Composting toilets?

[rossfree]

Originally Posted by Versatile

Why not dump something down the drain that will take care of the bad stuff.

When you find something... keep it a secret until you get a patent on it! You'll be there richest skoolie on the forum!

At present, about all you can do is make rainbows.

Ross

ps: I kinda made up that last bit.

[Adventure Bus]

Originally Posted by rossfree

When you find something... keep it a secret until you get a patent on it! You'll be there richest skoolie on the forum!

At present, about all you can do is make rainbows.

Ross

ps: I kinda made up that last bit.

I don't see how it would even smell. If it's that bad ya'll need to change your diet or drink more water [emoji38]. Plus mixed with all the shower water (with soap) , dish water (with soap), hand washing water (with soap). Im guessing it would be less than one part per a few hundred parts of water. If that even. So do an experiment take about 200 cups of water mixed with 3 different types of soap. Dump one cup of pee in it... Slosh it around. Does it reek? I dought it would. And besides. It will be in a sealed gray water tank... Not bathing in it, then it will get dumped down a sewer anyway.

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[Stu & Filo. T]

Originally Posted by Adventure Bus

Haha. Ya. I don't think anyone (at least not anyone in their right mind) is talking of having the urine diverted back to the fresh water tank [emoji38].

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What I'm trying to get to is I don't believe its as bad as you think, all tho it can be quite corrosive. I heard about light poles in San Francisco falling over from to many people & dogs urinating on them.

[PNW_Steve]

Originally Posted by Adventure Bus

I don't see how it would even smell. If it's that bad ya'll need to change your diet or drink more water [emoji38]. Plus mixed with all the shower water (with soap) , dish water (with soap), hand washing water (with soap). Im guessing it would be less than one part per a few hundred parts of water. If that even. So do an experiment take about 20 cups of water mixed with 3 different types of soap. Dump one cup of pee in it... Slosh it around. Does it reek? I dought it would. And besides. It will be in a sealed gray water tank... Not bathing in it, then it will get dumped down a sewer anyway.

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In warm weather your grey water will develop its own stink if left in the tank for very long. I had a 120 gallon grey tank in my last bus that would let me go about three weeks between dumping. If I did not add any odor control it would smell rather unpleasant if I didn't dump every few days.

Skip the odor control and add urine and I am fairly certain it will turn unpleasant in a few days.

With some kind of odor control ( https://www.walmart.com/ip/14504330?...&wl13=&veh=sem) you may fair much better.

If you try it and decide that it works for you , fantastic. If you decide that it doesn't meet your expectations then try something else... It is not like you will hurt anything by trying it out.

I am going to give it a shot on my new conversion. I will make allowance for a separate tank in the future just in case I don't like the results.

Better yet.... You try it out and report back to us

[Adventure Bus]

Haha. That's some serious pee power. Ya, I agree I don't think it's as bad as people make it out to be, it's not sewage until you mix it with fecal mater. I think in a plastic gray water tank it wouldnt be an issue at all diluted with a bunch of other water.

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[Adventure Bus]

Originally Posted by PNW_Steve

In warm weather your grey water will develop its own stink if left in the tank for very long. I had a 120 gallon grey tank in my last bus that would let me go about three weeks between dumping. If I did not add any odor control it would smell rather unpleasant if I didn't dump every few days.

Skip the odor control and add urine and I am fairly certain it will turn unpleasant in a few days.

With some kind of odor control ( https://www.walmart.com/ip/14504330?...&wl13=&veh=sem) you may fair much better.

If you try it and decide that it works for you , fantastic. If you decide that it doesn't meet your expectations then try something else... It is not like you will hurt anything by trying it out.

I am going to give it a shot on my new conversion. I will make allowance for a separate tank in the future just in case I don't like the results.

Better yet.... You try it out and report back to us

For sure. Will definitely report. Will probably be half a year or more until I'm to that point.
I'm wondering though how you smelt it, was it just while dumping or during normal use?
If it has P traps on all drains and all that good stuff how did the smell make it into the rv? Or am I missing something. I can definitely see how gray water would stagnate and get nasty, rinsing dishes and food particles and add in some pee. But my impression was that it would be sealed from the interior.

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[AlleyCat67]

Originally Posted by Adventure Bus

But my impression was that it would be sealed from the interior.

If you do your interior plumbing right it will be.... meaning put a trap on every drain. No odors will get through a properly built system.

[Versatile]

Originally Posted by Adventure Bus

For sure. Will definitely report. Will probably be half a year or more until I'm to that point.
I'm wondering though how you smelt it, was it just while dumping or during normal use?
If it has P traps on all drains and all that good stuff how did the smell make it into the rv? Or am I missing something. I can definitely see how gray water would stagnate and get nasty, rinsing dishes and food particles and add in some pee. But my impression was that it would be sealed from the interior.

