[encantotom]

i have walked through this with many of the gurus as well.

each of us have our ways of managing our waste tank.

i will give you how i do it.

we lived in our coach for 7 months last year while on our mission.

i have an external water softener that needs to be recharged after 4 water tank fills.

so how i like to do it is this.

1. i dont hook up permanently to water.
2. i leave both waste tank valves closed.
3. i monitor the water. when the water is almost gone, i know the waste tank is almost full.
4. i open the manual valve, then the air valve and with a full tank i know i am getting a powerful flow to get all the goodies out of the waste tank. then i close both valves once empty.
5. i leave the waste tank sewer hose on.
6. i fill the water tank through the water softener. i keep track of how many times i use it and then recharge after 4 fills.

4 fills was calculated by know the grains of hardness of the water where i was at and the capacity of the softener. ymmv

then i put the softener away to keep it out of the sun

that is how i do it. but other ways to do it for sure

tom