Composting Toilet for Casita Spirit Deluxe

[Bob Penn]

I purchased a 2019 Casita 17 ft Spirit Deluxe. It is still very new and unused.


I would like to replace the factory installed toilet (never used) with a Nature's Head Composting Toilet.


A few questions:


Has anyone done this? (Yes, I know, stupid question, but I am very new at this)


I am open to suggestions, comments, recommendations, criticisms, etc.


I have not used either the black water or grey water tanks as I did not want to contaminate them until I settled on which modifications I would make to the trailer.


In my reading and viewing of YouTube videos, while it is probably a good idea to have the exhaust fan on the Nature's Head functional, some individuals indicated that the fan was not absolutely necessary.


I don't know, but I believe the fan will operate off of the 12 volt system. If I install the toilet and fan, would it be prudent to put an OFF/ON switch on the fan to preclude running the trailer battery down?


When possible, I will be using solar to keep the battery charged.

[steve dunham]

It’s your trailer so you are certainly entitled to make modifications as you see fit
If your asking for the opinion of others ?, I would leave well enough alone !
If I am going to make major changes to my trailer and especially with a new trailer then there has to be some sort of realistic , positive benefit from the change / modification and in this case I just don’t see any .

[Glenn Baglo]

I guess you could sell your black tank to the Casita owner who is looking for one, because the previous owner removed it.

Do you know of any trailer manufacturers who are installing composting toilets as standard equipment? I would ask, why not?

[Nor Cal Mike]

I am very suspicious of composting toilets in RV's. My experience around composting of human waste comes from my years of living in rural locations during the back to the land movement heyday tells me that composting infectious human waste takes either a lot of time or a lot of energy input in the form of heat to speed up the decaying process. If one is traveling in an RV from place to place both of those assets are in short supply.

I have seen a video or two on the net of folks who shortcut the process by dumping their waste prematurely in public trash containers which is something that I strongly disapprove of.

[Larry C Hanson]

Hello,

The Natures Head toilet fan is 12vdc at about 1 watt. Is should be left
running all the time unless the slight noise is bothersome.

I live in a 35' 5th wheel trailer and have used a nature's Head for about
11 years. When I was dealing with black water I had to empty the tank
once a week hauling about 15 gallons of waste to the dump station.
I find its performance quite satisfactory. I sure beats dealing with smelly
black water. With one person using it the head requires emptying about
once a month. The urine bottle on the front requires emptying every
other day. If you are in a campground you can empty the urine jug in the
campground toilet. When servicing the toilet the only odor from the 'pile'
is the aroma of peat moss. The service usually takes about 20 minutes
if everything is set up properly.

If you get a Natures Head be sure to get the 'turnstile' type crank for
the side. It allows less frequent servicing because it can be turned with
your foot instead of using the hand crank arrangement. This allows the
contents to get more dense... more usages... still being able to agitate
the contents.

You can tell I like the composting toilet over dealing with black water.
It saves water, effort, smell and time.

Larry H

[LyleB]

Well, I will take the opposite view from most here. I had a 13 ft Scamp initially. It had the privacy room, but no shower or toilet - it came with a chemical toilet. I hated that solution. I replaced the chemical toilet with a C-head (highly recommed that you research that before buying the more expensive Natures Head). It works great, with the relatively minor caveats that are involved. It is much easier to empty (and required much less frequent emptying) than either the chemical or traditional RV system. Composting at home is NOT that difficult. I use one of the tumblers reserved for the RV waste. Neat, easy, trouble-free. It does take time, at least a year for total composting. If buying again, I would get one of the double bin tumblers.

I liked it so well, when I ordered my new 16' Scamp, I ordered it with the shower, but deleted the toilet. I have another C-head in this trailer. I did not ventilate in either Scamp, and had no odor issues (you do have to empty the urine every day or two, but it is super easy to do) One time, while in Florida, I had a large family of tiny little flies take up residence in the solids container. I simply emptied it, and started fresh - no further problems. Another option would have been placing a Shell No Pest Strip in the toilet housing. As a single person, who only uses the toilet for emergencies or inclement weather. I can go 6, 8, 10 weeks before needing to empty the solid waste container. It is a very simple process, that can be done at your campsite without attracting attention or needing to move the trailer or haul a Tote to the dump station.

I've found that most people who give negative information on composting toilets have never used one and are speaking from perceived objections. If you study the process, and take the required precautions, it is a very sanitary and resource efficient way of dealing with waste. Much easier and less "ick" factor as well.

