Composting Toilet

Thanks for the update Bill.

Naio wrote:
That would help with the odor, but it would do it by killing the bacteria! For composting, you need live bacteria, of the right kind. Bleach kills indiscriminately.

You put the bleach in the urine container. There is a separate urine container that doesn't compost. Nothing to do with the composting process in the rest of the toilet.

Naio wrote:
It evaporates excess liquid. Another option is to drain off the liquid, but legally that has to go into a sewer. Some toilets allow you to do either option (fan or drain) and some only have one or the other.

No, there is no urine to drain off because they're separated at the point of entry. It's to help dry out the feces/peat moss mixture and vent it. There is no roof vent like the traditional toilets.

free radical wrote:

Why does the fan need to run continously?

It evaporates excess liquid. Another option is to drain off the liquid, but legally that has to go into a sewer. Some toilets allow you to do either option (fan or drain) and some only have one or the other.

Maybe some very thick insulation all around the toilet should be included

For toilets that use heat, I think that's a good idea.

free radical wrote:

Naio wrote:
Lol, urine is sterile when it comes out of you, but it quickly becomes FULL of bacteria. Just try peeing in a bottle and storing it at room temp for a day, then take a whiff.

I'd think that adding a bit of Clorox or Javex bleach into the urine collecting jar on that Nature's head toilet should kill all the smells completely,,
I do this with my portapotty and it works

That would help with the odor, but it would do it by killing the bacteria! For composting, you need live bacteria, of the right kind. Bleach kills indiscriminately.

Gone2TheDogs wrote:
I've used two composting toilets extensively in a permanent 'camp' setting -one of the composting toilets was a smaller model, and one was the deluxe full-size. With both units, the composting did not happen in any kind of a timely manner. Emptying the poop part was a real mess, even without a smell problem. But the worst, the very worst, the nightmare, was thousands and thousands of small, tiny flies. Did they come from the peat moss or the wood chips? We bought those supplieds direct from the composting toilet manufacturer, both times. We tried diatomaceous earth over and over again to kill the flies. They were an infestation. It happened in both camps, years apart. And yes, you need a platform, because you need a small drainage pipe to come out the bottom. And the fan must run 24/7. And you need a vent stack to carry fumes outside. I will never never never have a composting toilet again.

Why does the fan need to run continously?

Wouldn't the fumes go up the vent like they do in regular houses?

Id think it would need to run only when using the can..

Maybe some very thick insulation all around the toilet should be included

Naio wrote:
Lol, urine is sterile when it comes out of you, but it quickly becomes FULL of bacteria. Just try peeing in a bottle and storing it at room temp for a day, then take a whiff.

I'd think that adding a bit of Clorox or Javex bleach into the urine collecting jar on that Nature's head toilet should kill all the smells completely,,
I do this with my portapotty and it works

Once again, anything you have to empty poop out of is not a composting toilet (even if somebody said it was).

Gone2TheDogs, I wonder if the toilets you encountered could have had too many people using them? Composting toilets are rated for a set number of people. If too many people are using one, it cannot compost -- and if they insist on using it anyway, they WOULD have to empty it. yuck!

Poop does take a long time to compost. Enzymes, heat, etc. speed it up, but you are still talking about a year or two. With the right number of people using a toilet, it will not fill up in a year of daily use.

What part of the country were the two camps in?

Thnx,
B

I've used two composting toilets extensively in a permanent 'camp' setting -one of the composting toilets was a smaller model, and one was the deluxe full-size. With both units, the composting did not happen in any kind of a timely manner. Emptying the poop part was a real mess, even without a smell problem. But the worst, the very worst, the nightmare, was thousands and thousands of small, tiny flies. Did they come from the peat moss or the wood chips? We bought those supplieds direct from the composting toilet manufacturer, both times. We tried diatomaceous earth over and over again to kill the flies. They were an infestation. It happened in both camps, years apart. And yes, you need a platform, because you need a small drainage pipe to come out the bottom. And the fan must run 24/7. And you need a vent stack to carry fumes outside. I will never never never have a composting toilet again.

