Composting Toilets

[Ocean Girl]

Nicholson58, are you able to close the vent In case of heavy weather? I too would love to get the adaptor to fit to our nicro vent.
Thanks

[valhalla360]

We put in a natures head and it is far better than a standard head. We chose it over the air-head as the seat was adult sized. The solids tank lasts the 2 of us full time for 4-6 weeks and the liquids tank can be emptied in any shoreside toilet if you are somewhere where you can't dispose of it overboard.

It's not perfect but beats a holding tank system by a mile.

This was several years ago. If we were looking now we would consider the C-head (not sure we wouldn't choose the same but would consider it).

As far leaking out the crank hole, that means (1) you should have emptied it a week or so ago and (2) you have way too much liquid in the solids tank. Nothing is broken.

[tybee22]

I'm into my 3rd week of using a Nature's Head I installed to replace holding tank system and I couldn't be more pleased. I am a full time live aboard and love the fact that I don't have to wait for a pump-out boat or go to a pump-out station. No smell, no muss, no fuss. Since I live on a 31' Prout the holding tank was install above the toilet and I always had a fear that the "joker valve" would give out one day and I would have a back flow issue. I will never go back. I know it isn't for everyone , but for me it's the cats meow. I also like the higher seating, works very well with my old bones and artificial hip.

[Nicholson58]

Originally Posted by jongleur

58:

Thanks for the pix.

You meant Nicro vent did you not?

Where did you get that speckled white vent
cowling and the flanges on the underide of
the solar vent? Very nice installation.

Speckled white ELL comes with the AirHead. It is meant to house the fan. I put the fan in a drawer, just in case. I cut an adapter doughnut to mate the ELL to the vent.

[Mike OReilly]

Originally Posted by Kevin84

... At any rate, we both prefer a standard marine head with holding tank. In our experience, the composter was more trouble than it was worth.

I actually think this is a good point. I love our NH, and can't see us ever going back, but it's not for everyone. And more than that, there's nothing particularly wrong with a standard marine head. Used and maintained properly they can be as effective as a composter. I think my NH has some significant advantages, but there are some negatives as well.

Originally Posted by svmariane

Where do you dispose of the solid waste byproduct? I can't imagine it's legal to just offload it into the nearest rubbish bin.

I sail the Great Lakes. So far I've always been able to dump in the forest, or at home in my back acreage. If you are underway you can dump out past legal limit, just like any direct discharge. If you are stuck in such a dense urban area that you can find no place else, then I suppose a dumpster is OK. It's certainly better than soiled diapers, and people seem to dump those all the time (although when I grew up were were taught to empty the diaper into the toilet before tossing...). I also wonder if anyone has tried to dump their desiccated material into a toilet. Seems to me it would only take ~1/2-dozen flushes to slowly feed a full NH tank. And of course if you're that tied to a dense urban area, you probably have easy access to land-based facilities.

Originally Posted by svmariane

What to do - or how to explain - when entering a country that requires holding tanks? And the sub-question: what to do when the official says "We need to check your Y-valve".

"The Nature's Head composting toilet meets all "No Discharge" regulations and is a U.S Coast Guard Approved type III marine head. USCG Certification"

[nautical62]

I've installed both composting and traditional marine heads with gravity feed systems on boats I've owned.

For cruising the Bahamas on a monohull, I much prefer a traditional marine head with a gravity feed holding tank. Simply open the through hull and it drains by itself. That's much easier and more pleasant than dealing with a full bucket of half composted waste. Its also cheaper and requires no electric fan.

For small boats in areas where it's not feasible to dump, the composting head was a good solution for me, as the boat could not handle the weight or space of a large holding tank. With short cruises, I could allow the waste to finish composting after the cruise was done without having to deal with it until the composting was finished.

[Nicholson58]

Originally Posted by nautical62

I've installed both composting and traditional marine heads with gravity feed systems on boats I've owned.

For cruising the Bahamas on a monohull, I much prefer a traditional marine head with a gravity feed holding tank. Simply open the through hull and it drains by itself. That's much easier and more pleasant than dealing with a full bucket of half composted waste. Its also cheaper and requires no electric fan.

For small boats in areas where it's not feasible to dump, the composting head was a good solution for me, as the boat could not handle the weight or space of a large holding tank. With short cruises, I could allow the waste to finish composting after the cruise was done without having to deal with it until the composting was finished.

