Finding Dump Stations
If you dry camp as we do, or stop www.rvcentral.com, www.rvdumps.com and
at Wal-Mart or Home Depot or www.sanidumps.com.
other such establishments on your
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My partner John Clarke and I manage sanidumps.com.
way south, one of the challenges
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It is the most complete list available. We do more than a
has always been finding RV dump
thousand updates a month thanks to over 250,000 users.
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stations along the way and near your
Searching is as simple as clicking on the Country, Province
destination. As many of you might
or State and the nearest town. The system will provide you
have experienced already, many
with comprehensive information that lists all the nearby dump
dump stations have been closing
stations, direction, GPS coordinates, seasonality (open and
and others are starting to charge
KC Chavda
close), fees (if any), potable water availability and if it's big rig
for dumping, sometimes exceeding
friendly.
$30 in eastern in Canada and the US. We hear many horror
stories from motorhome owners with toads describing how
For those that need to find dump stations while on the road
they took over two hours to dump as the dump station was
and do not have internet connect ability, we have created an
not big rig friendly. But before I discuss these I would like
eBook that you can download on your computer. Now you
to acknowledge a couple of questions that were sent in on
have the same information anywhere, anytime at very low cost.
winterizing your RV.
And they make a great Christmas gift for under $30.00! Check
out our web site and have a happy and safe holiday season.
Ross asked if the black tank flusher needs to be winterized.
The answer is yes and I missed this in my steps. The simplest
Email your questions and comments to kc@sanidumps.com ∆
way is to just blow compressed air and it will push out all the
water that may be trapped in the one way valve and you are
done. No antifreeze is needed.
See Page 41 for the
Laura asked if the water in the black and gray tanks would
BC Sani-Dump Directory
need to be emptied again after the water is blown out of
the plumbing and antifreeze is pumped in. The answer is
maybe. If your rig has the valves in an enclosed area it is not
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necessary to empty again, but if your valves are in the open,
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then it is advisable to let all the fluids out to avoid the black
pipe cracking. If in doubt, empty the tanks again.
So how do you go about finding dump stations along your
journey? I know some folks always stay at campgrounds
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with full hook ups and this is never an issue. Others travel the
same routes and over time have found dump stations that
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they always frequent, so searching for one is not an issue
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(unless one of them closed down and then its panic time).
But if you travel in new areas or your travel plans change
unexpectedly, finding a dump station when your “RV has to
go” can be challenging. To give you an idea, less than 28%
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of BC provincial parks have dump stations! Carrying all that
“stuff” in your tanks for long distances cost you $$$ in fuel
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consumption, wear and tear on the rig and rig stability, as
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fluids slosh around a lot. Keep in mind each US gallon of fluid n
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weighs in excess of 8.3 lb or 3.7 kg!
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Dump stations can be found in many locations such as w
rest areas (many of these have closed or are closing due
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to abuse), gas/service stations (like Flying J , Shell and
others), government Parks, Visitor Centres, Fairgrounds
and wastewater treatment facilities. Not every one of these
locations sports a dump station so the challenge is to
determine which one. The internet has been a great place to
find listings of dump stations and there are several sites, but
like other information on the net, the lists can be outdated,
incomplete or lack key information. Check out;
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RVTravelersMag_December09.indd 21 11/17/09 3:31:05 PM
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