Composting toilets

[Sumner]

Thanks for the explanation on how to handle the uncomposted waste. That would be doable for us on the boat as we have carried two sealed five gallon buckets containing Double Doodie/Wag Bags for up to 2 months at a time.

Now on to the next question and this one is pretty subjective so I'm sure it is harder to answer. As noted above we use Double Doodie bags now on the Mac and the Endeavour has a holding tank, with the bags as backup if the tank is full. We like the freedom of the bags and thus the interest in the composting head, but I'd say they smell some percentage more than using a porta-pottie. This is only during actual use as the rest of the time the ....



http://purplesagetradingpost.com/sumner ... index.html

...container with the bag in use is sealed so no smell. We have lessened the smell with some stuff from West Marine.

Ok now the question. I read that the composting toilets don't have much smell. I can envision that once the composting process has been underway for a while. But in daily use let's say one person uses the head and then a second person uses the head a couple hours later. The first use wouldn't be composted in that short time so I'd think you would still have the smell from the last couple uses. If so is it less than or about the same as a porta-pottie. Like I said this is probably subjective to the person smelling.

We live with it as there is no way we could use a porta-pottie as it requires dumping too often and we like the no-cleanup with what we have and that we can go over a month without having to get rid of the solid waste.

Thanks for the input and we will be looking more at your product even though we have a different MacGregor than most that are posting,

Sumner

[Fireboat52]

If you have never experienced using a composting toilet on your boat, then it is hard to believe that there can be no poop smell, but alas, it is true. Here is the smelly truth. The C-Head uses a churning process, that is a single blade at the bottom of the bucket creates a wave like motion in the composting medium, be it peat moss, saw dust or coir. This wave like motion, rolls and buries the solid waste so that for the first several days, there is absolutely no smell at all. About the third or fourth day, with two people using it, it will begin to develop a potatoe cellar like smell when you lift the lid. If you ventilate the toilet with a strong enough fan (it doesn't take much) you should smell nothing since the odor is transported out the vent where ever it is located. A truely creative person could rig a more powerful fan in the vent line that could be turned on with a manual switch when using the head or with an activating micro switch that turns the fan on when the lid is lifted, thus saving electricity. But truthfully, the musty odor is not particularly unpleasent at this stage and typically will dissipate very quickly after you open the lid and sit down.

It is amazing but if you don't mix pee and poop, the poop smell can be controlled very easily and after you finish your business, close the lid and churn the medium you will not smell any poop smell, even if you open up the lid again immediately and stick your nose over the opening. I know . . . whose going to do that? Right! Well, probably everybody until they convince themselves it works. As time progresses, the musty smell will increase, but you can control it in one of three ways; vent it or spray it with one or two squirts of extra strength Febreze or just empty the collection container and refill it with new peat moss.

Truth be told, the urine is probably more problematic when it comes to smells but it can be easily rendered odorless by adding a small amount of CampaChem (formaldehyde free) to the empty jug each time after you empty it. Now, sailors are notoriously traditional and this is untraditional and will all seem like a strange ritual to the uninitiated but with time, a rhythm develops and it all becomes second nature. Every boat is different as are sailors. Some like the cabin sealed up tight and some like the hatches wide open all the time. This will of course effect how you chose to control smells. I found out that when hanging on the hook, a sustained 15 mph wind could overpower my solar vent that vented the head and literally force the musty smell past the fan and into the cabin very noticably. The solution was to remove the solar vent on these occasions and install a 3" PVC elbow in the hole facing aft and this instantly drafted all the odor out of the cabin. So the point is that you will have to experiment to find out what works and what doesn't work on your boat with your habits but it is very doable once you understand the mechanics of the system.

The pay off is no unpleasent odor, no water requirements and no urgency to empty the holding tank.

[Sumner]

Thanks for the explanation. Too bad YouTube doesn't display smell with the sound and video so we could have a demo . I've noticed that we all have different tolerance levels for things,

Sum

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Our MacGregor 26-S

Our Endeavour 37

Our Trips to Utah, Idaho, Canada, Florida

Mac-Venture Links

[kmclemore]

Thanks for the explanation. Too bad YouTube doesn't display smell with the sound and video so we could have a demo . I've noticed that we all have different tolerance levels for things,

Sum

You clearly missed John Waters' classic "Odorama".