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Leave a sinkfull of diswater for a day or two and take a whiff.

[Adventure Bus]

Originally Posted by Versatile

Leave a sinkfull of diswater for a day or two and take a whiff.

Ya gray water will stink.. This makes it even more of a reason to let urine in. It's going to smell no matter what, just plumb properly so it doesn't smell in the bus and dump it properly.

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[Versatile]

Originally Posted by Adventure Bus

Ya gray water will stink.. This makes it even more of a reason to let urine in. It's going to smell no matter what, just plumb properly so it doesn't smell in the bus and dump it properly.

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Agreed. my plan exactly. I am thankful to all for the information on those black tanks.

[brokedown]

So I'm new here and just started working on my Skoolie (I'll post an introduction thread at some point!) but I also have a sailboat with a composting head, and have used boats with black tanks before.

My boat has the Airhead composting toilet. I was apprehensive about it at first, because the idea of having a bucket of poo that you carry around with you everywhere wasn't so appealing.. But after using it for a while, I'm sold on composting. But, this thing is about $1000 so I'm building one myself for the bus.

First off, if set up right and used properly, the poo does not smell up your bus/boat. The pee bucket, on the other hand, that thing will stink an awful stench if you don't empty it often, rinse it, and use an odor neutralizer (a little vinegar does the trick). Changing the compost tank is actually much more pleasant than the urine tank after a week or two.

Second, it's a simple piece of kit and not prone to any real type of failure. There really isn't much to break, it's a bucket and we've pretty much figured out how to make buckets by now.

But if I had to pick the feature that sold me on the composting toilet vs a RV flush toilet, it has to be that you don't have to use that see-through sandpaper TP. You know the stuff, they call it John Wayne because it's rough, it's tough, and it don't take sh*t off nobody. Guys, just ask your female companion if they'd be willing to learn an extra step when they use the toilet if it means they can use those soft wide 3-ply rolls instead of the cash register receipt paper and you'll surely get a yes.

My GF took to it pretty quickly as well. The one on the boat is a bit cramped, but i'm combining the shower and toilet areas on the RV (toilet will have a flat lid that closes and will be a usable seat in the shower). I think she will really like this one when it's done, the full size toilet seat is a big plus too.

I'll be using a urine diverter as mixing the solids and liquids is a recipe for foul demon odor. I'm using coconut coir for the composting material as the peat moss can have bugs in it... also the coco is easy to store in compressed/dried form. The negative I see with the coco is the prep time to get it ready, but it's not that bad if you soak it in water overnight.

I see a lot of people changing their poo containers really often.. With 2 people and a urine diverter, a good composting setup should last a month of primary toilet use... And if you're using it less frequently it can last much much longer. Poop at work, poop at Walmart, poop in a diverse set of places and experience all the toilets this world has to offer. When we first started working on the boat, our composting tank was months old.. It was probably 4 months later before we changed it out, and even then it was more out of fear (and wanting to learn the process) than necessity.

That's my 2 cents!

[Deezl Smoke]

Originally Posted by brokedown

So I'm new here and just started working on my Skoolie (I'll post an introduction thread at some point!) but I also have a sailboat with a composting head, and have used boats with black tanks before.

My boat has the Airhead composting toilet. I was apprehensive about it at first, because the idea of having a bucket of poo that you carry around with you everywhere wasn't so appealing.. But after using it for a while, I'm sold on composting. But, this thing is about $1000 so I'm building one myself for the bus.

First off, if set up right and used properly, the poo does not smell up your bus/boat. The pee bucket, on the other hand, that thing will stink an awful stench if you don't empty it often, rinse it, and use an odor neutralizer (a little vinegar does the trick). Changing the compost tank is actually much more pleasant than the urine tank after a week or two.

Second, it's a simple piece of kit and not prone to any real type of failure. There really isn't much to break, it's a bucket and we've pretty much figured out how to make buckets by now.

But if I had to pick the feature that sold me on the composting toilet vs a RV flush toilet, it has to be that you don't have to use that see-through sandpaper TP. You know the stuff, they call it John Wayne because it's rough, it's tough, and it don't take sh*t off nobody. Guys, just ask your female companion if they'd be willing to learn an extra step when they use the toilet if it means they can use those soft wide 3-ply rolls instead of the cash register receipt paper and you'll surely get a yes.

