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pzmaria · 29-01-2020, 11:48

Hello memmbers, I would like to hear all your opinions and observations comparing a clasic head with macerator and thru hull discharge versus composting head. All the good, bad and ugly on both systems. Thanks for all your input.

pzmaria

Woodland Hills · 29-01-2020, 11:57

Seriously? Are you unable to use a search button? If you are unable then simply scroll back a few days in the new posts for more verbiage and opinions than one can stand. This topic has been covered and recovered in a dozen threads over the past year. We don’t need another one.

pzmaria · 29-01-2020, 12:05

You're right. I'll do that first and than ask questions.

Mike OReilly · 29-01-2020, 12:12

Hi pzmaria, WH is correct that it is something that has been discussed a fair bit. A search will turn up a number of threads.

I'll summarize that those (of us) who own and use composters generally like them a lot. The vast majority of negative comments come from people who have never owned one. It's one of the topics that seems to generate a lot of uniformed, but strongly held, opinion.

If you're seriously considering going to a composter, there are a large and growing number of users here who are more than happy to help. Don't hesitate to ask.

mvweebles · 29-01-2020, 12:53

From a few months ago. Exam question: for owners with compost heads, would you do it again? Overwhelming response was yes

http://www.cruisersforum.com/forums/...d.php?t=224093

Mike OReilly · 29-01-2020, 13:27

Just remembered about the poll I ran last year.

Head Poll v2.0 - what type do you have?

Gives a breakdown of what kinds of heads people are using (at least of CF members who respond to head questions

).

sailorboy1 · 29-01-2020, 13:32

People like the head they have. If they didn't they would replace it.

2 weeks now with with my electric fresh water head, i like it a LOT.

I would never as a cruiser switch to a composter and deal with a bucket of pee all the time. But to lots its like a cult.

Islander30Jo · 29-01-2020, 13:57

Although there are a lot of threads/posts about the topic, I have a few items to mention on the benefits of composting toilet on a boat.
I personally bought a boat without a working head and enjoyably purchased a nature's head composting toilet. Haven't ever felt like it was the wrong choice, ever. The main benefit is the lack of smell. Regular heads even if regularly cleaned and emptied, still smell. To me its a smell that most people refer to as boat smell where my boat has no smell. As all the plastic hoses and holding tanks get old, they tend to soak up the raw waste and smell themselves which even smell in boats that owners never use. Its the years of sewage sitting in them constantly that you just cant get the smell out of. All of that being said, the composting toilet has zero smell and is super simple. Nothing about it can fail in the same way that a regular head can such as a pipe cracking, maceration pump going out, or just stuff getting blocked up inside the pipe. The composting head is a glorified bucket in a good way that it is either working or full and in need of emptying. I do not live on my boat but have heard from liveaboards online that composting heads need the solids emptied every 2-3 months (assuming 2 adults aboard full time) and the liquids emptied about every 3-5 days. The liquids might be a slight negative on needing to empty more often, but its clean and easy so not to big of an inconvenience. In my mind, and experience, the simplicity of a composting head with zero smell is such a massive benefit over the smell and complexity (not very complex but many parts have the ability to break or get old and leak/ get clogged) to a regular head. On top of all this, the composting head takes only slightly more room in bowl size and most of it is in height rather than more footprint in the head area. Composting toilets have everything right there at the toilet (once again simplicity is key for almost 0 maintenance) where a normal head will need many hoses, another thru-hull for discharge, a deck discharge thru-hull, and majorly a holding tank taking up valuable room under a v-berth or settee. Composting head gives you a lot more room, looks normal, and uses zero water (another valuable resource on a boat)
For those who will make a comment about waste tanks smelling when using saltwater and less so when using freshwater...this is true (saltwater will make them smell worse due to much more nutrient/bacteria present) but both will smell. The smelly part of sewage is actually the solids being mixed with liquids, if you keep them separate, they don't have a strong odor and in composting material the solids will mainly smell like dirt which I've actually never smelt since I have a small cabin top vent running on a small solar fan.

Mike OReilly · 29-01-2020, 15:28

I concur Islander30Jo. Just one addendum though, most users of Nature's Head/Air Head tend to go about three to six weeks between dumps. This is for full time, two adults. Two to three days for the pee bucket.

As for being a cult, I guess people who know something about these heads like to share our knowledge, much like any other cruising tool like diesel engines or solar system. Or kinda like the cult of those who count every penny I suppose

.

carlosproa · 29-01-2020, 15:55

I have a delicate question: how do you deal for those times when there is diarrhea or for some people with very runny stool? I understand the urine goes one way an the bowl movement another way so to minimize liquid.
Is a serious question - thanks

sailorboy1 · 29-01-2020, 16:11

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mike OReilly

Two to three days for the pee bucket.

.

What do you do with that on day 4? Pour it in some other container? Or do you pour it overboard and do the rules game?

Montanan · 29-01-2020, 16:29

Islander30Jo · 29-01-2020, 16:31

To comment on diarrhea, don't worry about it. As long as you do not have it several days in a row to add a lot of liquid into the container, it will just mix into the dry peat moss/ coconut choir which will be able to still compost this. I sometimes even add a few cups of water into mine to keep the microbes going if im away from the boat for too long.

To comment on what you do when the pee container is full - it depends on what composting toilet brand you use but for the nature's head version, it is its own container that is removable (Google natures head and youll quickly find the container is easily sealed and removed). You simply unlock the container when its getting close to the top, pop the cap on top to seal the container and either walk the container to a bathroom at your dock and pour into the toilet, you might be able to pour it into a garden if you own one and want the extra nutrients, or dump it overboard if you are outside of the 3NM coastal zone. To be specific, dumping the urine into a marine wont actually do much harm but this is strictly illegal in most marinas. I believe it to be a blanket rule which would be more important for the solids as that is where all the bad bacteria would be as urine is fully sterile (to you) and fairly sterile in the environment. Not recommending you dump the urine in the marina or would encourage it, just giving my extra 2 cents that the nasty part of waste is the solids and not really the urine for the most part.

Montanan · 29-01-2020, 16:32

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mike OReilly

I concur Islander30Jo. Just one addendum though, most users of Nature's Head/Air Head tend to go about three to six weeks between dumps. This is for full time, two adults. Two to three days for the pee bucket.

As for being a cult, I guess people who know something about these heads like to share our knowledge, much like any other cruising tool like diesel engines or solar system. Or kinda like the cult of those who count every penny I suppose

.

Mike:

Going three to six weeks between taking a dump, now that is being constipated to the extreme.