The Almighty Head Thread

[barnakiel]

Private? You mean with the door or something?

I think many small boats will have toilets with doors. The problem is that in a 26' boat, even with the door closed shut ...


b.

[Therapy]

Originally Posted by oblivionboyj

What is the power requirement to run one of the composting toilets?

Edit...
I see that the C-Head model you just posted uses a hand crank.
That makes this model very attractive to me.

Most I have read about suggest an air duct using a "computer" fan. This means you have to have a battery and charging for it. Small draw for sure but not zero.

[oblivionboyj]

How often do you have to empty the solids from the C-head?

Emptying the liquid several times a day and peeing sitting down are a small price to pay for low maintenance and ease of use.
I'm also attracted to the extra storage I'd get from not needing a storage tank.

[fryewe]

I installed a C-head earlier this year in a boat I restored.

It is clean. It doesn't smell (unless...I'll get to that in a minute). It is simple. It is cost effective. It uses no electricity (unless you want to vent it and I don't...and you can vent it by using the Venturi effect at the vent pipe outlet rather than a fan). It requires no through hulls so it improves safety.

I started using it during the later part of the boat's restoration. That was in March. I didn't empty the solids until the bucket filled up because I wanted to do a smell test with it unvented. I emptied it last week. It never smelled even in the hot north Florida weather other than a slight musty odor when the lid was lifted...which was not unpleasant.

As a test I didn't empty the gallon pee bottle with it sitting in the head in the closed boat less than half full for two weeks. It stunk up the whole boat. I emptied it and sprayed the bottle with KaBoom and washed it out with water and put it back in the head. The smell was gone (if I had left it longer the smell may have permeated things but it didn't in this case).

As a result of my tests and visiting service station bathrooms for half a century I am convinced that the distasteful smell is overwhelmingly due to the urine rather than the number 2. Separate it and empty the bottle frequently and you have a smell-free system. That's what C-head is. It's not recommended that you leave the pee bottle sitting in the head partially filled for long periods. Empty it as often as you can.

As far as the bugs go...you put a cup or so of diatomaceous earth (available in big box store garden shops) in the head with the peat moss and any insect larvae are killed (not a pesticide...it is a fine natural crystal with really sharp edges that cut the larvae and cause them to die). This trick is included in the recommendations from the vendor. Who...by the way...gives GREAT customer service.

I like the C-head so well I am going to pull the head and holding tank/piping/three way valve/macerator (all new and unused) out of my other boat and install a C-head in it. In the holding tank location I can add another 200+ ampere hours of house battery. I can glass over the pump-out connection hole and the sea connection for flushing water and the at sea discharge connection (which is in a locker in the head and the hose and sea valve take about half the locker volume. This locker is where the compost and diatomaceous earth will be stowed).

Oh BTW. Embarrassingly I spilled a bit of the contents of the composting bucket on the deck when I was emptying it into a garbage bag. Here is the photo of the result...



It was dirt...nothing but dirt...with NO smell. Maybe I got lucky. But it was just dirt.

Amazing.

[Therapy]

Originally Posted by oblivionboyj

How often do you have to empty the solids from the C-head?

Emptying the liquid several times a day and peeing sitting down are a small price to pay for low maintenance and ease of use.
I'm also attracted to the extra storage I'd get from not needing a storage tank.

Obviously it depends on how much you put in it over how much time.

Suggest searching personal blogs on it. I have read many and it seems it can work for 2 living aboard full time without too much difficulty. More than that I think it can get iffy. But I don't own one. So I only know what others have said.

One of the others is the guy that came up with the C-head. He found the other two competitors units both too large and too expensive. He designed his own and made some for others. Smaller, cheaper, easier to use. He somehow was convinced to manufacture and now offers them for sale.

From all I have read it is the one I would go out and buy.

For the OP - Weekending on a boat like you said you will do the composting toilet will work quite well for you. Even if you have only a small solar panel running the fan only at night. Call C-head (after you go through the FAQs on the site) and ask questions for your specifics.

I don't know the man but kept up with his input on a members-only forum during the years he was thinking, drawing, designing, testing etc. http://www.scribd.com/doc/98088793/C-Head-Story

[oblivionboyj]

We use the diatomaceous eart all the time to control pests.
We put it in the dogs food and it keeps flies off his poop.
We mix it with water and spray the mixture on the south wall of our house to stop stink big infestations.
We sprinkled it in the crawlspaces; no ants.
We spray the mixture on our peaches and apples and the beetles leave the fruit alone.
We sprinkle it in the bedding of the chicken coop.
It also makes a great dewormer, taken orally, for mammals (including humans).
Great stuff

[Therapy]

Originally Posted by oblivionboyj

We use the diatomaceous eart all the time to control pests.
We put it in the dogs food and it keeps flies off his poop.
We mix it with water and spray the mixture on the south wall of our house to stop stink big infestations.
We sprinkled it in the crawlspaces; no ants.
We spray the mixture on our peaches and apples and the beetles leave the fruit alone.
We sprinkle it in the bedding of the chicken coop.
It also makes a great dewormer, taken orally, for mammals (including humans).
Great stuff

That is the same stuff as the pool filters use?

Not used in a composting head though.

[oblivionboyj]

Originally Posted by Therapy

That is the same stuff as the pool filters use?

Not used in a composting head though.

Why wouldn't you use it in a composting head?
It has no effect on bacterial and waste breakdown.
It only has an effect of controlling insects and arachnids.
I have no idea if its used in pools.
We buy it in 50lb bags at an Amish store down the road.
They spread it on their fields to control insects.

[SailorSlick]

Originally Posted by ranger42c

Slick, does "Lake Pepin on SE Minnesota" have marinas and fuel docks with pump-out facilities? If so, you have more choices, if not, you'll be limited.

Yes, there are approximately 6 marina's on this section of the Mississippi River(of which Lake Pepin is a part of), some of them have pump out stations.

But after reading all the excellent advice and discussion here, I'm going with a C-Head, hands down the best solution for us.

Many thanks to all who contributed their wisdom. This thread is only the first of many questions I have and advice I will seek(but I promise to use the search function first).

[Therapy]

Originally Posted by oblivionboyj

Why wouldn't you use it in a composting head?
.

I don't know. Maybe someone that has experience with it will say.

I do know I use it in my pool filter. And it is very bad for you if you breathe it in. I know it is inert but apparently it is bad for the lungs.

Amazon.com: Diatomaceous Earth Pool Filter D.E. 25 LBS.: Patio, Lawn & Garden