Should I rip out my composting toilet in favour of a cassette?

[David Mack]

1 hour ago, Boater Sam said:

The voice of sense and reason. 

I have no qualms about pumping into "no pumpout" Elasan sites, the waste is already shredded and is less likely to block anything than a porta crapper being dumped in.

Some Elsan sites are not on mains drainage and drain to a tank which has to be emptied regularly. A pump out of a large quantity in one go may overwhelm the storage tank.

[Señor Chris]

On 20/02/2019 at 13:33, Mad Harold said:

with practice you can hold your breath long enough to empty it at an Elsan point

I always thought emptying a cassette would be unpleasant but never realised it was that bad.

 

[Sea Dog]

Three pages and 52 posts when a simple "yes" would have done!

[Boater Sam]

20 hours ago, David Mack said:

Some Elsan sites are not on mains drainage and drain to a tank which has to be emptied regularly. A pump out of a large quantity in one go may overwhelm the storage tank.

I am mindful of that fact and I would not wish to overwhelm the tank for obvious reasons. Having said that, such tanked ones are few in number and usually in remote places where we don't go.  They are usually large tanks, my puny 80 gallons is unlikely to be a problem.

I'm also aware that a few are into septic tanks with soakaways or reed beds, these should have no problem coping.

I look for the manhole cover where the main drains go, then I am sure it on the mains drainage. In fact sometimes I can use a manhole alone.

[eid]

20 hours ago, Señor Chris said:

I always thought emptying a cassette would be unpleasant but never realised it was that bad.

 

It isn't in my experience.

Edited February 24, 2019 by eid

[Boater Sam]

Judging by the state that some Elsan points are left in, it is a disgusting, foul and unpleasant duty.

[eid]

2 minutes ago, Boater Sam said:

Judging by the state that some Elsan points are left in, it is a disgusting, foul and unpleasant duty.

 

I can't say I've experienced this yet, thankfully. When I do I think I'll just move along to the next one.

[WotEver]

2 hours ago, Sea Dog said:

Three pages and 52 posts when a simple "yes" would have done!

See post #6. 

[Jerra]

4 hours ago, eid said:

It isn't in my experience.

We have a pumpout on the boat but I have emptied caravan toilets for 35+years, the smell is negligible.  Assuming you have used some form of additive correctly - I have never tried with out adding anything. 

[Sea Dog]

2 hours ago, Jerra said:

I have emptied caravan toilets for 35+years, the smell is negligible. 

Nose blind!  You may think your s#it doesn't stink, but it would seem a tad unlikely to be frank. 

[Sea Dog]

5 hours ago, WotEver said:

See post #6. 

Or Post #2 really - if you delete the padding after the first full stop.

On 18/02/2019 at 13:46, mrsmelly said:

Yep. 

But my point still stands.

[Jerra]

16 minutes ago, Sea Dog said:

Nose blind!  You may think your s#it doesn't stink, but it would seem a tad unlikely to be frank. 

I haven't for one m,inute suggested that when produced the waste doesn't stink!   If you consider what I wrote (which IMO you clearly didn't) you will see I say when properly treated with the additive of your choice as per manufacturers instructions.

[artleknock]

My Dad told me that the Queens sh*te dont stink because she wipes her harse on sugar begs.

[WotEver]

28 minutes ago, artleknock said:

My Dad told me that the Queens sh*te dont stink because she wipes her harse on sugar begs.

Oh come on, you don’t think she wipes her own arse, surely

 

[BruceinSanity]

Trying to raise the tone just a little here... Kate Saffin is running a big survey on toilets:

 

Quote

The Great Big Boating Bog Survey is the most comprehensive survey of loos on boats ever! It’s an entirely personal, self funded project, independent of CRT, the EA, any boating organisation and any manufacturer or supplier of any kind of boating toilet. 
It started with my interest in composting and wanting to find out more about how that's going but then I realised it would a great opportunity to get a an overview of all matters boating toilets, including other recent innovations like incinerating loos. It’s also an opportunity to comment on disposal facilities and nominate places that you feel need more. It won’t magically create more facilities but a good response will provide useful evidence to help campaigners and planners alike. By good I mean around 4,000 – that will represent roughly 10% of the 35,000 boats on the inland waterways + around 500 people who are thinking about boating in the future. 
It’s open to all boaters (UK Inland Waterways) and anyone planning to buy/build a boat in the future. And I want to hear from every kind of boater – you might cruise extensively, you might not leave your mooring; you might live on your boat or only spend a few weekends aboard; you might have a narrowboat, a Dutch barge, a widebeam, a converted lifeboat, or something you built yourself! It doesn’t matter, as long as you need to pee sometimes your contribution is important. 
It is designed so that you only get questions relevant to your loo. If you have a cassette or pump out it will take around 15 min, if you have a compost loo a little longer because I wanted to explore how that is all working in more detail, so perhaps 25+ min. And if you’re just at the thinking about a boat stage, it will only take 5-10 minutes. 
I do hope you would like to join in – the bigger the response the more interesting and useful the results will be. The survey will close on Sun Mar 3rd and the final report will be available in the summer.

