BC Sani Dumps:

Oh where oh where have the sani dumps gone? Where oh where can they be?

Because our over ten year old house doesn’t have provision for an outdoor sewer connector and we pay Nanaimo water and sewer, we feel we are entitled to free access to a sani dump. Dumping our RV sewage has become harder to do now that the Rutherford and Country Club Mall sani dump stations have been closed. At present You-Pay dumps are in RV camps, namely Brennan Lake, Westwood Lake and Living Forest.

After I had written to our mayor, MLA and sent copies to the Tourist Association, we discovered this past week that North Vancouver and West Vancouver don’t have sanitary dumps either, and the Capilano RV Park is the one both city halls directed us to, with the caution that you had to stay overnight to dump. We were staying in front of our friends homes so we didn’t qualify.

A fireman told us if we were carefully creative, we could drop our hose in a manhole marked SEWAGE. Perhaps he hadn’t seen “Chevy Chases Christmas” when his cousin did this very thing and a ball of methane gas shot high into the night sky?

I suggested to the West Van city clerk that maybe people were using the storm sewers and she almost swallowed her gum. I hope it brings awareness. The closure of the free Abbotsford Sani Dump Station is an inconvenience to any of us returning from the States.

We would ask, in the name of public hygiene, shouldn’t free sani dump stations be in convenient places like on the way to the ferry and in accessible turn arounds or pull-through locations? Is there a data bank of locations? Are we the only ones with this problem? What is everyone else doing with their RV sewage?

ML and OT Nordstrom,
Nanaimo BC

My dear readers,
Harry Lali, Minister of Transportation & Highways, sent me a listing of BC sani sites and my sister Maureen is typing it up so hopefully, with the Ministry’s permission, I can include it in future RVTs for everyone’s use. But I would like to hear from you too as to where the sites are that you currently use.
Sheila

I am writing in response to your recent letter regarding the sani-stations at Cole and Bradner roads.
I appreciate the convenience these sites provide for travellers. Although my Ministry continues to be concerned about the inappropriate dumping of non-recreational waste at these locations, both sites are accessible during daylight hours. Ministry staff are currently evaluating cost-effective ways to monitor the stations and ensure that they can remain open.
If you require further information, Barry Eastman, District Highways Manager, would be pleased to assist you. He can be reached at (604) 824-2702, or at 45474 Luckakuck Way, Chilliwack, British Columbia, V2R 3S9.
Harry S. Lali
Minister of Transportation and Highways
Parliament Buildings
Victoria BC V8V 1X4

Sani dump in Kelowna:

Here in Kelowna we are able to use the sani dump at the local Canadian Tire store. It is also my understanding that the store in Penticton also has this facility available.

John W. Darker
darker@silk.net

Free sani-dump station in Maple Ridge:

The Shell Station at the corner of 227 Street and Dewdney Trunk Road in Maple Ridge. It’s the only one in town that I know of which is free, and is a good level site with a washdown hose plus an air hose.

Bill Birtch
wbirtch@home.com

Sani dumps:

Look forward to reading your wonderful magazine and getting interesting tips and information about the great RV lifestyle.

Country Club Mall in Nanaimo must have heard ML & OL Nordstrom (Sept./Oct. RV Times) plea for the close down of the sani dump. They, as well as your readers, will be glad to know that it is now in operation at the north end of the mall beside Overwaitea. Signs have been erected, and it is a very clean and accessible site.

Louise Ward & Jim Cirka
yellowpt@nanaimo.ark.com

A list of available Sani-dumps would be most helpful!

Prince George has one BUT it is to be CLOSED as of October 2/'98 (to make parking for the new soccer fields, I believe). There are four gas stations offering sani-dumps at present. One located leaving to the north on the Hart Highway, one leaving west on Highway 16 , and two located leaving to the south. The two to the south are the Shell and the Mohawk/Husky.
Quesnel has a municipal one located heading south but you would miss it when heading north as it is located where the south traffic is routed around the main drag.
Will miss the one at the large Rest Stop on Highway 1 west of Chilliwack. (I understand it is closing/closed?)
We have a 5th wheel and live on a hobby farm. We have installed our own sewer dump (as have other people) so when we arrive home it is simple to dump!
Otherwise we usually hook-up to sewer at a campsite when we are in need of dumping - simplifies the problem when we are travelling.
Enjoy The RV Times and pick it up at Overwaitea.

