Composting head info

Guys, anyone have a composting head? Here's a link and video (there are many brands)

Amazon.com



I'm curious about them. The upsides are myriad. No pumpouts, very little maintenance, extra storage gained from eliminating the holding tank/hoses etc.

The downsides: You will personally be disposing of your urine and excrement (although the latter will pretty much be mulchy manure by then, lol) . Another big downside is that the actual toilet is very high, so it supposedly feels weird when sitting on it.

The price is about $1k or so. There are different composting options but even the Euro options are about the same price or even higher.

Anyway, I'm seriously considering it. I really like the idea of NO PUMPOUTS. I also like the idea of eliminating the holding tank/hoses and gaining a huge amount of real estate (it's in the companionway).

I also like the idea of it for the winter temps. Im gonna be a full time liveaboard starting in the fall of 2018. It'd be great to not have to winterize the lines, tank etc. I could still use my head all winter (although I also have top notch facilities at my marina as well).

Thanks guys! Let me know!

PS: If you're just gonna be rude and make disparaging comments, please don't bother! I'm on a small boat and it could be a viable option for me. I understand that on bigger boats it's probably not the best choice!
_________________

Good luck with your PS being respected...some people got their panties all bunched up and took my thread about this topic waaaay too personally last year!!!

Having said that, we have a urine separating/poop desiccating head on our boat. We decided to tippy-toe our way into it by getting a Separett Privy 500 for about $150.00

The urine is directed to a large jug, but I'm going to rig things so pee can also go straight overboard where allowed.

The poop drops into a bag lined bucket, and I rigged up a simple 'agitation device' which shakes & shimmies poop below the desiccating mediums surface. We put in a very small fan which draws any stink from fresh deposits outside the boat, but once the poop is covered by the desiccating medium most of the stink is gone. There is no hint of smell in the rest of the boat.

What I like about this system is that it's simple, which means there's very little to go wrong and very little in the way of maintenance and/or upkeep. The other nice thing is that we can "go" anywhere, even if we're staying in a marina or anchored in a no discharge zone for weeks.

Steel yourself for the usual nay sayers, as they'll find it impossible not to comment! All I have to say is; no holding tank, no pump outs, no breakdowns, and no time limits

I’m about ready to chuck my current system. Hoses permeated and stink, both Y valves leaking, new macerator pump just started leaking. Thinking about ripping out all the valves and hoses and going with a composting toilet.

We don’t use the boat all that much and when we do it’s usually just me and the wife. She wants to check one out and see if she will be able to tolerate it however. Anyone know of any in operation in the Houston area we could look at?

We've been using a Nature's Head in our Albin-25 ever since we bought the boat 9 yrs ago. The Albin came to us with an not-installed Jabsco Marine Head and holding tank but I declined to install it. The previous owners had used a Potty (blue water , self contained) as we had done for 25 years in cruising sailboats.

We like the Nature's Head a great deal.

I have a friend who was a happy Nature's Head owner for a number of years, but sold it to the buyer of his boat. Not quite willing to spend $1000 for a new N-H (his first cost about $800), he made a head using a $45 component which was the urine funnel and a plastic construction material bucket. Urine is contained in a 1-gal milk jug. He lines the bucket with a trash bag. Ventillation is accomplished with a separate fan instead of self-contained as in the N-H. The whole affair is housed in a very nice marine plywood housing featuring a standard household toilet seat and hinged lid which many boaters would not have the skill to construct.
He said at a recent meeting of our sailing club where he showed us his unit that there are many websites showing solutions similar to his and that is where he discovered the source of his urine funnel component.

I had to install some blocking on the irregularly contoured surface of the sole of our head compartment in order to provide a flat surface onto which the N-H is clamped.

My wife's tolerance of the N-H is key, and she likes it better than our former Mansfield Sani-Potty. There is absolutely no odor problem. There was a slight odor problem using the Sani=Potty within the confined of our former sailboat when she would use it in the wee hours while I remained in the sack. There was no head compartment in that boat.

As you can see in my first pic above, we have a hinged door on the head compartment of the Albin.

I would recommend doing biz with N-H. When we had the vent fan go out (just a little computer-type fan) they provided a replacement at no charge.

Our Albin-25 has standing headroom in the Head. Our former Shearwater-28 Yawl (Edey & Duff) did not have standing headroom. However, the "slight odor" noted above when using a Sani-Potty was not a result of the potty being located between the V-berths, as is typical among small sailboats. The Shearwater had a decent head location which could be enclosed by a large beach tower suspended from a bungee cord on the overhead above the potty. The pic here was taken from a position on the large V-berth.

