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Composting vs cassette toilet vs pump out


fergyguy

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No doubt this subject has been covered before but as I was unable to find it I thought as part of my pre boat build research I would ask the question as per the title.we will be having wb built and fitted to our specifications allowing us to do the cc style boating we are aiming for.we have looked at comments on here regarding smells from pump outs along with what do you put in the tank to help reduce these issues...we have also looked at the cassette issues at the emptying stations ....peterboat suggested composting toilet which to be honest I never knew existed so it was a quick trip onto YouTube to see the many videos covering this subject . I'm not sure we really want to have sewage swilling around In a large tank under our feet/bed and for us having a larger fresh water carrying capacity would be far more beneficial so we would be considering having the sewage tank area replaced by fresh water tankage. Can I draw on your experience of each of the 3 systems their pros and cons as you see it. Our cruising aim is to do the northern waters first and on no given time schedule cruise to a point we like moor up and explore for as short or long a stay as we wish upto the given 14 days. It was stated on here the other day we would struggle as we would need to get pump out sorted and not have enough water. If we were to go compost toilet (depending on all your views on them) and we increase our clean water capacity then surely this would then not be such a problem....am I wrong? As always your views and advise very welcome even from the guys who lived in a cardboard box lol you know who you are.

 

In order to decide what you need you must ask relevant tank sizes because peoples habits are all different. As a for instance many times I hear " My water tank lasts me 3/4 weeks or whatever and I know full well their tank is the same size as ours and ours lasts one week simply because we shower at least once daily and use our washing machine often so how smelly is thy neighbour so to speak?

The type of toilet is a hard one to decide but obviously cassette types are best biggrin.png

 

Tim

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In order to decide what you need you must ask relevant tank sizes because peoples habits are all different. As a for instance many times I hear " My water tank lasts me 3/4 weeks or whatever and I know full well their tank is the same size as ours and ours lasts one week simply because we shower at least once daily and use our washing machine often so how smelly is thy neighbour so to speak?

The type of toilet is a hard one to decide but obviously cassette types are best biggrin.png

 

Tim

Not if you are a CCer a composting toilet is best as each bin lasts up to 3 months and you have 3 of them. also wee collects in a 25 litre container which gives you long periods between empties great when you are in the middle of nowhere.

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My POV...

We use portapoti for now... I plan to build us a specific composting loo in the future. If you don't have much cash, portapotties can also be used just for solids, and a cassette can last two humans a fortnight. Perhaps not ideal, but storing a cassette in your engine 'ole isn't that bad. Biological additives exist to 'eat' the poo...turning it into green mush. (Speak to Richard at New Blue Loo) If you're CCing, you'll always pass a sewage point well before you're full. ;D

One thing to note with composting loos (actual ones that aren't just buckets- which are fine if you have a place to put the result, but not good for CCing) is that many are designed for environments significantly drier than ours.

It sounds like the OP has some spondoolies. If that's the case, might not be a bad plan to look at putting something beneath the composting container to keep it warm. A coil from your heating system, or an underfloor heating mat.... it'd make a big difference in winter.

 

Edited when sober.

Edited by Rendelf
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All depends on your usage

We use between 700 and 900 litres a week, that includes both of us showering every day and 2-3 washing machine loads.

Our tank is about 900l and needs filling every week.

When we had the barge with a full size washer/condensiing dryer we averaged about 11-1200 litres a week.

 

Could I please clarify something.

 

I live on a dutch barge on a tidal river. Hence we have no need for any black/grey water tanks because ours pumps straight out into the tidal river.

 

I was under the impression that on a canal there was only a requirement for a black water tank for toilet waste. All other water waste, shower, dish-washer, washing machine etc could be pumped straight out into the canal.

 

Could someone please clarify this because I am now confused.

 

Thanks

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I was under the impression that on a canal there was only a requirement for a black water tank for toilet waste. All other water waste, shower, dish-washer, washing machine etc could be pumped straight out into the canal.

 

Could someone please clarify this because I am now confused.

 

You are correct.

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  • 3 weeks later...

I've heard from someone else that the Airhead was disastrous in their boat and they replaced it with a cassette style thing. What composting loos would people recommend and which would you avoid?

In what way disastrous? We have an Airhead, and I know several other boats with them, none of which are disastrous.

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Apparently it smelled bad all the time, and there was some problem with the fan. But as I said higher up, I also know a family who swear by their composter. I do want one- but obviously conscious of budgets and so on, and I want one that works. The loo I have now (pumpout, Sanimarin) frustrates me daily, though that's the toilet itself rather than the pumpout.

 

We have very few male visitors, it's me and my daughter (5) plus occasional friends- though most of them are female too!

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I dont like the look of the airhead and I know of one that was faulty out of the box but people that have them rate them highly. I prefer my seperate villa but I have seen something similar which is cheaper so if I was starting again I would look at those. But under no circumstances would I go back to pumpout or cassette!! We have a cassette in the campervan smelly thing!!

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  • 1 month later...

Anyone know what the costs might be of replacing a pump-out loo with an eco loo? I know I should ring the company but I work most of the time they're open, and I usually forget during that small window of opportunity because it has to compete with the rest of my life outside work!

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After reading enthusiastic posts re compost loos, I'm now very interested and I wondered about http://www.simploo.co.uk. It's made by a boater and looks good. It's also got a good price. Does anyone have experience if them? Thanks for any help

I wouldnt fit one of these! I fitted one to my friends Lesley s boat it is not really well built and awkward to use.

