Compost toilet question....

[Guest]

13 minutes ago, mrsmelly said:

Why do you have to walk? Doesnt the boat move? Its great to go boating innitt. How much space do you need to have bins with excrement in to compost down?

A boring cruise to the elsan point in the centre of Leeds isn't my choice of cruise! And not too much space, it's just me and I only use my composting toilet once every couple of days - I've become an expert in defacating in other facilities!

 

McShit and Lies anyone?

Edited June 3, 2020 by NB Caelmiri

[peterboat]

16 minutes ago, LadyG said:

simplicity?

I don't think so, every visit to loo you have to wee in one bottler and poop somewhere else, not always easy after a vindaloo.

so you need to find somewhere to get rid of urine, daily. 

Then you need to double bag anything unpleasant. I have cat litter for emergencies, but you probbly want to try coconut stuff sawdut/shavings etc etc 

Then you need to buy a farm, and start composting which takes 'about  year, of course you need to take daily temperature to be sure it is heating up [composting],  which is essential to kill off E.coli.

Honestly I cant think how I would manage to poo down the wrong side its designed to work and work well

[frahkn]

38 minutes ago, robtheplod said:

Thanks, so the stir ability is not a big issue if you don't have one?

I think that the choice is between a - adding all the coir at the beginning and then stirring, or b - not stirring but adding the coir gradually, after each 'deposit'.

 

Mine is designed to do the former but I can see no reason why the other method would not work.

[blackrose]

On 01/06/2020 at 19:02, tree monkey said:

I don't have one but as I understand it the stirring is just to speed up the drying process, most compost loos are really desiccating loos, the actual composting takes place elsewhere 

 

Or not at all...

[blackrose]

23 hours ago, NB Caelmiri said:

The simplicity is not having to walk several miles to the nearest elsan point which, in Leeds in particular, is often out of order. It's been an ongoing battle from what I can tell. I hope cassette toilet owners in Leeds have plenty of spare cassettes. I can't even think of where the next Elsan point is in the opposite direction from Leeds city centre. I bet it's Shipley, 15 miles in the opposite direction.

 

The elsan at my mooring is pretty old and now out of order. It's the first time I've ever experienced a broken down elsan point but appreciate it can happen. We've been told to use one of the toilets in the seldom used toilet block. In 18 years of living aboard I'd never actually emptied my cassette down an ordinary toilet before and was rather dubious, but to my surprise it works just as well as any elsan point I've ever used. So the question for the cassette toilet owners in Leeds might be "where's the nearest available toilet?" which is probably not 15 miles away and might just be a short walk with a trolley. 

Edited June 4, 2020 by blackrose

[David Mack]

43 minutes ago, blackrose said:

So the question for the cassette toilet owners in Leeds might be "where's the nearest available toilet?" which is probably not 15 miles away and might just be a short walk with a trolley. 

McDonald's?

[Guest]

55 minutes ago, David Mack said:

McDonald's?

I would relish seeing someone wander into McDonalds with a full cassette all ready to empty it into their bogs.

[Alan de Enfield]

9 minutes ago, NB Caelmiri said:

I would relish seeing someone wander into McDonalds with a full cassette all ready to empty it into their bogs.

 

I think that McD's have their own relish - probably tastes the same tho'.

[Leemc]

Surely a bag of composting material ending up in landfill is not a bad thing, as it would end up being the best thing possible- soil! I suppose the difficulty is that the bag needs to be ripped at some point or be degradable in some way.

We are seriously considering getting one. We have a Sealand system which maserates into 3x 16 litre cassettes. These are heavy to lug about and fill very quickly as get water from flush as well.

[robtheplod]

6 minutes ago, Leemc said:

Surely a bag of composting material ending up in landfill is not a bad thing, as it would end up being the best thing possible- soil! I suppose the difficulty is that the bag needs to be ripped at some point or be degradable in some way.

We are seriously considering getting one. We have a Sealand system which maserates into 3x 16 litre cassettes. These are heavy to lug about and fill very quickly as get water from flush as well.

I can't see how its any worse than many other things that go in landfill, especially nappies.

[TheBiscuits]

 

I usually stay out of these threads because of all the expected responses given above, but I will share this thought with you:

 

A couple of weeks ago, I went to my boat for the first time since March.  My separating desiccating toilet was about half full, and was fine. 

 

For a bit more detail, it's a Separett separating loo, so no stirrer, no added cover material (coir / sawdust/ whatever), just a separating unit and two containers with a continuously running fan to help dry out the solids.  FWIW you don't want to be drawing air out of the bilge with the fan, you want a constant airflow over the top of the bucket, and the slight gap under the seat is where you want the air to enter the loo.

