Woman's Forum: Potty Issues

I realize that the guys all say to pee separate from poo, but for those of us females who normally do them together, how do you handle it? I have a composting toilet my husband built and it is comfortable, easy to use, etc., but i'm not sure about disposal. My husband will be pulling my 28" travel trailer with his 1 ton Dodge Van that he has converted to an rv for himself. This isn't an issue for him, but me, it is. Any advise would be welcome. :huh:

There's actually different types of 'composting' toilets out there on the market. A true composting toilet isn't likely to be too effective on the road since it takes months for the composting to take effect. We've used a composting toilet system at the summer home for over a decade without a problem but it's not a small unit by any means and it's not mobile.

The separating toilet such as the ones at http://www.c-head.com/ have instructions on how to deal with the waste. Maybe you can figure out some adaptation of the separating toilet that will work with what hubbie has built.

I have used and built many composters.
They work very well in stationary situations.
The commercial units are both pricey and large in a van.
I understand you will be in a TT (travel trailer).
Could your hubby add a urine separator for you. ..it will make your experience more pleasant. There are two styles available premade online and only require a hose to either a tank or container inside or outside. Dump you container by watering trees and plants. Or if you prefer into a toilet.
Search online for natural/permie communities to visit on your travels and you may be able to donate your solids to thier already established humanure composter.

Just - Simply sharing ideas.

simply lesa said:

Search online for natural/permie communities to visit on your travels and you may be able to donate your solids to thier already established humanure composter.

Just - Simply sharing ideas.

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Good idea!!

In the PERSONAL HYGIENE Compostable Garbage Bags for Bucket Toilet thread, I posted this, which I found several years ago:
"On the road when my kids were little they had to go when they had to
go... I came up with this idea which worked beautifully.
I took an old Colander...there are different sizes but I used one that
would fit in the john... the 35 foot Trailer I had was not self contained like today's Travel Trailers, it had to be connected to trailer park sewer systems or what ever went in it went straight down to the ground.
..If I needed it when we were on the road and there was no place in
sight to stop like a gas station...usually the only place...
I'd find a spot to pull off the road that had grass & weeds...and I put
that colander in the bucket/toilet with a sheet of newspaper
lining it and a couple sheets wadded up and stuffed inside it..."I never
tore up any strips. This allowed the liquid to go thru' to the ground outside but collected the solids in the paper which I then deposited in a bigger paper grocery bag..."no plastic bags in the 50's" and that I closed and put in a wastebasket under the bathroom counter until I could find a place for trash and get rid of it...It was the cleanest idea I could come up with and it worked."
There's a bit more in that response. Maybe something like this can work for you, even with your present pot.

My system in my van is not 100%, but I can do a fairly good job with it. The liquid collection might work with your composter situation.

For urine, I use an oval plastic "canister" I buy from Dollar Tree. (It comes with a lid that has a pull up round opening so you can keep cereal or such in it and pour, but I discard this.) I think the size I use is about a 1.5 quarts? So, with this, a standing position is fine. The collected liquid is then easily poured into a large liquid laundry detergent bottle (which I empty into a vault toilet or such when convenient).

If you take care of collecting your liquid first, then the solids are mostly kept separate. I use a fancier bucket style for poo, lined with a kitchen garbage bag. I sprinkle in a bit of clumping kitty litter. The bag is then folded and rolled to go into a quart freezer bag (prevents orders or leakage) which is put into my garbage for disposal. I know this is not environmentally friendly and I hate that, but it works for me and I think of how many soiled baby diapers go into landfills each day to ease my conscience.

This is what I do when camping in my van.  If there is a decent campground toilet I will use that for #2 if feasible.  But no way am I going out in the rain/dark/cold to walk somewhere to poop.

The bag is then folded and rolled to go into a quart freezer bag (prevents orders or leakage) which is put into my garbage for disposal. I know this is not environmentally friendly and I hate that, but it works for me and I think of how many soiled baby diapers go into landfills each day to ease my conscience.  

To help ease your conscience further, there are no laws that I know of against disposing of solid waste in garbage.  As you stated, poopy diapers are thrown in the garbage, and also ostomy bags.  There is no requirement to empty the ostomy bags before disposal.  You can stop being so hard on yourself!

Roadtramp said:

To help ease your conscience further, there are no laws that I know of against disposing of solid waste in garbage.  As you stated, poopy diapers are thrown in the garbage, and also ostomy bags.  There is no requirement to empty the ostomy bags before disposal.  You can stop being so hard on yourself!

