Non-resident dump going rate?

[charlsara]

I have never seen that. Of course I would just go somewhere else. I can’t speak for anyone else but I have never made a mess with mine. If I did I would clean it up. No matter what the system someone somewhere will make a mess. I have seen incredible messes at dump stations. A couple were so bad I just left.

[Byron Kinnaman]

Originally Posted by Paul O.

I would like to know how much people have paid for dumping if they simply show up as non-resident. Recently we dry camped at Hecla Junction on the Arkansas river and a nearby campground wanted $20 from me to use their dump. In the past years I paid $5 or $10, but $20 seemed outrageous. It was confirmed that other CG's in the area also charge same. I drove home and took care of it bucket by bucket and opened wide all house windows after that. (I do not like the extra weight and stress on the Scamp on the way home, nor do I appreciate the stinky job, but $20?)

The way to avoid fees like this is to NOT use the on board facilities. I checked with Rocky Mountain NP and dump fees there. I did notice that there are some places with a $20 resident fee and $30 non-resident fee, but I believe those place are easy to avoid.

[mszabo]

I just want to know if it was worth saving the $20 bucks?
You showed them.😷

[thrifty bill]

I checked with Flying J earlier this year on the Camping World discount and they said they no longer do it. Further checking on my part is warranted. I got a shower at Flying J and it was around $16 as I recall. Nice shower.

[gordon2]

Originally Posted by Byron Kinnaman

The way to avoid fees like this is to NOT use the on board facilities. ...

42 degrees F and raining.. the bath house is half a mile up the road.

Call me a spend thrift if you want to, but I'm ponying up the $20

[Byron Kinnaman]

Originally Posted by gordon2

42 degrees F and raining.. the bath house is half a mile up the road.

Call me a spend thrift if you want to, but I'm ponying up the $20

Suite yourself.

But I know how to pick a campsite so I don't have to walk too far. A little rain never hurt anybody. How did your great grandparents survive?

[Glenn Baglo]

Originally Posted by Byron Kinnaman

How did your great grandparents survive?

Actually, they lived miserable lives, for the most part.

[Justus C]

Originally Posted by Byron Kinnaman

Suite yourself.

But I know how to pick a campsite so I don't have to walk too far. A little rain never hurt anybody. How did your great grandparents survive?

Do you also still use an outhouse at home, read by candlelight, and gather 'round the radio set to listen to FDR every week? The point of having conveniences, like an RV toilet, is to use it. But it's your money, not mine, so suit yourself.

[ZachO]

Ah, the wonderful diversity of opinions...

If stations all started charging $20 or more to dump, at my current income I'd be priced out. I currently live in my trailer both to save money and because I like it. But at some point the gas prices, maintenance and other expenses add up to more than rent. I dump my tanks once every 5 days. That would be over $100/month.

I know on some level the market will do what the market does, and with all the people I see out there who clearly have more money than they know what to do with gladly paying high prices for things (some of which were recently free), it's going to get like downhill skiing and other things which used to be accessible to middle and lower middle class, but really aren't any longer.

If the station could show that their expenses justified the price they charge, that's one thing. Somehow I think in this case it's 99% profit.

[gordon2]

Originally Posted by ZachO

..
If the station could show that their expenses justified the price they charge, that's one thing. Somehow I think in this case it's 99% profit.

Or it could be to discourage people from just dumping and not camping there. I have never paid to dump because every place I have every gone to includes the dump station in the camping fee (assuming they have a dump station). So I dont have to worry about avoiding the use of my on-board facilities, unless I just dont want the hassle of using the dump station. But if I had to pay $20.. well life is short and you can't take it with you. But if it got to be excessive then I would find an alternative. Heck, I might even resort to Bryon's plan to camp only at unpopular places so I can get the site next to the bath-house, or so very remote that I can pretend I am a bear.

[steve dunham]

Originally Posted by Justus C

Do you also still use an outhouse at home, read by candlelight, and gather 'round the radio set to listen to FDR every week? The point of having conveniences, like an RV toilet, is to use it. But it's your money, not mine, so suit yourself.

We still have an outhouse , heat with wood , grow a garden and make homemade sausage & soap . We don’t have cable / satellite TV or a computer or a printer or a MP3 or netflix or any electronics for that matter
I draw the line at having a trailer without a bathroom , at some point you can take saving money too far and at that point it becomes just plain STUPID !! IMHO

[Bruce H]

Originally Posted by Glenn Baglo

Actually, they lived miserable lives, for the most part.

