How often should I empty my tanks?

As often as you would like! There’s no right or wrong as to when (other than when the tanks are full!) or how often you should empty your RV’s holding tanks.

Our only word of advice is that you empty them when they are 90%-100% full. By doing this (even, adding water to get the level up), the tank’s liquid content will create a whirlpool (tornado) effect, pulling waste from the tank as it quickly empties. Emptying a tank that is less than 50% full will result in a slow seepage, where waste is left behind.

Most RVers monitor their tank sensors to indicate when they need to empty their holding tanks. Unfortunately, many owners have problems with misreading sensors, so they develop a sense of when their tanks are getting full as they use them and end up dumping them according to their determined schedule.

You should never travel with tanks that contain more than a few gallons of weight. In fact, we recommend that you empty, flush, and clean your tanks prior to hitting the road with your RV and add three to five gallons (depending on each tank’s capacity) to each of your tanks to “lubricate” them during the drive to your next destination.

Does the ice in the black tank trick work for cleaning that tank out while traveling? We’ve covered this on our KleenTank.com blog in a separate article. Take a look.