Composting toilet, pro and con

[Galway Girl]

As to the batteries in your last line above about Lithium vs. AGM:

Here's a link to an article I wrote on my conversion from 4 AGM's to Lithium.

https://4-ever-hitched.com/ggs-blog/f/lithium-battery-upgrade

At the end of the article I provide an update data I've gathered...and an estimate on how long our Lithiums run in not sunny (PNW) weather...and another estimate how much longer a Platinum Pro might run (630AH) vs. the Lithium Pro package (390AH) in those boon-docking conditions.

 

 

[Cameron]

Wow. The Nature's Head is on backorder? This Covid has messed everything up. It seems like these supply issues are creeping into every aspect of our lives! For me, the composting toilet is one of the most important upgrades I wanted, right up there with the solar package. I wonder if you delayed your production date a couple months if it would make a difference? Otherwise you could wait and see if they're available around the time of your pickup and ask Oliver service to install it at that time. I bet you wouldn't  be the only one doing that.

[LostInThePNW]

Will check out your AGM to Lithium data.

 

Yeah, I liked the idea of the composting toilet and not having to deal with finding a dump station and deal with black water. 

My pick up is scheduled for November.

Not sure they allow delays in order slots, my sales rep is pretty inflexible.

[John and Debbie]

12 hours ago, LostInThePNW said:

Academic though at the moment as Oliver will not allow you to order a composting toilet.

Mine was removed from the order that I have to finalize tomorrow, as they are out of stock per sales rep.

Currently sitting here deciding between AGM vs Lithium.  Fun times.

Lithium to run AC in summer in the PNW or AGM for staying in the RV spots at Mt Bachelor.

So many supply line issues.   No bicycles,  computer chips,  now these toilets. 

[SeaDawg]

27 minutes ago, John Welte said:

So many supply line issues.   No bicycles,  computer chips,  now these toilets. 

So many issues. I'm afraid it will get worse, before better. 

I'm looking at starting my Christmas shopping soon... so many backorder this year.

From all my reading, and boat show demos, Nature's head is the better rv choice, though. I'd probably wait and install later, than jump to a lesser brand.

(We still use a stinky slinky, no waterless toilet yet,, so temper my comments that way.)

[Landrover]

Ive been trying to go over the pros and cons for both toilets. This is my personal pros and cons on both. The only disadvantage is I never owned a composting  toilet to make a true evaluation.

The regular toilet I never had  any problems with.  Pros: Poop pee flush done. Tank is full hook up to the dump station attach hose pull the lever use the tank flusher then rinse out hose. Never had a mess  yet. I guess doing it the same way for years makes it seem easy for me.  These aren’t cons for me.  But if they  were they would be, finding a dump station  which I never had a problem with and using extra water. 

Composting toilet, again I never owned one just my thoughts. Pros: environmentally  friendly and no water usage. Cons: Pee tank empty often, you have to be a good shot. I don’t know how women manage sorry. Carry vinegar with you to help with pee smell. Main dump add composting material then turn the crank frank after each dump. And as mentioned above diarrhea or vomit  cleaning the mess on the bowl because of no water to rinse doesn’t seem to be a pro or con just nasty.  After all that you still have to dump the composting material and clean the holding compartment. The last Con what happens if the blower quits and a replacement isn’t available for several days. Buy a lot of fabreez spray?  Even though I trashed the compositing  toilet I would still own one for a remote cabin where a septic system was not available.  Just not for an Rv.

[GAP]

On 8/14/2021 at 12:57 AM, Landrover said:

Ive been trying to go over the pros and cons for both toilets. This is my personal pros and cons on both. The only disadvantage is I never owned a composting  toilet to make a true evaluation.

The regular toilet I never had  any problems with.  Pros: Poop pee flush done. Tank is full hook up to the dump station attach hose pull the lever use the tank flusher then rinse out hose. Never had a mess  yet. I guess doing it the same way for years makes it seem easy for me.  These aren’t cons for me.  But if they  were they would be, finding a dump station  which I never had a problem with and using extra water. 

Composting toilet, again I never owned one just my thoughts. Pros: environmentally  friendly and no water usage. Cons: Pee tank empty often, you have to be a good shot. I don’t know how women manage sorry. Carry vinegar with you to help with pee smell. Main dump add composting material then turn the crank frank after each dump. And as mentioned above diarrhea or vomit  cleaning the mess on the bowl because of no water to rinse doesn’t seem to be a pro or con just nasty.  After all that you still have to dump the composting material and clean the holding compartment. The last Con what happens if the blower quits and a replacement isn’t available for several days. Buy a lot of fabreez spray?  Even though I trashed the compositing  toilet I would still own one for a remote cabin where a septic system was not available.  Just not for an Rv.

