Chemical toilets - how often and where do you empty them?

Refueler said:
An earlier post shows 'composting version' of toilet .... UGH !!

While stripping out woodwork in my latest acquisition - I found such a bucket crapper under the vee berth insert. I have to say that I am definitely not impressed and once its lifted out - cleaned and put back - I sincerely hope that no-one ever wants to use it ...

I cannot honestly think of anything as bad that purports to be a solution to the bog question ... at least a bucket and chuck-it is honest and straight forward. But this is something else !
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Why put it back? Use the cleaned space for something else.
 
So my ‘new’ boat has a Blakes sea toilet. I think it may be a Victory. There is something partially blocking the inlet side - when I pump there is a lot of resistance and a very small flow of water. The pump out side works well but it’s also quite hard work.
To take apart the inlet hose I think I’d have to start disassembling parts of the boat, skin all my knuckles, spend a weekend bent double and get very unhappy.
There is extremely limited headroom above the toilet, and it’s impossible to use unless the fore hatch is opened. I’m a bit perplexed as to why this large heavy complex and expensive toilet was installed in such a tiny space, and then boxed in with joinery. It’s hard to imagine anyone using it.
The boat is basically a daysailer with very limited accommodation but there is a bit more headroom further aft in the main cabin. So I think I’m going to cut the hoses, remove the ‘Victory’ and store a small chemical loo up forward. If someone needs to use it, it can be brought aft and the hatch shut for privacy. If that proves unrealistic I’ll perhaps reconsider.
 
DoubleEnder said:
So my ‘new’ boat has a Blakes sea toilet. I think it may be a Victory. There is something partially blocking the inlet side - when I pump there is a lot of resistance and a very small flow of water. The pump out side works well but it’s also quite hard work.
To take apart the inlet hose I think I’d have to start disassembling parts of the boat, skin all my knuckles, spend a weekend bent double and get very unhappy.
There is extremely limited headroom above the toilet, and it’s impossible to use unless the fore hatch is opened. I’m a bit perplexed as to why this large heavy complex and expensive toilet was installed in such a tiny space, and then boxed in with joinery. It’s hard to imagine anyone using it.
The boat is basically a daysailer with very limited accommodation but there is a bit more headroom further aft in the main cabin. So I think I’m going to cut the hoses, remove the ‘Victory’ and store a small chemical loo up forward. If someone needs to use it, it can be brought aft and the hatch shut for privacy. If that proves unrealistic I’ll perhaps reconsider.
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FWIW I detest my portapotti - lugging turds around in a sloshing container is just horrible, however clever (and watertight). That's quite apart from the fact it's so small I have to chose being widdling on the floor in front or sh*tting in the bunk behind.

I'll be changing it for a lavac as soon as time/budget allows
 
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KevinV said:
FWIW I detest my portapotti - lugging turds around in a sloshing container is just horrible, however clever (and watertight). That's quite apart from the fact it's so small I have to chose being widdling on the floor in front or sh*tting in the bunk behind.

I'll be changing it for a lavac as soon as time/budget allows
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See post 29. A much better solution for day sailors. And yes, I have had and lived with all of these.
 
DoubleEnder said:
I see more and more smallish sailing boats fitted with chemical loos rather than sea toilets, and I can see the advantages in cost & absence of through hulls. How often do they need to be emptied and where can you do this? I’m thinking of a situation where realistically the loo will be used by one or two people over a weekend, so unlikely to be any where near full. Is it ok to leave it like that over a period of say 4 weeks, and empty it then? Or will it be smelly and horrid, brewing up explosive pressures and noxious fumes?
Also, can the cassette simply be emptied in to a toilet ashore? At a marina? Yacht club !? Or does it need a special facility?

Maybe a bucket is better…
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DoubleEnder said:
I see more and more smallish sailing boats fitted with chemical loos rather than sea toilets, and I can see the advantages in cost & absence of through hulls. How often do they need to be emptied and where can you do this? I’m thinking of a situation where realistically the loo will be used by one or two people over a weekend, so unlikely to be any where near full. Is it ok to leave it like that over a period of say 4 weeks, and empty it then? Or will it be smelly and horrid, brewing up explosive pressures and noxious fumes?
Also, can the cassette simply be emptied in to a toilet ashore? At a marina? Yacht club !? Or does it need a special facility?