Comments from Billy79 in another thread.


My wife and I bought a new fifth wheel in Feb. and went full time in May.

Knowing that our plan is to do a lot of boondocking and dry camping we opted to install one of the Nature's Head composting toilets.

We never even used the regular toilet, pulled it and switched toilets the night we got the rig.

We have had family obligations ever since we hit the road and have not done any boondocking yet

I have already seen some of the benefits for sure. We have stayed in a few spots where the sewer dump was rather far away and it didn't matter to us. Without even trying we can go a week without dumping our tanks...so if we were to be more careful with consumption and waste, having that blank tank as an additional grey would probably let us stretch that out to 10 - 14 days.

Dealing with the composting container isn't that big of a deal. When you empty it there isn't much of a smell other then wet dirt, and it is like dumping a bucket of wet dirt with itty bitty pieces of TP mixed in into a trash bag.

The only thing that is a pain in the rear, and not a huge deal, is dealing with the urine bucket. We find ourselves dumping that about every 3 days. It's not difficult and if you put vinegar in it when it is empty there is no smell....it is just a chore that has to be done every 3 days.

IF we were to never boondock and always be in parks I think I would be 50/50 on which method is better (regular black tank or composting). The only thing that would make me go with a regular set up is the cost....$1000 is a lot to swallow.

For extended boondocking I really think that this will be a nice upgrade and worth the $1000. At least I am really hoping to since we dropped the money on it [emoticon] Hopefully we will get to boondock shortly....really has been a bummer how things have cropped up keeping us from being able to do that, but it could be a good thing. My tuck needed an unplanned transmission rebuild which took my solar panel money. So we are all set up for boondock (big battery bank, inverter, solar charger, composting toilet) but will still need to run our generator at this point to charge the battery bank.


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From Free Range Human... though I wouldn't do what she has, I thought her comments about odor was informational....

Everybody's making this way too complicated and expensive. Of course you can (and should) use a composting toilet. We, too, never used the toilet that came with our RV.

I bought a Cabin Can just because it's very attractive, and I'm a girl and like that kind of stuff.

I seriously objected both to dealing with disgusting black water, plus the usual chemicals that go along with it, AND the pee bucket that allows urine to so beautifully "ripen" with time, that comes with Nature's Head, et. al. (Had never heard of the "vinegar cure" though.)

This one uses NO electricity at all, requires no installation of anything.

I will be blunt: We pee in the shower stall. You guys come with pre-attached hoses; use 'em, and just develop a system for quickly rinsing the stall afterwards. I attached a spray hose to the existing water inlet for the toilet. It reaches the shower. You could also, of course, just use your detachable shower head, but that's a bit more hassle. Saves the extra weight and possibly smell inside your composting toilet.

This is great for the girls; I LOVE mine. Cut the bag off and the other end of the tube fits right in the shower drain. Then I use the hose/nozzle I installed to rinse the urinal. Off course, the guys can use this, too - saves possible splashback from the shower floor.

The rest couldn't be simpler. Your basic 5 gallon bucket, lined with a usual size kitchen trash bag, fits inside the Cabin Can. The key to "no smell" is PEAT MOSS. I learned this the hard way when I tried to switch from using a mixture of peat moss and wood chips (the stuff that's supposed to be rodent bedding; you can even use cedar chips) to wood chips only, and that was a mistake. [emoticon]

If you use all or at least half peat moss, your toilet will smell pleasantly earthy. Just be sure to cover up after each addition completely.

The contents will start to settle, but once your bag finally is really full, tie it up and dispose of it. You can also actually compost it if you wish, but that's usually impossible to do if you're moving frequently. For that reason, I refer to mine as a "dry toilet", rather than as a composting one. And no, this does not need to be vented.

And as someone else mentioned, now you can use both your gray and black tanks for gray water. Put a gate valve where there's only a screw-on cap now, keep it closed (unless you're connected to sewer), but leave both the gray and black gate valves open.

Lol,Garbonzo, you clearly didn't read the rest of the thread.