Compost toilets

[coopec]

I don't know if I'm using the Search facility correctly because I can't find a previous thread on Compost Toilets.

I've installed the floor in the aft cabin high enough to clear the steering cable. (The floor is inclined a few inches but you don't really notice it) On Monday I plan to put a bulkhead in which will enclose the toilet.

My thoughts have now turned to a Compost Toilet. I had thought of building one but there seems to be more and more brands on the market and prices seem to have tumbled. (Maybe I should just buy one?)

There appears to be two different types:

• one with a hand operated agitator. To empty the toilet the excrement/sawdust container is removed from the toilet and the contents disposed of.
• the other type does not have an agitator but has a plastic bag to contain the excrement/sawdust (I don't think I'd like that). When you want to empty the toilet you remove the bag and contents. (Maybe wrong but these types seem to have an extractor fan)

Of course with both types the urine must be kept separate and collected in a bottle or piped over the side (I think I'll be able to manage that)

I'm wondering if anyone has used either type or has an informed opinion of either.

 

[vyv_cox]

Each to his own I suppose but a composting toilet is the very last thing I would want on my boat, or anywhere else. In what way are they better than a marine toilet? The product is going to finish up in landfill, where presumably it won't do any harm, but putting it straight into the sea leads to pretty much the same ending, apart from feeding the fish.

 

[coopec]

Each to his own I suppose but a composting toilet is the very last thing I would want on my boat, or anywhere else. In what way are they better than a marine toilet? The product is going to finish up in landfill, where presumably it won't do any harm, but putting it straight into the sea leads to pretty much the same ending, apart from feeding the fish.

I think a flushing toilet was OK when you could flush it into the ocean. But even then people tell me they often gave trouble and fixing them was a revolting job. Now we must have a holding tank a macerator and pump out plumbing. Apparently the smell can be a problem too (I think Peggy Hall is the expert on that)

With a compost toilet there is no plumbing or pumps and I think I can drain the urine straight over the side.

They tell me they don't smell as well. I can believe that as we have a tiny Papillon dog and occasionally she gets caught short at night and has to poo on her "grass" mat. When I clean it up in the morning there is no smell at all.

 

[PaulRainbow]

Just tell us what you want to hear Clive and we'll all reply with that

 

[anoccasionalyachtsman]

I don't know if I'm using the Search facility correctly because I can't find a previous thread on Compost Toilets.

I've installed the floor in the aft cabin high enough to clear the steering cable. (The floor is inclined a few inches but you don't really notice it) On Monday I plan to put a bulkhead in which will enclose the toilet.

My thoughts have now turned to a Compost Toilet. I had thought of building one but there seems to be more and more brands on the market and prices seem to have tumbled. (Maybe I should just buy one?)

There appears to be two different types:

• one with a hand operated agitator. To empty the toilet the excrement/sawdust container is removed from the toilet and the contents disposed of.
• the other type does not have an agitator but has a plastic bag to contain the excrement/sawdust (I don't think I'd like that). When you want to empty the toilet you remove the bag and contents. (Maybe wrong but these types seem to have an extractor fan)

Of course with both types the urine must be kept separate and collected in a bottle or piped over the side (I think I'll be able to manage that)

I'm wondering if anyone has used either type or has an informed opinion of either.

View attachment 104386View attachment 104387

Aft cabin toilet

 

[Bristolfashion]

The Airheads are great.

 

[rogerthebodger]

Just tell us what you want to hear Clive and we'll all reply with that

Why don't you just put him on ignore if coopec's views are so different to yours

We have lots of pit latrines in SA so I understand what he is talking about.

Personally I would not have on on my boat but is coopec's choice not your and mine.

 

[pvb]

The Airheads are great.

There's a few on the forums...

 

[PaulRainbow]

Why don't you just put him on ignore if coopec's views are so different to yours

We have lots of pit latrines in SA so I understand what he is talking about.

Personally I would not have on on my boat but is coopec's choice not your and mine.

Why don't you mind your own business ? What are you, his mum ?

 

[rogerthebodger]

Why don't you mind your own business ? What are you, his mum ?

Well it seems you keep on taking on people who have different ideas to you and some others

If I were you mum I would be surprised but you mum should have taught you to consideres other point of view and as I do agree to disagree and leave it at that .

I do think it a sign of the times

Maybe it just the complex I have ,consideration for others.