Maisie Minchin
m_minchin@bc.sympatico.ca

Golden Ears Sani Stn.

Golden Ears Park has approximately 400 campsites and plans to add 80 more. Their sani station is closed! The staff say the tile field is plugged and the Provincial Ministry of Environment will not allow them to build a new tile field.
We have a motorhome and have the need of a sani station. Several gas stations have sani stations but they are hard to get at and want a gas purchase.
We have seen first hand what angry campers do with their sewage. Storm drains, sewer outlets and ditches are the next answer.
The cost of a little maintenance is far cheaper than the eventual outcome of sewage being dumped everywhere!
Helen Johnson
Maple Ridge BC

Sani-Stations etc.:

Greetings from Hope - in the heart of BC's mighty Fraser Country!
I was interested to read that a number of your readers are having a hard time finding the locations of sani-stations. Sheila, perhaps you could let them know that this information is readily available from their community Visitor InfoCentre.
The staff in every Visitor InfoCentre in British Columbia rely on a resource guide entitled the BC Tourism Product Guide provided to them by Tourism BC. This Guide provides the answers to a wide variety of questions — sani-stations being one of those. Booklet number 5 in that resource guide is called "Automobile Rentals/RV Rentals & Sani-Stations" and pages 13 through 24 list the sani-stations in each community in BC. InfoCentre staff can photocopy this information for anyone who cares to pay the cost of the photocopying.
I would also like you to know that the issue of illegal dumping is one that concerns our Chamber and others throughout BC.
As more and more RV enthusiasts acquire self contained units, we are also seeing a growing trend of RVs overnighting in highways rest stops, supermarket parking lots, gravel pits and other unauthorized areas. All of these lack proper garbage disposal facilities and sewer access.
Unfortunately, this often means that garbage is dumped in business dumpsters or roadside containers that are not meant for that purpose. The results include overflowing garbage containers that attract animal scavengers plus create unsightly litter and rising costs for targeted business owners and the Ministry of Transportation and Highways. In other words, all taxpayers are paying the costs of this illegal practice — not to mention the "garbage bears" that are losing their lives because of it.
The contents of the RV sewer tanks also needs to be disposed of and some owners are resorting to dumping directly into storm sewers or natural waterways. The horrendous cost to our environment and fishery resource is incalculable!
Our province offers unlimited camping opportunities but all campers need to ensure that they don't destroy the very beauty they have come to enjoy. If RV owners can therefore be encouraged to overnight in designated campgrounds and make use of the facilities specifically developed for their use, we can all work together to keep British Columbia Super Natural. And RV owners need never despair of finding a sani-station since most campgrounds have these for their customers to use.
Inge Wilson
Manager & Business Infocenter Officer
Hope & District Chamber of Commerce
Tel: 604-869-2021
hopechmb@uniserve.com
www.hopechamber.bc.ca


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Sani Stations- Westbank BC

The Shell station at 2551 S Highway 97, Westbank and the Chevron station at 2499 S Highway 97, Westbank provide dump facilities.
During the winter months the water supply is shut off however one can still utilize the dump facilities without charge (year round).
John W. Darker
darker@silk.net

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Sani Dumps In Kelowna:

I would like to correct a listing in your January/February edition whereby under the heading Comments on page 10 it listed a sani dump station at the Esso Station in Westbank BC [2520 Main Street] as having these facilities.
This location, the only Esso station on Highway 97 in Westbank does not now nor according to the staff ever had one to their recollection.
We are looking forward to your listing of these facilities around the province in some not too distant issue of The RV Times.
John W. Darker
Westbank BC
darker@silk.net