To empty the Toilet Chemical flush or not?

[Saxo Appeal]

Just wondering if everyone empties their toilet chemical (pink) after every holiday, regardless of planned next holiday.

We are leaving in the morning and I’d just filled it up this afternoon forgetting we are away soon.

After 4 weeks we are planning to go back out again on our hols so wondering whether or not to just leave the pink water in there or not?

Does it add much weight which could be a factor, not sure how much a tank holds

 

[Jcloughie]

Technically, and logically, you should empty it. To be honest, I never did. But I did have a well behaved outfit.

John

 

[KiwiVanner]

I have found that I get black streaky stuff coming out after putting pink in the top tank. Just use water now with a spray bottle of pink in the bathroom. I empty top tank if not using van for more than a month.

 

[Mandarin]

It probably adds about 10kg or so when full, our manual says to empty it for towing as apparently it can splash out.

It's not something I remember to do often, and it's never leaked.

I never saw the need for pink stuff, and many vans nowadays have no top tank and flush water comes from the van water supply, so just flushed with water.

 

[Andy Norfolk]

I always empty everything when we leave a site. Can't see any real benefit in not emptying.

 

[otherclive]

For short breaks I never fully filled the flush tank, just kept topping up with a 1.5 litre coke bottle. For longer breaks I would start to run the flush tank level down as the holiday drew to a close. However for travel I left a couple of litre in the flush and in the cassette.

 

[Hutch]

We just leave it about 1/3 full for, urgent stops.

 

[Dustydog]

Always fully empty ours just in case the temperature drops below freezing. Like Clive we just use a 2 litre bottle of ordinary water for use whilst travelling.

 

[Mr Plodd]

The important thing is to make sure tge flush tany isn't anywhere near full. If it is you run the risk of it sloshing out over the floor apparently.
The pink stuff has been known to cause black algea typecstuff to form in the tank and clog the pump.
We don't use any flush additive at home, so can see no point in using it in the caravan. Others feel differently of course.

 

[GUMPY]

We never use flush additive as I see no need for it, you don't add it to the cistern at home🤔
Also as it's only water and 10kg will take us over the MTPLM I empty it every time before moving the van, the same with the Aldi hot water tank.

 

[Mel]

Always empty ours in colder weather. In the summer we still empty it before towing but this is a hangover from an older slightly incontinent van which used to leak the flush water out during towing and we would get splashes on the floor. No idea if any subsequent van had the same problem as we always empty 😀. We don’t use pink either, just water.

 

[GaryB]

I always empty ours, payloads are tight enough without adding to it with a few kgs of water. I simply flush it all into the toilet and empty the cassette as the last task before leaving. If it’s a long journey ahead I will then add a pint of water into the tank just in case the toilet is needed on the journey, but I empty it when we get home

 

[Raywood]

Never used the pink stuff except for the free bottles we have had with new caravans. Many people have reported black bits in the water if it is left too long but otherwise I know of no other problems.
I have never seen the problem, we do not use anything similar at home and never seen any real purpose in it. My feeling it is an answer to a problem that does not exist.

 

[trevormonty]

Besides making your wallet lighter, why use pink stuff?

 

[Sam Vimes]

I always empty mine.

I used to use the Green Stuff but last year the flush pump seized up with the dreaded black bits so now I just use water.

 

[Jcloughie]

We have always used the pink stuff! There, I have said it.

why….

It is a pretty colour.
It is cheap when bought as a pack.
It may assist with the decomposition, if the bumf is to believed.
Is is not a proper toilet, it has a holding tank.
We have never had any issue with black bits, ever.

John

 

[otherclive]

We have always used the pink stuff! There, I have said it.

why….

It is a pretty colour.
It is cheap when bought as a pack.
It may assist with the decomposition, if the bumf is to believed.
Is is not a proper toilet, it has a holding tank.
We have never had any issue with black bits, ever.

John

John
How brave of you to come out.
Prior to using Unichem, an all in one product, I used pink too. I feel a Spartacus moment coming on for the membership. 🙈

 

[Dustydog]

Mea Culpa. Have used Elsan Double Pink for 20 years now. No issues with green algae or black bits. Prior we used Thetford Pink and yes we got the black bits!

 

[Mel]

Teenage Grandson: Have you heard of (names an apparently famous you tuber) Nana?
Me: No. I mainly go on Caravan related videos and forums.
Teenage Grandson: What do you talk about on them?
Me: Stuff like, what to put in the toilet flush.
Teenage Grandson ( with pity in his eyes): Oh.

 

[Hutch]

We have always used the pink stuff! There, I have said it.

why….

It is a pretty colour.
It is cheap when bought as a pack.
It may assist with the decomposition, if the bumf is to believed.
Is is not a proper toilet, it has a holding tank.
We have never had any issue with black bits, ever.

John

Plus 1. And also because Mrs H tells me to use it.

 

[DaveA1]

When I bought my new van I wanted to try it out, so i booked onto a CL in Norfolk. it was in December 2022 one of the coldest periods for years. With this in mind got some bottled water from a local Spar shop.
Sure enough when I got there, there was no water on site and the owner was away. So no panic I have the bottled water, trouble was it was the fizzy stuff.
So off to local Ldle for some still bottled water. What do I do with the fizzy water, I'll put it in the flush take with a splash of the pink stuff. That was OK until the first time I flushed the toilet, thought it was going to overflow, the toilet filled with foam/fizzy stuff. It was a nice pink colour though.

 

[Beachball]

Never use the pink stuff we seem to get black bits in the water always use green stuff and every planned break use to empty ours

 

[Bluetonic]

I have found that I get black streaky stuff coming out after putting pink in the top tank. Just use water now with a spray bottle of pink in the bathroom. I empty top tank if not using van for more than a month.

Ditto, I always empty the top tank before leaving site too. no point in having 10kg of water swooshing around especially as ours is a rear bathroom.
Also no more black crud in the tank since we stopped using pink 7 years ago.
A lot of the more modern vans just use the water from the aqua roll now anyway

 

[otherclive]

Ditto, I always empty the top tank before leaving site too. no point in having 10kg of water swooshing around especially as ours is a rear bathroom.
Also no more black crud in the tank since we stopped using pink 7 years ago.
A lot of the more modern vans just use the water from the aqua roll now anyway

The swooshing of water in the flush or cassette tanks is insignificant as there is virtually no free surface effect and any that there may be is very small in relation to the weight and dimension of the caravan. I used to leave a small quantity in both tanks for use on the journey. Where water in either tank does have an effect is its weight, which can be useful in counterbalancing a noseweight, or can be detrimental if the caravan weights and loading wrt the towcar is marginal.

 

[GaryB]

I do wonder whether the pink stuff formula has changed over the years? When we first started with caravans in the 90's we always used the pink additive "because it's available so therefore must be needed" with no issues. It wasn't until around 2012 that we started getting black bits in the flush water and suffered the pump seizing up a couple of times so stopped using it and had no trouble since.