 

I am very glad I didn't leave a half full Thetford cassette for two months of warm weather ...

 

 

[Sea Dog]

7 minutes ago, TheBiscuits said:

I am very glad I didn't leave a half full Thetford cassette for two months of warm weather ...

 

I expect that this will be just one of the challenges those of us too far away for a single day visit will face.  I don't have a cassette, but "next week's first job" when I "popped home for a week" back in March was to be pumping out the holding tank.  I also expect that Tayna Batteries and others will also have a bumper season shortly after overnight stays are permitted. Ho-hum (with the accent on the hum!)

[TheBiscuits]

7 minutes ago, Sea Dog said:

I expect that this will be just one of the challenges those of us too far away for a single day visit will face.  I don't have a cassette, but "next week's first job" when I "popped home for a week" back in March was to be pumping out the holding tank.  

 

At least a pumpout system is likely to have a ventilator outside the boat ...

 

[tree monkey]

2 hours ago, Leemc said:

Surely a bag of composting material ending up in landfill is not a bad thing, as it would end up being the best thing possible- soil! I suppose the difficulty is that the bag needs to be ripped at some point or be degradable in some way.

We are seriously considering getting one. We have a Sealand system which maserates into 3x 16 litre cassettes. These are heavy to lug about and fill very quickly as get water from flush as well.

Although at first it may not seem to be an issue the problem is twofold, 

 

1, most landfill is anaerobic, basically sealed from the surroundings, which is one of the reasons landfill produce methane, so it won't produce soil as such.

 

2, space, landfill space is finite, so at least in my opinion, throwing stuff in it that can be dealt with elsewhere is counterproductive. 

 

There is the other issue of course of bagged poo thrown into normal waste bins being encountered by those who work with the waste, unpleasant 

23 minutes ago, TheBiscuits said:

 

I usually stay out of these threads because of all the expected responses given above, but I will share this thought with you:

 

A couple of weeks ago, I went to my boat for the first time since March.  My separating desiccating toilet was about half full, and was fine. 

 

For a bit more detail, it's a Separett separating loo, so no stirrer, no added cover material (coir / sawdust/ whatever), just a separating unit and two containers with a continuously running fan to help dry out the solids.  FWIW you don't want to be drawing air out of the bilge with the fan, you want a constant airflow over the top of the bucket, and the slight gap under the seat is where you want the air to enter the loo.

 

I am very glad I didn't leave a half full Thetford cassette for two months of warm weather ...

 

 

That is a good point, no bulging cassettes, with the slight paranoia of it going pop

[TheBiscuits]

13 minutes ago, tree monkey said:

That is a good point, no bulging cassettes, with the slight paranoia of it going pop

 

Heh.  That's going to cause a variety of cassette owners to panic you know.  Talk about a short sharp shower ...

[robtheplod]

1 hour ago, TheBiscuits said:

 

FWIW you don't want to be drawing air out of the bilge with the fan, you want a constant airflow over the top of the bucket, and the slight gap under the seat is where you want the air to enter the loo.

 

 

 

 

Thanks for the info.... now happier with how to design this...

[peterboat]

1 hour ago, TheBiscuits said:

 

I usually stay out of these threads because of all the expected responses given above, but I will share this thought with you:

 

A couple of weeks ago, I went to my boat for the first time since March.  My separating desiccating toilet was about half full, and was fine. 

 

For a bit more detail, it's a Separett separating loo, so no stirrer, no added cover material (coir / sawdust/ whatever), just a separating unit and two containers with a continuously running fan to help dry out the solids.  FWIW you don't want to be drawing air out of the bilge with the fan, you want a constant airflow over the top of the bucket, and the slight gap under the seat is where you want the air to enter the loo.

 

I am very glad I didn't leave a half full Thetford cassette for two months of warm weather ...

 

 

Already seen a hugely bulging cassette and the owner pushing at a catch with a long stick,! I use stuff in my toilet to help break down the poo as I want it for composting, it seems to work and that's what matters to me 

[Leemc]

We never leave anything behind in cassette when we leave the boat, not even a couple of number 1s. Your tales of exploding cassettes are truly terrifying?

[Sea Dog]

3 hours ago, TheBiscuits said:

 

At least a pumpout system is likely to have a ventilator outside the boat ...

 

Crikey yes: the thought of an exploding cassette is bad enough...!