Request to add rendering for motorhome tank disposal stations (Elsan points, Dump Stations)

[brycenesbitt]

OSM has good rendering coverage for campgrounds. This is a request to render the toilet holding tank dump stations as well.

There are tens of thousands of these worldwide, with hundreds mapped in OpenStreetMap.
It's also the type of feature that could attract new mappers (especially since nearly
every caravan site has wifi).

The tag is amenity=sanitary_dump_station, it often but not always is found in a camp_site.
A set of three icons in different sizes are at: #1466

There's a similar tag used and rendered by OpenSeaMap, except for marine users.

[matkoniecz]

http://taginfo.openstreetmap.org/tags/amenity=sanitary_dump_station - used only 431 times, not a special case like capital=yes ("there are tens of thousands of these worldwide").

[brycenesbitt]

Capitals represent the past of mapping.
Unmapped features represent the future.

But really: the dump stations are a useful easy to render feature that's common on other maps. Google maps has capitals but not dump stations: OSM can rise above in part by rendering more.

[pnorman]

430 node usages, of which 385 by the same user ID.

Not an established tag.

[brycenesbitt]

430 node usages, of which 385 by the same user ID.

@pnorman check the first revision of each node: those are far more diverse. You are seeing the result of a tagging consolidation, not a single user feature.

[BalooUriza]

I'm nominating that we re-open the issue. This is a thing that needs to exist.

I know we all live by the mantra "don't tag for the renderer", but reality is, people tag things they recognize and know are supported by at least the renderers and routing engines available on the homepage. And if you've just spent a week off the grid and have a black tank on the verge of belching sewage all over the interior and the highway, emptying that (and, for longer journeys, refilling the freshwater tank) is as critical as getting fuel to drive/tow it.

This isn't necessarily only a luxury feature, either. In humanitarian situations, dump stations can often be temporarily fitted to handle composting toilets or as a collection point for dumping portable toilets in the vicinity, and as equally valuable as the opposite amenity: Drinking water, which I believe is already rendered.

[Barrocas]

Agree with BalooUriza, it would help in locating these spots, I though I don't use them (have no caravan), but I see the need and understand it.

[brycenesbitt]

This feature is now a preset in iD and JOSM. There are some 800 uses between the standalone and attribute styles. This tag underwent consolidation from a variety of older tagging styles. It's a feature that's been hacked for the rendering repeatedly.

[kocio-pl]

What visual representation (icon probably) should it have? Anything already used or maybe something new?

[Barrocas]

There is a link to the proposed image, in a previous post..

Cumprimentos,
D.er Hugo Barrocas

[kocio-pl]

It was hard to find, however I made a quick rework of this icon to stick to our current standards:

[matkoniecz]

I would never guess meaning of that icon.

[brycenesbitt]

@matkoniecz in terms of symbol recognition: are you a user of this type of facility?

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Here are the icons I created:
https://github.com/gravitystorm/openstreetmap-carto/pull/1466/files

As well, there's a standard USA traffic sign for this feature: sign number D9-12.
But it depicts the USA style of this feature, which involves a connection like this:
http://i.ytimg.com/vi/Uuz3Y9jRRNM/maxresdefault.jpg
http://www.trafficsign.us/650/guide/d9-12.gif
And that's not a worldwide view.

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There are four styles of holding tank toilet station that seem common worldwide. The context usually makes the type clear:

1. USA style round gravity drains: the drain point must be at ground level. There is usually but not always fresh water available for rinsing.
2. Cartridge style, where the waste is in a portable tank carried or rolled to the dump point. The dump point is some sort of basin or tube, often raised above the ground to ease emptying. There is usually but not always fresh water available for rinsing. There is a UK specific term for this: an Elsan point.
3. Marine pumpout stations, which suck the waste out.
4. Aircraft pumpout stations (about which I know little).

While it's rare: a given pump station might support more than one style. There seem to be combined #1 and #2 available.
For better or worse I chose the symbol as a compromise that seemed to work OK for all four styles.

See also
http://www.sanidumps.com/