Composting Toilet - Nature's Head

[Sluce]

Originally Posted by BobnCamie

I also read to mount head athwartship. Supposed to work better? Would be very hard in our S-2. Cannot see reasoning for that.

if at all possible you should mount it athwartship. Ours is mounted facing starboard and is basically unusable in a stiff breeze on a starboard tack. If the head is leaning backwards the liquid does not go where it is supposed to go. My winter project is to put it on a hinged stand so it will stay level when the boat is heeled.

[BobnCamie]

I was wondering that very thought(about the tack) and how or if it would effect the use. I can see no way to put it in any other way than as the original is,was. Only other option is to pull tub out, and am very sure I will be single-hand sailing then. -------, no just thinking. Wondered about leaves after reading, good to know about options. Also, I used to soak my semi-trailer and sprinkle coffer in and broom it around. Best anti-odor there was for price. Would eliminate old milk and rotten egg smells real fast. Thought about 1/8 c. of coffee to lb. of peat or coconut would not hurt. I have also seen the bugs leave ASAP when coffee introduced to environment. Food for thought.

[Mike OReilly]

Originally Posted by BobnCamie

Mike, thank you. That is what I was told by salesman, but you know. I am sitting here looking at mine right now. Will move to room that has all the boat stuff in it as soon as I am done going over it. Would coconut husk be better? Wonder how hard to find. Seems peat moss is about everywhere. Pet store for access to coconut. Will try, but wonder how many pet stores in areas we will be heading hopefully this fall. Read one guys talked about leaves. Novel idea. I also read to mount head athwartship. Supposed to work better? Would be very hard in our S-2. Cannot see reasoning for that.

So far I've only used the coir. Don't know if it's better than peat. I've heard from a few people who had fiy problems saying they thought they got it from the peat moss. But I'm sure any dry absorbent material would work. I love the dry leaf idea. Might try that next season.

Ours is mounted facing the stern (back to the bow). As others have said, if you're facing the beam you may find the urine collection to fail on one tack. I did read about someone using silicon to create a larger lip around the urine basin so as to prevent flowing into the faeces shoot. You could try doing that.

I don't know how easy is will be to purchase compressed coir bricks out there in the great beyond. But given how small they are, it would be easy to carry 6 months to a year's worth I would think.

[Mike OReilly]

Hi guys, I just wanted to give a positive shout out to Nature's Head. As you can read, I've been a happy owner of this composting head since switching from a standard marine head a couple of years ago. Unfortunately, at the end of last season (after our cruising was done) the little computer fan that vents the head died for some reason. Not a big deal, but a bit annoying.

Last week I ended up on the Nature's Head website to do some research (to answer a question on a forum). While there I decided to tell NH about my dead fan. I did not ask for a replacement. I wasn't complaining. I just messaged them to tell them the fan had died for a reason I had not yet identified, and that I would have to replace it.

Within a few hours I received an email apologizing for the problem and asking for my mailing address. They said they would replace the whole fan housing, gratis. Yesterday a package arrived from NH containing TWO complete fan-housing replacements. I now have a replacement AND a spare. No cost. Not even a request or complaint from me.

We often hear about poor products or bad customer service in the marine industry. Here's a great example of a company doing it right.

[EighthWonder]

Originally Posted by Mike OReilly

We often hear about poor products or bad customer service in the marine industry. Here's a great example of a company doing it right.

I have to agree. They've been nothing short of fantastic to deal with. They back up their products and help you out fast. Great company.

[smj]

I'll third that. Best customer service I've ever dealt with.

[flagorio]

Fourth it! We cancelled our order after a bunch of bs from another supplier. We're so happy we did. The experience with these guys has been spectacular. We broke our cap on a bottle, our fault and they sent a new one no charge. They also help with post install support and suggestions for use. Amazing company!

[amstel]

Originally Posted by Mike OReilly

Hmmm, I live in Canada. You can buy peat moss at almost any gardening store. I think coir is also being sold that way, although we easily bought ours from an online store.