All my black water system is defective. Both y valves leaking, hoses permeated, older pump jabasco toilet sucks. So I’m thinking that since I have to take all that old stuff out, I want to try one of these composting heads. Leave the holding tank in (after a good cleaning) in case a new buyer doesn’t like the composting idea or if I get tired of it or hate it. Then I can reinstall all new stuff at that time and maybe sell the composting toilet. So if it doesn’t work out, I’m only out the difference.

The composting idea seems to fit the way we use the boat (not that much) and with not many people. Plus we have a lack of a handy pump out. Plus I like the simplicity idea of it, and I can use the area where all the hoses and valves are for some storage, after a good cleaning.

Thanks guys. MurrayM: As to you first sentence, so far so good!

CarDude: Yeah, it seems like the composting head would be a good fit for you. It's crazy that your boat is only 10 years and basically the whole head system is not working right. Sucks.

Moby: Thanks for your replies and pics. That helps.

I've still got some research to do about all this but I'm very intrigued to say the least.

You might want to consider this instead of a "composter" SeaLand Traveler at Defender Self contained...has the same bowl as the VacuFlush...uses onboard pressurized fresh water and so little of it that the 9 gallon tank holds as many flushes as a 40 gal tank connected to any marine toilet. No moving parts to maintain, no plumbing except the flush water inlet line, pumpout line and vent line...and with a y-valve in the pumpout line a macerator pump can be added to dump the tank overboard. Costs a lot less than a "composter too."

Peggie
"If you can't explain it to a six year old, you don't completely understand it yourself." --Albert Einstein

HEre is a blog of a couple who completed the great loop in a C-Dory 25 with a composting toilet.


https://daydreamsloop.blogspot.com/


You may have to search through the blog to find comments/observations related to the toilet, but they are there. More of their rationale is in their earlier posts.

Check out the C-Head if your interested in this type of toilet.

Mule said:

Could not wait to get one. Could not wait to get rid of it.

Click to expand...

What did you not like about it? Tell me more.

https://youtu.be/Uveq2JB64Tg?t=1m35s

This might be useful. The folks at MJ sailing did a bit of a DIY composter.

cardude01 said:

I’m about ready to chuck my current system. Hoses permeated and stink, both Y valves leaking, new macerator pump just started leaking. Thinking about ripping out all the valves and hoses and going with a composting toilet.

Click to expand...

Nothing on a boat is maintenance free. I rebuilt all the components of my 2 heads and replaced all the hose with non permeating hose during my refit. I replace the duck bills annually and will do the diaphragms and other parts every 5 years.

Personally I have nothing against the composting head. However, when you sell your boat, others (potential buyers) may. If that's a problem for your inheritors, go for it.

Ted

O C Diver said:

Nothing on a boat is maintenance free. I rebuilt all the components of my 2 heads and replaced all the hose with non permeating hose during my refit. I replace the duck bills annually and will do the diaphragms and other parts every 5 years.

Personally I have nothing against the composting head. However, when you sell your boat, others (potential buyers) may. If that's a problem for your inheritors, go for it.

Ted

Click to expand...

I totally agree that the composting head will limit my pool of buyers. Most wont understand it. Actually, most wont understand my boat either, so I’m not sure I should worry about it. [emoji51]

But, that’s why I was planning on leaving the tank and all thru valves in place. That way all a new buyer (or me, to facilitate a sale) would have to do is replace the hoses and install a new modern marine toilet.

So if I go the composting route, I’m still leaving the option open to go back to the traditional holding tank setup. I consider it an experiment.

cardude01 said:

I totally agree that the composting head will limit my pool of buyers. Most wont understand it. Actually, most wont understand my boat either, so I’m not sure I should worry about it. [emoji51]

But, that’s why I was planning on leaving the tank and all thru valves in place. That way all a new buyer (or me, to facilitate a sale) would have to do is replace the hoses and install a new modern marine toilet.

So if I go the composting route, I’m still leaving the option open to go back to the traditional holding tank setup. I consider it an experiment.

Click to expand...

Please don't take this the wrong way. If I went to look at a boat with a disconnected plumbing system, my first thought would be, "What else is did the PO not fix? Think I would fix the system. In the scheme of things, the parts to fix yours aren't all that expensive.

Ted

Before selling I’ll reinstall the toilet. Eazy-Peazy.

MurrayM said:

Before selling I’ll reinstall the toilet. Eazy-Peazy.

Click to expand...

That’s what I was thinking. And the new hoses.

I have no plans to sell it in the near future anyway so thought it would be a good time to experiment. One big reason I was thinking about composting is I don’t have a pump out where we dock and we aren’t on the boat that much.

I definitely get that there are pros and cons to this idea, but I’m intrigued.

cardude01 said:

That’s what I was thinking. And the new hoses.

I have no plans to sell it in the near future anyway so thought it would be a good time to experiment. One big reason I was thinking about composting is I don’t have a pump out where we dock and we aren’t on the boat that much.

