Emptying or “dumping your RV tanks seems like an unpleasant task. We certainly found the idea a bit intimidating when we were staring out. But truth be told- dumping your RV tanks is no big deal! In this guide we share our knowledge, tips, and tricks to educate the curious and help new or aspiring RVers easily dump their tanks.
To get started, let’s briefly touch on what types of holding tanks are onboard your RV.
Types of RV Tanks
1. Fresh Water Tank
Your fresh water tank is for clean, potable water. This is the water that supplies your sinks, showers, toilets, and any onboard appliances like a dishwasher or washing machine. By turning on your RV water pump, fresh water flows from this tank into the water lines of your RV on demand.
TIP: If you have access to a water hookup while camping, it’s not necessary to fill your fresh water tank before heading out. Buuuut if you want the ability to flush your toilet while traveling, you need to fill the fresh water tank just a little bit.
2. Grey Water Tank
Your grey water tank holds all the dirty water from your sinks, showers, and other onboard appliances like a dishwasher or washing machine. Even if you’re camping with sewer hookups, all the water you use from these places is first held in this tank.
3. Black Water Tank
Your black water tank holds everything flushed down your toilets. Again- even if you’re camping with sewer hookups, all the waste water is first held in this tank.
Now that we know what types of of holding tanks are on board the RV, what do we do when they need to be emptied?
Where to Empty Your RV Tanks
If you’re staying at a campsite with sewer hookups, that makes things easy as you can dump your tanks on-the-spot. But if you’re RV camping without sewer hookups, you need to locate a dump station.
Some campsites have on-site dump stations you can easily pull up to at the end of your stay, dump your tanks, and be on your way. If where you’re staying doesn’t have an on-site dump station, no worries! There are many places where you can dump your tanks for free or for a small fee. These include select rest areas, state park campsites, truck stops/gas stations, and RV parks. A quick google search for “RV dump station” will turn up a few options. There are also apps for RVers that will help you easily locate RV specific resources such as dump stations. Check out our favorite apps in Insert Title Here.
TIP: If your RV tanks fill before the end of your stay, it’s a hassle to move the entire RV to a dump station prematurely. For these situations, we suggest carrying a portable holding tank. Portable holding tanks allow you to transfer the content of your RV tanks to transport to a dump station instead of moving your whole RV.
How to Empty Your RV Tanks
So you’re ready to dump your RV tanks. Now what?
Although this seems like a messy job, it’s really not! When armed with the correct information, emptying your RV tanks isn’t a big deal. So let’s walk through the process of emptying your RV tanks.
Instructions:
- Wear gloves. As we said before, it shouldn’t be a messy job, but safety first when dealing with waste water! We like to keep a box of disposable latex gloves onboard. You can also opt to wear a pair of rubber gloves, but we prefer single use PPE when dealing with waste water.
- Prepare to dump your black tank first. Ensure the black tank valve is shut, uncap the black tank valve, and hook up one end of your sewer hose. We like to place a disposable bowl beneath our tank valve before uncapping- once or twice before we had some dirty water trickle out when the valve hadn’t been sealed properly from previous use.
- Secure the other end of the sewer hose to the sewer hookup or dump station.
- Check the connection points on both ends of your sewer hose and open your black tank valve by pulling on the valve handle. Congratulations- you’re dumping your black tank!
- Once you’re finished emptying your black tank, push the black tank valve handle to close the valve.
- Repeat these steps with your grey tank. Emptying your grey tank after the black tank ensures you don’t come in contact with black water.
- Disconnect the sewer hose from your RV, but leave the other end connected to the sewer hookup or dump station.
- Use a non-potable water hose to rinse your sewer hose.
- You can now disconnect your sewer hose from the dump station and store properly.
Keeping Your RV Holding Tanks in Good Condition
An important part of keeping your RV tanks in working condition is regularly maintaining them. For information on how to clean and maintain your RV tanks, check out our free guide: Cleaning & Maintaining Your RV Tanks.