Quote:
Originally Posted by RosaK
Hi,
I just watched a video promoting composting toilets in RV's. It had me intrigued with the proported benefits though not fully convinced.
Has anyone here had any experience with a fully composting toilet? Has anyone tried to install one in a Fiberglass molded trailer? Can the toilets in Escapes even be exchanged out for a different type of toilet?
Just curious. . .
Betsy
|
You won't actually be actively be doing any significant amount of real composting as you won't have the waste in their long enough for it to turn into compost. That takes months of time to happen.
Many people who RV don't use those commercial units as they are very expensive and they are not doing anything significant in the way of converting waste into compost. The thrifty campers get a five gallon bucket with a seat, line the bucket with a heavy duty trash bag and divert the liquids into a separate container. You can make an attractive cabinet style cover for hiding the bucket and easy hinged open top or front for the cabinet. You can also add ventilation to the exterior.
You contain the smell (and sight) by covering over the poo with sawdust, peat moss or coconut coir fiber. The pee must go into its own container. Mixing the two waste types is what creates the really bad odor problems so you keep them separate.
All those commercial products are doing is this. You put the compost material into the bowl then each time you eliminate solids you turn a crank to stir the solid into the compost material. Covering it by dumping a scoops of compost material over the poo works just fine and does better odor control as the waste stays covered more deeply instead of getting stirred back up to the top.
There are urinary products for women that allow you to sit or stand and pee into a bottle. Of course guys don't need any help with that. For the women there are commercially made urine diverter seats made for use with DIY compost units. Just do an image search on "urine diverter seat".
So in the long run you can spend upwards of a thousand bucks or under a hundred bucks but when it comes down to it what happens to the waste materials for whatever composting system you choose there will be no difference in how they get disposed.
Tip:
To discreetly take a pee filled container bottle into a public restroom for emptying it use a metal thermos, that way the contents won't be obvious as you walk across a public space such as going into a convenience store or truck stop to use their bathroom. You can find metal thermos containers at thrift stores. Or of course you can hide a plastic container in a bag.