Has anyone considered an aerobic composting toilet?

Van Living Forum

Help Support Van Living Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
I had to suspend the Bokashi Fermentation experiment (composting cat feces). I couldn't keep up with the litter box upkeep (I don't know how people do it!). I was planning to shred the paper clutter in the house and convert it to litter, and hadn't even started that project. So for now, she continues to use the toilet until I can catch up. :(

I disagree that the anaerobic process is odor-free. It has a distinctive odor that I find nauseating. Though, maybe I'm doing something wrong.

My turn came up at the library for the Humanure Handbook; and I'm learning lots. (Wow...are we making a mess of our planet!)
 
I have been using a 2.5 gallon bucket and about 4 baby wipes each time I "leave a pooh". I can comfortably squat over it in the morning to take care of business. The resulting goodness is then dumped in a metal 55 gallon drum and rinsed and dumped in that same drum. I followed some instructions on a biogas website in how to make the lid using various Size's of PVC pipes and silicone sealant. I can't seem to find the page now but when I do I will update this thread. But I have filled two drums and the resulting gas is biogas which I save in cheap inflatable raft. I had hoped to get enough biogas to convert a propane cook top. But my resulting digesters seam not to be totally sealed tight. The summer is coming to a close and I am moving out of my mini van into something larger so I believe I am going to just compost the resulting humanity.
I am definitely going to go the route of the composting toilet for my new build. I recommend the biogas if someone can figure out a way to build a digester for an RV toilet.

Sent from my Alcatel_5044R using Tapatalk
 
Pardon the auto correct mistakes. But in the beginning of this experiment I was able to almost completely fill the inflatable raft with the biogas.
Also I am composting the humanure here on the farm where I am currently squatting.

Sent from my Alcatel_5044R using Tapatalk
 
Gypsy Clipper said:
"Pardon the auto correct mistakes.  ..."

Lol...I thought it was an appropriate play on words...either way that one takes it!
 
I'd learned lots reading that Humanure handbook!
Now I'm wondering if, like black water disposal sites, are there humanure composting sites?
 
Most references to "composting toilets" are actually a misnomer, since few people are actually taking the contents to put into a garden anywhere; most are just going into the landfill - in plastic bags. The only connection is that both use compostable materials to cover and hopefully absorb odors. We need a new name for this design that probably never results in useful compost.

For those who like the idea of NOT USING WATER (and not having to drive extra and pay for doing the potentially messy work of dumping), dry toilets are definitely worth considering.

I use a Separette, which separates pee from "solids" (via front and back chutes), which greatly improves odor control. Folks can use dirt, peat moss, coconut coir, cedar shavings (used for small pet bedding), and even solid sheets of newspaper. Since the two-chute part, with cheap or decent seat and lid, costs $139 - $!99 - and still requires a base (minimum: $3.00 five-gallon paint bucket; fancy: build a lovely box around it), I've tried to approximate the Separette design and know other friends who've tried it too, with mixed success using various plastic funnels and such. I finally spent $199, and I'm very happy with the thing. There are many "marine" and "composting" toilets between $800-$1,000, so in comparison, this is a decent deal.

The pee container gets emptied outdoors, little here, little there, every morning. When boondocking, the solids are sometimes removed daily into an outdoor airtight receptacle, but sometimes, depending on the temperature and how much cover material I use, I can wait a few days. When in town, those bags get dropped into an appropriate trash receptacle daily. What's appropriate? Not at a business' front door in the sun in summer - that sort of consideration!

Super happy to no long have to do the dump run, pay the dump fees, conduct the smelly process, carry the weight of all that water and waste, and waste precious water!
 
Jean Selene said:
Most references to "composting toilets" are actually a misnomer, since few people are actually taking the contents to put into a garden anywhere; most are just going into the landfill - in plastic bags.  The only connection is that both use compostable materials to cover and hopefully absorb odors.  We need a new name for this design that probably never results in useful compost.

For those who like the idea of NOT USING WATER (and not having to drive extra and pay for doing the potentially messy work of dumping), dry toilets are definitely worth considering.

I use a Separette, which separates pee from "solids" (via front and back chutes), which greatly improves odor control.  Folks can use dirt, peat moss, coconut coir, cedar shavings (used for small pet bedding), and even solid sheets of newspaper.  Since the two-chute part, with cheap or decent seat and lid, costs $139 - $!99 - and still requires a base (minimum:  $3.00 five-gallon paint bucket; fancy: build a lovely box around it), I've tried to approximate the Separette design and know other friends who've tried it too, with mixed success using various plastic funnels and such.

 I finally spent $199, and I'm very happy with the thing.  

The pee container gets emptied outdoors, little here, little there, every morning.  When boondocking, the solids are sometimes removed daily into an outdoor airtight receptacle, but sometimes, depending on the temperature and how much cover material I use, I can wait a few days.  

:) Firstly....Hello and Welcome

I used to travel 1 or 2 times a week from OK to Phoenix.  AZ has some pretty country, I've just never spent much time in desert areas.  It sure sounds nice to be able to summer in a cool place and winter where it's warmer without driving a 1,000 miles to do so. 

 I'm a terrible mountain driver...I just go slower and slower with a long line of honkers behind me while I try my best to at least keep rolling.  I need to find mountains with long gradual slopes instead of short curvy ones.

I googled "Separette" and did not see a model under several hundred $$$s.  What is the model # 0f your unit?

  Last year when I traded my Viking pop up in on a Aliner pop up I kept the Thetford cassette from the Viking.  I also have read and literally studied the first addition of the Humanure Handbook. 

 I stopped long ago talking to family/friends about composting toilets. 
I don't mind when someone sez one of my ideas is crazy.
It's the sideways "Woman You Are NUTZ" looks :s while they quietly steal away that gets on my last nerve.

Jewellann
 
I've been using a homebuilt dry toilet for about a year now, and have had reasonable success with it.... 

Mine's based on a 5 gallon bucket, which I line with 8 gallon size trash bags..... I have mostly been using peat moss which I add liberally to the bag after each use..... I made a urine separator from a funnel and a laboratory-type pee bottle...... I also added a ventilation fan using a small computer cooling fan and a piece of hose connected to one of those small plastic vents sold at RV places, usually to vent battery boxes...... 

The whole things cost around $30 to build, though it would have been more had I needed to pay someone to build the cabinet for me..... It takes up only about 2 cubic feet of space and I have no odor inside my van..... I toss the bag out every 5 days or so...... I will post some pictures and details when I get a chance.......
 
Top