solution (1)
100 ML MYO DISINFECTANT
1 cup borax dissolved in hot water
1 cup cloudy ammonia
add water to make up 2 ltrs
add 150 ml to top tank on change over

solution 2
1 ltr pineoclean
1 ltr cloudy ammonia
1 cup borax dissolved in hot water
place 150 ml in top tank on change

solution 3 
bottle of cloudy ammonia
bottle of eucalyptus oil
2 cups borax mixed with hot water
150 ml in top tank on change

Very helpfull of you Dave. I use some toilet fluid I bought at ALDI (yet again) for the bottom tank but don't use the pink liquid in the top tank instead I use a bottle of the Myo concentrate in the top tank just to "kill off any unlpeasant odours".
While on the topic of toilets (and you are a brave cool dude Dave to bring this up) have you ever noticed how emptying ones loo at a dump point has become a "social event" with people discuusing and theorising re the pros and cons of differing makes, models and chemicals?

HAH!!! HAH!! "social event" jeezzz!!!! I remember when one dumped it in the dead of night flitting from tree to tree to sign then crawling special forces style to the dump point so as not to be seen, now they do everything bar have a sausage sizzle at the dump point, the toilet chemicals if bought through a caravan shop are not cheap and they do an average job, I use the first one and its cheap as chips and smells a whole lot better, and the second is not bad either, never used the third, I actually put the stuff in the bottom tank but for accuracy I wrote it verbatum as I found it.

These solutions might work fine in your loo, but they aren't nice to friendly microorganisms, so PLEASE don't put solutions with cloudy amonia ad borax into septic systems. You will get the owners very upset.

Cheers,
Peter

-- Edited by Peter_n_Margaret at 15:05, 2008-10-09

Peter_n_Margaret wrote:

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These solutions might work fine in your loo, but they aren't nice to friendly microorganisms, so PLEASE don't put solutions with cloudy amonia ad borax into septic systems. You will get the owners very upset.

Cheers,
Peter

-- Edited by Peter_n_Margaret at 15:05, 2008-10-09

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Absolutely right Peter  if you kill off  the friendlies  with bucket chemistry  then everyone in the area will have an odour problem  and your stay will become very unpleasant  in a very short time .

 

what idiot empties the potty into a septic system regardless of what chemical he or she uses, why do you think they have dump points, I'm not saying that when treated with this gear you can drink it, it is put in as an an alternative to shop bought stuff, not  bio freindly and it wasnt placed in here as that, and I did not state anything like that, please read  the post before commenting, treat it exactly the same as you would an ordinary additive in a portaloo
and yes it does work fine in my loo as it works well in hundreds of others as they are not my recipes, I got it off the net from dozens of other travellers who also use it
when you buy a portaloo just read the instructions, it states there what to do with the waste

-- Edited by dave06 at 16:57, 2008-10-09

Dave said:please read the post before commenting, treat it exactly the same as you would an ordinary additive in a portaloo
Dave, your post did not indicate whether these mixtures were eco-friendly, or not, and they are not. I simply pointed that out.
Many/most commercial versions now available are bio-friendly and can be emptied into septic systems.

Cheers,
Peter

I have yet to see a commercial one that can be emptied into a septic, do you know the brands so I can chase them up, if people could use these instead of the nasties then they should be promoted and rewarded accordingly, I wish these were septic safe, as far as I know they are not

We use "Odour-B-Gone" contains Sodium Percarbonate.
(Edit: this is one of the oxegenating group of treatments)

There are many others that will not harm septic systems.
Here is a short explanation of the various approaches.
http://www.cmca.net.au/pages/motorhoming_information/environmental_issues/toilet_chemicals/index.php

Cheers,
Peter

-- Edited by Peter_n_Margaret at 22:56, 2008-10-09

Here are 2 more: http://www.discountcamping.com.au/index/products/ecosave/showers I don't know this one. http://www.biomagic.com.au/Uses.cfm?Use=C&menuid=Uses This is very popular. There are others. Cheers, Peter

very good alternatives, you should have just posted these earlier to help the post

From my recolections of basic chemistry it is the formaldehyde in some of these toilet chemicals that is damaging to the environment, formaldehyde is used as an enbalming agent and stops things from decomposing. In Daves reciepes Borax is used as a stimulant to decomposition and I can't see why Borax would after doing it's jobbies in the loo be harmful. Good antkiller in the raw state.
I use "Portasol" from Chemtech and sold via Aldi and it clearly states on the container that it is safe in septic systems.
I have seen somewhere and I can't get a listing for it now but a system that fits most Thetford models that has a fan to suck in air to the holding tank and create an aerobic action that does not need chemicals. Maybe someone can find it, it has a German sounding name and there are distributors in Australia.
Now Dave a sausage sizzle at the dump point??? Obvoiusly you have not stayed at Travellers Rest at Midge Point where I assure you that at least in 2004 when I was last there it was that social around the dump point....

