composting toilet

BillI and C-Sharp,
Yes, messing with number 1 or 2 is not a fun project, but we do have to find a means to deal with it.
My system was not perfect when I got the boat, so I reworked the vent and installed a solar vent that recharges a battery, to keep the fan running 24/7.
There is a learning curve that is really not difficult to understand, once you get the basics down. The composting head must have a positive vent and can't have urine go into the solids tank. If the solids tank is not keeper clean with compost material, a bit of moisture (water), poop and a RV type toilet paper. it will not break down as designed and will have odor.
So...everyone that steps on the boat, gets a lesson on use of the toilet. No complaints (even boarding team members from the CG used it, but got a lesson before going into the space).
There is zero odor where the cabin top vent is...
 
Regarding AirHead composting toilets. We did have the occasion to raft up with some folks with one and unfortunately the smells from the top vent where wafting into our cockpit when the breeze was just right, and was a bit unbearable at times. Probably would have been better to raft on the opposite side of the vent.
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If this was the case, then the person owning/operating that boat was not doing it properly. We have noticed no odor from the one we have over 3 years.

Odor comes from mixing the urine and the content of the air head, or too moist a material. We use Coconut Croi. It is dried coconut husks--peat moss is also used. It all decomposes into a dry flaky material, with no odor.

That being said--I had reservations. We had seen a mess when a good friend of ours had some issues at Lake Powell, and had to clean their air head at a porti potty dump. On the other hand, I have cleaned up some real messes during the 73 years I have been skippering boats. Most of these involved guests who put various materials into a marine head, and then pumped. Far worse than you would ever see with a portipotty. Some involved diving with a coat hanger to pull impacted material out of the hoses and thru hull fittings.

The current 25 came with an Air Head. I had to turn to Joyce Schukle on "Sea Otter" to get the "magic combination" of moisture. She also taught us to have a small bottle of diluted white vinegar to "spritz" the areas down with if necessary. We find that we can go over a month without emptying the container. Urine is necessary to dump every 2 to 3 days. Our air head vent fan runs continuously off 12 volts. There is no odor. When it is time to empty the container, usually the boat has been sitting in our storage pad for some time, I get a heavy duty garbage bag, and dump the crumbling material. I leave it a few more months in the hot sun, turning the bag every few weeks--and then eventually it goes into the flower bed fertilizer.

The Air Head is far easier to use than the Porti Potty. I cannot comment on "Nature's head" or the others.

Having owned an Air head for 3 years, I would not go back to a holding tank or porti potty.

My RV has a good size holding tank--it will last several weeks--if we use "shore side" facilities when possible, a month. I have a "home dump" station, and just hook up the pipes and pull open the valve....cannot do that with a boat!
 
Spoiler: I've never owned a composting toilet. That being said, one of the first things I did when I bought C-Traveler, was to pull all the MSD's parts out of the boat. The toilet, it's holding tank, the plumbing, the Y-valve and the macerator. Replaced it with a porta potti. KISS! No worry about finding a pump out. Better than a bucket! Mix 1 and 2 together, no problem. Extra vents and fans? No need. Extra filters and etc, not required. Can dump in just about any bathroom, port a jon, dump station, etc. Cheap and dependable. :D Colby
 
colbysmith":1wgr71zl said:
...Can dump in just about any bathroom, port a jon, dump station, etc. Cheap and dependable. :D Colby
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Marina at a state park in NY I was at recently had a $250 fine for dumping a porta potti in the toilets of the restrooms. Had to use the pump out to empty the porta potti tank.
 
Marina at a state park in NY I was at recently had a $250 fine for dumping a porta potti in the toilets of the restrooms. Had to use the pump out to empty the porta potti tank.
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Would be the last time I used that marina! Many of the states out west have the right idea. They provide a free porta potti dump station.
 
Just installed a Separett Weekended compost toile in my venture 26. I only have a 4 day trip under my belt with it, but couldn't be happier. no more smell in the boat.
 
The Separatte Urine diverting toilet weekend, looks more like a bag collection of fecal material with separate urine collection than a "Composting" toilet in reviewing the literature? What composting material do you use, and how do you turn it over in the container?
 
