Another 'loo' thread? Making your Thetford into a composting toilet.

[ED O'DARAC]

I am at the NEC caravan show and I have seen an amazing system that replaces the cassette on your Thetford loo with a separating compost system. Brilliant or bonkers??
What do you think?

 

[Just smiffy]

Bonkers… there’s no way on this earth that crap will compost in a week when it needs emptying every 3-5 days….

 

[Trevor Wbm]

I'm told the solids take 12 to 18 months to break down into something that might be considered compost. Unless people have the necessary storage facilities 'composting' is a euphensim for 'dropping bags of raw faeces into someone else's bin'.

 

[Lenny HB]

Bonkers… there’s no way on this earth that crap will compost in a week when it needs emptying every 3-5 days….

Yep would have to carry your shit around for 9 to 12 months, think of the payload you would need.

 

[Spriddler]

Did you try it out?

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[pagey]

does it come with a step to reach it, you would feel like ronnie corbet sitting on that

 

[ED O'DARAC]

Did you try it out?

Luckily, I didn't need one at the time

 

[funflair]

It actually not a composting toilet at all, it's a separating toilet conversion kit so No1's go into a container to be emptied wherever and No2's basically go into a compostable plastic bag that goes ? well that's another subject up for discussion.

 

[ED O'DARAC]

£1,200. (!) Westfalia are pushing it as a system.
It is not described as 'composting' but 'separating'. Apparently they cannot call it compostable in Germany.
I was more put off by the absence of any flush.
Maybe it uses compostable paper bowl liners?
Cleaning would be interesting.

 

[BusyBuilder]

Won't it stink ? compostable toilets are usually outside with lots of fresh air, not much fresh air in a moho.

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[Stealaway]

They have been trying to sell a small composting type of toilet for over 20 years to my knowledge.
This one is £12.00.00
Non were ever successful.

I would have thought the Germans would know better.

Arwinger

arwinger.de

 

[maison]

I have seen several friends who have “eco” tendencies install composting toilets.

Some have stuck with them, most have given up.

Personally I couldn’t give a sh1t.

 

[Tude]

I am at the NEC caravan show and I have seen an amazing system that replaces the cassette on your Thetford loo with a separating compost system. Brilliant or bonkers??
What do you think?
View attachment 718877

Hi
I chatted with them me self seems ok but it’s £1200 it holds 8 litres of per

 

[Roger J Holman]

The expression on the face of the person at the head of this thread sums it up, surely.

Composting toilets, in the open air, away from habitation units, including MH's. Solids take a while to break down to the point where they, the solids, become useful as fertiliser.

I remember, back in the 1970's, when I worked in Slough. The local council owned (and let) a number of farms, It wa the policy of the council, at that time, to spread (human) manure over the above farms, it got rid of a disposal problem, and, apparently, fertilised the council soil. I have not been back since then, 1973,?, so am not able to pass judgement. Perhaps all the farms are covered in concrete by now!

Where are you now John Betjeman ?

 

[cyberyacht]

My great, great grandfather worked on a farm at Harlington, where the new Heathrow Runway 3 is going to go. I wonder what he would have made of the big metal birds.

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[Minxy]

The expression on the face of the person at the head of this thread sums it up, surely.

Composting toilets, in the open air, away from habitation units, including MH's. Solids take a while to break down to the point where they, the solids, become useful as fertiliser.

I remember, back in the 1970's, when I worked in Slough. The local council owned (and let) a number of farms, It wa the policy of the council, at that time, to spread (human) manure over the above farms, it got rid of a disposal problem, and, apparently, fertilised the council soil. I have not been back since then, 1973,?, so am not able to pass judgement. Perhaps all the farms are covered in concrete by now!

Where are you now John Betjeman ?

In the past they did a similar thing on the land opposite us which was a market garden. The waste was spread on it and it was a flourishing business, flushed with success!

 

[BouncyBoatFolk]

The expression on the face of the person at the head of this thread sums it up, surely.

Composting toilets, in the open air, away from habitation units, including MH's. Solids take a while to break down to the point where they, the solids, become useful as fertiliser.

I remember, back in the 1970's, when I worked in Slough. The local council owned (and let) a number of farms, It wa the policy of the council, at that time, to spread (human) manure over the above farms, it got rid of a disposal problem, and, apparently, fertilised the council soil. I have not been back since then, 1973,?, so am not able to pass judgement. Perhaps all the farms are covered in concrete by now!