Basil, all of the 'mixtures' that Dave advocated contain cloudy ammonia, plus a powerful dissinfectant. They are designed to 'kill' everything.
An MSDS for Cloudy Ammonia is attached.

http://www.loopaper.com.au/upimages/B&GCloudyAmmonia.pdf

Note the statements:
"Ecotoxicity: Harmful to aquatic life"
"Environmental Protection: Do not allow to enter drains, waterways or sewers"
(... I would add.....'let alone septic systems'!)

Cheers,
Peter

Hmmm!! basil times have certainly changed, O.K. about the toilet chemical thing, I DID NOT ADVOCATE DUMPING THE BREW into septics THAT HUNDREDS OF OTHERS ARE USING ALTHOUGH THE EXPERTS TELL ME IT IS SAFE, I ALSO DID NOT ADVOCATE USING THE BREW TO WASH ELEPHANTS ALTHOUGH I SEE PETER DIDNT BRING THIS ONE UP, I DID NOT ADVOCATE USING IT AS A MIXER FOR SOCIAL EVENTS, MISSED THAT ONE TOO PETE, DONT WASH YOUR HAIR WITH IT, DONT SCARE THE DOG, I ADVOCATE THE USE OF THIS STUFF IN PORTALOOS THE SAME AS ORDINARY TREATMENTS, DONT PUT IT DOWN THE LOOS, I'M BLOODY SORRY I ADVOCATED OR SUGGESTED ANYTHING NOW, I WILL THINK TWICE BEFORE ANOTHER SUGGESTION ENTERS MY HEAD TO HELP FELLOW TRAVELLERS, no wonder this is the only forum I belong to, it's just too damn hard

dave06 wrote:

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Hmmm!! basil times have certainly changed, O.K. about the toilet chemical thing, I DID NOT ADVOCATE DUMPING THE BREW into septics THAT HUNDREDS OF OTHERS ARE USING ALTHOUGH THE EXPERTS TELL ME IT IS SAFE, I ALSO DID NOT ADVOCATE USING THE BREW TO WASH ELEPHANTS ALTHOUGH I SEE PETER DIDNT BRING THIS ONE UP, I DID NOT ADVOCATE USING IT AS A MIXER FOR SOCIAL EVENTS, MISSED THAT ONE TOO PETE, DONT WASH YOUR HAIR WITH IT, DONT SCARE THE DOG, I ADVOCATE THE USE OF THIS STUFF IN PORTALOOS THE SAME AS ORDINARY TREATMENTS, DONT PUT IT DOWN THE LOOS, I'M BLOODY SORRY I ADVOCATED OR SUGGESTED ANYTHING NOW, I WILL THINK TWICE BEFORE ANOTHER SUGGESTION ENTERS MY HEAD TO HELP FELLOW TRAVELLERS, no wonder this is the only forum I belong to, it's just too damn hard

---

Well Dave I'm glad you were not advocating any of these brews to wash elephants as Indian Elephants prefer to be washed in straight liquid sewage...as the enclosed pic shows...

Hey this is great. I have watched this thread, as I am your "bushie", where a shovel and a remote tree is all that was needed - times are changing so must I, so I was willing to learn. We have good recipes for economical alternatives to commercial product, and an alternative for nature. All written gives us a choice, and knowledge on what I would use a shovel to "hide" Good post's all

