"...oh black water, keep on rollin..."

[Tailgater 6]

First, did you get the Doobie Brothers reference in the title of the post? Is the song stuck in your head now? Your welcome.

Second, I'm Getting closer to plumbing in our RV toilet and black water tank. I'm leaning toward using a 55 gallon drum if it will fit. I had hoped to find pictures of how some fellow sKoolie's have run their pipes and made their connections, but those type pics are rare as far as I can tell after combing through the site for two days. Does anyone know where some of those pics might be found?

I have questions that perhaps some of you may be willing to help me with:
1. Does my new RV toilet have a trap in it or do I have to build one under it like in a sink?
2. Should I try or is it best to put my black water tank, if possible, directly under the toilet location?
3. If I use a drum for black water tank, do i route my abs pipe, from the toilet, high into the flat end of the barrel to ensure a good flat/flush connection point, or do I/can I route it into the top, rounded part of the barrel?
4. If I should route it into the rounded part of the barrel, are there recommended connector pieces I should use?
5. Should I use a metal or plastic drum? I'm sure I read on here that plastic ones will inevitably need repair.
6. Is there a biodegradable type of anti-freeze available that I can mix in? I don't mind insulating the tank, but I'd rather not have to expend energy heating our waste if not necessary.
7. Since this bus will likely never be very far away from facilities being primarily for tail gating use, we have a strict "number one only" policy in the toilet. Since we will only be peeing in it and perhaps not flushing every time, won't that limit the need for flush water? If so, couldn't I install a smaller (maybe 5 or 10 gallon), gravity tank somewhere higher than the toilet rather than add another tank below and have to purchase and install a water pump?

Thank you for your guidance.

[gbstewart]

No trap in a rv toilet, yes you can have the toilet right above the tank, its best that way straight drop, that's the way mine is. I think you will need the pressure from a water pump for the toilet to work the way it should, how ever you can just add water form a bucket ever time you use it .
if you go to the last few pages of my build you will see a tank replacement I did on my bus, it mite help you out. there is a link to it my name
gbstewart

[jazty]

Originally Posted by Tailgater 6

4. If I should route it into the rounded part of the barrel, are there recommended connector pieces I should use?
5. Should I use a metal or plastic drum? I'm sure I read on here that plastic ones will inevitably need repair.

The curve might make it tricky to seal. If you used a steel drum and have decent mig welding skills you could weld a suitable pipe on to the drum.

Originally Posted by Tailgater 6

6. Is there a biodegradable type of anti-freeze available that I can mix in? I don't mind insulating the tank, but I'd rather not have to expend energy heating our waste if not necessary.
7. Since this bus will likely never be very far away from facilities being primarily for tail gating use, we have a strict "number one only" policy in the toilet. Since we will only be peeing in it and perhaps not flushing every time, won't that limit the need for flush water? If so, couldn't I install a smaller (maybe 5 or 10 gallon), gravity tank somewhere higher than the toilet rather than add another tank below and have to purchase and install a water pump?

If you allowed some crap in there, would it compost and produce it's own heat? Can anyone chime in? Do black tanks release any sizable amount of heat, or is there usually too much water for that process to occur?

[Tailgater 6]

Found the attached diagram. Looks like from this and from what gb is saying, you actually DON'T want a trap under an RV toilet. I would've thought the smell emanating from a straight drop would be a big concern, but I guess there's something I don't know.

Moving on - very interesting about the composting heat Jazty. I'd be curious to see the responses for that one cuz my next bus will be an RV. With this tailgater, I'm not sure I want to open the door to "number 2" because a lot of strangers end up using our toilet at events. I'd rather not have to potentially clean up after them. Glad to know my concerns aren't unfounded about tying into curved part of barrel. my neighbor is a welder. So a case of Budweiser should take care of that.

I'm gonna check out your build gb. Water pump shouldn't be a big deal. I was just trying to trim costs where possible. With all the strangers using the toilet, a foot/step activated flush mechanism sounds a bit more sanitaryand therefore worth the relatively small cost of installing a pump.

Thanks for the response guys.

[Tailgater 6]

Just saw your tank replacement posts gb. Incorporating a fernco coupling on drain connections, to prevent future damage due to vibration, makes a lot of sense. Has anyone else tried, or seen a need for this?

[Tailgater 6]

Better diagram.

[gbstewart]

Your black tank and grey tanks are vented, so that takes care of a lot of the smell, as for heat and composting in the black tank, not a good ideal, in fact you want lots of water so when you dump your tanks it flows out and leaves nothing behind, if it dries up you get what is the dreaded "pile of doom" this will cause blockage and make it next to impossible to dump your tanks.
gbstewart