PS

You said "it a public forum" so why can't I comment, or is it I can only comment it I agree with you. It seems that if i disagree or support who have a different view than you, I get told to "mind my own business"

So I now know the rules. "Must not disagree or challenge with PaulRainbow"

 

[rogerthebodger]

The Airheads are great.

There's a few on the forums...

 

[dankilb]

The Airheads are great.

+1 for ours

If you’re going to spend £1000 on a plastic bucket, that’s the one I’d go for ?

 

[fisherman]

My daughter has one in her van. home made, it doesn't smell. She has a mop bucket, the mop squeezer section contains the widdle bit. I now have one for my camper, simple plastic toilet with removable bucket, line it with a bag, sawdust, fill yer boots. We tend to tie up the bag and dispose after each use, but that might change on longer trips.

 

[Black Sheep]

I don't know if I'm using the Search facility correctly because I can't find a previous thread on Compost Toilets.

Try searching for "composting" in titles only. There's about four threads of various vintages. And, as you've found, some people who don't like the idea and aren't shy of saying so!

It's a subject that comes up in other forums occasionally (I know it does in the Junk Rig Association) so maybe worth looking elsewhere on the Web.

 

[stevie69p]

I have considered a dry toilet (I'll refrain from using the word 'composting' as it wouldn't be sitting around a long enough time) for use in addition to having a sea toilet on board. It would be useful in areas where pumping overboard wouldn't be allowed or just plain anti-social. But given that it's just basically a bucket within an enclosure plus a toilet seat, and a urine diverter into a bottle, I think I would just knock one up myself. If you want to go pre-made, there is also the UK made 'Simploo' to investigate.

 

[DownWest]

Lot of chat about them here: Nature's Head vs. Air Head Toilet - Page 7
Long thread, but worth the read. Think there is at least one who made his and links to other builders.

I was on a US boat and the compulsory big sticker on the bulkhead promised swinging fines if caught ejecting waste anywhere in coastal waters.

 

[syvictoria]

We very nearly put one on our boat, but went down the Lavac and (small) holding tank route in the end, mostly because it was a better fit for the space (and also because the other half wasn't 100% convinced about the whole composting thing!). We were at one stage very close to buying one from a company based near Padstow, but I can't recall the brand name offhand and Google hasn't immediately provided the answer.

I think composting toilets are generally a love or hate thing. And those who don't get them, just don't get them, so I wouldn't expect to go changing too many opinions on here!

As for searching, it's often more effective to type site:forums.ybw.com followed by your search string into Google, Duckduckgo, etc. (e.g.: site:forums.ybw.com composting toilet) rather than using the YBW site search facility.

 

[pcatterall]

Are these solutions acceptable in places like Greece? We have a standard marine toilet plus an emergency portaloo in the after cabin. Could the portaloo be 'legally 'replaced with a composting type?

 

[pvb]

I think a flushing toilet was OK when you could flush it into the ocean. But even then people tell me they often gave trouble and fixing them was a revolting job. Now we must have a holding tank a macerator and pump out plumbing. Apparently the smell can be a problem too (I think Peggy Hall is the expert on that)

It sounds as if you've never encountered a marine toilet! If they're installed correctly and used correctly, they don't give trouble, and they don't smell.

With a compost toilet there is no plumbing or pumps and I think I can drain the urine straight over the side.

I'm not sure how you'd drain urine over the side, apart from physically taking out the urine tank and tipping it over the side.

They tell me they don't smell as well. I can believe that as we have a tiny Papillon dog and occasionally she gets caught short at night and has to poo on her "grass" mat. When I clean it up in the morning there is no smell at all.

The Nature's Head and Airhead toilets don't particularly smell, because they have an electric fan and ducting to vent them continuously to the open air.

I'd never, ever, contemplate putting a composting toilet in a boat. It sounds like madness. If you want to know what living with a composting toilet really means - including graphic descriptions of the nasty bits - you could do worse than viewing this video...

If, after watching it, you still want a composting toilet, you'll be living up to my opinion of you based on your previous posts.

 

[V1701]

I built my own separator loo from a kit by the Swedish company Separett who also do ready made loos. Mine has a 12v computer cooling fan as an extractor fan. I live aboard full time, what I have now replaced a 12v electric fresh water flushing via a macerator into a large holding tank toilet that to me was a nightmare. I now have a large tool locker where the holding tank was and a non-smelling toilet that nothing can go wrong with and makes it easy for me to not pollute. To each his own...