Where are you now John Betjeman ?

CINAGRO, written in large fluorescent orange lettering on the sides of the delivery trucks. Or, organic spelt backwards. We were in Old Windsor at that time on a farm, that had the human slurry treatment each year on the more accessible fields. Put me off veg, strictly carnivore now
Mike.

 

[rb62]

The expression on the face of the person at the head of this thread sums it up, surely.

Composting toilets, in the open air, away from habitation units, including MH's. Solids take a while to break down to the point where they, the solids, become useful as fertiliser.

I remember, back in the 1970's, when I worked in Slough. The local council owned (and let) a number of farms, It wa the policy of the council, at that time, to spread (human) manure over the above farms, it got rid of a disposal problem, and, apparently, fertilised the council soil. I have not been back since then, 1973,?, so am not able to pass judgement. Perhaps all the farms are covered in concrete by now!

Where are you now John Betjeman ?

Solid waste from sewerage plants is still spread on agricultural land but it is sanitised and de odourised now days. At least it's all mechanised now,when the Leeds-Liverpool canal was first opened all the 'night soil' collections from Liverpool were loaded on to barges,taken out to the countryside,and spread on the fields,all by hand

 

[Nangie]

As others have pointed out already it should be called a separating toilet, rather than composting, unless you are frequently at a ‘home‘ base where you can offload the waste onto your own heap?
I actually searched/ researched (in vain) for ages to find a method of converting my Thetford cassette to a separating loo….mostly fulltiming in my van I would put off emptying the Thetford cassette for as long as possible, because I found it so obnoxious, even with just my own waste products therein! I hate the thought of using chemicals anyway, and wasting good clean water to flush. And as for the regular cleaning of all the parts…..
No way would I spend £1200 on a conversion though!
I took out my Thetford a year ago, and purchased a separating loo in kit form, which cost about £270 including import taxes as it came from Poland.
Urine goes into a bottle with a special spill-proof lid. I empty this every 3 days or so into a toilet. As much as possible I try not to use for solids, but when I do have to it is caught in a bag which I then empty out as soon as convenient into a toilet, or tie the bag and put in a dog poo bin. I guess when you are used to dealing with dog poo, or kiddies nappies etc, it’s not a problem. And, in my opinion, is way more pleasant than emptying the Thetford cassette. (I would never condone disposing of human waste into the black household bins though, I know nappies and contents of commodes do get disposed of that way, but I feel we need a better method for those too.)
I spray a little white vinegar and water mix after every use, rinse out the urine container when empty, and that is all the cleaning required.
There is no smell whatsoever as the urine and faeces don’t mix.

 

[funflair]

The expression on the face of the person at the head of this thread sums it up, surely.

Composting toilets, in the open air, away from habitation units, including MH's. Solids take a while to break down to the point where they, the solids, become useful as fertiliser.

I remember, back in the 1970's, when I worked in Slough. The local council owned (and let) a number of farms, It wa the policy of the council, at that time, to spread (human) manure over the above farms, it got rid of a disposal problem, and, apparently, fertilised the council soil. I have not been back since then, 1973,?, so am not able to pass judgement. Perhaps all the farms are covered in concrete by now!

Where are you now John Betjeman ?

He is the designer and manufacturer from Germany and no it's not a composting toilet, and no I don't want one

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[Wombles]

Good to see German products being brought to the UK NEC Show so more options in UK market - also discussed & a video here https://www.motorhomefun.co.uk/foru...etford-chemical-toilet-c220-c250-c260.270015/

 

[dazandandrea]

Plenty of boaters have gone down the separating toilet route and used the crt waste disposal sites to dump it.
Crt have now banned the disposal of toilet waste at their bin sites.
God knows what they will do now with their stinky bins of shit.

 

[Minxy]

Plenty of boaters have gone down the separating toilet route and used the crt waste disposal sites to dump it.
Crt have now banned the disposal of toilet waste at their bin sites.
God knows what they will do now with their stinky bins of shit.

