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Composting loos


greenboater

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I have a Separett Villa 9000 in a static caravan, there is no smell and the Urine goes down the tube into a gravel soakaway again no smell from that. The power consumption on the 12volt is only .06 watts per 24hours

When we eventually get our boat i will install one in it. whether the urine goes into a collection bottle or straight into the canal is another matter for thought, as i cant see that my urine can be worse that the grease, gunk and other crap that i see coming out of the sink and bilge outlets on boats.

 

I think you might find that CaRT will not allow that!

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It was about 2 days after I picked up the boat 5 of us on the boat and it just expired fortunately the seller replaced it free it was a lee sanitation macerater never found out what went wrong. The second time was in Stone we had been for a curry which gave us serious trotts my then partner managed to drop a button down the loo wrecking it completely. The last and final straw for me was when we were frozen in for months just as the nearly full lean started. I sold the boat soon after and looked at none with pumpouts.

 

Peter

Are you sure it was only a button?blink.png

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  • 1 month later...

Do be careful my pumpout failed twice and I was frozen in once more than enough to put me off them for life. CRT says you can double bag the waste and put it in the bins at their waste points. I give mine to my friend who composts it or bury it which works well. The urine just pour it on waste land it makes the grass green cant really see the problem. I think however you need to find another boat builder no freezer or microwave what a pxxxxxk clapping.gif

 

Peter

My builder will be starting our boat in December and we are intending to have an Airhead fitted. As an (ahem) older guy, separating fluids is helpful since you can just empty the container into the hedgerow each morning and you don't end up filling the main chamber too quickly - which also screws up the composting process. I found this post because I was specifically wondering what to do with the main contents when it was full - composting loos normally intend you to transfer the contents into another container and leave for six months for the composting process to complete - not possible on a boat (liveaboard). If CRT allow us to double bag the contents and leave in their bins, it solves all my worries. Couldn't see it all going down an Elsan point. This means if frozen in, an overflowing loo will not be a major problem, which was the main reason for going down this route (plus reliability). The other advantage is that the Airhead is a very small unit and could easily be replaced with a cassette loo when selling on. It would even be fairly simple to retrofit a pumpout as there will be loads of room for the holding tank under the bed. Of course, others will disagree.

Edited by Trooperhill
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Hi Greenboater

 

I also have a Separett which I love and am slightly baffled by your decision to have a pump out and don't quite follow your objections or agree that there is anything even slightly 'iffy' about them. As Peter Boat describes above burying the solids and decanting the wee under a hedge is as straightforward as it is environmentally sensible.(Sorry I don't understand why this defeats the object. Perhaps I have misunderstood what the object is).

 

 

B4 you install it Pennie research what percentage of boat owners have one fitted then ask yourself why?

They have the same following as " Gas free " boats and believe me if you think of selling the boat in the future you will have to factor that in.

 

Tim

 

Composting loos, in their modern form, are a relatively new concept and seen as being a bit unconventional which is why their numbers on boats are still limited.They are also quite expensive. It is not at all like the 'gas free' argument. A more relevant question would be how many people having gone over to a composting loo would now wish to change it for a more conventional type. I also did hours of research on this subject and have yet to encounter anyone with an Airhead or Separett who doesn't swear by it.

 

 

 

I have a Separett Villa 9000 in a static caravan, there is no smell and the Urine goes down the tube into a gravel soakaway again no smell from that. The power consumption on the 12volt is only .06 watts per 24hours

When we eventually get our boat i will install one in it. whether the urine goes into a collection bottle or straight into the canal is another matter for thought, as i cant see that my urine can be worse that the grease, gunk and other crap that i see coming out of the sink and bilge outlets on boats.

 

This is an interesting point. I too can't see that small quantities of urine are going to do any damage to the canal, especially if they are heavily diluted perhaps with grey water from a shower or hand basin. The problem is, the popularity of composting loos on boats is rapidly increasing and if everyone started doing it then it could lead to algae blooms (very bad for wildlife, take all the oxygen out of the water). It also depends slightly where your boat is. If you're bankside somewhere with a strong current the impact would be minimal. If you're in a basin marina, on the other hand, alongside lots of other boats probably not a good idea.

Personally, I think it's going to be considerably less harmfull than the use of non-biodegradeable washing detergents on boats which the CRT, bafflingly, seem to have no policy on.

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I'm going to be installing a composting loo with a urine diverter. I just have one question, what to add to the urine tank to reduce smell? I've heard people add Odourless but I was wondering what other options there are

 

Sugar

  • Greenie 1
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