I agree totally. Once on open ocean, we are equipped to direct dump. We have the Composter because we sail the Great Lakes. There is no place legal to discharge and I would not consider dumping. We travel and anchor out places far from pump outs. A holding tank would have to be huge to accommodate people and guests for more than a few days. Travel in the North Channel will easily keep you away from pump out facilities for weeks at a time if you desire. The same is true for Lake Superior. Having to cruise plan by pump-out availability would be like driving the interstate with incontinent grandparents. I understand that there are a growing number of harbors on the Med and other places that are ZDZ and probably more to come. In many of these places, pump-out is a prohibitive cost. The composter provides another option. It is definitely a pain to haul the pot to the woods and dig a hole but that is way easier than picking up anchor to sail 30 miles or more to a pump out.

[nautical62]

Originally Posted by Nicholson58

I agree totally. Once on open ocean, we are equipped to direct dump. We have the Composter because we sail the Great Lakes. There is no place legal to discharge and I would not consider dumping. We travel and anchor out places far from pump outs. A holding tank would have to be huge to accommodate people and guests for more than a few days. Travel in the North Channel will easily keep you away from pump out facilities for weeks at a time if you desire. The same is true for Lake Superior. Having to cruise plan by pump-out availability would be like driving the interstate with incontinent grandparents. I understand that there are a growing number of harbors on the Med and other places that are ZDZ and probably more to come. In many of these places, pump-out is a prohibitive cost. The composter provides another option. It is definitely a pain to haul the pot to the woods and dig a hole but that is way easier than picking up anchor to sail 30 miles or more to a pump out.

All great points. I think our common point is that neither system is universally better, but rather one or the other may be a better choice depending on circumstances and perhaps the priorities of the boat owner.

I wouldn't power my 33 foot ocean cruising boat with an outboard and wouldn't power my 17-foot lake day sailor with an inboard. Similarly, one shouldn't choose a head based just on a comparison of the head options, but should also consider how those differences relate to the context of use.

The Great Lakes and Bahamas for example are very different environments each of which may favor differ head system options.

[GordMay]

Greetings and welcome aboard the CF, KJ4ZOY.

[Rhapsody-NS27]

I would suggest that you go to a boat show so you can see them in person first.

I removed my head in preparation for going with a composting head. I first wanted to get a Natures Head but after seeing them at Annapolis and seeing how they work, I decided to go with an Airhead instead. The main reason for the change of mind is seeing how the main tank lid opens up on the NH requires more space (a couple inches)behind the unit for it to open up so you can empty the tank. The AH only requires a twist of the seat part in order to get to the main tank. The space in my head isn't very big but I thought it good to not take up too much of it. This small detail helped me in my decision so I know what to order when the time comes.

It might help seeing them first hand to decide which would work best for your situation. They pretty much seem to operate in the same way.

[Ocean Girl]

Also, to butt in one more time

Before investing time and money to this change in sanitation system, we bought a camping composting toilet for $20, some wag bags, and two his and hers pee containers. Tried it our for a month or so, though used the camping set up for almost 4-5 months I think before the custom head was a go. It was crude but if we could handle that, then the nice comfy custom would work great. And it does

[sabray]

Still think this looks like bagging or port a potty. Without heat, ventilation, and mixing your pooping in a plastic bag. Pissing in a bucket . One more plastic bag in a landfill. The true composting systems have fans and heat to supplement the environment for microbial breakdown. I think your kidding yourselves thinking this is compost.
I compost for our garden and it takes 2 months plus of proper mixed stuff and heat and agitation to be near able to use.

[Ocean Girl]

Sebray, sorry I call it compost out if habit, it's a desiccating head. Our poo has got to go somewhere, to go into a debate about the difference between a pump out station and a compostable bag of dirt with dried up poo inside, well I'm not up to it.
But you have very good points!!

[Nicholson58]

Originally Posted by Ocean Girl

Nicholson58, are you able to close the vent In case of heavy weather? I too would love to get the adaptor to fit to our nicro vent.
Thanks

In case of heavy weather I cannot reach the vent valve. Good point. I will build an extension and port in the ELL to reach it - or place a plug nearby. Its easy to pull the hose from the ELL. So far, we've seldom had water over the deck and its never made it in the vent.

[sabray]

Originally Posted by Ocean Girl

Sebray, sorry I call it compost out if habit, it's a desiccating head. Our poo has got to go somewhere, to go into a debate about the difference between a pump out station and a compostable bag of dirt with dried up poo inside, well I'm not up to it.
But you have very good points!!

It is very different and out of habit it is not composting. Not trying to debate but you are on one hand saying its composting and them it's not .
That is not helpful it complicates what compost heads do. Gets real messy trying to figure out if this really works .