[Fireboat52]

John Waters - The other "Pride of Baltimore" and a man obsessed with poop. You're dating yourself Keith.

Sum, the best I can offer as far as 'odorama" goes, is to watch the C-Head videos and then take a quick sniff of a freshly exhumed potato everytime I lift the lid. Anywhooo . . .

[Fireboat52]

Just FYI, I have put a "Buy Now" button on the C-Head website for the MacGregor modification. Thanks for the invitation to participate and happy cruising/sailing.

Sandy

[Saxacussionist]

Here's my latest update.

I modified the cardboard mock-up per Sandy's instructions then put it in place of my porta-pottie in my Mac 26S. It fits perfectly, no need for any kind of shim in the front. It is still a tight fit for headroom, and there is no way you are going to close the head door if you are even slightly claustrophobic, however, we never closed it anyway. We have a curtain that can be drawn from the galley to the port side already.

Like I said, it's tight for headroom, however, it's not exactly spacious with the porta-pottie either. I'm thinking I'm gonna roll the dice on this one....

Click the link if you would like to see a picture of the cardboard mock-up in the head of the Heaven Bound... http://dl.dropbox.com/u/20434831/Toilet%20Mockup.jpg

[Johnacuda]

Thanks for the explanation. Too bad YouTube doesn't display smell with the sound and video so we could have a demo . I've noticed that we all have different tolerance levels for things,

Sum

You clearly missed John Waters' classic "Odorama".

You know, I heard an urban legend that the Odorama card synchs up perfectly if you watch the Wizard of Oz, and Listen to Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon while overnighting on a Mac.

[RobertB]

I fitted the mockup to my . I intend to make a minor modification to the door to allow it to open out into the center passageway - even with the porta-potty, my wife found this compartment way too claustrophobic (personally, I just never used the door since I just do not plain fit). I will place 1/2 inch spacers between the hinges and the woodgrain wall to allow the hinge to open 180 degrees (this should give enough privacy since we keep our cooler/refrigerator opposite the head). This coupled with a curtain at the opposite wall to deal with the line of sight thru the bow hatch and the head space for midgets should be more manageable.

[Y.B.Normal]

I installed the spacer behind the hing several years ago. It allows the door to open 180 degrees and fits tight against the port seatee
making a small "room" for changing or using the head. It works great with my Nature's Head.

[Saxacussionist]

I just ordered the first C-Head designed for the Mac. I will post pictures of it installed after I receive it. I also plan to use it for a while in the house to find the perfect combination of peat moss, cat litter, CampaChem, etc for odorless operation.

Stay tuned!

[kmclemore]

You know, I heard an urban legend that the Odorama card synchs up perfectly if you watch the Wizard of Oz, and Listen to Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon while overnighting on a Mac.

Wow. That was quick. I started that rumor only just last Friday.

[Obelix]

Last week we went to the Miami Boat Show, mainly to physically see the Airhead and to ask several open questions I had. In the process we ordered a 25lb Mantus Anchor, it breaks down into manageable pieces for storage and 2 Garhauer Midship cleats. The show was great (>2500 boats) and the weather was miserable. The main question I had regarding the airhead was how the separation of liquid and solid would work in real life healing situation. Talking to Geoffrey Trott the designer of the Airhead, I learned that there is a strong sensitivity to healing. There may not be complete separation, if the Airhead is tilted more then 5-10 degree towards the rear of the unit or more then 15-20 degree sideways. This is important information, because it may pose a frequent problem in our tender 26M.
My immediate thought was to see if the Airhead could be installed facing stern to bow and I build a dimensional mock-up to test the feasibility. The plywood base is the exact outline of the Airhead with a bucket on top, placed to simulate the correct hight and the front-edge of the Marine seat. The admiral and I tested this position and while it is tight we feel this is the way to go.





Obelix

[bartmac]

Re earlier warning about tilting....heed the advice the consequences are not very nice!!!!! Only happened once but thats enough...also think about the angle of the Mac when towing....and the resultant angle of the Airhead

[Jamie79]

I saw a product on an rv television show that looked interesting.

Www.dry-flush.com