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Been reading loads on this. Seems they’re falling a little out of favour though that may just be the videos and reviews I happen to have come across. Some of the recent negativity seems to be from the fact that it’s not as easy to dispose of the waste as it perhaps once was. I believe CRT have taken the line of ‘stop chucking it in our bins’ but haven’t as yet provided an alternative. I’m sure unofficially lots of it ends up in the nearest bit of undergrowth. Assuming it’s mixed with compost / sawdust is it still ok to dispose in the elsan points? Can’t be worse than what’s normally in there. Watched the Foxes Afloat video on Compoost loos today. Taking it at face value that they weren’t being paid to promote they couldn’t have praised it more. Seems a much better product than Simploo albeit at twice the price. Cost aside what’s the current feeling? I’m no eco zealot but if I can avoid using a load of chemicals I’d prefer it even though Porta-Potties are so cheap. Also that smell of Aquachem brings back memories of caravan loos from my childhood. 🤢

C&RT Boaters Update 12/2/21 Choose your loo As a boater you’ll have come across others on the water who dispose of their waste differently. There’ll be those using cassette toilets (Elsans), some with pump out systems and some with the relatively new incinerating toilets. Increasingly common though are composting toilets. It’s the last of these that this article concentrates on. What and how The big difference with boat borne composting systems is what goes in to the mix – human waste. Most models, if not all, have two openings. One for solids and the other for liquid. Once you’ve made your deposit in the ‘solids’ compost bank, microorganisms get to work helping it decompose. Some designs recommend the addition of a carbon additive. This can be in the form of sawdust (pet bedding), peat moss or coconut coir to name a few. There are a few reasons for this; the air pockets it creates helps with aerobic decomposition, it improves the carbon to nitrogen ratio (which is important if you plan to put your compost to work) and, perhaps most importantly if you’ve a sensitive nose, it reduces odour. On that subject, and possibly the most asked question, is whether there’s a stink. Anyone who’s been to a festival that’s used composting toilets would be forgiven for thinking that the smell would drive you off the boat. That’s not the case with one you’d install on your boat though. Due to a tiny fan (like the one in a computer) air is always being drawn out of the ‘solids’ bank and vented outside the boat. Depending on your, erm, frequency of use it’s difficult to say just how often you’ll have to empty the ‘solids’ bank. It is, however, highly likely that your waste won’t be garden-ready. What you’ll need to do is move it to a second location (such as your boat roof or warm engine bay – mesophiles, the teeny tiny organisms that do the composting, are a bit like Goldilocks – they like it warm but not too cold or hot) and regularly aerate it until it reaches its ideal humus state. Do remember though, if you can’t keep it stored until it’s ready to use, it will still need to be disposed of in an appropriate way – for example a suitable composting site away from the canal. It should not be put in our bins – and absolutely must not be disposed of on or near the towpaths. Liquid waste can be emptied down an Elsan point. For completeness here are a few simple dos and don’ts for everyone using onboard toilet facilities. To avoid blockages and problems, no matter what type of toilet system you use, you need to remember just a couple of simple rules. If you haven’t eaten it or drunk it, it doesn’t go into the toilet. Only use a small quantity of toilet paper, not half a rainforest! Only use smallest amount of chemical recommended, and try and use a 'green' chemical if you can (in pump out/cassette toilets). The longer the better! Solid waste can take up to 12 months to compost. If you can’t store it for long enough, bin it at a suitable composting site away from the canal. Never pour urine into the canal nor at other random locations along the canal – it may contain undigested medicines such as antibiotics!

Thursday June 16th 8-9pm a free online workshop. Open to anyone but particularly aimed at sceptics - not to persuade anyone to adopt composting, just to dispel some myths, present some evidence based facts. To attend you do need to register in order to access the Zoom link https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/compost-toilets-separating-fact-from-fiction-tickets-354112779857

Someone with a compost toilet

I assume you can't opt for a composting toilet as you have nowhere to finish the composting. If you had it would be no problem Peterboat manages well with a composting toilet.

where in London can you dispose of composting toilet product legitimately?

That front, composting toilet, best Toms on the cut and a great business selling organic veg. 🍅🥒🍆💩💩

re composting toilets Generally it seems yes, get rid. The difficulty is achieving proper “compost”. The stuff isn’t allowed to be disposed of in CRT bins. It would be unwise to put on a garden so hard to know how people dispose of it.

I did think, after watching the final episode, that the narrow boat must have had a rather powerful inverter; and probably a composting toilet.

Hi the boat we have has a compost toilet looking to get a pump out, It did have one originally but it was taken out. I don’t know anything about them so looking for advice on installing one, checked the internet but still none the wiser.

Perhaps a pipe leading upwards and through the deck boards? Not much different to venting smells from a composting toilet I'd have thought.