We use a bed of peat moss at the bottom and a hand full between each use. No need to stir. The fan does a good job at drying things out. Still new to it, but so far we like it.
 
I bought a boat with a Porta-Potti. The first time I emptied it was at Friday Harbor, walking up the gangway to the restrooms and a dump station. I don't know what I did wrong, but it went glug, glurp, splash and I was in a s**t storm. Operator error? I felt that I was too contaminated to even go into the men's room and clean up.

Back to the boat. The Porta-Potti was replaced with a head and 12 gallon holding tank the next week. Back then, pump out stations were rare and often inoperable. Still preferable to a Porta-Potti in my experience.

I know that the pump out stations have improved since then. Not sure about the Porta-Potti.
 
colbysmith":2jcgphxr said:
Marina at a state park in NY I was at recently had a $250 fine for dumping a porta potti in the toilets of the restrooms. Had to use the pump out to empty the porta potti tank.
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Would be the last time I used that marina! Many of the states out west have the right idea. They provide a free porta potti dump station.
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Ah, New York...according to my New York girlfriend the state that has thousands of laws that aren't enforced to solve problems that do not exist.
 
We love our 22 year old Thetford Porta-Pottie in our camper. I'm amazed that it still functions like new after over 500 days of use. We travel off-road so mainly poo in the woods and put used TP in a small baggie and then into trash. So the PP is mainly used for #1, but using it for #2 works very well. The quality of this device is top-notch. When used correctly (easy to do) it has never leaked or made a mess and it doesn't smell.

Having said that, when I get our C-Dory restored we will likely go with the bucket/sawdust composting method. The reason is simple - on a boat we can't pee in the woods and we will not be near facilities where we can dispose of the contents of a PP with #2 easily.

To each his own. They are both good solutions and how you use your boat determines what is best. If I lived in a marina then I guess a holding tank would be a good option.
 
pcg":1keiasrh said:
We love our 22 year old Thetford Porta-Pottie in our camper. I'm amazed that it still functions like new after over 500 days of use. We travel off-road so mainly poo in the woods and put used TP in a small baggie and then into trash. So the PP is mainly used for #1, but using it for #2 works very well. The quality of this device is top-notch. When used correctly (easy to do) it has never leaked or made a mess and it doesn't smell.

Having said that, when I get our C-Dory restored we will likely go with the bucket/sawdust composting method. The reason is simple - on a boat we can't pee in the woods and we will not be near facilities where we can dispose of the contents of a PP with #2 easily.

To each his own. They are both good solutions and how you use your boat determines what is best. If I lived in a marina then I guess a holding tank would be a good option.
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I've read that some people have more than one lower half of the porta potti. They can extend their "range" that way. Of course, you still have to dump it somewhere and have more to dump. I suppose you could just go 3 miles offshore and dump it there if there is no NDZ.

I've also noticed (on mine at least) that the porta potti waste tank indicator is not very useful. I would expect that if it is half red/half green that the tank is half full. On mine, the indicator does not start to turn red until the tank is close to full. I have to monitor the quantity in the waste tank by weight.

FWIW, they do make pumpout adapters for emptying porta potti tanks. Works fine and is better than dumping the potti in a toilet (IMO). Place in NY I mentioned had that setup. However, it is nice to have the flexibility in dumping that a porta potti offers.
 
IME, the major problem with smell is urine, which is generally collected separately in composting toilets. Most people dump urine, but it is illegal where I boat, so in most cases I need to hold on to it for a while. Breakdown from urea/uric acid/purines to ammonia can be very fast, particularly when warm. Port-a-potties and bucket systems mix poop and urine, resulting in a sloshy substance that quickly smells and can even leak out if the potty or bucket turns over or sloshes in rough weather. Not fun, and it is very hard to get the smell gone after a spill. I've used Smell-eze, which soaks up maybe 200-300 times its volume in liquid and is an excellent soil amendment, to solve these two problems. Smell-eze + urine = semisolid and no smell. You can also use sawdust or cat litter, but you'll need a lot for a major trip. Not cheap, but under some conditions, priceless.

