Composting Toilet in your plans??

[CoventryKid]

My wife and I have watched videos, searched the web, and tried to do our homework, but we're still on the fence about a composting toilet.

I thought this YouTube video might be of interest to anyone thinking about purchasing one. Perhaps you've already seen it.

After watching their video, I'm a believer.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hG__lP5NNIs

Thanks to Bus Life NZ for posting the video.

[KTM_Guy]

Someone here asked questions about putting in a black water tank. I mentioned skip the black water tank and go composting toilet. Someone posted a link to how bad composting toilets are that was full of bad info and misleading information. And downright lies. I have no experience with them but have a coworker that bought one for his off grid cabin and while building the cabin used a cargo van conversion to sleep in while he worked on the cabin. Once the cabin was done he got a new one for the cabin and kept the one in the trailer. The only bad thing he has to say about it is cost. He said he wished he knew about them when he had his sail boat.

Read the reviews on Amazon, very good reviews.

If I had the cash I would be going that route, but I will size the space so I can upgrade when I can.

Todd

[aggie79]

Good video, but I'm still on the fence.

I think one key is that you need to use the composting toilet somewhat consistently. If you're camping one weekend out of the month, I don't know how functional or effective it would be.

I would love to see a hybrid that is a composting toilet for use and operation. The hybrid part would be to have built in water supply and wastewater connections to the two tanks so that the toilet could be emptied - flushed out using water - into a dump station. That way, you would have to haul the full unit in and out of the trailer.

[Pmullen503]

We had a biolet for many years. I'll second the point about them being better for continous rather than intermittent use
Managing the moisture level and carbon content is key. That said, a luggable loo type does work OK for camping. You just have to have a proper compost pile to dump it in when you get home.

[CoventryKid]

Aggie:

Sounds like a business opportunity! Invent a skookum unit and make a killing!

Seriously, if you're only camping intermittently, why not a portapotty? If you are prepared to dump black tank anyway.

My wife and I use a Dometic 5 gal portapotty primarily for #2 - we can go over a week between dumps. We use a cheaper portapotty (plastic housing, plastic seat with enclosed bucket) for #1. Easy to find a toilet, etc to empty bucket. This has worked for us since we finished our CT and started travelling in 2015.
Hope this helps (get you over/off the fence )

[aggie79]

We do use a porta potty for the teardrop. Some day, when we graduate to a CT conversion, I'd like to do something different. For about the same price as a composting toilet you can get a macerating toilet. (The black tank and plumbing would make the toilet option more expensive.) That is what I'm leaning toward if I can build a CT conversion.

[S. Heisley]

Double posted in error.

[S. Heisley]

I think that composting unit is more for a full timer.

Since I'm basically a weekend camper, I prefer the Luggable Loo, which I am happy to bag and trash every morning of my stay...no spills or cranking or anything like that. I don't like the idea of leaving either other type of potty uncleaned until the next trip nor do I like the possibility of sloshing home or -heaven forbid- on me. ...Nope!

While the initial cash outlay for the Luggable Loo is minimal, at about $2 a bag, the bags can add up if you're taking a lot of very long trips. As a 2 to 4 day camper, I'm okay with that. Some people use regular trash bags with kitty litter; and, although that takes a bit more room, they say that is a lot less expensive. For long trips, I can slip a month of bags underneath the double bag that is unfolded and ready for use; so, it takes little to no extra space. The included gel in the bag decomposes (composts) and eliminates the potty smell, too. Regardless of whether you use a composting unit or a Luggable Loo, the waste ends up in the landfill to finish decomposing.

...To each their own, according to their needs and preferences.

[hankaye]

S. Heisley, Howdy;

As a fulltime RVer I can say that generally we don't have anywhere to do the
composting after it fills the 'original indoor' container. I will say that it is a
good idea for someone that has a yard or property where the composting can
develop it's full potential.

hank

[FlyBye]

I'm not an expert on the subject... However, it does seem to have worked for Cousin Eddie!

[ris]

We have a Natures Head composting toilet in our boat and we are moving it to the Cargo Trailer/Camper when we are on land. The people in the above video are right on about the smell, there is no smell. We used a portapotty for 1 weekend trip and the smell made me buy the composting toilet. We have used the wag bags with the jell also and while it is ok for 3 or 4 days, the composting toilet is much better for long trips. There are people that use the composting toilet only on weekends and empty every 3 or 4 months. There is a small computer fan that pulls air through the toilet and out a hose that is vented outside, and the weekend users leave the fan on all the time. Emptying the pee jug is more of a pain then the pooh. The pee has to be emptied every 2 or 3 days for 2 people. The pooh is just dumped in a trash bag and thrown in the garbage. You do not clean out the pooh bucket, you just dump and any odd bit of stuff that doesn't fall out, you just leave it. There is never more than about a 1/4 cup of stuff left after dumping. We used the composting toilet on a 9 month boat trip every day, so this is the straight poop!!!

Richard

[swoody126]

a combination of the LUGGABLE LOO and Roy Schreyer's design is what i've found to work well for short (<1 week) trips

i visited Roy's boat at a festival after he & his bride had been using his design on a trip from Canada to the Texas coast in WARM weather(w/o emptying) and can say there was virtually NO ODOR (woulda passed my bridal units finicky nose test)

have a look

http://www.roydesignedthat.com/composting-toilet.html

sw

[hankaye]

Howdy All;

Well, got to thinkin' about the disposal question. I used to haul Hazmat for a living
and know that if a human being can do anything the Government will find a way to
regulate it.
So, after a 3-5 minute search I found this from the NPS (National P ark Service), the
Pros for getting rid of waste in the hard to get to places.
https://www.nps.gov/public_health/info/ ... _waste.pdf
At the top of pg. 4 the paragraph titled " Human Excreta Disposal ".
The reason that there is a different section for SOLID waste is that human excreata
is considered LIQUID waste, even the lumpy bits.

hank