We've had a composting toilet since pick up in December.  Love it.  Watched the you tube videos before and learned from other's mistakes so has been issue free.  We bought a spare blower from the company just in case of a potential break down and it would be super easy to instal while on travel.  If you follow the recommendations on their site, there is no smell at all.  The fan actually serves to lear the air "live" so no need to put warning tape across the bathroom door after usage.

Our medium has not been changed in a few months now even though it's seen a lot of use.  We usually go a couple of weeks between trips and, once home, unplug the fan after a couple of days so the medium does not dry out.  The organic matter digests over those two weeks and it is all ready for further usage.  Truthfully, we can't tell how long we can continue with this cycle as, so far, there is no increased smell.  That said, we don't put toilet paper or wipes in the container.  Keep a tiny, lidded, foot operated garbage pale between the toilet and sink and use our old deli meat zip locks for that material.  throwing the bag out every 2-3 day and, no smell even in how weather.

We also carry a spare pee bottle with cap.  Never had a reason but if we needed to store a full bottle (mabey to wait out bad weather?) we could leave a full bottle with cap waiting outside till it was convenient to empty.  Even while emptying the bottle, I've noticed very little smell.  Certainly not as much as you would expect to encounter in a bathouse or, for that matter, in many RV bathrooms with flushers.

I agree with using a bucket being a good solution for vomit.  Would probably do the same if we had a flush toilet.  Concerning diarrhea, I've been down that road and it was no problem at all.  The inside of the bowl is super slick so we never clean with anything other then a wipe.  Any over spray, were it to occur, could be spritzed off using the same spray bottle of vinegar mix used after peeing.  

 

[John and Debbie]

1 hour ago, GAP said:

We've had a composting toilet since pick up in December.  Love it.  Watched the you tube videos before and learned from other's mistakes so has been issue free.  We bought a spare blower from the company just in case of a potential break down and it would be super easy to instal while on travel.  If you follow the recommendations on their site, there is no smell at all.  The fan actually serves to lear the air "live" so no need to put warning tape across the bathroom door after usage.

Our medium has not been changed in a few months now even though it's seen a lot of use.  We usually go a couple of weeks between trips and, once home, unplug the fan after a couple of days so the medium does not dry out.  The organic matter digests over those two weeks and it is all ready for further usage.  Truthfully, we can't tell how long we can continue with this cycle as, so far, there is no increased smell.  That said, we don't put toilet paper or wipes in the container.  Keep a tiny, lidded, foot operated garbage pale between the toilet and sink and use our old deli meat zip locks for that material.  throwing the bag out every 2-3 day and, no smell even in how weather.

We also carry a spare pee bottle with cap.  Never had a reason but if we needed to store a full bottle (mabey to wait out bad weather?) we could leave a full bottle with cap waiting outside till it was convenient to empty.  Even while emptying the bottle, I've noticed very little smell.  Certainly not as much as you would expect to encounter in a bathouse or, for that matter, in many RV bathrooms with flushers.

I agree with using a bucket being a good solution for vomit.  Would probably do the same if we had a flush toilet.  Concerning diarrhea, I've been down that road and it was no problem at all.  The inside of the bowl is super slick so we never clean with anything other then a wipe.  Any over spray, were it to occur, could be spritzed off using the same spray bottle of vinegar mix used after peeing.  

 

Thanks for your comments.   You covered everything!   I hear that they aren't available at the moment.   I hope to order our Oliver soon and realize that it won't be ready for ten months or more.   I will have time to dial in everything before the build. 

[DaveAndBecky_NorthernMI]

On 8/13/2021 at 3:42 AM, LostInThePNW said:

Academic though at the moment as Oliver will not allow you to order a composting toilet.

Mine was removed from the order that I have to finalize tomorrow, as they are out of stock per sales rep.

Currently sitting here deciding between AGM vs Lithium.  Fun times.

Lithium to run AC in summer in the PNW or AGM for staying in the RV spots at Mt Bachelor.

Intersting update lost. We are scheduled for pickup March 2022 and definitely want composting toilet. I guess we will wait and see how production plays out.