RV Holding Tank & Sewer Hose Tips

Below are our best RV Holding Tank & Sewer Hose Tips collected from our own experiences and fellow RVers.

If you use your RV for more than a couple of weeks a year, spend a little extra money for heavy duty sewer hoses.
Carry a garden hose in addition to your freshwater hoses. You can use it around the campsite, washing the rig, rinsing sewer hose, and the dump station if it doesn’t have a hose available. Store the hose in an area away from your fresh water hose.
While camping leave campground restrooms and showers, the dump station, and the campsite as clean as you found them. Dispose of all trash properly.
When at a new campsite and connect your RV water hose to the campground faucet first. Turn on the water and let it run for a while before hooking it up to your RV. This flushes the inside of your water hose clean as well as getting rid of any water that has been standing inside the campground waterline.
Never put anything other than black and gray water into a sewer drain.
Never leave the black-water tank valve open when hooked up at a campground. Liquids will drain, solids will build up and harden on the bottom of the tank.
Your black tank should be at least 2/3rds full before you dump. If you need to dump sooner simply add water to the tank first.
When emptying your holding tanks, drain the black water tank first and then the gray water tank. This will help to clean the sewer hose out before you store it. It will also ensure a good flow into the campgrounds sewer system.
Local and state/province laws may require specific sewer connections. A sewer doughnut or threaded connector will cover most requirements so it’s a good idea to have them onboard.
The faucet at the dump station is for washing down the dump station area and your waste tanks after use. Never use it to fill your fresh water tanks.
Carry at least two sewer hoses in your RV — a 10-foot and a 20-foot — That way can use the 10-foot hose for typical reaches, the 20-foot for longer runs and connect the two together to reach up to 30 feet from your rig to the sewer connection as needed. Yes, I have had to do that.
If you use dump stations frequently, have a special 5 or 6-foot sewer hose setup just for that purpose.