Bucket type toilet questions / recommendations

[christine]

#1: Any recommendations on what bucket to use?

I use a plain old 2 gallon bucket from The Home Depot. The 5 gallon takes up too much space. I also like how low it is, much more natural posture. I'm a fairly slim human, so the 2 gallon opening is just fine for me.

#2: How can I make sure that it will be sealed securely?

I don't bother sealing it. I store it empty but at the ready with two clean trash bags lining it. (I use 2.5 or 3 gallon trash bags). The "poo packets" as I call them are stored in a separate container with a lid, with a bit of kitty litter at the bottom to absorb the smell.

#3: How can I make sure that the bucket won't tip over during driving?

Mine doesn't tip over at all, and it's not secured to anything. But since it's always empty it wouldn't really matter if it did tip over.

#4: What can I use to make a decent cushion for the bucket

Look up "semi split polyethylene pipe insulation". I put this all around the rim, and secured it with zip ties. I drilled three three holes about 1.5 inches below the rim, and the zip ties loop through those holes and keep the pipe insulation in place. Just fold a clean plastic bag over the rim, and you've got a clean, comfortable toilet seat every time.

And don't forget the kitty litter. I keep that in a separate container.

As for the legalities of throwing away poo packets, I throw my dog's poo packets in the trash, as well as my dad's poopy diapers (he's disabled) and no cops have to the door to arrest me yet.

 

[ccbreder]

It is not illegal to put "dirty diapers" into municipal trash collection. It may be a misdemeanor to put household trash into downtown street scape trash can. But that is all household trash because they need to limit the quantity.

Here is one reference not found on CRVL.
http://thestir.cafemom.com/baby/124241/a_law_against_putting_babys?next=11

 

[Janet100]

Can I run an incinerating toilet off solar power? I saw one of these on TV, and it make the perfect sense. It literally cooks it to nothing.

I was thinking of using the Home Depot bucket myself. I do not want to deal with a portapotty, paying to dump it, holding the waste in my rig for a week till I get back home - and then having to dump it into a toilet at home... Drag.

 

[Donedirtcheap]

#1: Any recommendations on what bucket to use?

I use a plain old 2 gallon bucket from The Home Depot. The 5 gallon takes up too much space. I also like how low it is, much more natural posture. I'm a fairly slim human, so the 2 gallon opening is just fine for me.

#2: How can I make sure that it will be sealed securely?

I don't bother sealing it. I store it empty but at the ready with two clean trash bags lining it. (I use 2.5 or 3 gallon trash bags). The "poo packets" as I call them are stored in a separate container with a lid, with a bit of kitty litter at the bottom to absorb the smell.

#3: How can I make sure that the bucket won't tip over during driving?

Mine doesn't tip over at all, and it's not secured to anything. But since it's always empty it wouldn't really matter if it did tip over.

#4: What can I use to make a decent cushion for the bucket

Look up "semi split polyethylene pipe insulation". I put this all around the rim, and secured it with zip ties. I drilled three three holes about 1.5 inches below the rim, and the zip ties loop through those holes and keep the pipe insulation in place. Just fold a clean plastic bag over the rim, and you've got a clean, comfortable toilet seat every time.

And don't forget the kitty litter. I keep that in a separate container.

As for the legalities of throwing away poo packets, I throw my dog's poo packets in the trash, as well as my dad's poopy diapers (he's disabled) and no cops have to the door to arrest me yet.

http://www.cabelas.com/product/Luggable-Loo-Bucket-Lid-Toilet-Seat/713828.uts

 

[Sameer]

Fantastic IDEA! The pipe insulation is perfect and nice and soft....and replaceable when necessary!

 

[akrvbob]

I put pipe insulation around mine 6 years ago and it is still in place today after being used daily the whole time. Great idea with the zip ties, I never thought of that! I just used duct tape and it's still on there holding just fine.

Like you, I put the bag on the outside and so I never touch the insulation or the duct tape.

I've never used kitty litter or anything else. I only use mine once per bag and then it goes in the garbage. I do know many people that get multiple uses out of a bag and then you need kitty litter or peat moss to absorb the odor.

I never considered a 2 gallon bucket, but I like the idea of the lower seat for better evacuation of the bowls. I've been reading a lot lately that squatting greatly helps to totally empty them because it is so much more natural. But my bad knees don't allow me to do that. But the 2 gallon bucket could be perfect. I my that give that a try myself, thanks!!
Bob

 

[akrvbob]

Sorry, I can't help with the incinerating toilet. But there is a guy in camp with a commercial composting toilet that he is very happy with. It does use 12 volt and his solar easily provides it. That may be an alternative for you to look into.
Bob

 

[wagoneer]

while traveling through North Africa The common toilet is two bricks and a hole or squat-toilet, this is a very civilized and healthy way to eliminate, unlike the western victorian sit down style. I was startled at first but became very efficient and really began to understand the wisdom.

 

[Sameer]

I like that kind of 'toilet'. It is the most natural position to 'go'. While in Guatemala there were lots of 'hole in the floor' toilets, I liked them too. I think that is the position we are supposed to be in when we go. What do you think?

 

[wagoneer]

The rule of thumb is you use one hand to eat with and the other to wipe with you only shake hands with the one you eat with and they will cut off the hand you wipe with. nuff said. Victorian mentalities have efed up a lot of otherwise sound practices

 

[Sameer]

Very GOOD! Hahahahahhaa!

 

[Starlight]

The guy in this video got permission from his county for his version of a septic tank. It is a concrete block pit that serves as a solar sewage dehydrator. After seven years of using it there is only an inch of residue accumulated. Human waste is 90% water.


