Could our dump water be as bad as mold?

Sorry, I don't go sticken my head in my waste tank daily, weekly or monthly, Lucky if I do it yearly.

I try to filter (I am now using a Tweaked 2 in min Dia. Hydro-Filter with a stainless mesh strainer that holds a nylon Knee high) before it get in the waste tank and I dump daily. I occasionally (twice a year) put in about 20 gallons of water and a gallon of bleach and drive it around so it swishes good No, the inside of my tank is not nice and I wish some of the drains and spray systems available today were here yesterday when my machine was young. I plug the intake hose, the drain is blocked, the only other way out is through the blower. The only time we notice a bad smell is if we don't have the tank all the way MT when it sits for the weekend and the smell is when we turn on the blower for the first time after the machine has sat..

There are 2000 different types of mold and probably that many different types of cleaning chems. I never liked smelling the waste tank as I drive down the road to the next call. That is one reason I like APO. You could spray a little Quat-A-Lot or a like product into the tank just before you leave the job.

I just smoke more cigarettes to kill the recovery tank and chemical smell.

I don't miss my CDS days.......in the desert at 110 and getting in the van after it sat in the heat and fermented ............

another thing I like about my set up now...........the cab is completely separate from the stink..............

the new prespray we use seems to neutralize that horrid stench that i used to smell. it still smells in the van, but not as bad when you dump (LEGALLY)

Thanks, Tre for dragging me into a subject I wanted to avoid.

The comparison is being made to mold. There are thousands of varieties of mold. A few are known produce allergic reactions in some people. There is some evidence - but not proof - that some molds may eb related to more serious helath problems. Some people really react to mold. Others are not bothered by mold. My point is that what we are comparing chemicals to is very much undefined. So it is hard to say if something is "worse."

The chemicals we use to clean are tightly controlled. By the time they are diluted with as much water as we use in cleaning, there should not be anything in them that is a health hazard, just bad smells.

Some of the cleaning products can be a food source for mold. So part of the odor coming from the tank may actually be mold.

Carpet can have pesticides in it either sprayed in the home or tracked from outside. Then one could continue to add to the list of chemicals that might be in a carpet. I suspect that what we clean out of a carpet and the mold that grows on it if the tank is not emptied regularly is likely more hazardous than the cleaning chemicals.

Some folks may be sensitive to a particular ingredient in a cleaning product - some of the butyl products for example. In that case, stay away from something that you know bothers you. Most other people are probably not bothered.

The key is to keep the waste tank clean and the lid sealed so that you are not breathing an unreasonable amounts of these fumes.

Scott Warrington

I have asked my doctor about this over the years and he said not to worry about it. Ten years in an no weird tumors or mutant abilities.

You have more to worry about the crap that is in the food,drinking water and air.

It's amazing how a couple of slugs of Jack Daniels can neutralize that odor.

APO All the way Rock it

i think its way worse than mold... i hate hving to clean out the filter box & recovery tank... but if its not done that next ride in the truck is horrible...