Urine separating/desiccating toilets

The way we respond to and deal with our crap seems to be a cultural thing. The Greek's used to sit elbow to elbow while dumping and in some countries you squat over a simple hole in the floor. In Germany, some toilets have 'inspection shelves' above the waterline at the back of the toilet where the size, colour, and consistency of ones poop can be closely scrutinized before flushing it away.

The way I figure it, no matter what method you use, there is a down right nasty gross-out factor which is unavoidable. You may have the most modern whiz-bang macerating unit or 12 volt zapping system on your boat, but one day something will go wrong and you'll have a disgusting mess on your hands, so to speak.

Fess up now...has nothing ever gone wrong with your head, holding tank, or hoses? Did you buy that new, never broken down head you're about to brag about because the last one failed? See my point?

This is where I've rationalized my way into getting one of these desiccating toilets. The gross out factor, as pointed out earlier, is unavoidable.

Either you deal with it in small increments by using a desiccating toilet which has to be dusted with some dry organic material after every deposit and the bucket has to be emptied every 3 weeks or so, or you wait until something goes horribly wrong with the technological marvel you're now using and your nose gets hammered with the cumulative stench you've so conveniently been avoiding.

With a urine separating / poop desiccating toilet the pee goes one way, and the poop drops straight down. No sloppy port-a-potti or chemical toilet mess. I've used one that used dried moss in the poop container (it was in a cabin out in the woods) and there was zero smell. Nada. Nothing.

It does stink for a bit after taking a crap, but that's to be expected, right? This is where cultural bias kick in; some people just can't bear the thought of having the head stink for a while before the poops surface dries out. (I'm thinking of putting in a day/night solar vent fan, however, to speed up the drying process and get the bulk of the smell out of the boat).

Have you ever wasted a portion of a holiday trying to trace down why the head wasn't working properly? That happened to me last year and I vowed to never have it happen again. (The PO had the platform which the head was bolted on resting on the outlet hose, which of course got flattened over time.)

We'll be able to get rid of the holding tank, which is occupying prime real estate in the engine room. Hmmm...what to put in that space? More convenient location for the batteries? A generator? We could use the toilets through hull for a generator, a watermaker, or get rid of it entirely.

I've ordered a Separett Privy 500 Separett - Privy 500
which is about as low tech and low cost as these things get. Will probably put a 'real' toilet seat on it instead of the one it comes with.

Anyways, that's the plan. Will keep you posted on how things go...

Here is a first hand account:

https://seatriscuit.com/. The title is "fruit flys". I hope you're single.

No thank you. Like all equip, nothing just fails. Symptoms are ignored, then it fails.

My wife would give up boating with that set up

Sealife said:

Here is a first hand account:

https://seatriscuit.com/. The title is "fruit flys". I hope you're single.

No thank you. Like all equip, nothing just fails. Symptoms are ignored, then it fails.

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They probably used a dried organic material source that came "pre-loaded" with fly eggs.

gaston said:

My wife would give up boating with that set up

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There's that cultural bias thing...

nothing just fails. Symptoms are ignored, then it fails

Truer words were never spoken.

If you can be happy with what amounts to a kitty litter box on your boat...weeellll...it's your boat. You might consider turning the entire head compartment into storage and mounting one of these on the transom bumper dumper

HeadMistress said:

nothing just fails. Symptoms are ignored, then it fails

Truer words were never spoken.

If you can be happy with what amounts to a kitty litter box on your boat...weeellll...it's your boat. You might consider turning the entire head compartment into storage and mounting one of these on the transom bumper dumper

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Hi Peggie

Guess I won't be needing to buy your book

Greetings,
Mr. MM. Yup. I've had to service BOTH our "traditional" heads/thrones and as has been mentioned, one DOES have warning. As a matter of fact, in the last day of our most recent travels I detected "head odor" but due to time constraints was unable to effect any repairs although I'm pretty sure I've sourced the source, as it were. I don't anticipate any problems as our systems are pretty generic and it takes a LOT to "gross me out" and after 2 kids and 4 grandchildren I'm firmly convinced that "poop occurs" (sh*t happens).

Regarding cultural bias...On both our trips to China (one month total over a 2 year period) we ate with chopsticks and experienced few sit upon "appliances". Yes, it's quite do-able but NOT our preference.

MurrayM said:

Hi Peggie Guess I won't be needing to buy your book

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Actually you would if you'd bought a composting or dessicating toilet 'cuz I've discussed 'em in detail in it. But you didn't buy either one...what you did buy is really is no different from a kitty litter box or the Bumper Dumper, both of which just store solid waste. The C-Head C-Head is a similar setup.

However, I'm sure that either this edition of my book or the next one will still be available when you've run out of bug spray...

RT Firefly said:

Regarding cultural bias...On both our trips to China (one month total over a 2 year period) we ate with chopsticks and experienced few sit upon "appliances". Yes, it's quite do-able but NOT our preference.

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Did you happen to use a traditional loo, where methane gathered from the poop cavern below the house is directed to the kitchen to heat the wok?

HeadMistress said:

Actually you would if you'd bought a composting or dessicating toilet 'cuz I've discussed 'em in detail in it. But you didn't buy either one...what you did buy is really is no different from a kitty litter box or the Bumper Dumper, both of which just store solid waste. The C-Head C-Head is a similar setup.

However, I'm sure that either this edition of my book or the next one will still be available when you've run out of bug spray...

Click to expand...

Sorry...if done right there are no bugs

No need for drawing lines in the sand on this. I drive a boxy Honda Element where you might drive a bigger, boxier, more expensive Hummer. Both get the job done.