Hi Bob, I too use the gum tree ensuite and shovel, but the dragon uses slurpy and I must endeavour in all things to keep her happy, otherwise my life mysteriously becomes miserable, the two things are inexplicably linked, the initial "spirit " of the post was to (1) enlighten folk that cheaper alternatives are out there (2) provide a couple of alternatives to shop bought stuff, a lot of people tell me about different gear they use but unfortunately without hours of sitting and talking to people (which I do and enjoy doing) or hours of mindless trawling through the net (which others do and I would find mind numbingly boring), the information is well hidden, the advice MUST be taken in the context that it is given and not stupidly question things or provide answers to things that were not stated or even hinted at in the first place just as a means to bignote one self, if someone has an alternative to a substance in daily use for the grey nomads and has had the information for some time and hasnt provided that information to help the rest of the forum then one must question their reasoning and motives, if I can help anyone at ANY time with ANYTHING I will and have, I just expect it from others, for instance, I just heard from a mate down south that if you spray LISTERINE around the house (not directly on woodwork) then that keeps mossies, sandflies and a lot of other nasties away, havent tried it yet but I dont doubt or question his word until I try it out, another trick we use constantly is talcum powder sprinkled around the camp, the ants absolutely hate it and wont come near it

Dave, the talcum powder, does it really work? We followed a couple around Oz back in 05 and we knew it were they by the pattern of Talc left on the ground at every camp site. I fitted the Legstands to the bottom of the stabilisers and fill them with water to keep out ants but a mate says simply spray the insides of them with outdoor crawling insect killer for a 3 month fix, I think the water is less toxic.

Basil I can attest that the talcum powder really does work the ants absolutely hate it, but after a rain it must be replaced, the first time we used it we put a big circle right around our camp to keep the bullants away, the couple who shared our fire that night said to us that they thought it was a good idea to "define the camp like that" to keep other people outside of your "space" we laughed so hard it hurt, the water works well as well but it doesnt stop the bullants crawling up your trousers, the barrier spray is actually a good idea, hadnt heard of that one but it would work, toxicity surely wouldnt be a problem on the levelers, unless you went down and licked it

While we digrest, into "friendly" alternatives

Talc is good for ants, and mashed potatoe, laced with bi carb, in small balls, kills ****ies - I suggest this for the time the van is parked up, between trips.

Mozzies, a hurricane lamp with diesel, oops, enviro friendly Citronela oil -  car does not run on Citro oil but.

Ahhhh! out of the mouth of a "Bushie" the gear stated above is gold and I bet you have a lot more tricks for a good camp BOB, and I wish you would divulge more, with the hurricane lamp do you replace the kerro completley with diesel or do you dilute it

Dave - just let her smoke mate - if you are keen, and want light as well, a little kero, is the cheap way, but Bundy will alter the smoke nicely

Ok can I nominate myself for a Nobel Chemistry prize???
I got to thinking about the ammonia, read a few lables, checked a few MDSS's and decided that I would have this Class..... Do pay attention, yes you down the back in the Burka....
So class what do we get when Ammonia (forget the cloudy bit, that is only mica dust and is inert in this equation) reacts with the nitrates in Guano (human Guano has heaps of nitrates in it)?...... Anyone???? Yes ....good you down the back in the Burka.... Ammonium nitrate did you say? Go to the top of the class.
So the ammonia in Daves recieps once it has reacted with the Whoopsies is converted to fertiliser, or for the girl in the Burka an explosive....
maybe best if this errrrrrrr Residue was not dumped around Native plants though but it should not harm the reaction in a septic system. However straight ammonia may cause some problems if put into a septic system but it would react and convert.

O.K. so we now convert the wallett friendly recipes to include septic freindly as well, all the more reason to use them I guess, and a big thanks from down the back to you Basil, obviously it kept you awake at night, well done, what is the nitrate of a human, I used to get about $28.50 per hour in the smelters L.O.L.

dave06 wrote:

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O.K. so we now convert the wallett friendly recipes to include septic freindly as well, all the more reason to use them I guess, and a big thanks from down the back to you Basil, obviously it kept you awake at night, well done, what is the nitrate of a human, I used to get about $28.50 per hour in the smelters L.O.L.

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Dave you did good man like you kept Bas off the streets with this prob. He needs Probs. to keep his brain active, someting like an idle brain is the devils workshop LOL! Sorry Bas.

 

thank you ashe, trying to keep Basil off the streets is a job for a lot of us grey nomads

If I could get my hands on you pair I'd give ya 200 lashes with a wet tram ticket.

can I have that in writing, we reckon we'd enjoy the sting of sodden paper, hey ashe

A hand raise from the back of the class, its the pimple faced kid Mr Basil I understand that outback dunnies have been known to "blow up". I was told it was the methane gas build up. My question is, if I "put a det" in it, can I make the whole **** bang thing go wild

we use odour b gone it is very good better than the thelford chemicals and does not allow fungus to grow in the water tank make sure you use it in both tanks less chance of spillage as it is dry blocks easy to carry