It’s here: https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/BoatingLoos

[WotEver]

1 minute ago, BruceinSanity said:

Trying to raise the tone just a little here... Kate Saffin is running a big survey on toilets:

 

It’s here: https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/BoatingLoos

Yeah, but it’s about 2000 pages long...

[Sea Dog]

1 hour ago, Jerra said:

If you consider what I wrote (which IMO you clearly didn't) ...

Don't sell yourself short Jerra - it's not just your opinion that I didn't consider what you wrote: it's a matter of fact.  I really didn't consider it at all and couldn't be less interested in reading exactly how closely you like to get involved with your own excrement!  

[Jim Riley]

Go to a caravan scrapyard for a Thetford bog and a couple or 3 cassettes. I fitted my boat out with the innards of a caravan, including the whole shower/toilet room. I had to cut a hole to fit cassette door (originally on the outside of the caravan) and also had to swap the fittings round to accommodate the change of sides. Some older Thetfords have a manual flush, I got an electric one. I have the same bog in our caravan, so can take that cassette with us too, giving us 9 days or so. I've heard of people economising by having males pee in a bottle and dump it in the hedge. 

Edited February 24, 2019 by Jim Riley

[Jerra]

11 minutes ago, Sea Dog said:

Don't sell yourself short Jerra - it's not just your opinion that I didn't consider what you wrote: it's a matter of fact.  I really didn't consider it at all and couldn't be less interested in reading exactly how closely you like to get involved with your own excrement!  

Your definition of close and mine must be different.  The nearest I get is the length of the cassette plus the length of the pouring spout, not by my definition near, sorry close.   The fuss people who are anti cassette make about emptying cassettes is IMO Shakespearean i.e.  Much ado about nothing.

 

Having said that I wouldn't be without a pumpout on the boat. 

[Sea Dog]

11 minutes ago, Jerra said:

Your definition of close and mine must be different.  The nearest I get is the length of the cassette plus the length of the pouring spout, not by my definition near, sorry close.   The fuss people who are anti cassette make about emptying cassettes is IMO Shakespearean i.e.  Much ado about nothing.

 

Having said that I wouldn't be without a pumpout on the boat. 

Each to his own, and I'm sure you're right. I'm just taking the mickey and have no strong feelings for or against any method - not even composting where it really works and isn't just someone dumping effluent whilst claiming to be green.

[peterboat]

1 hour ago, Jim Riley said:

Go to a caravan scrapyard for a Thetford bog and a couple or 3 cassettes. I fitted my boat out with the innards of a caravan, including the whole shower/toilet room. I had to cut a hole to fit cassette door (originally on the outside of the caravan) and also had to swap the fittings round to accommodate the change of sides. Some older Thetfords have a manual flush, I got an electric one. I have the same bog in our caravan, so can take that cassette with us too, giving us 9 days or so. I've heard of people economising by having males pee in a bottle and dump it in the hedge. 

Do you have to tip the boat over to get the cassettes out of the side? Or do you don a divers suit to remove it ?

[beerbeerbeerbeerbeer]

On 18/02/2019 at 13:45, Shangela said:

Hello all,

 

Boat came with a Separrat Villa composting toilet. Owner before last has rigged it up some bizarre system so the wet waste goes through some pipes and a bilge pump shoots it into a Jerry can housed in the engine room, so the capacity is much increased.

 

The thing is, it drives me mad with all the things that go wrong with it. Sorry for the TMI, but the pipes get clogged with urine build ups and now the (noisy and temperamental) bilge pump has done the same and has packed in. It’s constant nasty clean up jobs, especially when visiting children manage to get “waste” all over the bloody retractable door despite many lessons in how not to! The Jerry van also has to be emptied when it gets a third full or it’s too heavy to heave out.

 

The dry waste I find fine, doesn’t smell, but the bag-lined tub it goes into fills up after a week and a half of light use at best, especially if using toilet paper. I dispose of all contents into the Elsan on my marina, but I can’t imagine how you could actually compost on a boat as you need to leave each tub a year or two to ferment. So after a month you’d be out of tubs!

 

Iv’e just bought a cheap £80 Thetford Porta Potti from Argos to tide me over til I fix the pump issue, and it seems so much more straightforward. So I’m now wondering why I don’t just rip the bloody thing out and go to a cassette. Don’t have the room for one with a large pull out cassette, but was looking at those luxury Thetfords so it at least would be a like for like replacement rather than going cheapest option.

 

Has anyone done this? My main worry is taking value off the boat as capacity would be reduced I suppose, but would buy an extra cassette too. I’m torn!

 

thanks

Yes rip it out 

Edited February 24, 2019 by Goliath

[Alan de Enfield]

18 minutes ago, Goliath said:

Yes rip it out 

C'mon, get to the point and say what you really mean !!!

[frahkn]

5 hours ago, WotEver said:

Yeah, but it’s about 2000 pages long...

 

It says it is but in fact it is shorter than indicated.

 

I know, I completed it at the dentist and it wasn't long enough - I still had to go in.

[Boater Sam]

7 hours ago, BruceinSanity said:

Trying to raise the tone just a little here... Kate Saffin is running a big survey on toilets:

 

It’s here: https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/BoatingLoos

Fell at the first fence, the 1st question is flawed! Some use having a survey you can't answer!