Greetings,
Mr. MM. Unfortunately, we never inquired as to the "workings" of the various facilities (all commercial, no private) so I am unable to answer that question. Wouldn't have bothered me if they had. Wok the heck...it's fuel.

I think some people may be forgetting your boating area. It is not likely to be hot so perhaps the cool environment would be more conducive to minimizing such problems as might occur in tropical locations with the equipment you will be using.

Good point. No pump out either.

Greetings,
Mr. MM. "No pump out either." True but YOU will still have to handle and dispose of the detritus whereas while doing a pump out, you're only dealing with a hose...Just sayin'

I've had to service BOTH our "traditional" heads/thrones and as has been mentioned, one DOES have warning.

I don't know why boat owners expect marine toilets to last forever without any maintenance...or maybe it's because household toilets rarely if ever require any. But household toilet don't have any moving parts to need any maintenance...marine toilets do. But not just "fix what breaks," PREVENTIVE maintenance, which is called "preventive" maintenance because it prevents 99% of the problems that have to be fixed. And that's not only true of sanitation systems, it's true of every system on your boats. You maintain all the others, but neglect the sanitation system--which is actually the easiest to maintain. And when the inevitable results of of your own neglect have finally caused you enough problems, you toss the whole thing out for a kitty litter box that will actually end up causing you a lot MORE problems than a properly maintained sanitation system ever could.

RT Firefly said:

Greetings,
Mr. MM. "No pump out either." True but YOU will still have to handle and dispose of the detritus whereas while doing a pump out, you're only dealing with a hose...Just sayin'

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Once every three weeks or so. Not really a hardship. Container is lined with a compostable garbage bag. No muss, no fuss.

Have you had dogs? Ever notice how their turds stink like crazy if they have an accident in the house and you find it right away, but don't stink if you find it later that day after the surface has dried out? And the kitty litter analogy is way off because there's no urine in with the poop.

I just checked the calendar to see what year it was Yep still in the 2000's 17 hundreds now seems so long ago .

Sorry Peggie, it wasn't our neglect of the system which caused it to fail but a serious design flaw by the previous owner, where the platform the head was bolted to was resting on and slowly pinching the outlet hose. When we bought the boat I didn't take the head apart to diagnose future problems. Who does?

Good on you for trying it out Murray, please let us know how it works for you. I think its thae same system as the space station?

gaston said:

I just checked the calendar to see what year it was Yep still in the 2000's 17 hundreds now seems so long ago .

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Another cultural bias opinion...

Xsbank said:

Good on you for trying it out Murray, please let us know how it works for you. I think its thae same system as the space station?

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Egad...didn't even think about vacuuming or suction options

I think some people may be forgetting your boating area. It is not likely to be hot so perhaps the cool environment would be more conducive to minimizing such problems as might occur in tropical locations with the equipment you will be using.

It's the other way around. Bacteria are more active in warm temps...below 60F they become so sluggish that nothing much happens...at 40F they become dormant.

...And the kitty litter analogy is way off because there's no urine in with the poop.

But there is plenty of moisture because solid waste is actually about 75% water. That's why you have to regular add peat moss or another organic matter (NOT sawdust or wood chips...those don't break down) to it or it just sits and rots.

Greetings,
Ms. HM. I don't know how you read my comment as my expectation that our head system would "last forever without any maintenance". That was NOT what I was inferring at all. I fully expect to have to replace joker valves and impellers on a regular basis even if that basis is every 5 or 10 years or so. Not a big deal IMO. No different than any other system that requires some attention...

Will you also be separating the poo paper and taking it home with you in the garbage

HeadMistress said:

But there is plenty of moisture because solid waste is actually about 75% water. That's why you have to regular add peat moss or another organic matter (NOT sawdust or wood chips...those don't break down) to it or it just sits and rots.

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Yup, moss is the plan but have read that coconut coir works well as long as it's pre-moistened correctly. Also seen "Pee Powder" advertised which is supposed to absorb and trap moisture.

Bottom of the learning curve here.

gaston said:

Will you also be separating the poo paper and taking it home with you in the garbage

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Nope. Do you want it for some reason?

Murray, you sund like a guy trying to rationalize a solution to a problem that does not exist..

Lots of us here, plus the rest of the boating world at large have marine sanitation systems that work just fine.

Yes they occasionally need maintenance but with good prerventative maintenance unplanned breakdowns are not all that often.

The greatest thing, is that properly designed there is no smell, and no dealing with waste after you flush.

Our system uses a electroscan MSD, along with a holding tank and a raritan Hold N treat controller.

It's simple. Flush and forget.

Nope you can poop on kitty litter if you'd like, but you are creating a issue where none exists.

[QUOTE

Bottom of the learning curve here.[/QUOTE]


Was that a pun

Two thirds of a pun....P-U. Now THAT was a pun...

ksanders said:

Murray, you sund like a guy trying to rationalize a solution to a problem that does not exist..

Lots of us here, plus the rest of the boating world at large have marine sanitation systems that work just fine.

Yes they occasionally need maintenance but with good prerventative maintenance unplanned breakdowns are not all that often.

The greatest thing, is that properly designed there is no smell, and no dealing with waste after you flush.

Our system uses a electroscan MSD, along with a holding tank and a raritan Hold N treat controller.

It's simple. Flush and forget.

Nope you can poop on kitty litter if you'd like, but you are creating a issue where none exists.

Click to expand...

All relevant points, if we boated the same as you.

We tend to stay in one location, which is invariably a very small bay, for extended lengths of time. I still work, but once retirement comes along we foresee staying in anchorages for a month or more at a time while we photograph the area. With this system there would be no need to pull anchor and move to deep water just to empty the holding tank.