Motorhome arrival - fill up then find pitch or?

Is it the weather or something to do with national character?

No idea ET. However, we wash up in the same way in France as here. In fact over there half of the places we stop don’t have washing up facilities, as we use a fair few Aires.

The best solution I have found to combat the smell is to disolve a dishwasher tablet in boiling water and flush it into the tank, then drive to our next detination.

Aldi bio washing tablets also work well. Best solution is fit a "P" trap if not already fitted.

peedee

Our old trick for cleaning waste pipes on caravan was to bung up the outside hole, fill it nearly full of white vinegar, put the plug in, then let the towing action agitate things on the go, pull out the plug on arrival, rinse, and voila……clean pipes.

We have done your method as well EuroT, bowl under van, one big wash up. I don’t think it’s a cultural thing, camping in more basic outfits was always like this (not calling your Eriba basic, we love them), and evenings were more convivial, as more folks around rather than vegetating in front of a TV. We made some lovely “holiday” friends, folks who booked their stays same time as us, down the years in Cornwall. Lots of shared information, food and drink. Lovely times.

With previous caravans we have had problems with partially blocked drain pipes, and I used Mr Muscles Drain Cleared Gel, as per it's instructions and this has worked well. We now, like others, use our washing up bowl and dispose of it either directly into waste container, down a site drain or into a hedgerow if allowed by the site owner.

We use washbasin and sink as we do at home. Don’t put grease down sink at home so not in the van. All the waste water goes into the tank to be disposed of as appropriate according to the site, so either into hedges or drive over disposal, or sometimes drain. We have pipes to connect to van outlet to drain to drain or hedges. If the latter leave connected whilst van on site so gradual drain.

We find that emptying as frequently as possible reduces any chance of smells, plus the occasional use of a commercial van drain cleaner. We rarely get smells but I do think that washing, showering, cooking water dilutes any issues from washing up water.