Maybe a bucket is better…
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I follow an RV travel blogger who talked about how to use the RV toilet in his video. I think it should be the same principle. There is a container under the toilet. There are chemicals in the container to decompose the excrement without producing odor. When the container is full, there will be a prompt, and then you can carry it to a public toilet to empty it.
 
KevinV said:
FWIW I detest my portapotti - lugging turds around in a sloshing container is just horrible, however clever (and watertight). That's quite apart from the fact it's so small I have to chose being widdling on the floor in front or sh*tting in the bunk behind.

I'll be changing it for a lavac as soon as time/budget allows
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Anything but a bl***y Lavac !! Yes I detest Lavac with a vengeance.

The biggest mistake with Chemy Loos ... people keep using until full ... then a) heavy, b) messy ..... better is to empty at each opportunity BEFORE it gets full ... its lighter, less mess and easier to sort.
 
Refueler said:
Anything but a bl***y Lavac !! Yes I detest Lavac with a vengeance.

The biggest mistake with Chemy Loos ... people keep using until full ... then a) heavy, b) messy ..... better is to empty at each opportunity BEFORE it gets full ... its lighter, less mess and easier to sort.
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Lavacs are fine.

Did you struggle with the complicated pumping mechanism :D
 
If I had the choice between sailing / boat owning with a chemical toilet or composting toilet and no sailing / boat ownership it would definitely be no sailing / boat ownership. I struggle to think of anything more off-putting and unpleasant.
 
Andrew_Trayfoot said:
As I said each to there own....
I don't think I've ever been on a boat with a sea toilet that did not have that sulphur smell in the heads to some degree.

Still maybe I have a sensitive nose. :)
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The sulphur smell is due to bacterial activity in the UP-SIDE piping. It is generated by anoxic metabolism: they oxidise S containing compounds in sea water and produce H2S. There is no "cure" for that, apart from flushing through regularly
 
Boathook said:
Lavacs are fine.

Did you struggle with the complicated pumping mechanism :D
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I have been on quite a few boats with Jabsco ... Lavac ... Blakes .... and Porta Potti ... I have 5 boats now - 1 has the best loo ever made : Baby Blake .. another has Jabsco ... OK - but guy who installed created an octopus of piping to overboard / holding etc ... another has that horrible bucket job .... a previous boat had a Cruiser Loo - marine version of basic Porta Potti .. daft !!

Of all the types - the type that had the most failures I observed - Lavac. Such that I would not consider having one ..
 
There was quite a long thread on composting toilets on the Wooden Boat Forum. It included people who had built their own.
Majority of owner/users were very positive.
That made me think about my little cruiser, though I have a porta potty to fit.
One of the problems in the US is the ban on pumping out within a certain distance of the coast and of course inland water areas, like the Chesapeake. Apparently the CG do check on systems and fines are steep.
Apart from emptying the pee section, the composting part can go for quite a while before needing emptying
 
TiggerToo said:
The sulphur smell is due to bacterial activity in the UP-SIDE piping. It is generated by anoxic metabolism: they oxidise S containing compounds in sea water and produce H2S. There is no "cure" for that, apart from flushing through regularly
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I researched this, results on my website. Seawater left in bottles for up to a month did not smell. I suspect the sulphur compounds enter the supply side water because the suction valves are nowhere near 100% effective.
 
vyv_cox said:
I researched this, results on my website. Seawater left in bottles for up to a month did not smell. I suspect the sulphur compounds enter the supply side water because the suction valves are nowhere near 100% effective.
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To create the H2S - there must be an interaction occurring with an 'agent' mixing with the seawater ... as H2S is a factor of rotting / chemical action etc.

Seawater itself should only have a salts and slight 'Ozone' like aroma ....
 
vyv_cox said:
I researched this, results on my website. Seawater left in bottles for up to a month did not smell. I suspect the sulphur compounds enter the supply side water because the suction valves are nowhere near 100% effective.
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Hello. Very interesting. However, I question the validity of your experiment: you have no "positive control". That is, you don't have a sample/treatment that actually creates the H2S. I therefore think the jury is still "out there": we don't really know what is generating the obnoxious smell.
 
Refueler said:
To create the H2S - there must be an interaction occurring with an 'agent' mixing with the seawater ... as H2S is a factor of rotting / chemical action etc.

Seawater itself should only have a salts and slight 'Ozone' like aroma ....
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Decomposition of microorganisms
 
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