https://www.amazon.com/SMELLEZE-Urine-A ... Deodorizer
 
I have posted here on my C-Head by Cap. For me, superior and less $$$ than NatureHead or AirHead or in my case, DeadHead. You use one gallon water bottles to collect the urine, low cost and dead simple. None of the composting toilets compost, they only hold and dry. You have to get a cabin or house model with 110V heater to actually compost. I get two weeks + from my main collection container (modified five gallon bucket) and I bought the angled back and side models as it fits against the turn of a boat bilge in both directions. Here is the link at https://www.c-head.com/
Bob Jarrard
 
Marco":3qm4lixk said:
The first time I emptied it was at Friday Harbor, walking up the gangway to the restrooms and a dump station. I don't know what I did wrong, but it went glug, glurp, splash and I was in a s**t storm.
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My portapotti has a vent with a open/close valve (I assume all do). One has to be careful in this valve's use. When moving the portapotti, you need to close this valve; otherwise, you will get drips or worse on you and everything else. At all other times it must be open. If that valve is left closed for any length of time, pressure builds, and when you attempt to open the portipotti to empty it, you get a bit of an explosion.

P.S. I sympathize with you. Long ago I went on a 10 day trip down the Colorado with a group of kayakers. I was a novice and was on the support raft. When we arrived at the take out, several ammo cans full of poo had to be emptied. Since I was the rookie in the group, that nasty job fell to me. Those cans had no vents. When I leaned over the 1st can, with my upper body right over the can, to open it at the dump, the top exploded in my hands when I released the catch. I was covered head to foot in 100 degree weather with no water in sight.
 
Hi Brats,

Thought to bring up this thread because we are considering buying this Portable Composting Toilet for our 23 Venture. https://mytrelino.com/collections/compo ... ing-toilet For 22 and 23 C-Dory owners, I am thinking it would be a great option over the traditional Porta-Potti but it is kind of spendy and we are hoping to have a C-Brats review of anyone out there who is using one. Are odors or other issues a concern? We currently use two of the smaller Thetford Porta Potti units, one for solids and one for liquids. We have this system down and it is working well but for the convenience to empty solids more easily, we are considering making this purchase. We use our Porta Potti units in the aisleway of the cabin and store the units under the forward berth cushion when not in use. Any recommendation would be helpful. Thanks Brats. Gary and Colleen
 
The Trelino toilet is not a composting toilet. It's basically p**ping in a bag. You have to figure out how to store the used bags. I have seen postings where the biodegradable bags sold by Trelino can start to break down if you store the used bags for too long. Kitchen waste bags hold up better.

There is a urine diversion that is separate container.

You can accomplish the same thing with a Home Depot 5-gal bucket and the toilet seat lid they sell. Use a 1 gal milk jug for urine.

Something closer to a composting toilet is an Air Head or Nature's Head toilet. But these are really desiccating devices, not composting. They need to be ventilated and there can be odor while the desiccation is happening.

True compositing requires the right sort of bacteria and can generate a fair amount of heat.

Note that there is nothing wrong with p**ping in a bag. For some users this might be an acceptable solution. Just be aware of what your are getting yourself into. FWIW, I am considering getting a Trelino toilet for a camper van I am building. But I expect that this will be for infrequent and/or "emergency" use.
 
Dealing with a porta potty or other kind of toilet on a small boat like the 22' can be a chore and the smells are never masked adequately. It mostly the smell of the solutions one has to put into the porta potty. Using a plastic bag works well for us. There are a number different designs (called camping toilets or geriatric toilets) that use plastic bags that can then be sealed up and disposed. To avoid leakage problems and to help gel the waste we use the product they use in disposable diapers (sodium polyacrylate). It is available in bulk and can be spooned into the bag. This also help adsorb some of the smell. Since the waste bags don't need harsh chemicals I also like to add either camphor or tea tree oil as natural deodorants.
 
Good information from ssobol and Tom. Thank you.

I also received PM information from a Brat who is happy with his Trelino Evo M toilet. He also provided a video with the link below from a van conversion company showing and explaining the difference between many of the different portable toilet models on the market. The video is a bit long but very informative.

In the video, I am thinking that either the Trelino or Trobolo models look good, offer adequate storage and would store and operate well on a C-Dory.
 
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