compost toilet for 17' Casita

[WildBirder]

When in Costa Rica I saw the use of an odourless diaper pale (air filter) for toilet paper. Drop it in the open part and turn a handle. Was a much better system than the open air pale!

[David Tilston]

My dad helped a friend of his install an incinerator toilet at the friends cabin. He said that is smelled like burning poo for quite some distance around. I imagine you could dump the contents of your paper container on the camp fire and let it burn, before you put it out for the night.
As for putting it in the garbage, I can't see it being any worse then dirty diapers. As a parent of five, it has occurred to me that this is not a very sanitary practice.

[Francesca Knowles]

I always wondered if incinerator toilets could be smelled for miles around- now I know.

"In the fire ring" disposal of TP works if you have a campfire...burns very quickly and there's no smell but burning paper.

I must say, though: even non-squeamish Francesca would object if TP was thrown in when I was cooking over one!

Francesca

[Night Sailor]

Great thread. Thanks for the information.

I would welcome any more info on these toilets.

[Cathy P.]

A great book on the subject, the "bible" of composting toilets, is "The Humanure Handbook". It includes everything from the bucket-type to the most fancy. The coolest composting toilet I ever saw was when I worked for the high-end RV manufacturer. A man was going to take this out and set it up in the middle of his field. He had all the boondocking goodies. His toilet was like an ancient throne and it was BIG and it was stainless steel. I think at the time it cost about $3,000 and this was in the early 90's. I was thinking that if you must relieve yourself, why not do it in style!

I did look at these as possibilities and am looking at if they might be practical or not when it comes to composting versus porti-potty. I see a lot of people like the bag that they just use and put in the trash and to me, that is most disgusting of all. I can just see me, throwing in something that bursts their full "bag" and splat!

[Paige M]

i see this is an old thread, but i have been hanging on to these questions for quite a while, and if anyone ventures onto this subject...i would appreciate some insight.

i keep going back and forth on toilet issue, and the answers to this dilemma would certainly help me narrow down my trailer shopping (especially regarding size, many of the smaller trilliums, scamps, etc. have no real toilets). My challenges: i will be traveling single (with a cat...so not alone), i have a few health/physical issues (one of which is a very bad back and knees)...which means limited lifting and stooping. I want to be able to camp in parks but also "boondocking" often, because i want to get away from parking lots and man-made noises. (I do alot of photographing and recording)

I read a blog from a young couple that insisted composting toilets were easiest, cleanest (absolutely NO smell) no hoses, no tanks to dump. However, I don't hear many others using them. Port a potty will be too heavy for me to handle i think (i can't carry much heavier than a milk jug or container of kitty litter...lol) although other than that casette toilets look so simple. Not being able to stoop and being female is a bit of a unique issue...(TMI...i'm sorry), and separating #1 and #2 is not as easy for women as men. So....any elderly, female, solo travelers have any advice for me? A fiberglass trailer with full plumbing and tanks will be much larger and more expensive...but maybe that is my only option.

I have read so much to gather info, but this one subject keeps bothering me. I decided I would just be indelicate and ask. :P

[David Tilston]

Since I have no experience, I will not offer advice, but I have a great deal of interest in the answers that you are looking for. So, don't worry about any decorum issues, we are all campers here.

[starbrightsteve]

I compost barn and household waste here at home. I can tell you that complete composting takes time. Weeks!. I make tons, maybe 5 tons at a time and turn the piles with a tractor. I can't imagine how anyone can do this in a travel trailer. How exactly does " the young couple" manage this feat?? Do they stay a week in one location and then leave a "working" compost pile In a hidden location behind. Enlighten us! This possibility sounds like BS to me.

[David Tilston]

As it has been explained to me, a composting toilet, on one of our trailers, is really a poop dehydrator. Stir frequently, like every time you use it. Vent well, and maybe even heat. Some actual decomposition probably happens, but a secondary, larger, composter is required for finishing.

That is the theory as I understand it.

[Paige M]

Thanks Dave. I'm trying to become a camper again. It's been a long time.

Steve, here is a link to the info in the couple's blog. They have been writing about their experiences for a long time, but definitely have more travel money than i do. I was curious how this works in real life myself.
Composting Toilet: What is it and Why you need one | Gone With The Wynns

[Francesca Knowles]

In my opinion, issues of providing enough space for the composting process to actually work, not to mention those attached to finding places to dispose of what really amounts to untreated human waste mixed with peat moss make this an impractical and cumbersome solution for anyone but those who are stationary and on privately owned property.

As for the logistics:
A composting setup will be just as heavy as a small porta potty tank- heavier, in my opinion, since you'll be schlepping the peat moss/whatever in addition to your own waste.

I'm saying this from the extremely conservative perspective of the way I use my own porta-potty:
NOTHING goes into it unless it's been "processed" by a human body first. Rare exception to that rule may be perhaps a cupful of water for flush purposes if needed. All TP is disposed of separately. By this method I can go (literally!) for three days or more before having to empty the bottom tank, which probably weighs less than 15 pounds, total, and can be emptied in any latrine/outhouse/toilet, or even in a sewage dumping facility like the big boys use.

[Bob Miller]

Spoiler alert....

[Bob Miller]

Ooops, I'll try again

SPOILER ALERT: Those that are queasy or easily offended about bodily functions, read no further.... You were warned....




