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Composting toilet


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19 minutes ago, Boater Sam said:

Another bucket full of worms again.

 

 

There shouldn't be worms in a composting toilet. ?

I had one in my boat. It now has a cassette bog. For a house I'd consider one, but not a canal boat. Just not enough space to store the carp for long enough to properly compost.

 

Do's. Do reject the idea out of hand.

Don't's. Don't get one!

Jen

Edited by Jen-in-Wellies
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Composting toilets are a good idea - but not on inland waterways boats for space and many other logistical reasons.

 

They are 'okay' for land based operations if you have loads of space and can deal with both the fluids and the solid matter.

 

"Minimal list" on u-tube has a video showing one being installed and discusses some of the issues.

 

It's not a fit and forget type resource and judging by the amount of cries for help on here on other seemingly simple porblems, not suitable for today's style of living on water....

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13 minutes ago, mrsmelly said:

Midland chandler's are doing a new year triple deal of basic necessities at a knock down price from Jan first. 

Comprising of

A chocolate fireguard

Eco fan

And composting bog. 

 

You’ve forgotten the london liveaboard special version....a tin of satin white emulsion paint in addition to the above. 

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Quite apart from the logistical considerations on the boat itself, there are jut not any facilities on CaRT waters to deal with the solids in a sensible and efficient way. 

Looking at the way that boaters and mebe other towpath users behave and use facilities provided - I don't hold any hope that the addition of 'composters' will behave any better.

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1 hour ago, Adamwalker64 said:

Hi everyone I’m thinking of getting a composting toilet 

any advice /experience/dos and fonts 

cheers 

Adam 

Ignore a lot of posters on here is my advice!

I have a composting loo it works great, I have a garden to finish of the composting, and plenty of land to get rid of the wee. it is by far the easiest toilet I have had to deal with, the pump out was a days cruise wither way to empty, and then it was a gamble whether it was working! The cassette twice a week carrying a heavy cassette and a good chance it will glug and you are spattered! nice ?.  I empty solids once every 3 months into the compost bin which all the veg matter goes into as well, and wee every week or 2 simplicity itself

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8 minutes ago, peterboat said:

Ignore a lot of posters on here is my advice!

I have a composting loo it works great, I have a garden to finish of the composting, and plenty of land to get rid of the wee. it is by far the easiest toilet I have had to deal with, the pump out was a days cruise wither way to empty, and then it was a gamble whether it was working! The cassette twice a week carrying a heavy cassette and a good chance it will glug and you are spattered! nice ?.  I empty solids once every 3 months into the compost bin which all the veg matter goes into as well, and wee every week or 2 simplicity itself

 

But you have land available where you can compost the waste. Many boaters don't. So while a compost bog works for you it won't for others.

Edited by David Mack
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16 minutes ago, peterboat said:

Ignore a lot of posters on here is my advice!

I have a composting loo it works great, I have a garden to finish of the composting, and plenty of land to get rid of the wee.

 

I agree. 

 

All liveaboard boaters with composting bogs just store their buckets of shit on their large plots of land like Peter does!

 

I don't understand why the naysayers find this a problem....

 

 

 

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17 minutes ago, Mike the Boilerman said:

 

I agree. 

 

All liveaboard boaters with composting bogs just store their buckets of shit on their large plots of land like Peter does!

 

I don't understand why the naysayers find this a problem....

 

 

 

'We' have a consensus on that issue - at least

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19 minutes ago, Mike the Boilerman said:

 

I agree. 

 

All liveaboard boaters with composting bogs just store their buckets of shit on their large plots of land like Peter does!

 

I don't understand why the naysayers find this a problem....

 

 

 

Mike it goes in a composting bin one bucket every 3 months inbetween a load of veg matter goes in there, their is no smell and it is useful to put on the garden afterwards. you lot arnt taking responsibility for the shit you create and the energy used to clean it up, for me this is far easier than the alternatives, which are hard work and create a mess for others to clean up

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Just now, OldGoat said:

'We' have a consensus on that issue - at least

 

Ah yes, but how about that fact that 'composting toilet' is a clear misnomer? 'Composting' is the last thing a composting toilet will ever do.

 

'Composting' only ever happens to the shit during long term storage AFTER it has been removed from the (supposed) composting bog. And there must be a strong temptation for owners to dispense with the long term storage, and just chuck their shit in the CRT waste bins after a week or three. 

 

 

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4 minutes ago, Mike the Boilerman said:

 

Ah yes, but how about that fact that 'composting toilet' is a clear misnomer? 'Composting' is the last thing a composting toilet will ever do.

 

'Composting' only ever happens to the shit during long term storage AFTER it has been removed from the (supposed) composting bog. And there must be a strong temptation for owners to dispense with the long term storage, and just chuck their shit in the CRT waste bins after a week or three. 

 

 

So I am not composting? Others throw their veg peelings etc in my bin, I do have worms in the composting bin to help with the process, Ken throws his unused fishing worms in there, rather than letting them die or feed them to the fishes if not used.

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Just now, peterboat said:

So I am not composting? Others throw their veg peelings etc in my bin, I do have worms in the composting bin to help with the process, Ken throws his unused fishing worms in there, rather than letting them die or feed them to the fishes if not used.

So how do you suggest someone who is truly CCing or a mooring in a marina with no land does composting then?

 

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r

21 minutes ago, Mike the Boilerman said:

 

Ah yes, but how about that fact that 'composting toilet' is a clear misnomer? 'Composting' is the last thing a composting toilet will ever do.

 

'Composting' only ever happens to the shit during long term storage AFTER it has been removed from the (supposed) composting bog. And there must be a strong temptation for owners to dispense with the long term storage, and just chuck their shit in the CRT waste bins after a week or three. 

