Most Manufacturers of the toilets fitted to your average Motorhome, Caravan or boats do not give much information on the use and maintenance of these very important facilities. From time to time we get complaints that there is a build-up of calcium or lime-scale on various surfaces and that this soft absorbent matter can retain odours. The following may help you to understand what causes this build-up and there will be tips as to what to do to get rid of it if it happens to you.

If you fill your tanks in an area where the water supplies are known to be hard or contain lime or chalk then this could be the cause of the build-up.

In cases where the pH of the water has become too high, this can cause bad odours. In this case add a tablespoon full of bicarbonate of soda to a cup of warm water and swill around the bowl then flush, repeat if necessary the following day, this should correct the water pH and eliminate any odours caused due to the high pH.

If any of your party is taking prescription or natural supplement type medication, especially if the medication contains or forms calcium, this can cause the urine to pass on certain minerals that will cause a calcium build- up over time. A high seafood diet can do the same. If you are unsure what your medication can do, ask your doctor if it could cause excess calcium to be discharged in your urine? If your flushing tank outlet or fresh water supply does not show any signs of lime scale or calcium build-up, but the bottom tank does, then you can be sure that it is linked to medication or diet or a combination.

First empty then flush out the holding tank or cassette. Add half a small packet of Citric Acid crystals then top up tank with 2 to 4 litres of warm water shake the tank to mix the citric acid thoroughly. Fit cap and close the slide then rotate the tank so that all sides are exposed to the citric acid mix inside and leave each side, top and bottom down for at least 10-min to ensure the citric acid can soak all parts of the tank. Empty tank and add a few drops of good washing up liquid and fill with cold water. Let this soak for 15-min or so then empty out.

If the calcium deposit is on the slide and seals of the fixed part of your toilet, do the following.

Make up more citric acid in a bowl with at least two litres of warm water then using an old tooth brush work away at the deposits until they are all removed.

When you have removed all visible signs of calcium build-up, add some olive oil to the moving parts of the slide and seals. Work this in to the seals by moving the slide in and out making sure that the olive oil penetrates into all the cracks and crevices of the mechanism.

NOTE: If you can obtain swimming pool acid this will work faster but be very careful using this product, do not use neat and follow any safety measures on the bottle or packet.

As a preventative maintenance practice, you could carry out the above every six months or so to prevent any future calcium build-up.

BioMagic does not contain anything that will cause a calcium build-up but it does not contain acids either like some of the poisonous toilet chemicals, because it is an environmentally safe product, adding any form of acid would make it less so.

We hope that this will help you avoid what happens to your kettle and washing machine when in areas of hard water.

BioMagic UK Ltd.