I have had a seperate villa for 6 years and it works well, is well built and yes it was expensive but that is because it is good quality and failsafe unlike the simploo. Go to off grid living and have a look at their offerings before buying the simploo if you want something cheaper

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I have a Villa Separett on my boat.( looks a bit more conventional than an Airhead) One thing I was surprised with is that it actually smells less than a conventional household toilet. There is not even a hint. I suppose thats because it's constantly ventilated.

For liquids I use a modified 23L Fiamma caravan waste water tank which needs to be emptied once a wk ( 2 people) I engineered the connections myself for this so I was a little concerned with how well it would disconnect etc but its actually really good. You do have to keep an eye to get it before it's full though, an electronic sender could be good for future.

 

I'm on a mooring so this is no prob but I imagine if you were cruising, this would mean a little stroll every behind a hedge now and then but I think I'd still prefer this to having to do pumpout.

I wouldn't even consider a cassette

 

 

I'm about to fit a natureshead into a dutch sailing barge replica so that'll be interesting to see how it compares.

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I'm about to fit a natureshead into a dutch sailing barge replica so that'll be interesting to see how it compares.

 

 

Make sure the flap shuts correctly on the Natureshead when you move the handle up by pulling it up again. If it moves further up then it is faulty and needs to be replaced. Also give the toilet a slight fall towards the front of about five degrees. I have one of these and have had to make a high barrier between the urine section and the solids section.

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I'm about to fit a natureshead into a dutch sailing barge replica so that'll be interesting to see how it compares.

 

 

Make sure the flap shuts correctly on the Natureshead when you move the handle up by pulling it up again. If it moves further up then it is faulty and needs to be replaced. Also give the toilet a slight fall towards the front of about five degrees. I have one of these and have had to make a high barrier between the urine section and the solids section.

 

thanks, will bear that in mind!

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What I don't understand about composting loos, is that you have to keep liquids seperate, and empty them regularly, whilst storing solid waste for weeks, and having an electric fan blowing air over them to ensure they dry.

 

Which bit of the above makes the duties connected with using and maintaining a composting loo less onerous that a cassette (empty every three/four days) or a pump out (empty every two to four weeks).

 

We all have preferences. I suspect that is all it's about really.

 

Rog

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What I don't understand about composting loos, is that you have to keep liquids seperate, and empty them regularly, whilst storing solid waste for weeks, and having an electric fan blowing air over them to ensure they dry.

 

Which bit of the above makes the duties connected with using and maintaining a composting loo less onerous that a cassette (empty every three/four days) or a pump out (empty every two to four weeks).

 

We all have preferences. I suspect that is all it's about really.

 

Rog

I empty solids every 3 months!!! liquids once a week or maybe a week and a half depends You make a lot more journeys than me plus my solids go to compost so no sewage process and the wee is poured on waste ground where it makes the grass green

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Flies....don't forget the flies.

 

 

If you have a composting loo with a 12v fan does it still need to run when the boat is moored and not in use??

What flies? it has a automatic lid and a fan plus a gauze over the outlet to stop said flies.

My toilet runs all the time I have 1kw of solar so it doesnt make much impact at all

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We recently purchased our boat and it came with a Natures Head toilet. We have used all the various toilet solutions over the years of renting through hire companies and renting or borrowing private boats. Now, I must admit that when purchasing the boat, the composting toilet was not exactly a selling point for me as I had heard so much negative commentary on them. The boat seller raved about the composting loo but we were sure that it was simply his way to influence the sell.

We have now gone on two extended cruises and use the boat nearly every weekend and I am totally impressed with the toilet. It is by far the best option we have ever used for waste and as it turns out, the seller wasn't misrepresenting the toilet at all. It has the least smell of any of the toilets we have used and with the purchase of an additional liquids bottle, we can get away with emptying once a week for liquids but the solids is far longer. I am on 2 months now of not emptying the solids and things seem to be composting well.

 

There is a learning curve to it as I made the initial mistake of emptying and cleaning the solids after a long cruise and it was pretty horrific and so I went seeking advice on what I was doing wrong or how I could help the situation and ofcourse it was simply me being a little too eager to empty the solids because as a new user of the loo, it somehow felt totally wrong to moor up the boat and walk away with waste in there. Lesson learned. The fan for the toilet is somehow rigged up to the same circuit as the water pump and works really well. We have solar panels that keep things topped up and leaving the fan on during the week does not cause any problems power wise, in fact we have never come back to the boat after being away for a week to find our power drained to any significant degree.

 

After doing some reading up on the loo and the best way to use it, we switched from moss to coconut coir to compost with and it has proven to be a much better alternative. What I have found that also helps is to put in a bit of the cocunut coir every week especially during heavy use. A 5 kg bag of the coconut coir was £12.00 from amazon, delivered. We found it much easier to use than the moss.

 

The design of the toilet is amazing in the separation of solids and liquids. We have noticed no problems whatsoever with a mixture of the two. My other half isnt so keen on sitting to do his liquid business but he has adjusted and luckily because the toilet does exactly as promised, its not something we have to think about but once a week. I am glad that our boat came with the toilet as I would not like to pay the prices they charge for a new one. Also, the spare liquids container we bought was a rather pricey £40 because it is simply a plastic half moon shaped bottle with a strap. They now ship new units with a spare bottle but this toilet of ours has been in use for 8 years and did not originally come with the spare bottle.

 

For us, and we are a party of two, it has proven to be a really great feature of the boat and I am glad I gave it a proper try and read up on how to best use it. With a little self education, it has proven to be the only solution for waste that we will ever entertain in the future.

 

Hope this helps.

Edited by DeepEndofShallow
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