My GF took to it pretty quickly as well. The one on the boat is a bit cramped, but i'm combining the shower and toilet areas on the RV (toilet will have a flat lid that closes and will be a usable seat in the shower). I think she will really like this one when it's done, the full size toilet seat is a big plus too.

I'll be using a urine diverter as mixing the solids and liquids is a recipe for foul demon odor. I'm using coconut coir for the composting material as the peat moss can have bugs in it... also the coco is easy to store in compressed/dried form. The negative I see with the coco is the prep time to get it ready, but it's not that bad if you soak it in water overnight.

I see a lot of people changing their poo containers really often.. With 2 people and a urine diverter, a good composting setup should last a month of primary toilet use... And if you're using it less frequently it can last much much longer. Poop at work, poop at Walmart, poop in a diverse set of places and experience all the toilets this world has to offer. When we first started working on the boat, our composting tank was months old.. It was probably 4 months later before we changed it out, and even then it was more out of fear (and wanting to learn the process) than necessity.

That's my 2 cents!

Well hey, welcome and thanks for sharing the awesome story. It's great to have people with experience share it.

[WanderWoman]

Originally Posted by PNW_Steve

I did not document my build except for one lone picture:

[/URL]

I will take more after I empty it next....

Steve... can you give me dimensions?
p.s. we use the same bucket
I'm tired of sitting on the itty bitty seat that snaps on!

Sandi
www.thismidwifetravels.com

[WanderWoman]

So, I've officially been living on the WanderLust Bus for 8 weeks. I have a lovely 5 gallon Home Depot bucket with a snap on seat.

I have tried the following: Clumping litter, regular litter, hamster bedding (which actually worked better than the first two) and lastly Blue Naturally Fresh Walnut Litter (found in the cat litter area of PetSmart).

The walnut litter has been amazing. No odor AT ALL! And I'm using less of it than the other two litters. After I use the bucket I cover what I've done with about a cup of the litter, but the lid down and I'm done. I'm only changing the bag out 2x a week, versus the daily disposal, which was costly, because I'm using 4 gallon bags that fit nicely on the bucket.

Just thought I'd share my experience.

Bus On!

Sandi
www.thismidwifetravels.com

[Deezl Smoke]

Originally Posted by WanderWoman

So, I've officially been living on the WanderLust Bus for 8 weeks. I have a lovely 5 gallon Home Depot bucket with a snap on seat.

I have tried the following: Clumping litter, regular litter, hamster bedding (which actually worked better than the first two) and lastly Blue Naturally Fresh Walnut Litter (found in the cat litter area of PetSmart).

The walnut litter has been amazing. No odor AT ALL! And I'm using less of it than the other two litters. After I use the bucket I cover what I've done with about a cup of the litter, but the lid down and I'm done. I'm only changing the bag out 2x a week, versus the daily disposal, which was costly, because I'm using 4 gallon bags that fit nicely on the bucket.

Just thought I'd share my experience.

Bus On!

Sandi
www.thismidwifetravels.com

Awesome. I've not seen the walnut litter before. I have two petsmatrs nearby. Next time by I will look for it. Have you considered mixing some of the walnut litter with the clay litter to see if you can get as goodof results, but maybe save a dollar?

[WanderWoman]

Originally Posted by Deezl Smoke

Awesome. I've not seen the walnut litter before. I have two petsmatrs nearby. Next time by I will look for it. Have you considered mixing some of the walnut litter with the clay litter to see if you can get as goodof results, but maybe save a dollar?

I haven't tried mixing them. However, I am using less of the walnut litter, so I think that it will all be about the same cost. The walnut litter is definitely less expensive than the clumping litter!

I'm going to start using it in the cat box next week, when his litter is done!

Sandi

[Tango]

Great and usable info...thank you! I've never heard of walnut flavored litter either.

[WanderWoman]

Originally Posted by Tango

Great and usable info...thank you! I've never heard of walnut flavored litter either.

You are welcome, Tango! I actually found out about the walnut litter, from a link here that took me to another site and they talked about it there... you know, those links that you end up following and reading stuff for a couple of hours!

I love this forum and how useful the info here has been. I'm glad that I can share some stuff as well

Sandi

[Deezl Smoke]

Amazing. I just assumed that anything with the word "walnut" in front would come at a higher price. But now you have really peaked my interest. I will make an extra effort to look it up at petsmart now.

[Azuleslight]

go to menards or home depot if your still in a warmer state and buy coconut core bricks they are like 2 dollars and when given 4 qts of water expand to 8 qts of coconut core. i have used this on my skoolie anf its not bad at all. also you will want to vent out the composting toilet as methane and other gases are released when composting is going on. also i suggest getting an agitator or mixer of some type. hmmm i should make a video about this lol