Does it have power for EV charging and space for all your compost heaps for the toilet (and the garden to use the result) too? 😉

You've not been to the C&RT bins near where the 'waterless toilet' (laughingly called composting toilets) brigade moor ?

In all the discussion about toilet types I've never seen any mention of this. I can see the appeal for the squeamish RV user, but it is expensive both to buy and use (one review said €1.75 per flush), and each 'cassette' only has a capacity of 15-17 flushes, so frequent changes needed. And the waste just gets dumped in an ordinary bin, so raises all the same questions as disposal of 'compost' toilet waste. https://dry-flush.com/

Just on this - some people have hung on to their compost toilets (a more accurate name would be 'separating toilets'), and installed fast-composting tubs/boxes on their boat (usually cratch or stern). There's one called a 'Hotbox', I believe. Its not that these toilets are banned, you just cant put the solid waste into CRT bins, so you have to compost it yourself. There might even be a thread about composting toilets.... As for the water, don't worry. I've been drinking water from the water point taps for several years now without filtering, and I've hardly gone mad at all.

But on that basis composting toilet users should get a discount because there's nowhere on the canals to dispose of their waste... 😉

Just save your time, acording to the recent Census which 11.500 Boaters took part the toilet that came out on top was the Cassette toilet: Toilet Type. 57% Cassette Toilet. 33.8% Pump Out. 8.8% Composting Toilet.

I imagine current thoughts on this forum haven't changed. There are a number of fairly recent threads on the subject and the outcome is always the same.....a furious argument between a minority of vocal compost toilet users (9% of boats on CRT waters have separating toilets) and the rest of us ensues. Having had a compost toilet for a while and ditched it, I can tell you it's just easier and less hassle to live with a cassette or pump out toilet on CRT waters. It's funny how our experiences shape us....the smell of Aquachem is much better than the smell of rancid pure urine in a separator toilet.

IIRC the last time this was surveyed (before the CART ban) about a quarter of compost toilet users composted properly and three-quarters bag'n'binned. This may have changed since as the bag'n'binners ripped the toilets out and replaced them, or maybe some have just carried on in spite of the CART ban. Either way, if you want to claim that "loads compost it properly" maybe you should provide some numbers to back this up, not just guesswork or what you and your mates next door do? 😉

And the benefits of cassette / composting / pump out toilet. Hang on, we blocked a post (suspected of being AI) on precautions to take when installing a pump out...

I don't think a composting toilet would put me off buying a boat if everything else was fine. You can just remove them. If I was living on my boat in London, I'd a pump out but anywhere else I think a cassette, which I'm going to get to replace my composting/separating toilet.

Almost every narrowboat on the market has 6mm hull sides, apart from Springers which are thinner, so this isn't really a thing to worry about. It's an ex hire boat with multiple cabins. Fine if you have a family to house, but if you are a single or couple you will probably want to take some of the bunks out. Which then leads to the question whether having several small 'rooms' is what you want, or whether you would be better with a boat with fewer larger spaces. Forget about compost toilets. CRT have banned the disposal of 'compost' (in reality just bagged poo and paper) in their refuse bins, and if you have nowhere on land to store it while it decomposes, it's just a headache. The boat has two pumpout toilets. There might be one or two waste tanks which they empty into. Remove one toilet and the second tank if there are two, and keep the other one. The saving in cost by not replacing the toilet will cover your pumpout charges for quite a while. In queries like this I normally suggest the buyer move the boat themselves rather than paying for road transportation - the saving in lorry and cranage costs could allow you to take a week or two's unpaid leave to make the move. But in this case with a length of 66ft I think the boat may be too long for the Rufford Branch, and possibly also too deep a draft for the Ribble Link. That in turn leads me to wonder whether moving a boat this size to the Lancaster canal would materially devalue it. Not an issue if you intend to keep it long term, but could be if you need to sell.

Those of us who use compost toilets aren't throwing our waste into the canal. The water is pored into the hedgerow znd then deleted with twice the amount of water. This is the original way of boating. Those boats you may think are all throwing it in simply aren't. I knew two clean cut guys living in a boat moving as pee regulations. Who were using compost method but dumping waters into the canal. You just never can tell.

I find cassette and pump out a nightmare! Just use up so much space and resources, composting for me is by far the easiest. I am now regretting fitting the cassette toilet in the campervan should have fitted a composting loo

For me it depends on the boat type. If I had a widebeam I would have a compost/separating toilet, plus a quick-composting 'Hotbox', plus a few storage containers on deck and roof. On a narrowboat, especially a smaller one, for me it has to be a cassette, as there's no space for composting. I like the idea of pumpouts, but the idea of dealing with a broken one terrifies me.