But they didn't know they were miserable.

[Bruce H]

This might be a good place to start a list of highway rest areas that have free dumping.



I know Mississippi rest areas have them. Also South Dakota. Some in Colorado and a few in Nevada have them. I have also found municipal sewage treatment plants that have a free dumping. I used one in Indio, California the last time I went through there (stupid computer thinks Indio is spelled wrong). There is a free dump site at the tourist info center in Delta, Colorado. I have used that one several times coming down out of the mountains at from Silverton. I saw that the City of Corona (east Los Angeles area) has a free RV dump at their municipal treatment facility. I even found a free dump site at Flagstaff, Arizona, of all places. These are places I have used. Looking at the map, pretty much all of the rest areas in Alabama and Georgia have them. You pay to dump in Florida and of course New York.

[Glenn Baglo]

Originally Posted by Bruce H

This might be a good place to start a list of highway rest areas that have free dumping.

No need to reinvent the wheel:
https://www.sanidumps.com/

[Byron Kinnaman]

Originally Posted by Justus C

Do you also still use an outhouse at home, read by candlelight, and gather 'round the radio set to listen to FDR every week? The point of having conveniences, like an RV toilet, is to use it. But it's your money, not mine, so suit yourself.

You pretty much have my early childhood.


In my opinion RV toilets are for those that are afraid of the dark.

[Glenn Baglo]

As a kid, I lived in a house where the toilet was a five-gallon barrel in a closet. The phone was a party line and you cranked the handle three long rings and two short to reach us. Our water had to be carried a mile from a well with a hand pump. School was a one room building with grades one to seven. All the ball gloves, bats and balls were at the bottom of the outhouse. No idea who threw them down there.

Don't miss any of it.
Your inning.

[Steve Hammel]

In Washington State almost all of the rest stops have free dumping.

[Iowa Dave]

The discussion on outdoor privies reminded me of a curiosity of Americana. That is the two story outhouse. Google that title and amuse yourself for a few minutes. My greenhouse supervisor, before I retired, grew up in Oran, Iowa, a small town in NE Iowa. There was a two story sky scrapper there that she remembers from her childhood. In Iowa , one two and three holers dotted the landscape when I was a yute. Separate facilities, easily discernible on aerial photos taken by Abrams in the 50s clearly showed the paths at one room schoolhouses. My photogrammetry professor noted them and declared them to be “the education triangle”. When Jimmy Dean had a major hit on his hands, my Dad said to me one day “ What do they call a six hole outhouse? Pausing, he answered his own question. “Big John”.
Iowa Dave

[Justus C]

Originally Posted by Byron Kinnaman

You pretty much have my early childhood.


In my opinion RV toilets are for those that are afraid of the dark.

Sir, you have just described my wife! But, since the facility will be there anyway, I will certainly take advantage. Plus if I'm going to be the one dumping the tank, I'm going to make it worth my while.

[ZachO]

Those who are afraid of the dark, and those who are lazy. I'll definitely include myself in the second camp. Every year I think "I'm going to avoid using my bathroom this summer". And I do ok for a while...but after a time, I start wanting to use my bathroom.

Most places I camp during the week have pit toilets. But I'm often up to 300 yards away. That can make all the difference. Sometimes #2 is calling. More often as I get older, #1 calls annoyingly often. I'm not walking 100-300 yards every 2 hours. I love walking and I'm young-ish and fit, but it gets old. Some campgrounds are a little too crowded to duck behind the camper to pee.

It's one reason I'm shopping for a bike. I haven't had one for a little while. It might make the difference between using my bathroom or making the trek to the pit toilet.

It's kind of about perspective. There were all sorts of things we did without for all of human history. And I think during a lot of those time, in a lot of societies, people were exponentially more happy than most people in current times. But we live now, and are used to what we're used to. But it's good to keep in mind that "I don't need this stuff. This is a luxury. I definitely prefer it, but it's not a necessity".

Most parents I talk to say "we needed a dishwasher once we had kids". Funny that so many people with kids do just fine without one...Same with clothes dryers.

I trailer camp so often, my car camping game is a bit rusty. I left for the desert in late March for three weeks without the trailer, worrying slightly...how am I going to take care of the dishes? Clean myself? Go to the bathroom? Amazing how fast all that worrying seemed so silly, and I realized having a tent, cot, camp stove and solar shower bag is really pretty luxurious when you get right down to it.