How to Empty RV Wastewater Tanks

RVers are just plain weird. If any two Rvers meet, it won’t be 10 minutes before they start talking about poop. And toilets. And how much poop they have, and when they are going to get rid of it. And poop pyramids. And, they might even get into a heated argument on whether toilet paper can be flushed or not (seriously, don’t even go there).

Poop is a subject that seems to dominate their thoughts every waking hour.

On that thought, no RV blog can consider itself authentic unless it posts an article on how to dump the wastewater tanks. Seriously, it really is kind of a mystery if you’ve never done it before. And, besides, we all fear that dreaded fecal matter volcano.

The lady we bought our RV from, gave me a tote full of about a dozen hoses and connections, and showed me where to hook it up. She said to drain the black water first, and then the gray water, so it could clean the hose.

It all looked too simple (except for the need of a dozen hoses and fittings).

So, I will now share my infinite knowledge on dumping wastewater tanks, based on the accumulated wisdom from the only one time I’ve done it so far (I’m new at this, OK?).

Your RV has three water tanks: the freshwater tank, which holds the freshwater; the greywater tank, which holds the water that goes down the sinks and shower drains; and the nasty blackwater tank, which holds everything that goes down the toilet.

Here are the steps for emptying the two wastewater tanks:

1. Wear gloves. Just do what I tell you.

2. Hook one end of the drain hose to the blackwater drain. Your RV probably has a shutoff valve and an end cap. Make sure the valve is completely closed before carefully removing the end cap to attach the hose.

3. Secure the other end of the drain hose to the dump station. Put weight upon the end so it can’t come loose while draining. A rock, sandbag, or your wife works fine.

4. Make sure the drain hose is level to sloping toward the dump station.

5. Now, open the valve to begin draining. Whisper a prayer, just for luck.

6. When the blackwater tank is empty, close the valve, and open the greywater valve. Draining the greywater tank should clean the drain hose, more or less.

7. Close the greywater valve, remove the hose, and replace the end cap.

8. Remove your wife from the other end of the hose and store them both properly.

And that’s pretty much it. Except for routine maintenance, and routinely flushing the wastewater tanks, and going through the normal process of learning what you did wrong or shouldn’t have done.