How We Find Free Water, Dump Stations, and Trash While Traveling Full-Time
One of the biggest questions we had before moving into our EarthRoamer wasn't where we'd sleep. It was much less glamorous.
Where do you dump your toilet? Where do you refill your water? And what do you do with a week's worth of trash?
When we left our house, we also left behind most utility bills. Other than Starlink, our "utilities" now are fresh water, dumping our cassette toilet, and finding somewhere to throw away our garbage.
After more than a year on the road, finding all three has become second nature. At the beginning, though, it felt like one of the biggest learning curves of full-time travel.
Our EarthRoamer carries 85 gallons of fresh water and a 5-gallon cassette toilet. For us, that's usually about a week's worth of living before we need to refill and dump. Trash is about the same, although that depends entirely on how many things we buy wrapped in plastic. (Yes, we've absolutely make grocery shopping decisions like choosing the loose head of lettuce over the one packaged in a giant plastic container because we didn't want to fill our trash bin.)
Our goal is almost always the same: find all three for free.
Where we Start Looking
Nearly every search starts in iOverlander.
It's crowdsourced by other travelers, and we've found it to be the fastest way to locate dump stations, potable water, and sometimes even dumpsters. If there are multiple options nearby, we'll usually start by looking for gas stations or town-owned facilities because they're the most likely to be free.
If iOverlander comes up empty, we'll check RV Dump Stations. The information isn't updated nearly as often, but it's still helped us several times. If we're using that website, we almost always call ahead to make sure the information is still accurate before driving out of our way. If that still doesn't turn up anything, we'll start searching Google, Reddit, or Facebook groups to see what other travelers have recommended.
Once we've found a few options, we usually work through them in the same order.
1. Gas stations
These are our favorite.
Many gas stations have dump stations, and if you're lucky, they'll also have potable water and a dumpster. More often than not, we've found the average gas station has a dump station but not necessarily potable water. Our go-to is Maverik. The locations with RV dump stations almost always have potable water too, and when we fill up with fuel, we've always been able to use the dump and water for free. As Adventure Club members, we also save 2¢ per gallon on fuel. The stations are clean, have large RV-friendly fuel lanes, and have been one of the most reliable places we've found for taking care of multiple chores in one stop. Their website also lists which gas stations ahve dumps and water, too, so you’re not just driving around guessing.
2. Town-owned RV Dump stations
These are probably our second choice. Many towns provide public RV dump stations with potable water. Some are completely free, while others ask for a small donation or charge around $10.
3. State parks
If a state park has a campground, there's a good chance it also has dump stations, water, and dumpsters. Sometimes you pay the park entrance fee and other times you only pay for the dump station. Every park seems to handle it a little differently.
4. RV parks
RV parks are usually our last resort. If you're not staying overnight, we've found most charge around $20 to use their facilities. The upside is they're almost guaranteed to have everything you need in one stop.
The Hardest Thing to Find Isn't Water
Surprisingly, the hardest thing to find isn't fresh water or a dump station. It's a dumpster.
Businesses almost always have private dumpsters, so those aren't an option. If our dump station doesn't have one, our next stop is usually a highway rest area. They've been the most reliable public trash option we've found.
Every once in a while we're in a real pinch. If that happens, we'll throw one or two larger pieces into a trash can at a gas station or town park just to buy ourselves another day or two. We're careful not to unload a week's worth of garbage. Those trash cans are there for people passing through, and we want to treat them the same way we would if we were traveling in a regular car. The only way everyone gets to keep enjoying free public amenities is if we all use them respectfully.
One thing we've never done is bury the contents of our cassette toilet. Digging a hole deep enough sounds like a lot of work when there are so many proper dump stations available. We also rarely dump into vault toilets unless we've confirmed it's expected and encouraged for RV users in that specific area.
Like a lot of parts of full-time travel, this all felt overwhelming when we first started. Now it's just another errand. About once a week we refill the water, empty the cassette, throw away the trash, and get back to exploring.