Composting Toilet

dsatwork

Has anyone considered doing a composting toilet modification and if so please share? If you decided against it, what was the main issue?

Homebodyatheart

Not personally, but my boss and his wife have a cinder block cabin with no running water and use the composting toilet with no problems. It's been the family vacation get away for years. They bring in water for handwashing, dishes, and drinking each time they come. I bet there are you-tube videos out on how to use and maintain them, too. Good luck with it!

Cyclonic

There are lots of videos out there.  The FitRv just recently did a nice video about the one they installed in their RV.

https://youtu.be/vM71d8wMuUU

dsatwork

@Cyclonic I have seen plenty of how to use the composting toilets but not this one. They do a great job of explaining the challenges associated with it. Thank you for posting it. I'm still curious why this premium group of DIY T@ber's din't even have a single discussion about it? I would think with the small holding tanks the T@b's have, this group would have more incentive than most.  Although, if they watched that video they may have thought....man what a dumb idea....I'll just keep dumping my black tank. Thanks again very insightful.

ChanW

Excellent, complete, (long) video review. 

Installed in an RV, it's a misnomer to call it a composting toilet. As mentioned in the video, you never keep the waste long enough for it to become compost.

It's more like 'an unconventional RV toilet from which you need to dispose solids and liquid into a trash receptacle and into a toilet, manually'. IMHO, way more trouble than it's worth.

And is this system legal, putting human waste into regular trash cans? Seems there might be a health issue there. Dunno.

We had 'responsibility for' a composting toilet at a cottage for a few summers. It was a whole lot of work there, because summers were too short to actually create compost, and because various guests were "undisciplined" in its proper use. Pretty gross, altogether, in the end.

ontheroad

Chan W human waste does go in garbage cans already....dirty diapers anyone?

ericnliz

dsatwork, I'm with you, keep dumping the black tank. Part of the reason we bought a T@B to begin with was the convenience of an indoor toilet. Sure beats the ol' porta potty we used prior.

dsatwork

@ontheroad there are billions of dirty diapers dumped in the trash every year...but as they so clearly described in their video it's a socially awkward activity to dump one of these to say the least. We've been using a luggable loo for years now, with 5 gal paint can and trash bag filled with premium pine cat litter from trader joes and we may continue with that practice as some have done by using the wag bag idea. We'll see, it's easy to come up with these ideas...when you haven't even logged one night camping in a Tab.

ChanW

Right. Strike that re legality.

I suppose my thought is more that it seems to have some potential to be less sanitary than our 'wet' systems. (edited)

ontheroad said:

Chan W human waste does go in garbage cans already....dirty diapers anyone?

Homebodyatheart

Dsatwork, instead of spendy premium pine cat litter you can use wood pellets for any pellet stove. My neighbor uses this for her many cats and has zero smell in her home from  multiple litter boxes. It's cheaper, too!

ontheroad

dirty diapers, poop bags...unfortuneately it does go in the trash, I also had planned to use the kitty litter due to availability while on the road, may be looking at wood pellets though, great suggestion.