He does not put in grey water (laundry, dishwater) but allows those to drain onto his lawn (using soaps that will biodegrade). Soil and sand act as a filter, and the sun bleaches and purifies. (I would use a sand pit as a greywater drainage site, but hey.)

People who use composting toilets add sawdust that they get free from carpentry shops or home carpenters. The best mix is wood ash and sawdust. This reportedly keeps the bucket odorless. I would think that if one were disposing of waste in public dumpsters that enough sawdust would be added to a container to solidify the contents to keep them "contained" if the bag broke.

From what I gathered on another post in this forum, the main complaint about disposing of such waste is that as a liquid, it is not really contained. It needs something to make it solid so that even if a bag broke, it would not travel in the compacting trash trucks. Give a good squeeze and you have it everywhere. Not cool. Diapers contain the waste within them.

As for the post that mentioned that large cities were selling their dehydrated human waste to farmers ---

Near the panhandle of Oklahoma, a group of men in suits came to town looking for farmers who would take their east coast human waste product. The understanding was that it would be something really good for them... or it wasn't understood. Well, the contracts were signed, I hear... and the big city on the east coast was about to begin hauling it to them... when it was discovered that before shipping, all the nitrogen would be drawn out of the waste product. I think there was a lawsuit. I think the whole county was involved in trying to keep this dump out of their area.

Human waste is full of all those medications we take, and these cannot be easily removed if at all. This processed "wastewater" is downstream from every city. These farmers decided that they didn't want 3 feet deep of dead waste product on their farmland at any price.

As for "natural" -- we've done everything wrong that can be done wrong. The way we farm mono-culturally... wrong. The way we herd animals... wrong. Design of cities... wrong.
"Two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity; and I'm not sure about the universe." -- Albert Einstein

The best way to handle our human waste is pretty much what this guy had come up with... let the sun bleach it out and dry it up, and leave the byproduct in a concrete pit. It will take decades to fill his small pit up, and during that time, it will be burned to ash by the sun.

---

Cotton T-shirt fabric has endless uses, one of which is as an alternative to toilet paper. Cut into small or large squares, moisten with water, rinse out after use with a water/borax solution and dry in the sun. Wash with your towels, adding borax to the wash.

 

[VanLifeCrisis]

I started using kitty litter. At first i got the cheaper stuff, and it would smell after a day. They ran out of the cheap stuff so i splurged on some arm and hammer kitty litter and it was like night and day. I think it smelled better after i went lol It can go several days and even when it starts to smell it isnt a waste order, more of a wierd chemically smell. I highly recommend arm & hammer kitty litter if you are going to go that route.

 

[Canine]

I recently tested the sawdust/5 gallon bucket toilet. I bought a TravelJohn toilet seat made for gallon buckets along with the Humanure book. I used Pine sawdust because that works the best to keep odors down. Cedar shavings might work well, too; will experiment with that in the future. Buying sawdust is cheap. Get it free if you can, but buying it won't break the bank.

I started off with about 4 inches on the bottom then would cover my "presents" with about 1 inch of sawdust. That wasn't enough. 2 inches (6 centimeters) worked MUCH better. I didn't separate my urine- everything went into one bucket. To keep odors down, when I went #2, I placed a lid on the seat for an hour then took the lid off- no odor. I like keeping the lid off as I suspect keeping it dry will help with odor.

Urine is what smells really bad after a short time. It putrefies. Turds smell bad at first, but they stop smelling a short time later. After filling the bucket about 2/3 full, I put a lid on for over 2 weeks it to keep it from drying out and to encourage anaerobic bacteria to grow. That is what really gets stinking. BAD!

At the end of 2 weeks, I took the lid off. Then waited for the odor to blow me over, but that didn't happen. Then I stuck my face in the bucket and smelled. I could barely smell the urine. That is how well this worked for me. If I empty that once a week, I can't foresee any problems. Not to be gross, but I wanted to test diarrhea, but didn't have any and wasn't that dedicated to give myself soft stool for the benefit of science.

I then place the bucket with the lid off in the Dumpster during a warm week. 6 days of percolating in there did nothing to increase odor. Hard to believe, but it worked great for me.

I know of a lady who uses wood stove pellets as cat litter for her many cats. She quit using clay because it was heavy, expensive, and didn't work as well as Feline Pine. She then went to wood stove pellets because those are far cheaper. I can attest first hand that the odor went down. And clay doesn't decompose, but wood products do. I am going to try wood pellets as well. They might be more absorbent for liquids.

 

[LarryDeanJackson]

I meant to post on this thread but posted on another. So if you see this same post on another thread that is what happened (sorry).

If you are going to poo and bag then why not use this: LINK: goo.gl/bKkHNL (It is Amazon, I used Google URL shortener). Then after you bag. Fold this up out of the way. Worth the money?

 

[wagoneer]

3 gallon bucket double bag with peat moss closed with a Gamma Lid

 

[Spaceman Spiff]

If you are going to poo and bag then why not use this: LINK: goo.gl/bKkHNL

Some of my reasons:

1. Cost - 5 gal. bucket = free, toilet seat = free, primary bags = currently free
2. Storage - no place to store it.  It stores flatter but bigger in the other two directions.
3. Waste management - what do you do with the bag after use?  Bucket? now you have two things to store.
4. Mess containment - what happens if the bags break?  My 5 gal bucket isn't going to leak.
5. Structure - how much weight can this hold and how stable is it?

 -- Spiff

 

[Ken in Anaheim]

That's the nice thing about *Prius camping........since our s**t don't stink we just poop in a bag till it's full.....
KinA

* AKA  "Pious" campers