Ah, dumping. No RVer’s favorite chore (by far!). It’s not that it’s necessarily a gross task, it can just be a real pain sometimes. Just when you’re ready to hit the road you have to stop, get back out of the rig, and dump. Bleh.
And then there’s the waiting. Sometimes you roll up to the dump station, and it’s wide open—lucky day! Other times, you find yourself stuck behind a long line of RVs, each taking their turn. Maybe someone’s struggling with a stubborn valve, or perhaps a first-timer is moving extra cautiously. And then there’s always that one person who seems to be doing a deep clean of their entire system while everyone else waits.
Then there are the unexpected delays. Ever had someone pull up to the dump station, then disappear inside their rig for what feels like forever? Or worse, found a station out of order just when you needed it most? Few things are as frustrating as having a full tank and nowhere to empty it.
Some RVers try to time their dumping strategically—early morning, late evening, or midweek—to avoid the worst of the crowds. Others opt for alternatives, like portable waste totes or paying for a full hookup site just to dump at their own pace. Whatever your approach, every RVer has a dump station story to tell.
Think back on all those times at dump stations. Can you remember the longest you’ve ever had to wait? Under 20 minutes? About an hour? More than an hour? More than two hours? YIKES!
After you vote in the poll, please leave a comment and tell us about the longest you’ve ever had to wait. And why did you have to wait that long?
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RVDT2861
I’ve never put myself in a situation where I must dump at a particular dump station. If the wait looks longer than a few minutes I move on to the next one. Just like overnight stays, I always have plans A,B,& C.
I haven’t waited at any dump station in over 30 years, when we built our place, I installed my own dump station next to the driveway circle in front of the house and we dump when we get home. This allows the tanks to be thoroughly shaken and stirred up so everything dumps. Never had any Black or Gray tank issues.
We never use dump stations, and always/almost stay in sites with sewer and dump there. In the unlikely chance the site does not have sewer, we hold until the next site that does.
The only time I wait for a dump station is when we will be visiting friends along the way and parking in their yard. If we are traveling cross country and there is a long line, I will dump at the next campgrounds.
If we have to use a dump station, I find they are often busier in the earlier morning and try to slow our pull-out to after the crowd moves on. Or, I have occasionally dumped coming in in the afternoon.
I prefer on-site hookups so if we can wait until we are in one, that’s what we do. Like others, I have created a ‘service station’ at our house with water, 20A electric, and use a macerator pump to an external sewer cleanout.
Quartzite; 2008; BLM Long Term. Over an hour.
Seward, Ak municipal dump; 2016; 30-45 min.
Longest ever was at Whistler’s campground in Jasper National Park. Multilane dump with at least 6-7 RVs in each lane, some with two sewer valves. Waiting in line and dumping took nearly an hour. We were coming home from Alaska just before Labor Day. Fortunately, we were only driving to Banff that day, so the time lost was not a real problem.
Less than 30-minutes for us but we rarely used the CG dump station as we normally rented a FHU site.
PPP equals waiting time. leave later and enjoy shorter lines.
Or, very early, the early bird gets the worm.
Back when I was still working the Sunday morning wait inspired me to install a dump station at my house. Now I’m retired and never leave on a Sunday.
State Park near the ocean. 6 rigs ahead of us. 4 new owners. First guy lacked a hose so onto the ground it went. That took about 30 minutes to clean up (while listening to the dumper tell us he knew what he was doing). Next two were new and hesitant but did okay. It just took time. The 4th guy was a “no-it-all”(no to help and no to knowing what to do). He fussed around for about 45 minutes.Then the seasoned rvers moved through at a reasonable pace. Just over two hours I was finished dumping, pulled out to see traffic at a standstill. Drove back around to the picnic area, had lunch and waited for the traffic to clear. Sigh.
I don’t use dump stations, we normally stay at full hookup RV parks, if I need to dump I have a dump station home where I park my fifth wheel.
If you’ve ever attended an event without full hook-ups, you’re likely going to be in a line at the dump stations. I figured that out by the second one. Our solution is either be on the road early, like 7 AM, or stay an extra day. Now we’re retired, the extra day is the normal solution. It actually can be a bit entertaining watching people trying to pack and leave in a hurry. 😄
There are a few slobs out there, but most want to get in, get it done, and get out. I have stepped in to help newbies and renters on how to hook up and when to pull the handle.
We only go to full hookups RV Parks, so we have never needed to find and use a “dump station” ? We worked hard our entire lives to enjoy going where we truly want to.