No Garden Hose Fittings at Dump Station

[Isaacs]

The state park that I frequent has built a brand new dump site. Very nice except there is no place to hook up a garden hose to flush out my tanks. All they have is this goofy spring loaded tower with a short hose attached to it and a right angle nozzle at the end. There is no way to hook up a proper garden hose without inventing some sort of contraption with hose clamps and rubber adapters.

Has anyone else run across this? I have to think its some sort of useless state code to stop people from sticking the hose into any nasty spots that might actually need cleaning.

[DanNJanice]

I think a lot of the dump stations intend for the hose to be used to clean up any "spillage", not used to clean the RV tanks. I always have a "black hose" and "black water thief" in the trailer for just this issue.

[oldmanAZ]

There is a product called a Water Bandit or Water Thief that has a flexible/stretchable end with a hose connector at the other end. (I couldn't get the link to work for me. Sorry)

I have one but haven't had to use it for that purpose.

[Isaacs]

It would seem that someone has already invented my "contraption"!

So far I've put off the tank rinsing 'till I get home. I'm lucky; I have a way to dump into the sewer right along my driveway.

[Jhowemca]

I need to get one of these too...

[norty1]

bought one years ago but have never been happy with it. Seems like my feet always get wet when I use it.

[Grumpy]

That's done in most cases so people don't fill their fresh water tanks from that faucet.

[Cdash]

The ones at Michigan state parks are threaded fittings and I often unscrew them to hook up the black tank flush, something using tools if I have to.

Probably wouldn't hurt to mention it to the campground staff. Maybe they don't know about the increasing number of rigs with black tank flush.

[spoon059]

Originally Posted by Isaacs

Very nice except there is no place to hook up a garden hose to flush out my tanks. All they have is this goofy spring loaded tower with a short hose attached to it and a right angle nozzle at the end. There is no way to hook up a proper garden hose without inventing some sort of contraption with hose clamps and rubber adapters.

Has anyone else run across this? I have to think its some sort of useless state code to stop people from sticking the hose into any nasty spots that might actually need cleaning.

I have a feeling that it is likely intended to speed up the process of dumping tanks. Too many people like to polish the inside of their tanks, get them nice and sparkly clean so that they can literally fill it with poop again next time. That is fine and dandy if you want to do that on your own time and your own dime.

I don't think the state park wants to pay for 3 or 4 times the water so that someone can polish the tanks. That is a lot of water usage.

Furthermore, I would venture a guess that there are limited dump sites at the state park and they don't want to encourage long lines of impatient RV'ers waiting for the guy in front to finish polishing his tank.

The objective is to drain your waste, use that section of hose to flush out your hose and flush out any debris that may have splattered outside on the ground.

[Nukeneck]

Originally Posted by spoon059

I have a feeling that it is likely intended to speed up the process of dumping tanks. Too many people like to polish the inside of their tanks, get them nice and sparkly clean so that they can literally fill it with poop again next time. That is fine and dandy if you want to do that on your own time and your own dime.

I don't think the state park wants to pay for 3 or 4 times the water so that someone can polish the tanks. That is a lot of water usage.

Furthermore, I would venture a guess that there are limited dump sites at the state park and they don't want to encourage long lines of impatient RV'ers waiting for the guy in front to finish polishing his tank.

The objective is to drain your waste, use that section of hose to flush out your hose and flush out any debris that may have splattered outside on the ground.

Agree 100% my local RV dump station has the same spring arm contraption and I believe you are spot on with your assessment. If nobody is waiting however, I will hook my rinse hose to it and flush my black tank. It's $6 to use the dump station

[norty1]

It must be a state policy or something local. Most we frequent have the same spring hanger type hose but it has a regular hose end on it for ease of flushing.

Ease or not, it is not proper etiquette to hold up a line to scrub your black tank.

[clubhouse]

Many dump stations we use have the same setup, at first it sort upset me because I too wanted to run the tank rinser. Now I appreciate it, there is nothing worse than waiting in line to dump because someone wants to rinse their tank for 10 min.

For us, using the tank rinser is limited to full hook up sites.

[dewey02]

I agree that it is likely done to discourage over-use and long lines.
There are many, many things that are done at campgrounds to channel use that are not inherently obvious.
Think about this: When people dump their black tank, it probably generates about 35-60 gallons of effluent. But if someone sits for a long time rinsing their black tank, it not only uses many more gallons of water, but also many more gallons of effluent. Many campgrounds are located in areas without city water and sewer services. Therefore, all of the water going to rinse must come from the campground's well. Some are not set up to provide unlimited water supply. (there is another whole story about how campgrounds get you to limit the amount of fresh water you use). And everything that goes into the dump station must be either processed by the septic system or be pumped out of the holding tank by a company. So it is in the campground's interest to also limit the amount of effluent that goes into the dump station tank. In many campgrounds, the dump station cistern and the entire septic system capacity was designed/installed prior to most RVs having tank flushers. Now even most entry level travel trailers have them. Perhaps the campground is just not equipped to deal with all the extra effluent. And replacing the BW cistern and septic system and drainage field is a HUGE expense.


And as others have already mentioned, the traffic jam at the dump station on heavy check-out days (especially Sunday) can get very long. Eliminating the flush option helps reduce that congestion.

Most of us appreciate the opportunity for a quick flush of our BW tank. But the few that are obsessive about rinsing for an extended time often drive the campground to take measures to deal with the situation.

[campingva]

I have a small hybrid with a black water tank. I go to the dump and get it done as quichly as possible. I reallt hate having to site there while all the big rigs do there thing. Some have taking as long as 1/2 hour to dump both tanks. I often wonder what they are doing with all that equipment they take in and out of there rig as things back up waiting for them to finish.

[Bassdogs]

Get in and move on. We have started using dump stations located at rest areas in many states. On tear down day, we pack and go, bypassing the dump station if there are more than a couple rvs in line. One big rig and we move on anyway. The dump stations at the rest areas are generally empty of any traffic and have found them to be clean and well maintained. Not going to hurt anything towing with full tanks for 50 miles or so.

[Seann45]

They may have this type of fitting as they have limited water supply.. Where I host at JERKS with "water bandits" drain the tank and then no one else has water till the truck comes with more..

[Dagwood]

Originally Posted by norty1

bought one years ago but have never been happy with it. Seems like my feet always get wet when I use it.

Same here. Pressure at these things are sometimes so high, it blows the Fitting clear off the end and I end up soaked. Even when it doesn't, My hand gets cramped trying to squeeze it to stop leaks. What I need is a couple of various sized hoses with thumb screw clamps so I can hopefully always have hose that fits over the CG hose. BTW, up here in Canada, we usually just mention to the rigs behind us our intent to do a quick flush. Most times we're all ok with it. But I agree, if someone is behind you, don't do the 20 Min rinse.

[mtdawg]

Almost every public (free) dump I have used is equipped the same way and most have no threaded faucet available to flush the tanks. At many of them, there is often a line waiting to use the dump and if one decided to take 5 minutes to do a proper flush, there would be a mini riot. However, if it's a slow day, then a good flush would be awesome. I had never heard of the water bandit, but I will be buying one for the up coming season. Looks like just the ticket.

Jim

[Mwade]

You got it!!

[Jagiven]

Originally Posted by norty1

bought one years ago but have never been happy with it. Seems like my feet always get wet when I use it.

Can't turn the water on high, or you can get water. I use mine often when we are boondocking when I need to fill my portable water jug. I found slipping it on to the faucet lets me put the jug on the ground and fill it with easy. I also found if you use a radiator clamp with a thumb screw, you clamp it on and now you do not have to worry as much about it blowing off the faucet.