Composting Toilets - any hands-on experience?

JRhetts

JRhetts

Adventurer
Every Miles A Memory said:
...could you post the asnwers back on here so we can all learn from it
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I will be happy to. I got 6-8 concrete replies, all positive, from the sailing world, but since I don't know the forums there very well i am NOT sure I tapped into the best sources.

At any rate, Jay Shapiro [EcoRFoamer] has been using his for a while and is satisfied. Another good friend installed one in a sprinter conversion a year ago, and he and his wife are VERY pleased.

We will install our NaturesHead unit within a week or so in our FusoFM remodel (we have it in hand and it looks very good.) but due to things inevitably taking longer than wanted, we will not be driving to Honduras in March as planned (we will fly to do some medical volunteering) so the testing will not begin until at least April. I will report back thereafter.

From our point of view (having used Thetford cassettes very satisfactorily for 5+ years) the advantages of composting are:
- 1 to 2 months between empties, rather than about 2 days
- no water usage [our 110 gal of water will last ~ 1/3 longer]
- easier dumping when it does have to be done: urine bottle will dump into any toilet without any especial smell or splashing; urine is sterile and could be dumped in more open places than mixed stuff; solids, having been composted, are safe to spread as fertilizer even on vegetative growth which will not be consumed by humans, or it can be bagged into land fill
- less nasty smell by far than the mixture of urine and feces
- essentially negligible external energy required; the ventilation fan uses approx 70 mA which our system can easily handle 24/7; a 'burner' unit requires just too much energy for an efficient, self-contained rig like ours
- the size of the unit is virtually the same as a Thetford or porta-potti unit - definitely small enough to not require extra real estate in the bathroom/shower space
 
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dzzz

dzzz

™
Let us know how you like it.

I wonder how much oder control is due to the fan. It must also be part of the design to encourage aerobic decomposition.
Frequency of disposal is attractive. I don't think I buy ease of disposal as being better.
 
Expedition Key

Expedition Key

Adventurer
Ditto what Atti said, I've used $10 special (a 5 gal bucket and a cheap toilet seat with saw dust) a lot and it works great after you get the hang of it. The key is getting the right moisture ratio for the thermophilic reaction to happen, then there is almost no smell. If you haven't already, read the Humanure handbook http://www.jenkinspublishing.com/humanure.html it combined with a little trial and error hands on experience will result in a bulletproof toilet.

Kye
 
Iain_U1250

Iain_U1250

Explorer
I'm at the stage of choosing a toilet for my Unimog U1250 expedition truck, and I'm am also wandering if anyone has some experience with the Nature's head composting toilet.

I may be wrong but there seems to be a bit of reluctance from those who have them to talk about it, which make me think that there is a problem, as usually when people try something different and have success, they tell as many people as possible how clever they were :) - feel free to PM me if you don't want to let it open to the public.
 
AmericaOverland

AmericaOverland

Explorer
bobDog said:
The caretaker of the cemetery where Mozart was buried kept getting complaints that there was music coming from Mozart's grave.....after many hours investigation and on-site listening he found that the the music was indeed Mozart's and it was being played backwards. Soon after he posted his findings at the gate......."folks, there is nothing to worry about....it's only Mozart decomposing." :coffeedrink:
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:rockon:

:jump:

From one musician to another?
 
dwh

dwh

Tail-End Charlie
Iain_U1250 said:
I'm at the stage of choosing a toilet for my Unimog U1250 expedition truck, and I'm am also wandering if anyone has some experience with the Nature's head composting toilet.

I may be wrong but there seems to be a bit of reluctance from those who have them to talk about it, which make me think that there is a problem, as usually when people try something different and have success, they tell as many people as possible how clever they were :) - feel free to PM me if you don't want to let it open to the public.
Click to expand...

I too have noted the lack of success stories. On the off-grid and solar forums there are quite a lot of people who post failure stories.

The main thing they seem to be saying is that proper composting requires heat because at lower temps the process slows down. House type units generally have a heater. So composting toilets without heaters seem to often end up needing to be cleaned because the composting didn't happen.

Also, it takes quite a bit of time to compost human solid waste. For myself, I've thought about these marine type composting toilets and one thing doesn't make sense. Say you use it daily for however long. You used it this morning. It's full. How do you empty out the compost and not the fresh deposit from this morning?

For myself, I think that an incinerating toilet is the way to go. The problem is that most of them incinerate with an electric heater that consumes 1kw or more per use, and that's a no-go on a battery powered rig.

BUT...there are also propane and diesel fired incinerating toilets. I've searched around the web quite a bit on this subject, and one that looks like it'd be just about right for an expo rig would probably be this one:

http://www.usenburn.ca/
http://www.usenburn.ca/UsenburnFlyer.pdf

According to the flyer:

"Cost of Operation:
The Usenburn will operate for 16 hours on one gallon of diesel fuel and draw only 5 amps when operating.
A 20 minute burn cycle means 3 burns an hour or 48 burns for one gallon of diesel fuel.
At a cost of $4.00 per gallon that would mean each burn cycle would cost about 8 cents.
The initial cost of the toilet is $3,000.00. Apparently if a truck driver has to go off road to find a washroom, it could cost as much as $20.00 in lost time. If this were to happen only 3 times per week, the toilet would pay for itself in one year."
 
cwsqbm

cwsqbm

Explorer
dwh said:
BUT...there are also propane and diesel fired incinerating toilets. I've searched around the web quite a bit on this subject, and one that looks like it'd be just about right for an expo rig would probably be this one:

http://www.usenburn.ca/
http://www.usenburn.ca/UsenburnFlyer.pdf
Click to expand...

The only flaw I see is in this:
Sit down on the toilet. Raise the flapper. Do your business. Put the flapper down. Turn the timer on. Leave toilet seat up. The fan will come on and run for about 30 seconds. Then the burner will come on and run for the amount of time set on the timer. This will reduce the human waste to sterile ash that can be vacuumed up when cool. When the time expires and the burner shuts off, the fan will continue to run about 30 minutes to help cool off the combustion chamber. Raising the flapper after the fan shuts off will also help to cool down the combustion chamber. Be careful here. You do not want to use the Usenburn again until it has cooled off sufficiently.
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I see this as an issue with multiple people using it, as what happens when the wife needs it 10 minutes after you start it cooking? Not to mention needing yourself again, after sampling some local street food.
 
dwh

dwh

Tail-End Charlie
cwsqbm said:
The only flaw I see is in this:

I see this as an issue with multiple people using it, as what happens when the wife needs it 10 minutes after you start it cooking? Not to mention needing yourself again, after sampling some local street food.
Click to expand...

Yea good point. I think that one has what? a 1/2g tank? It's designed as a single use then burn.

These work a bit differently:

http://ecojohn.com/ecojohn_sr.html


and according to to the FAQ:

Q. Can the toilet be used during its incineration process?
A. Yes, this is one of the unique functions of the SR. If the toilet lid is being lifted up, it will automatically stop the auger to move and shut down the incineration process. This is one of the safety functions that this model has and contributes to a completely safe and reliable incinerating toilet.
 
JRhetts

JRhetts

Adventurer
I guess its time for a report on our use of the NaturesHead composting toilet.

As a part of our remodel of our Darrin Fink-built FusoFM260-based expedition vehicle, we elected to install a composting toilet in lieu of the Thetford cassette unit we were used to in our two previous EarthRoamers.

Please see the new thread I have started to report on our 8 months of full time usage.
 
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