Cassette Toilets

Gray water is good for watering the garden.

billtex wrote:

For those of you that dump the cassette in a toilet/porta potty every day or two; what do you do with grey water?

This is what confuses me about cassette toilets. You still need a dump station and the stinky slinky for the grey water, why not just dump the black at the same time / place? That seems to work well for me.

We've had both and I MUCH prefer an integral tank. At 22 gals (our current camper) we have NEVER had to break camp just to dump the black tank. Will easily last a week and we never sit still that long anyway. Sometimes go several trips before I dump the black (and no it does not stink-at all).
We are more limited by grey tank/fresh H20 capacity than black water.

For those of you that dump the cassette in a toilet/porta potty every day or two; what do you do with grey water?

We've used them on caravans in England and found it extremely convenient to be able to dump the tank without having to move the trailer. Would love to have such a setup in my TC. We seldom stay in formal campgrounds and finding a place to dump the tanks is always a pain and frequently expensive if you have to go to a private campground to do it. A cassette would nicely solve that-- I hate driving around thinking about where the heck am I going to dump that tank. Someday I will have to plumb in access to the septic system outside so I can dump at home, but right now it's always an issue.

All I know is when I was done dumping and rinsing, my bathroom looked like a bomb went off, not to mention stinking like a sick person with a slight hint of orange, and I had to clean the bathroom again.

This is not how it works for us. It is very clean, not much different from "normal" bathroom use. And if you empty the tank frequently and don't let it sit, it shouldn't smell too badly either.

Did you press the pressure relief button or whatever it would be called? It ensures that fresh air can enter the tank as you dump it.

Jfet wrote:

mkirsch wrote:
Cassette toilets are not common in the US. They're more of a European thing, I think.

I've got one, but I've only used it once in the last 5 years. Dumping it was the killer for me. Sure, you can dump it in a regular toilet, but consider for a minute what you are pouring out of this thing. It is unpleasant. VERY unpleasant. No matter how much of that blue/orange/green/yellow fruity-enzyme juice you put in, it still has that wretched smell. No matter how hard careful you are, it SPLASHES too.

The Thetford 403C waste container is maybe a bit different from what you are describing. It is long with a handle and a pour spout. When you dump it in a regular toilet, flush the toilet first, then press the button on the waste container while the water is swirling down in the toilet. The contents will drain into the whirlpool, which will continue to swirl until the container is empty. No splash at all.

The smell is there, but I think black water tank dumping is no bed of roses either on the smell.


They look like this:

That is pretty much the same as what I have, though mine does not have a handle and wheels.

All I know is when I was done dumping and rinsing, my bathroom looked like a bomb went off, not to mention stinking like a sick person with a slight hint of orange, and I had to clean the bathroom again.

Jfet wrote:

mkirsch wrote:
Cassette toilets are not common in the US. They're more of a European thing, I think.

I've got one, but I've only used it once in the last 5 years. Dumping it was the killer for me. Sure, you can dump it in a regular toilet, but consider for a minute what you are pouring out of this thing. It is unpleasant. VERY unpleasant. No matter how much of that blue/orange/green/yellow fruity-enzyme juice you put in, it still has that wretched smell. No matter how hard careful you are, it SPLASHES too.

The Thetford 403C waste container is maybe a bit different from what you are describing. It is long with a handle and a pour spout. When you dump it in a regular toilet, flush the toilet first, then press the button on the waste container while the water is swirling down in the toilet. The contents will drain into the whirlpool, which will continue to swirl until the container is empty. No splash at all.

The smell is there, but I think black water tank dumping is no bed of roses either on the smell.


They look like this:

I have one of these and really like it much better than having to dump black water.

And then there is this thread about the same topic that isn't even very old:

http://forums.trailerlife.com/index.cfm/fuseaction/thread/tid/27485000/srt/pa/pging/1/page/1

I am not sure everyone is talking about the same cassette toilets.

The Thetford 403C holds 5 gallons of waste and you need to see a doctor if you fill it up in a day. We carry an extra cassette for 10 gallons total storage, which seems to last about a week or so.

Maybe the small ones only hold a couple of gallons?

I do agree that if you are boondocking for several weeks in some remote area you probably need to figure out a bigger storage system. We plan on using WAG bags if we get in a situation where we can't empty the cassettes for many days.

I find it hard to believe one can boondock with a cassette toilet... With more than 1 person at least. I see them as ideal for primitive campgrounds with Pit toilets if you have a female in the group or With more than 1 person at least. Yeah I can take a leak outside, but to make my wife squat in the woods I don't think so. Of course the DW drinks about a gallon Of water per day. Maybe I was doing something wrong, but I tried it and within 2 days the holding tank was full (sometimes just 1 day!!!) and the water in the toilet gone. I ended up having on multiple occasions digging a hole and illegally dumping my black waste, then trying to fill the fresh water fill with the shower water. Thats why I got rid of my Northstar Laredo. I pulled that annoying tote out so many times the plastic tabs ended up breaking, not to mention the number of times the black water splashed me. On top of that the toilet sits so high you are on your tip toes trying to take a dump.

Dump stations? Is it really that hard to find one

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