What Is An RV Dump?

We've had a great discussion on our facebook page recently about the proposal for an RV dump in Harcourt. This topic brought up a lot of concerns and questions, the first being 'what is an RV dump?' I'm going to collate some of the many posts from the facebook discussion here, to make it easier to read and understand.

So firstly, what is an RV dump. Well RV in this instance is referring to a recreational vehicle. The dump part is meaning a place where owners of an RV vehicle can safely and cleanly empty out the contents of their on board liquid waste. Yes that includes toilet matter. What I've taken from the various discussions is that the waste goes directly into the sewerage system, just as a public toilet does. The RV dump is just set up differently in order to be practical for the RV users.

It's not a caravan park or an overnight rest spot, it's a transient service, again just like a public toilet.

Says one community member:

It is not a sleeping spot as I understand, just a place to unload waste and reload fresh water. They may hopefully go to the local shop, service station or pub at the same time. Or visit local wineries or other attractions. In summer they could use the pool.

This leads into why Harcourt would want such a thing in our town ship. As the above says, there may well be a benefit to the local shops and services. The RV circuit is a very popular one throughout Australia and Harcourt is well placed to take advantage of this. As another member comments:

It makes Harcourt an RV (mobile home eg Winnebago) friendly town, which attracts more tourists to spend money locally. Part of the logic for the (proposed) position is that it can handle the larger RVs. Bendigo can only cater for them at the showgrounds. So we will have them coming to Harcourt. Also, there a couple of spots identified for overnight parking. The dump unit ( not installation) is donated by KIA. So the dump is free by we can Meter water and overnight stays.

 

Whether the final outcome will involve a fee or not has yet to be confirmed, and there is logic for both sides of the argument. Free service might be a bigger incentive for vehicles to choose Harcourt over Bendigo, however another contributor points out that the implementation of a fee:

... was part of the initial work to try and get a revenue stream to save the pool.

Many thanks to everyone who joined in the discussion and helped to answer many questions and clear up a lot of confusion. Finally you can find out about the locations of RV dumps plus other useful information courtesy of yet another contributor here.