[k0wtz]

where did you mount your toilet? we use a portapottie just for pee very rarely nr 2 and its a headache but we can go quite awhile before emptying. I don't like the other day emptying scheme I guess there is not perfect solution.

thanks for your post

bob

Originally Posted by LyleB

Well, I will take the opposite view from most here. I had a 13 ft Scamp initially. It had the privacy room, but no shower or toilet - it came with a chemical toilet. I hated that solution. I replaced the chemical toilet with a C-head (highly recommed that you research that before buying the more expensive Natures Head). It works great, with the relatively minor caveats that are involved. It is much easier to empty (and required much less frequent emptying) than either the chemical or traditional RV system. Composting at home is NOT that difficult. I use one of the tumblers reserved for the RV waste. Neat, easy, trouble-free. It does take time, at least a year for total composting. If buying again, I would get one of the double bin tumblers.

I liked it so well, when I ordered my new 16' Scamp, I ordered it with the shower, but deleted the toilet. I have another C-head in this trailer. I did not ventilate in either Scamp, and had no odor issues (you do have to empty the urine every day or two, but it is super easy to do) One time, while in Florida, I had a large family of tiny little flies take up residence in the solids container. I simply emptied it, and started fresh - no further problems. Another option would have been placing a Shell No Pest Strip in the toilet housing. As a single person, who only uses the toilet for emergencies or inclement weather. I can go 6, 8, 10 weeks before needing to empty the solid waste container. It is a very simple process, that can be done at your campsite without attracting attention or needing to move the trailer or haul a Tote to the dump station.

I've found that most people who give negative information on composting toilets have never used one and are speaking from perceived objections. If you study the process, and take the required precautions, it is a very sanitary and resource efficient way of dealing with waste. Much easier and less "ick" factor as well.

[LyleB]

Originally Posted by k0wtz

where did you mount your toilet? we use a portapottie just for pee very rarely nr 2 and its a headache but we can go quite awhile before emptying. I don't like the other day emptying scheme I guess there is not perfect solution.

thanks for your post

bob

In the 13' I had the privacy room (the front bath, but without any of the fixtures). I just mounted the C-head in there. In the 16' it is mounted in the side bath shower - the same place that the factory toilet would be. An added benefit of the C-head is that they sell a rubber latch mounting system as an option. This allows for extremely simple removal of the entire toilet when you want to take a shower. Two rubber latches unhook, and you can lift the toilet out of the way - takes about two minutes.

When I picked up my 16' at Scamp, the guy doing my walk-through hadn't seen it yet. He was amazed at how much more usable the side bath is without the toilet in the way. It's still short, but much more spacious otherwise.

One more note: The C-head uses regular plastic milk/water jugs for the urine container. Easy to replace when they get nasty, plus you can just get one or two extra (with screw-on tops :-)) Then you can just hide the full ones somewhere until it is convenient to empty them. You could easily go 3 to 6 days without needing to find a place to empty them. Or you can just scatter the urine in the woods if you deem that acceptable at your location.

[ShelbyM]

You asked for opinions.... My opinion is that you are contemplating a solution that is in search of a problem. In additional to the toilet and black tank, you have a sink, shower and gray tanks. Are you not planning to use any of those? If you are dumping the gray tank it's 5 minutes more to dump the black. Then it all goes to the treatment/ septic system where it belongs. What's your plan for the "compost?" Maybe save up until you get home and can put it in the bin? Guess you could carry a big Rubbermaid in the truck bed.

[ShelbyM]

Originally Posted by Larry C Hanson

I live in a 35' 5th wheel trailer and have used a nature's Head for about
11 years. When I was dealing with black water I had to empty the tank
once a week hauling about 15 gallons of waste to the dump station.

Seems as if the black would be only an additional "drop in the bucket" when added to amount of gray you have to haul. Maybe I'm missing something.

[Cathy P.]

As recently discussed as to where to empty the toilet: https://www.livesmallridefree.com/bl...posting-toilet

Bex The Cat Herder had one installed in her much older 13' Casita:

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

I know they are an option on the Oliver travel trailer, and some Class B motorhomes.

[steve dunham]

We have a composting toilet at our home in Northern Wisconsin
We don’t have a fancy yuppie sounding name for it , we just call it the “OUTHOUSE”
I will admit it’s easy to maintain , just a little barn lime once in a while but I won’t try to BS anyone about the smell
I suppose I could hook the outhouse behind my trailer and drag it along but I haven’t figured out how to bring the hole along with it

Well maybe I could give it a fancy environmentally sounding name ,add a few blinking LED
lights and add a computer monitor and pass it off as the newest technological advance in waste disposal ?