Bummer

 

[Libellula]

We’ve had composting toilets at our isolated home in France from choice. They system works extremely well, with no smell if people use it correctly. No pee in the same place as the poop, and solids to be covered with sawdust which we used to get fro a local saw mill and ‘weather’ for a year in the open ourselves, this is important and the first clue to the Nature’s Head and Air head toilets not being efficient compost toilets.
It takes me + 1 to fill a large compost bucket about 3 weeks and we have it in our bathroom, no smell I promise except of a damp forest. The next clue, to the advertised toilets not being efficient compost toilets is that a complete system needs space. We have four, numbered metre cube compost bins, on concrete bases with no run off, and certain distance from waterways, as specified by regional council. So, as mentioned by others the campervan compost toilet users must be throwing the bins in the rubbish with their household rubbish, or the dog poop collection points. I think this is not healthy or good for the bin men etc. we are considering converting the toilet space in our Hymer to a compost toilet, but we will be carting our poop with us, using composting bags made from potato starch, inside other bags and emptying it at home. Complete composting requires at least a year in the warm, so longer when it’s colder, to get rid of any dangerous pathogens. We allow a lot longer. I will break into a bin that’s 6 years old soon to put on my garden. And……no smell…..lovely crumbly dark compost I have no fear of touching with my hands.
I researched this topic for years before moving here in 2000. The Bible then for me was “The Humanure Handbook” by Joe Jenkins and now his sons. It is now on line and can be download. Sadly no longer Free! It was for a while, now big business again for people Prepping for the Apocalypse!
Covers everything about human waste, composting in general, grey water handling, reed beds etc. Included on the site and in the book are patterns for very simple home made compost toilets, and they sell sealed toilet seats called the ‘Loveable Loo” which click onto large plastic tubs, just toilet height.
http://www.humanurehandbook.com/manual.html loads of info on this page and links to books and videos on You Tube

 

[Liverpoollass]

Solid waste from sewerage plants is still spread on agricultural land but it is sanitised and de odourised now days. At least it's all mechanised now,when the Leeds-Liverpool canal was first opened all the 'night soil' collections from Liverpool were loaded on to barges,taken out to the countryside,and spread on the fields,all by hand

Yes..I believe the night soil from Liverpool went to Burscough

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[Liverpoollass]

I wish I could post this anonymously...

we have an empty Lucozade bottle each for some of our urine...the contents are disposed of responsibly outside or taken into a public loo...easy for men...
I keep a smallish plastic bowl with a pouring lip within the loo bowl...and pee into this, then pour contents into said Lucozade bottle, works well for ladies.. quick wipe of bowl with loo paper then a spray of disinfectant..
Used loo paper is put into an empty laundry tab box Lined with with a biodegradable caddy liner..
We never drink Lucozade!!!!
Added bonus is we use less flushing water.

Now I'll probably regret posting this...

 

[rb62]

I wish I could post this anonymously...

we have an empty Lucozade bottle each for some of our urine...the contents are disposed of responsibly outside or taken into a public loo...easy for men...
I keep a smallish plastic bowl with a pouring lip within the loo bowl...and pee into this, then pour contents into said Lucozade bottle, works well for ladies.. quick wipe of bowl with loo paper then a spray of disinfectant..
Used loo paper is put into an empty laundry tab box Lined with with a biodegradable caddy liner..
We never drink Lucozade!!!!
Added bonus is we use less flushing water.

Now I'll probably regret posting this...

A perfectly practical solution

 

[Reallyretired]

Why lucozade ? Is it because its the same colour.

 

[MisterB]

I wish I could post this anonymously...

we have an empty Lucozade bottle each for some of our urine...the contents are disposed of responsibly outside or taken into a public loo...easy for men...
I keep a smallish plastic bowl with a pouring lip within the loo bowl...and pee into this, then pour contents into said Lucozade bottle, works well for ladies.. quick wipe of bowl with loo paper then a spray of disinfectant..
Used loo paper is put into an empty laundry tab box Lined with with a biodegradable caddy liner..
We never drink Lucozade!!!!
Added bonus is we use less flushing water.

Now I'll probably regret posting this...

You could always use a she wee to fill your bottle?

 

[Lenny HB]

A bit like trying to reinvent the wheel, the standard cassette has served most of us well for many years.

The only place we have ever had a problem with emptying is when wilding in Greece even then its not insurmountable always found somewhere. We always carry a spare cassette but rarely need to use it, if emptying is going to be a problem we use a spray bottle for flushing and if going to Greece again would use a bin for the paper.

Much prefer the bench loo our last van had, more comfortable to use and a bigger capacity cassette, it would be good if the swivel bowl had a bigger cassette.

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