy there, not all the way open, don’t want too much weight on your drain hose. That wouldn’t be good.” No explanation needed on that last point.
I took it from there. Black water tanks must be enormous. They take forever to drain. I knew better than to walk away lest a clog require a quick valve shutoff. No such misfortune occurred this time. This time. I’ll spare you the details of how I learned that not all drains are created equal.
There’s procedure to be followed when dumping. While grey water is closed, fill tank. Once black is closed again, open grey and let the emptying water flush the external drain hose clean. I did this. Fill black holding tank with several gallons of clean water, add deodorizer. I did this. Yet, the funk lingered in the bathroom. Again, I filled the black water, this time counting to one hundred slowly, then drained, and filled with several more gallons and another deodorizer pouch. Voila! All better… I thought.
We spent the rest of the day doing laundry at our non-portable house in town.
Since we have an MLS listing, and hope to sell our home (soon!) I do a walk through every time we leave. Lights out, floor clean, ac at 83, all water taps off, toilet flushed… toilet lid came off in my hand. Did it really? Yes. Now what?!
Thanking God upon discovering one must deal with a busted toilet cover may seem peculiar, but it wasn’t last night. Aside from trying to see the end in the beginning: i.e. better I should discover the brokenness rather than a prospective buyer, and besides, now we’ll have a partially updated bathroom, I was granted time alone after a day of managing children in a mostly toyless house, a day that began with the unexpected task of managing human waste. I was, by early evening, slightly grumpy and a bit sideways.
So grandma watched the boys, I enjoyed an hour singing along to classic rock, and after only five minutes of work kneeling in what is generally recognized as vomit stance while unscrewing the old broken seat and fastening the new, more beautiful wooden throne, I was a domestic champion. What could be better?!
All was now right in my little world, until we returned to the RV. A familiar unpleasant aroma swirled around the outside. Fortunately the inside of our camper was back to smelling like nothing in particular, and nothing like an outhouse, but our poor eastern neighbors may have suffered due to my lack of know-how. Once again, I closed the grey water, filled it a heck of a lot fuller than I had in the morning, then ran it through the hose. Time will tell if all is well.