Mike, I wonder if wood pellets would work? 40lb/$6 - about one tenth the cost of coir. The moistened pellets break apart into sawdust. Maybe you could mix them with coir. And since everything on a small boat should be dual purpose you can burn them to keep warm!

[tomfl]

Originally Posted by amstel

Mike, I wonder if wood pellets would work? 40lb/$6 - about one tenth the cost of coir. The moistened pellets break apart into sawdust. Maybe you could mix them with coir. And since everything on a small boat should be dual purpose you can burn them to keep warm!

One consideration is that some folks have found some peat moss is nuked is some kind of microwave type device that kills all insects. One of the most legit gripes is that insects have/cam be an issue in composting heads.

On the other hand the most inexpensive thing to use is coconut husk from freshly harvested coconuts. Maybe not so easy to do in all locations, but fairly easy in the tropics.

[Mike OReilly]

Originally Posted by amstel

Mike, I wonder if wood pellets would work? 40lb/$6 - about one tenth the cost of coir. The moistened pellets break apart into sawdust. Maybe you could mix them with coir. And since everything on a small boat should be dual purpose you can burn them to keep warm!

I've heard of people using sawdust, so this sounds like it should work. One person reports using dried leaves. I've only used the coir so far, but it seems that any dry loose material would work.

[Dulcesuenos]

How messy is it to empty the compost and how often for full time liveaboard?

Sent from my LG-LS980 using Cruisers Sailing Forum mobile app

[EighthWonder]

Originally Posted by Dulcesuenos

How messy is it to empty the compost and how often for full time liveaboard?

Sent from my LG-LS980 using Cruisers Sailing Forum mobile app

Anybody wanna bet he didn't start at the beginning of this thread? lol
;-)

[Mike OReilly]

Originally Posted by Dulcesuenos

How messy is it to empty the compost and how often for full time liveaboard?

I didn't chart it to the day, but we got about a month of full-time usage for two adults. This seems to be consistent with what others report.

Not hard (harder than some boat tasks, easier than others). For the NH, just snap off the top part, unscrew two bolts at the base (they have handles on them, so easy) and lift the base out. I take it ashore and dump in a shallow grave when in remote areas. In an urban area I'd probably tip the contents it into a stout trash bag. Off shore, beyond the limits, it would go over the side.

[clockwork orange]

I have an airhead, I bought it off craigslist new in the box cheap and installed it in my Gemini cat and used it on a 1500 mile 32 day delivery this past summer from Connecticut to Duluth. I was able to find the coir bricks at a little gardening store in Duluth and like them because they store so easy in a ziplock bag. We emptied the toilet 2 x in the 32 days with 3 -4 people on board for most of the trip. I find it very easy to empty, takes just a few minutes to dump it into a bag which goes in the marina dumpster when we are gassing up. I don't know about the others but Airhead recommends NOT washing out the container when you empty it and this saves a lot of time. Now that were home I expect I will start a compost pile at home for my kitchen scraps,leaves etc and I will empty the AH into a 5 gal pail and bring it home to the compost pile. I am very happy with my Airhead. On the trip it was all guys and we each kept a laundry detergent jug in our cabins so we didn't need to use the pee jug on the AH much, it is also out of consideration for others on board so you are not waking others up when you need to pee during the night.

Steve.

[EighthWonder]

Originally Posted by clockwork orange

Now that were home I expect I will start a compost pile at home for my kitchen scraps,leaves etc and I will empty the AH into a 5 gal pail and bring it home to the compost pile. I am very happy with my Airhead.

Steve.

As a word of caution if anyone is interested: If you are putting composted human waste from your marine toilet into a composter at home, that compost is no longer fit for using on any sort of vegetable garden. Many studies show and verify that that compost is unsafe to use as fertilizer for food that you will consume once composted human waste has been introduced. It can and should only be used for flower gardens, trees, lawns land fill or anything that you won't be growing for human consumption. Hope that helps.