I definitely get that there are pros and cons to this idea, but I’m intrigued.

Click to expand...

If you are going to rebuild the system before you sell, why wait and do it now.
BTW, tossed the Jabsco electric macerating head for a Raritan Marine Elegance with Freshwater and Smart Flush. What a difference!!! Odor gone.

cardude01 said:

I’m about ready to chuck my current system. Hoses permeated and stink, both Y valves leaking, new macerator pump just started leaking. Thinking about ripping out all the valves and hoses and going with a composting toilet.

We don’t use the boat all that much and when we do it’s usually just me and the wife. She wants to check one out and see if she will be able to tolerate it however. Anyone know of any in operation in the Houston area we could look at?

Click to expand...

Dude, it almost sounds like you were reading my mail. After all the trouble I went to when holding tanks were mandated in our area many years ago, I slavishly installed a new TMC electric toilet, all the necessary hoses, and a bladder holding tank - it was all I could get to fit. It was a nightmare job, as my boat was not built at a time where it was the norm, and it has been a constant headache to keep it all operating ever since. Especially as the powers that be that made the law failed to also mandate that marinas must also install suitable pump-out facilities.

Recently, yet another diverter valve handle broke, and a blockage appears to have developed SOMEWHERE mysteriously..! So, just like you describe, I said bugger it - this is ridiculous..! I blanked off all the plumbing, (this after just putting in new macerator pumps on the holding tank and toilet because they had corroded and stuck), removed the toilet, and installed a decent sized camping type toilet. It works perfectly, is silent in operation, (the TMC would wake the dead in the middle of the night), and being chemically treated, no smells, and can literally be emptied overboard, (here anyway) or dumped into normal sewage systems.

Really, having done this, and it works so well, I can't understand why I didn't do it way back when I went to all that trouble, and I certainly would think twice before going over to something as tricky as a composting toilet to do the job, (sorry Murray, you meant well, but really...), when these just work so well, and are so cheap. Even if you decide you want a new one after a few years, or one with a larger water or holding tank, they are so cheap to buy, it's a no-brainer in my view. Just get over the 'camping' stigma, and Bob's your uncle - problem solved.

https://www.bing.com/search?q=camping%20toilets%20bunnings&pc=cosp&ptag=G6C999N0566D010716A316A5D3C6E&form=CONMHP&conlogo=CT3210127

Peter B: HUH?? So you think a camping style toilet is better than a composting head? And you think a composting head is complicated? Seems pretty simple to me.

Yeah, and we can't dump chemically treated camping toilet goo into the water here.

Don't misinterpret my thread. I'm still not fully sold on the composting head either! I'm looking for first hand accounts of it and will continue my research. Very interested in it though...

Lem'me give you a second hand account. The fellow I mentioned above who sold his first NH with his boat, then constructed a replacement composting head for his next boat is SUPER SENSITIVE to the odors associated with Porta Potties. He says he absolutely cannot stand the smell of the blue chemical. He said he found a satisfactory (almost) citrus chemical to use back when he had a simple camping potty. He found nothing objectionable about his Natures Head, though he did say one would not want to sit very close to the exterior vent on the side of the cabin forward of the cockpit. (My wife and I never encountered anything objectionable about the venting, though we never sat with our noses close to that vent.)

Bottom line is that this longtime friend is so sensitive to the smell of conventional potties (and also conventional marine heads when the hoses etc become permiated) it is really sort'ta comical.

Posted in an unrelated thread...

"At the marina, I was having a pump out and when I opened the opening to the pump out and the contents were under pressure and exploded out of the pump out tube throwing bad stuff over me and half of the boat."

Click to expand...

South of Heaven said:

Peter B: HUH?? So you think a camping style toilet is better than a composting head? And you think a composting head is complicated? Seems pretty simple to me.

Yeah, and we can't dump chemically treated camping toilet goo into the water here.

Don't misinterpret my thread. I'm still not fully sold on the composting head either! I'm looking for first hand accounts of it and will continue my research. Very interested in it though...

Click to expand...

Camping dunny on a boat should read how to spend $150 and devalue your boat by $10000

We put an Airhead composter on our boat in 2006. Retired and moved aboard in 2007. Been full time aboard and cruising since then. Once we got familiar with the processes involved (didn't take long) it became very easy. We will not return to a standard marine system again.

No stink, no rebuilds, no problems(that I don't cause).

MikeF.

We converted to SeaHead a couple years ago in our master and no regrets. Simple to use and no smells. We primarily use the boat for long weekends and occasional weekly trips and have had no issues.

Installed a basic port-a-potty in the forward head (very limited footprint space) and works out great for guests.

Pulled all the old hoses cleaned holding tank and left in place JIC we ever change our mind, so far so good.

Our marina hasn't had a working pump out since Harvey came through and it doesn't bother us a bit!!