My late wife was wheel chair bound for a number of years and still were able to occasionally go camping in a tent trailer with two young boys.

Her favorite weapon of choice was the "Freshette female urinary director". (Google it) That device and a few 1/2 gallon milk containers always took care of those needs both in the car as well as in the tent trailer when needs arose.

Emergency needs for the other function was taken care of with a seldom used covered bedpan kind of thingy that I could take to the looo for cleaning in a shopping bag.

In about 8 years of use there seldom was a problem.

That's one answer anyway.

[Hambone]

My in-laws have a composting toilet at their lake property. It is big, about twice the size of a regular toilet, needs 110 power for the heater,needs to be vented, actually think it is a power vent in conjunction with the heater, I havent investigated it much, just do my business and cover like a cat... works OK if not overused

[deryk]

I looked into one on my boat...I read the hype...sounds good.

But the sad fact is the units are too small to completely break down the poop...so you end up having to dump it into a 5 gallon pail with a lid with a few holes in it to allow it to complete composting. So its not as awesome as they describe. And yes their is an odor... kind of an earthy smell to it but an odor none the less.

Perhaps the ones in a house or cabin that have a much larger heated composting bin but remember you still need to dump it....can you haul a 5 gallon pail of dirt?

[Francesca Knowles]

Originally Posted by Paige M

So....any elderly, female, solo travelers have any advice for me?

I forgot to mention in my previous posts that I...well...might fit the above profile/requirement, role-model-wise. I guess that's up to you, depending on whether my breathin' down the neck of 62 yrs on earth qualifies.

Hastening to add that I still see an eighteen-year-old in the mirror in the morning!

[Paige M]

This is exactly the kind of input i needed.

Bob, thanks for being so candid. I helped take care of my totally disabled father for many years (probably contributed to the bad back). Reading of your outdoor experiences with your wife is very helpful. I have read about that little funnel type gizmo in hiking/backpacking forums and wondered how well it might work. I love to hike and i think this might be a knee saver for me. I am no longer a crouching tiger...lol. Also, my mother loves the outdoors but won't go anywhere because she is afraid of not having bathroom use. She even has the taller toilets in her house.

Francesca, do you ever venture out to areas without bathroom facilities with your cassette toilet? I keep thinking i would have to dump it everyday, no matter how careful/frugal i tried to be with it. Oh, and what you "see" in the mirror is the most important thing. : ) I shouldn't have put the question out to seniors, but I don't find many people my age with the same concerns. I don't really qualify either, but i've learned it's not the age but the miles. : )

Thanks for all the info and setting me straight on the "hype" of the comp toilet. It was looking too easy and contributed to wishful thinking.

I have always thought that black tanks, hoses, pumping were more for those who wanted to stay in more expensive full hookup parks. If I'm understanding correctly, now I'm thinking that might be the best method for dealing with more remote camping too. I keep trying to downsize my needs so I can afford to travel more and soon.

[Francesca Knowles]

Originally Posted by Paige M

Francesca, do you ever venture out to areas without bathroom facilities with your cassette toilet? I keep thinking i would have to dump it everyday, no matter how careful/frugal i tried to be with it. Oh, and what you "see" in the mirror is the most important thing. : ) I shouldn't have put the question out to seniors, but I don't find many people my age with the same concerns. I don't really qualify either, but i've learned it's not the age but the miles. : )

I boondock almost exclusively, and the porta-potty works fine out in the woods. I find that I rarely go more than a few days without leaving camp in the car for one reason or another, and take the bottom tank with me to empty when needed. Places to do so are never hard to find. I prefer hauling the portable tank to having to haul a black tank (whole trailer), which depending on tank configuration/use might require emptying on a similar schedule. I should add that I do stretch capacity when in very remote areas by way of using the simple go-in-a-hole potty method that served during my tent camping days. I carry a folding toilet seat for that purpose and backfill/tamp scat holes, of course.

Per my age etc:

I just went back and reread this whole thread and realized that I posted much the same things on the same subject months ago...the fact that I "forgot" certainly doesn't speak well for the "eighteen-year-old" I think I still have inside me!

P.S. about your Mother:

Taking my Mom camping was a primary reason I bought my Trillium to begin with- she loved to camp but at over eighty tenting was getting a little too "rough". She ADORED the Trillium, and we made many a memorable trip together while I was fortunate enough to still have her. The porta potty was a little low for her, too, but I solved that by setting it on a box as a riser when she used it. Worked fine for her!

[Bob Miller]

Hope that helps. Actually my 1st wife discovered those at REI in our backpacking daze (Late 1960s) They were originally designed for use with M'lady's levi's still ON.

Black tanks are fine, but they can be a bigger PITA to empty that a porta-potty as there isn't always a dump station available, but there is always a loo. The basic rule is that the fuller your black tank, the further it is to a dump station. LOL

BTW: When you see that 18 y.o. in the mirror in the morning, does he also make breakfast for you? LOLOLOL

[John Linck]

I'm considering adding a macerator to my tanks to make dumping a push button affair with a garden hose. I was given the macerator. Not sure about clearance under the Scamp or combining the two tanks, though I think the gray water could be sucked through a small diameter hose. Seems doable and might answer for Paige.