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Good point about the ostomy bags. I didn't even think about this. My late hubby dealt with ostomy bags nearly 2 years before he passed. He was never ONCE advised to dispose of them in any other way than throw them into the garbage. (we did double bag seal them and throw them into the dumpster, something about how much colon was removed and the smell was not pleasant, to say the least)

I, too, use an oval shaped container for #1. Right now there is an abundance of empty clean Blue Bunny ice cream containers in this house, and they stack nicely for easy storage. For the other, I have one of those hassock potties (shorter than a 5 gal bucket), bagged with some kitty litter.

You 'possibly' could try one of those pee things to divert if you must go at the same time, or can't take care of #1 first. I have a P-style, but have not yet tried this at the same time (to divert #1 into a separate container), so I can not yet comment how effective this will be, lol. I'm sure I will have to at one point, just to see how it goes, haha. Just a thought.

I know this is an old post, but every so often I see the reference to using kitty litter. I'm assuming that you mean clay litter (clumping or non-clumping). Why would you want to use something that is so HEAVY? Sawdust works better: it limits odor better, is lighter, and cheaper. Many places sell bark, sawdust, gravel, soil, compost, etc. The last time I bought sawdust it cost $13 for a cubic yard (27 cubic feet). I kept two 5-gallon buckets in the van and when I was low, I stopped at one of those places and walked into the office and asked if I could buy two buckets-worth of sawdust. Only one guy refused, the others usually charged about $2, "a buck a bucket". One charged me $5 for two buckets, but that's still a lot cheaper than kitty litter.

Good point TrainChaser,

I have seen a lot of post about composting toilets and they use sawdust, I would think it's a good idea as well to use instead of kitty litter. Lighter and cheaper and since the idea is to not keep the waste in the van (or vehicle of choice) then it'll be disposed of quickly so you won't need the litter for odor control.

I'm going to test out pet bedding which can be picked up just about anywhere from feed stores to the local Wally World.  Being I'm going to have a half ton packed close to capacity weight will be an issue and bedding material weighs much less than litter.  It also expands when pulled loose so there's a lot more in that bag than it appears.

Last winter I got a good method going. I use a pee funnel for liquids and pee into a gallon jug.

For solids I use a bucket with coconut fiber as the absorbent. It's this stuff. https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B003...Code=xm2&pc_redir=T1&tag=duckduckgo-iphone-20

The coconut fiber is very absorbent. I had no smell. The block is super compressed. That 10 pounds would easily last me 6 months of daily use. The block is not much bigger than a large shoebox.

NomadicNotions, like you I do both together - pee and poo at the same time. Even though there has been suggestions for doing them separate, the answer I'm still looking for is how does one deal with that specific issue?

I use a separating toilet that solves that problem rather nicely.

After a lot of research and years of dealing with porta potties and RV toilets/holding tanks I am really pleased with how the C-Head is working out.

I use no chemicals, pay no dump fees, don't have to deal with holding tanks and low clearance from discharge valves. A pack of pine bedding from W/M every 6 weeks or so is my only cost of operation.

I kind of cringed about the initial cost but then my old accounting habits kicked in. The weekly cost of dump stations and the cost of chemicals added up against the initial cost of the toilet - about 1 1/4 years to recoup my investment...not a bad ROI!

And more importantly, NO smell from the toilet. Okay, dumping the solids compartment is NOT a field of roses but doing it only once every 3 weeks or so is tolerable as compared to the alternatives.

towhee said:

The coconut fiber is very absorbent. I had no smell. The block is super compressed. That 10 pounds would easily last me 6 months of daily use. The block is not much bigger than a large shoebox.

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I may try this idea because the shape/position/however you want to think of it of my girlie parts does not agree well with the separation method so I need super absorbancy.  I gave that fight up long ago!

Have two toilets? Just so you don't confuse them, paint the lid of one yellow and the other brown.

I share your issue but its still possible to use a separating toilet.

I built my own, it even passed BCs inspection as a functional toilet. When I installed the funnel I used as a unine separator I had it ride high on the back. I could literally position myself, and feel the rim of the funnel, although it barely brushed my body.

Only on one occasion when I wasn't well & had loose stools was there any mess beyond a normal regular wiping when I changed the collection bottle daily. Poop went straight down into the 'pit'.

I vented the whole box, used coconut coir & I stirred mine rather than just building a layered pile. I was experimenting. I am just building a new one & plan to buy the guts from a nature's head this time. It worked but I want the ease of their agitator. Their seat looks a nightmare to clean though.

TrainChaser said:

Have two toilets?  Just so you don't confuse them, paint the lid of one yellow and the other brown.

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To put it politely I wouldn't be able to go one then hop to another toilet to do the other, let alone have room for 2 in the van.

Hippiechk said:

I share your issue but its still possible to use a separating toilet.

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Keep in mind everyone is not built the same and unfortunately no, at this time it is not possible for me.  I've tried many styles including experimenting with my own builds.