I have read that there are composting toilets (still need to be emptied every 4-6 weeks) and ones that use fire to burn off the waste. Just wondering if anybody has retrofitted either of these units to their van or RV and 1. was it difficult to do? 2. Is it worth the cost? and 3. Any pitfalls (ha ha) or problems/issues? Cheers Wally.
-- Edited by HandyWalter on Wednesday 20th of June 2018 01:09:37 PM
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16.5 Discovery 4 with a few mods and New Age MR 16' Deluxe
Just have a read of this sugar coated nonsense describing this type of toilet. This has to be written by a person involved with the sales department. I mean telling us that he had an ordinary toilet previously with four people that lasted 4 days is the best effort I have ever seen.
It goes on to say how water friendly is etc and then about buying fluids to make the thing work and every time you remember it, get onto a handle to turn the contents....And Oh yes you might have to use a minimal amount of water to wipe the bowl each time. How appealing is that?
With four people in the van and only an eight litre tank in it? It would be the quickest compost time on the planet.
What stops the smells coming into the van is a small fan that must run off the battery. This causes the flap to stay shut. As a plumber let me say that a fan in a toilet has to get air from some where and it has to blow it to some where. I suggest a nose will be the thing that will soon realise this with the breeze coming from a certain direction.
Presumably when free camping you will already have your batteries set up with solar?
I note that Kimberly Kampers have the burning unit in their CT's. Yes I read the composting one and thought the same. But KK is/was a respected CT builder. So I wondered if they used them they must think they are good. Hence my question on both types.
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16.5 Discovery 4 with a few mods and New Age MR 16' Deluxe
I looked into composting toilets several decades ago when I was building a house for my daughter and I in the Dandenong ranges.
They were not that advanced at that stage and Peter's comment about maintaining them was certainly applicable. The permit I received at the time to install one was based on my ownership only. When I sold the house I had to connect to the sewer.
Re smell. The one I used had a small fan like the one described above permanently on and drawing air from the bathroom into the toilet. This meant there was a negative pressure within the bowl and it was impossible for any odours to escape. The problem was, the building code at the time demanded an exhaust fan be mounted in the bathroom. This was counter-productive as the larger fan would overpower the little one in the toilet and smells would escape. The health inspector at the time suggested I mount a fan but either don't install a switch or install one but deactivate it after inspection. (Not in so many words mind you)
Separating the liquids from the solids and adding something to start the composting off quicker would indeed speed things up considerably.
I'm curious as to exactly how this separating is done.
Advances have been made over the past 30 years. I had a quick look at the current state of the art when planning a granny flat in my future. The overall impression I got was they were a very viable alternative to a sewered toilet and I put it on my wish list.
Overall, over the years I have witnessed a phenomena based on what people have actual experience with (sewered toilets) and drawing a conclusion from first impressions.
Very similar to what I currently face on another issue.
I've substituted vaping for smoking. People see the cloud of vapour and what appears to be a person smoking and assume the worst. Reality is, it's vapour not smoke. There is no harmful effects to me or others and zero smell. But people turn their noses up because they compare it to tobacco smoking.
All because it LOOKS like something they're familiar with draw all the wrong conclusions.
So it seems to be with composting toilets.
They look similar to what we're used to and apparently use the same principle as the compost heap in the garden and draw incorrect conclusions.
These toilets should really be more widespread.
Jim
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There Comes a time in life, when you must walk away from all drama and the people who create it.