[LyleB]

Originally Posted by ShelbyM

Seems as if the black would be only an additional "drop in the bucket" when added to amount of gray you have to haul. Maybe I'm missing something.

Yes, you are missing something:

- No nasty odors.
- No chemicals to add.
- No wasting fresh water to flush away the pee and poop, so your fresh water supply lasts longer.
- If boon docking, can often empty some grey water on site - not all, but some sites.
- No having to flush black tanks and deal with the poop pyramid.
- Turns your waste into a useful product.
- Composting is a much more environmentally friendly way to deal with waste than are sewage treatment plants with their immense water usage.

[ShelbyM]

Originally Posted by LyleB

- If boon docking, can often empty some grey water on site - not all, but some sites.

Well, this is a fairly extensive qualification and may not represent the camping experience of many trailer owners. I can't recall the last place I camped that would permit me to dump my gray onsite. Guess that's why I was curious why Larry H was bothered by hauling the black when he would have so much more gray to deal with.

[Mike255]

I havent used these composting toilets but we had one in our cottage when we owned it and I worked fantastic. The advantage of a composting toilet is no black waste to dispose of.

[Stephen_Albers]

I've made exactly the toilet swap you propose. Though yet to be placed into service, it looks like a great success. I converted the black water tank to freshwater too.

[CASITA BANANA]

My 16 is set up for long term wilderness camping. Besides a solar setup that allows me electrical freedom, I added a composting toilet last year. Out West you can go a long way to find a dumpsite which can definitely limit a boondocking trip.

Dumping gray water isn't as prohibited out here as it probably is in more humid climes. I believe a couple could probably go a month or more before the composting toilet has be be emptied whereas it's not hard to fill up a blackwater tank over a long weekend. Right? And deplete your water supply in the process.

The pros and cons come down to your camping style. A composter makes sense if your going to be out in the boonies for a while but doesn't if you're mostly going to be in hookup sites on weekenders.

Personally, I so hated the whole blackwater dump so much that the composter works for me for that reason alone.

It's your trailer ... do what you want.

[ShelbyM]

Stephen, you need to crack the whip on that Texas crew and get the overlanding Casita finished. Looking forward to the pics and write up!

[Bob Penn]

Lyle's list of reasons for composting is the main reason that I considered going to a composting toilet. I plan to mostly boondock. In that scenario, fresh water is at a premium. I upgraded my Casita to a 25-gallon fresh water tank. That is still not a lot of water. Being ex-Navy, I am very aware of what we called "Navy showers". Boondocking will push that to the very limit.



I found Stephen's comment about converting the black water tank to a fresh water tank interesting. I would need to contact Casita to see if the black water tank is fresh water safe. I have never used it, so I could use it for fresh water, maybe for other than consumption purposes.


Dumping while at home is not a problem as not only do I have my own dump directly to the sewer in my RV pad, but the local sewage treatment facility also offers free dumping there.


I watched a lot of YouTube videos about the "C-head" and it seems to have very good reviews. I will give it some serious consideration. It also appears to be easier to install and remove.



My reason for avoiding the C-Head was that the churning of the waste is horizontal. The horizontal churning requires a lot more churning to fully mix the waste in my opinion. I suspect this is the reason that the C-Head requires one to churn the waste 15 or more times. The Natures Head on the other hand uses vertical churning and quickly moves the waste through out the medium. If I understand correctly, the Nature's Head only requires a churning of about 3 or 4 times to achieve the same result.


The C-Head is lighter in weight than the Nature's Head. Weight with my Casita is a definite concern. It also has the advantage as mentioned by Lyle of using milk cartons for the liquid waste. The milk cartons are disposable when they become a bit "nasty".


From my research, I believe that the C-Head is easier to clean.



I very much appreciate everyone's response to my post and thank them for their input.

[k0wtz]

dear steve

As usual you have a simple idea and solution. We use our portapottie sparingly as we boondock!

Ours is just called a portapottie and usually we have to empty it 1x a week. we don't hold our pinkie finger up when we drink our tea either!

In reading its still smells like an outhouse so I think I will stay with portapottie for now!

thanks

bob

Originally Posted by steve dunham

We have a composting toilet at our home in Northern Wisconsin
We don’t have a fancy yuppie sounding name for it , we just call it the “OUTHOUSE”
I will admit it’s easy to maintain , just a little barn lime once in a while but I won’t try to BS anyone about the smell
I suppose I could hook the outhouse behind my trailer and drag it along but I haven’t figured out how to bring the hole along with it

Well maybe I could give it a fancy environmentally sounding name ,add a few blinking LED
lights and add a computer monitor and pass it off as the newest technological advance in waste disposal ?