Hi Eisboch...
I have been using Raratan KO now for a couple of years on my boat and
have been satisfied with it. However, the heads are Vac-U-Flush
units and I typically have a pumpout every week or so therefore it is
hard to judge how effective the KO treatment is.
The type of toilet has nothing to do with what happens in a holding
tank...the only thing ANY toilet can do is move waste from the bowl to
the tank. However, whether pumping out every week makes any difference
depends on the size of the tank.
Recently I was watching "Modern Marvels" on the History Channel and
the show was describing a huge waste water treatment plant. Several
large containers - basically huge holding tanks - called "Digestors"
are used to process the waste water. The Digestors are charged with
live bacteria that eats up the solids - similar to how KO is
advertised to work.
The digestors were described as being heated to 120 degrees to
activate the bacteria. Without the heat it would take years for the
bacteria to reduce the solids according to the show narrator.
I saw the same show. There are all kinds of bacteria, specifically
cultured to accomplish different things.Most can't stand temperatures
above 120 F--in fact, 120 F is the temperature at which milk is
pasteurized. But there are "hardier" strains specifically cultured to
withstand slightly higher temperatures. You also have to remember that
these TV shows are aimed at a mass market that doesn't have (or need) an
in-depth bio-chemistry education...so it's also entirely possible that
the tanks are only heated to 119.7--barely below the temp that's lethal
to bacteria...which producers of a show like Modern Marvels would round
off to 120. There's enough material in "not all bacteria are the same
and how different strains function" for at least two more similar shows!
Onboard sewage consists only of organic matter (body waste) and flush
water...anything that can do down a drain--including storm drains--ends
up in a sewage treatment plant...not only organic matter, but petroleum,
chemicals, rubber, plastics...you name it--if it can be flushed down a
toilet or a drain, it is...and it all has be broken down and separated
as part of sewage treatment. Sewage treatment doesn't completely
emulsify everything either...the goal is turn as much as possible into
liquid that's discharged...the remaining sludge is carried away to be
spread on lands owned by sewage treatment plants.
Why do they heat it? Because bacterial activity increases or decreases
with temperature...the warmer it is, the more active they are and the
faster they multiply, till the temp gets high enough to kill 'em (which
is why holding tank odor is more a problem in hot weather than in cold
weather). Conversely, the colder they are, the more sluggish they
become...going dormant below 40 F. The increase/decrease in bacterial
activity/mulitiplication is not a straight line, though...if you saw it
charted on graph, it would be fairly flat from 40 F through somewhere in
the mid-70's...then start to rise sharply with every degree. So the
objective in a sewage treatment plant is to heat the tanks to JUST BELOW
the temp that would start to kill the bacteria to make the li'l buggers
the most active they can be, to get as much done as quickly as possible.
Is Raratan KO effective without heating the tank?
Yes. The bacteria in KO multiplies at the same rate as the bacteria in
waste...so yes, it's affected by temperature, same as any other
bacteria. It's cultured to work at ambient temperature, which inside the
tank rises and falls with the temp of the flush water...solar heat or
onboard heat warming the boat, or heat from engines if the tank is in
the engine room etc.
I noticed on the
bottle that it warns against storing below 40 degrees...
It also warns against storing where the temperature can rise above
110...for instance, in your car or a dock locker in the sun in which
solar heat can produce temperatures close to 200 F...even higher.
so I assume
the bacteria is temperature sensitive.
All bacteria is...but when it comes to preventing odor, oxygen is the
"key ingredient" at any temperature...which is why those big tanks in
sewage treatment plants are also aerated.
--
Peggie
----------
Peggie Hall
Specializing in marine sanitation since 1987
Author "Get Rid of Boat Odors - A Guide To Marine Sanitation Systems and
Other Sources of Aggravation and Odor"
http://69.20.93.241/store/customer/p...40&cat=&page=1