the “Pumpout Nav” app

California with more than 1,000 miles of coastline, and literally hundreds of rivers and lakes, has one of the highest boating activity in the nation. This elevated activity means that contaminants from boating can enter our water environments, creating problems for both the health of California’s waterways and human health. California has 1,051,606 registered recreational boats -- more than any other state.  Even allowing a small amount of untreated waste from only a fraction of those 1MM+ boats can be harmful. To help protect the states waterways, the California Division of Boating and Waterways has developed what they call the “Pumpout Nav” app for both IOS (Apple) and Android devices.

“Pumpout Nav” is free to download at the Apple App Store or Google Play. It will show  the location of the nearest marine sewage pumpout, dump station, and floating restrooms. When using the app, a pumpout will appear on your device’s screen as a green marker. When you tap on the marker, the station will display “operational,” indicationing it is open and working normally.

With the app, the recreational boater is empowered to report any problems with the pumpout stations. The app makes reporting problems simple, easy, and intuitive.  All you have to do it to click on the “sad face” symbol to report that a pumpout is not working and the app will report that immediately and in real-time. There is also a number of other “press and report” icons, including “no power,” “low vacuum,” “leaking,” “broken parts,” and “no access.” The app also allows you to enter a description of the problem and upload photos from your phone.

In addition to the app providing pumpout locations, it also provides additional boater information and marina tracking access. You can obtain costs and open hours, the exact location of the pumpout within the marina, and access to information such as guidance on how, where and why to use the pumpout station. When marina operators use the app, they can report and track pumpout usage information and update the information themselves.

There are now well over 200 boating facility locations and 240 pumpout stations currently being reported on the app. The app was created by the California State Parks Division of Boating and Waterways’ (DBW) Clean Vessel Act (CVA) Program.  The location of harbors near us in Ventura County California, with public access pumpout stations are listed below:

Ventura County

• Channel Island Harbor
• Ventura Harbor 

Santa Barbara County

• Santa Barbara Harbor

Los Angeles County

• King Harbor
• Marina del Rey Harbor
• Port of Long Beach
• Port of Los Angeles

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