Alternative Toilets

[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

[LyleB]

I have some basic experience with a composting toilet, but not full-time use. I am almost certainly going to get one for my Scamp to replace the SaniPotti that it now has. I have a privacy room, but no bathroom plumbing, so mine will be a very easy install.

I am probably going to use the C-head. Bex (she is a member of this forum) installed one in her Casita, and as far as I know she is happy with it. Here is her video about the install and use:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fn24u_TkGQY

[k corbin]

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.

[LyleB]

k corbin

Virtually everything you say is correct, but the advantage, as I understand it, to having a toilet with a crank is that it takes less sawdust or "medium". If you constantly add enough sawdust to completely cover your waste, the bucket fills up substantially quicker, so will need to be emptied more frequently. In other words, the crank allows the sawdust to be used more efficiently.

Regarding bringing the waste back to the surface, by the time you may do that, most of the moisture has been absorbed from the outer layer of waste, so no odor is released.

Either method works, but the commercial units are somewhat more efficient, in the short term. You are correct, these are probably misnomers, because the toilets are actually just "dryers", the actual composting takes place later.

[RosaK]

Thanks Lyle --Your comments and the video to Bex were very interesting.

[RosaK]

Thanks KC

So it really is true--separating urine and poo is the whole key to eliminating odor? And I get it--you can go fancy or functional but net effect is the same. Really helpful.

thanks

[k corbin]

Originally Posted by RosaK

Thanks KC

So it really is true--separating urine and poo is the whole key to eliminating odor? And I get it--you can go fancy or functional but net effect is the same. Really helpful.

thanks

Not exactly, it does need to be separated in a compost type of system but the real key to odor control on all systems is keeping the odor contained. Waste tanks are a type of cover as you have a gasket, portable toilets with liquid flush also have a gasket. Organic media seals in the odors by covering it over and of course the secondary task of sealing the liquid into its own container.

But even a DIY bucket system does benefit from a vent from the container to the exterior of the RV. Air flow should not to be under appreciated as a requirement of odor control, even in a household bathroom a vent fan really helps. In a tiny RV it is perhaps even more important to get that air exhaust functional. With a compost toilet there is overall room ventilation plus some type of direct to the bin exhaust for the most effective control. With a flush type of RV toilet be it waste tank or portable toilet the tank has a direct to the exterior vent which helps of course with the flow of the waste into the tank but also helps to reduce the accumulation of odors and build up of decomposition gases in the tank as well as providing the oxygen needed to assist in the break down of waste in the waste tank.

There are plenty of informative articles to read about it on the internet. Not a fun subject but education is always of value in decision making on what will work best for your own needs.

[Mary F]

Several older discussions on this topic. Check out:

Installed a Composting Toilet in My Casita

Compost toilet for 17 Casita

Composting and Recycling morphs into a brief discussion of composting toilets...

And then here's a mention of a composting toilet in Add Toilet to Scamp 19.

There is also a very long, very contentious thread on sawdust toilets, which I won't even link to.