Composting Toilets

[Mule]

Dumping Update, crap review or the shi+ chronicles:

After 2 weeks +- of usage of Natures Head I have experienced no smell, the best I can tell she is composting as advertised. I have not run an assay of the contents, nor do I anticipate doing so, however from all outward appearances it is all good. I added 2 cups of peat moss today and some septic tank enzyme Rid-X just to be cautious and to help things along. I cut off a plug of toilet tank tablet and put it in the pee jug, though I have yet to smell anythg bad.

Keep an eye on the pee bucket, if it overfills...well, ugh, never mind.

ring me up as a happy customer.

[knothead]

Originally Posted by Mule

Keep an eye on the pee bucket, if it overfills...well, ugh, never mind.

It's amazing how quick one can fill up a bottle. I blame it on Old Milwaukee.

Thanks for the report. I think it's great that there is a place where this can be discussed.

[clockwork orange]

In the 2005/06 winter i worked with a guy who was a skipper on a charter schooner out of NYC which used the 5 gal pail and sawdust system which he said was very common on the windjammer cruise boats in maine,they carried plenty of extra pails and lids and they emptied them at the local municipal compost place,i assume where they compost yard waste,he said it was a much better solution on a charter boat.
Steve.

[hummingway]

Extra buckets? I haven't room to store things I want on board let alone buckets of excrement! I'm hoping the Nature's Head will function well without a lot of extra "cover" material since the end goal is to be able to cruise without carrying a supply equal the amount of s*** created on board :-(

I haven't removed the hoding tank and pipes yet and am looking forward to having the space they take up available for storage, even if I'm not looking forward to the task of removing them.

[clockwork orange]

Ok hum,sorry if i confused you,my comment was based on the lovable loo type of composter which wildshore had posted a link to which is a very simple unit which is meant to be emptied into the compost heap down in the garden,obviously not suitable for our needs but very suitable for use on a 65ft schooner which takes 49 people out for a couple of hours and then returns to the dock where buckets can be taken ashore,clearly a natures head or Airhead is not going to work well for this service.
Steve.

[hummingway]

Ah yes. I dont think the pee jar on the NH would last the first fifteen minutes with 49 people.

[ImaginaryNumber]

Originally Posted by Brent Swain

I made up a weather cocking top for my vent pipe out of a 2 inc ABS elbow and a 2 inch ABS coupling with a short lenght of 2 inch ABS pipe. I put it on a pivot with a counterbalance, and put a tail fin on it, so the opening will always point downwind. Draws well without the fan in strong winds , but I leave the fan on in case it falls calm.

Brent
I'm having trouble visualizing your system. I don't suppose you could post a drawing?
Thanks,
John

[sarafina]

Some thoughts on the coast guard rules. After much reading I think that what I am dealing with is two systems.

The solid waste is a holding system which contains fecal matter and is not discharged in ANYway into the water.

The urine is a different system, collected separately, and does not seem to actually come under the legal verbiage for a type III in the Coast Guard documents. The CG refers to a system that; "produces an effluent having a fecal coliform bacteria count not greater than 1,000 per 100 milliliters and no visible floating solids" for dischargable waste in the type I and II systems. Urine has NO coliform bacteria. It essentially leaves the body already treated and meets the discharge requirement.

Does this make sense to anyone else?

[wildshore]

Makes sense to me, but sense and regulations often don't play well with one another.

I suspect you're right, though, urine does seem to come under that heading. I wonder how one would discreetly inquire of the CG if that were the case? Would love to know but would hate to set precedent and erase some possible wiggle room....hmmm ....

[knothead]

I can't see how it would ever be a problem unless you poured out a bottle right in front of someone. Who's gonna do that? I can't see anyone asking to measure the contents of one's pee bottle and calculating that it must have been poured overboard. I'm pretty sure that the Coast Guard has better things to do.

[idpnd]

I find them rather pricey considering their simple internals.. There must be a cheap kit somewhere..

[ConradG]

Also, just might want to dump it right away as urine does leave the body 'clean' but it is ripe medium for growth. Microbial ubiquity. It's only a matter of time. Good point about the possibility of falling under a different system though. Although if it did, I would think that the manufacturers would be touting it.
In any case, as far as the waters go, it is an addition of fertilizer I think there is some concern about balance and the aquatic environment.
Probably better to let the sleeping dogs lay. It would be a shame to lose the option altogether in some backfire. However, the coastguard themselves have N H on some of their boats.

[ConradG]

Also, the wording in the regs I read stated that holing tanks and systems installed before suck a date did not have to have a certification number implying that those installed after that date need one. Does anyone know about that? And does anyone who has a comercial unit know if they are indeed specifacally approaved? As I said, I asked one manufacturer and he sent me the regs that are referenced in this thread but no specific cert by the CG..
Yes they are pricey but NH looks like a quality unit and still is on par with conventional alternatives pricewise and ahead of them in so many other respects.

[sarafina]

Originally Posted by idpnd

I find them rather pricey considering their simple internals.. There must be a cheap kit somewhere..

There is; google eco privy kit. link is up above a couple of times as well.

On the urine storage. Someone mentioned adding bleach to kill smell and it raised an issue for me. Urine makes ammonia, right? and bleach added to ammonia makes chlorine gas (mustard gas for all the old ww II vets)

Potential problem here?

[ConradG]

That ought to kill the smell!
Interesting. But those little pucks sold to put in your land toilet are cl based...not that that means anything.
Sara, having scoped the regs some, what's your take on the requirements for heads and their systems to be approved? NH has the type 3 section highlighted as though it is where it falls along with the ambiguous wording on certification but no ref. to any specific certification.....