 

 

 

That is the whole point. If you have a garden with space and facilities to get the pre-compost from the boat to the garden then I am sure a composting bog on a day or weekend boat would work well, especially if the compost heap has sufficient dry materials in it to make pouring the liquid onto it as well. However if you do not have those facilities then I have grave concerns about exactly how BOTH waste streams can and will be dealt with responsibly and I do not consider depositing double bagged excrement in an ordinary CaRT waste bin in any way responsible.

 

Peter is talking about the first scenario and most are pointing out the pitfalls related to the second. I think Peter is trying to compare apples and pears.

Edited by Tony Brooks
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13 minutes ago, Mike the Boilerman said:

 

Ah yes, but how about that fact that 'composting toilet' is a clear misnomer? 'Composting' is the last thing a composting toilet will ever do.

 

'Composting' only ever happens to the shit during long term storage AFTER it has been removed from the (supposed) composting bog. And there must be a strong temptation for owners to dispense with the long term storage, and just chuck their shit in the CRT waste bins after a week or three. 

 

 

Again - agree absolutely.

There were threads on here (?) some years ago showing a magnificent land based arrangement with -something like- "four seats, no waiting". In actuality only one was in use at a time. The others were in various stages of 'maturing', when complete the contents were 'spread about'  on the land.

 

FWIW and a bit of amusement, there is/was a boat yard near Wyre Piddle which did pumpouts, as clealy evidenced by  an agricultural mobile slurry tank clearly visible by the large and strongly growing vetable patch.

 

We bought some excellent cabbages from the yard, which were delicious---- but we always wondered.....

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6 minutes ago, peterboat said:

So I am not composting? Others throw their veg peelings etc in my bin, I do have worms in the composting bin to help with the process, Ken throws his unused fishing worms in there, rather than letting them die or feed them to the fishes if not used.

 

You miss my point. 

 

It is not your toilet doing the composting, it is your composting heap. 

 

A facility few CCers have access to. 

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ers

2 minutes ago, Mike the Boilerman said:

 

You miss my point. 

 

It is not your toilet doing the composting, it is your composting heap. 

 

A facility few CCers have access to. 

I am sure a lot of CCers will continue doing what they have always done and throw it in hedgerows!! However a lot of boaters are on moorings like mine so can easily do composting correctly, we have 3 on my moorings strangely one at each end and me in the middle, you have been to my moorings so know its a bit rural. Their are plenty of rural moorings up North because we have the space to do it.

People have to start taking responsibility for what they produce i do which is not a problem, the problem is that others on here turn on mass against something that works but in their mind cant, so you then go out of your way to prove it cant, even though it clearly can work. Its a pack mentality that I and others dont understand, I wish you would keep quite, and let others that know the pros and cons post on the subject, after all we  are doing it and if someone was wasting their time I would tell them

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10 minutes ago, peterboat said:

ers

I am sure a lot of CCers will continue doing what they have always done and throw it in hedgerows!! However a lot of boaters are on moorings like mine so can easily do composting correctly, we have 3 on my moorings strangely one at each end and me in the middle, you have been to my moorings so know its a bit rural. Their are plenty of rural moorings up North because we have the space to do it.

People have to start taking responsibility for what they produce i do which is not a problem, the problem is that others on here turn on mass against something that works but in their mind cant, so you then go out of your way to prove it cant, even though it clearly can work. Its a pack mentality that I and others dont understand, I wish you would keep quite, and let others that know the pros and cons post on the subject, after all we  are doing it and if someone was wasting their time I would tell them

You seem to be thinking we are all against what you do, that is not the case IMO, what you do is good, but most people with a "composting" toilet just bag and bin it. With more waste facilities now sorting waste that arrives by the skip full I wouldn't imagine they are over the moon with several bags of uncomposted poo aging from 6 weeks to what was produced yesterday.

Maybe I should start another poll?

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14 minutes ago, peterboat said:

However a lot of boaters are on moorings like mine so can easily do composting correctly, we have 3 on my moorings strangely one at each end and me in the middle, you have been to my moorings so know its a bit rural. Their are plenty of rural moorings up North because we have the space to do it.

But surely you ca admit that your situation is not one that the majority of boaters will have.

 

The system works perfectly for you, but for those in marinas or on 'normal' moorings without any land ownership the option is not so viable.

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21 minutes ago, peterboat said:

ers

I am sure a lot of CCers will continue doing what they have always done and throw it in hedgerows!! However a lot of boaters are on moorings like mine so can easily do composting correctly, we have 3 on my moorings strangely one at each end and me in the middle, you have been to my moorings so know its a bit rural. Their are plenty of rural moorings up North because we have the space to do it.

People have to start taking responsibility for what they produce i do which is not a problem, the problem is that others on here turn on mass against something that works but in their mind cant, so you then go out of your way to prove it cant, even though it clearly can work. Its a pack mentality that I and others dont understand, I wish you would keep quite, and let others that know the pros and cons post on the subject, after all we  are doing it and if someone was wasting their time I would tell them

I actually think people are supportive of your approach,  you are able to compost properly and dispose/use the compost as it should be used, it's the idea that it is easily possible without a land based base that most people have an issue with.

 

I am sure it's possible to CC and use a compost bog responably but it's not in any way an easy fit and forget system and open to abuse

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4 minutes ago, Alan de Enfield said:

But surely you ca admit that your situation is not one that the majority of boaters will have.

 

The system works perfectly for you, but for those in marinas or on 'normal' moorings without any land ownership the option is not so viable.

Alan I refer you to what I said, if they were wasting their time I would tell them. I dont want people ruining it for me, but equally I dont want clueless people talking b********s because they dont like it or believe it can work 

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