RV Dump Station Cost: How Much Does It Cost to Dump RV Waste?

The black water tank acts as your septic tank.

It holds your liquids and solids from ‘toilet activities’ for days or weeks at a time. It partly depends on how old your RV is as to how smelly it can get when the black water tank starts filling up

Fortunately, there are ways to handle that if you’re off-grid at the time and there’s no RV dump station near you.

RV dump station costs vary widely. Some campgrounds offer free RV dumping station facilities to people who are paying to stay. How much does it cost to dump RV waste? You’re looking at $20 to $25 with some campgrounds. Members at Flying J or Love’s will usually only pay about $5. However, public RV dump stations near you often charge higher prices.

Read Also: Regular Toilet in RV?

RV Dump Station Cost

Dumping smelly waste products isn’t any fun. No one really wants to have to do it.

It’s up to you whether to do it every 4-5 days or wait a couple of weeks for the black tank to become fuller.

Certainly, wanting to avoid paying too frequently or too much is a valid concern. Looking for an RV dump near me is a good start but won’t always be the least expensive option.

Also Read: Can You Flush Tampons Down in a Camper Toilet?

How Much Does It Cost to Dump RV Waste?

If you’re dumping when stopping overnight at an RV campground, then asking how much is the dump is common.

You might be surprised to learn that they charge a $25 dump use fee. This is in addition to the cost to stay there which often isn’t cheap either.

With RV parks and campgrounds, it’s very hit and miss.

They may have a dump station or refer you to the nearest facility. Their facility could be free for local people and charge people from out-of-state an additional fee.

Their fee is often on the higher end of the range if they’re charging. Not always, but often.

There are public dump stations for RVs, full service RV dump stations, and probably even a mobile RV dump station near me. Their prices vary widely.

The same goes for camper waste disposal near me too. Also, it often depends on the state, county, or town whether they offer them and their respective charging policy for each.

Another option is to use an RV mobile app to locate truck stops with RV dump stations. Finding a Love’s, Flying J, or another overnight parking spot that has RV dump stations available to use is ideal. They’re often the cheapest of all.

Lastly, if you’re searching for a free RV dump station near me, that’s a tough ask. There are a few here and there, or you’ll need to stay at an RV campground that offers dump stations for free.

Read Also: Why are RV Parks So Expensive?

Flying J Dump Station Cost

Flying J regularly has many local RV dump stations to use.

They provide numerous facilities for RVers and other travelers including food, propane refills, gasoline, diesel, and operational RV dump station facilities.

The Flying J dump station costs $10 to use. They used to cost $5 but that’s changed for many locations. It’s possible to own a Pilot Flying J RV Plus Card or a standard membership card that qualifies you for a reduced $5 rate.

Go ahead and look for a Flying J dump station near me to verify this.

Loves Dump Station Cost

Loves often have RV dump stations available for use. Their gas stations with RV dumps are quite common and regularly used too.

With Loves, their standard dumping fee is now $10. There is the possibility of a discount for cardmembers.

It should be noted that not all facilities have enough space for a truck pulling a trailer camper. Some facilities like this one in Waller, Texas have water facilities too.

Look for the most appropriate Loves RV dump station near me to ensure it has what you require. This avoids wasting gas on the journey.

How much does it cost to dump rv waste

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What Equipment Should I Use to Dump RV Tanks?

An RV sewer hose kit is required to dump RV tanks effectively.

No other hoses will work as well and might not have the right range of storage caps either.

Also, you will want to use entirely different — and separately stored — hoses to refill the freshwater tank.

Here is the RV sewer hose kit we recommend for use at RV dump stations. It’s made by Camco and stretches to 20 feet for difficult to access situations:

Do Locals Pay the Same Costs as People Passing Through Town?

There have been complaints from local citizens – especially when RV dump costs rose to $10 – about the high cost of dumping their black tank waste.

As a result, some RV dump stations offer either different rates or free use of dump facilities when they’re not part of a major chain like Love’s or Flying J’s. Public dump stations for RVs near me can be cheaper, even if you don’t live locally.

Given that some RVers only make a beeline for a town because they need to empty their tanks and don’t give any trade to local retailers otherwise, this is seen as fair by the local citizenry.

Whilst some RVers may disagree with the practice, it does ensure that the RV dump facilities remain busy enough to stay open which benefits all.

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What Factors Affect the RV Dump Pricing?

Offering a dump station facility is no small matter.

While dumpers use the facilities either free of charge or for a minimal fee, the people running the station have the unenviable task of dealing with any problems that occur.

Not everyone dumps appropriate matter through a station. This can create clogs and stops the dump station from being usable. A plumber then must be called out to resolve the issue if the staff cannot resolve it on their own.

Other times, people aren’t great at securing their hose and fixture correctly resulting in their black tank waste going all over the serving area which must be cleaned up. Usually, the person responsible doesn’t report it either.

While a $5 fee may be reasonable to RVers, the revenue collected often doesn’t cover the cost of calling out a plumber repeatedly to fix issues that crop up with an RV dump facility.

We believe this is why we’ve seen many dump stations increase their fee to $10 to ensure their costs are being covered.

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Related Questions

How Often Should You Dump the RV Waste?

Emptying the black water tank is a hotly debated issue in RV circles. Subsequently, there are many different opinions about it too.

How often do you dump black water tank? While it’s possible to dump the waste every 4-5 days, this doesn’t allow enough water waste inside the black tank.

When this happens and the tank is emptied too frequently, solid materials can become stuck to the walls of the tank and be difficult to shift later. Then they can start to create an unpleasant odor in the bathroom, which can waft into the RV living space too.

For this reason, when it comes to how often to dump black tanks, we’d recommend emptying the black tank every 1-2 weeks. This ensures that the tank almost always has enough liquid inside to avoid getting blocked up.

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What Should I Do After Emptying the Black Tank?

It’s a good idea to run a water hose through the toilet to flush and rinse out the black tank periodically. This helps to move around and break up any harder waste that was previously stuck inside.

Emptying the tank again after this process should clean it out more than before.

Use the Walex Bio-Pak Natural Holding Tank Deodorizer (Drop-ins) [affiliate link] with its alpine scent to disinfect your black tank. They just drop in through the toilet and work their magic!

Walex TOI-11530 Bio-Pak Holding Tank Deodorizer (Pack of 10)

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How to Tell If Black Tank is Full?

Modern RVs include probes inside the blank water tank to indicate how full it’s getting. However, solid matter stuck to the internal walls can prevent those probes from working properly.

The fuller the black tank gets, the smellier it’s likely to be. This is true whether RV black tank chemicals are used regularly to keep the smell down or not.

The tank will become audibly more obvious when it’s almost full. Also, there’s the potential for a splash-back from the waste that’s already in the tank when having just used the toilet too.

Also, be aware of the size of your black tank, how many people use it, and how long it usually lasts before becoming full.

Air on the side of caution. Don’t leave the hunt for an affordable RV dump station until the last minute. This forces you to accept more expensive options and increases your RV living costs considerably.

What is an RV Dump Station?

An RV dump station is basic. It will include an area to drive up and park, and then get out to connect your black tank hose from your RV to the correct dumping area.

Pulling up in your RV or truck with a trailer or camper behind, be sure to get lined up in the best position because the RV holding tank hose only stretches so far. The last thing you want is the hose splitting apart while you’re dumping the black tank because of the mess and smell that would create…

What is a Black Water Tank?

An RV and some towable vehicles like campers or trailers include various tanks.

The black tank holds your toilet waste product. A grey tank holds used water from a kitchen sink or bathroom. And the freshwater tank holds potable, drinkable water.

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