How many people have Composting Heads on their Trawler?

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HopCar said:
It seems to me that most people who switch to composting toilets are replacing low end marine toilets with thousand dollar litter boxes. People who have high end flushing toilets, especially fresh water flush, tend to be happy with them.
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I don't think the issue is the toilets, as much as the holding tank. Especially on a small boat.
 
I don't think the issue is the toilets, as much as the holding tank. Especially on a small boat.

I will repeat what I wrote previously. Heads can smell even if you don't have a holding tank. My boat is 50 years old in 2019 and had no holding tank, just the head. So I was surprised I was getting a wretched odour even though I had no tanks. Turns out the little sea life in the sea water dies in the toilet and that dead sea life creates a smell. If I flushed frequently it wasn't an issue, but if I left the boat for a period of time and then entered it, a smell came from the head.

I've lots of experience with grey and black water holding tanks on my 17, 21, 35, travel trailers and 32 on my motorhome. The new enzyme tank stuff I use on my motorhome is the best stuff I have used since 1977.
 
rsn48 said:
I don't think the issue is the toilets, as much as the holding tank. Especially on a small boat.

I will repeat what I wrote previously. Heads can smell even if you don't have a holding tank. My boat is 50 years old in 2019 and had no holding tank, just the head. So I was surprised I was getting a wretched odour even though I had no tanks. Turns out the little sea life in the sea water dies in the toilet and that dead sea life creates a smell. If I flushed frequently it wasn't an issue, but if I left the boat for a period of time and then entered it, a smell came from the head.

I've lots of experience with grey and black water holding tanks on my 17, 21, 35, travel trailers and 32 on my motorhome. The new enzyme tank stuff I use on my motorhome is the best stuff I have used since 1977.
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Raw water heads will give you a sulfur smell the first time they are flushed after sitting a while. With some boats there are relatively easy ways to reduce that without going to a fresh water flush.



The answer to holding tank odors is lots of oxygen. Improve airflow to a holding tank and odor problems go away.


With the right boat with a head in the right location, I'd be happy going with a composting head. Right now, my fresh water flush head is working great however.
 
I have a Nature’s Head on my boat. Have been very satisfied. Have extra urine tanks for convenience and so I can show the poo police I’m not dumping it overboard.

I hated everything about the old holding tank system and pump outs. It was over complicated and such a gross process IMO, where this NH is so simple and odor-free in comparison.
 
FF said:
...I thought whizzing over the side was not regulated, yet.
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It's not. That's one of the great ironies of the marine sanitation laws. You can stand on the swim platform and pee directly into the water and you are not violating any of the marine sanitation laws. Pee into a cup, and then pour that over the side, though, and you ARE in violation of marine sanitation laws. How does that make any sense at all!?!


(Of course, if you stand on your swim platform displaying your shortcomings to everyone in the anchorage, you may well be violating other laws -- just not marine sanitation laws!)
 
denverd0n said:
It's not. That's one of the great ironies of the marine sanitation laws. You can stand on the swim platform and pee directly into the water and you are not violating any of the marine sanitation laws.
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I think it follows from the fact that urine is not a significant health risk, but feces is. If you are peeing over the side, it is just urine. If you are dumping the contents of a container, it is probably a mix of urine and feces (since traditional systems always mix the two). Hopefully, we can update our laws and pump out facilities to be more accommodating to composting heads. Some places have already started to do so.
 
"Of course, if you stand on your swim platform displaying your shortcomings to everyone in the anchorage, you may well be violating other laws --"

Some folks use the swim platform to check the water temperature , others the water depth!
 
FF said:
"Of course, if you stand on your swim platform displaying your shortcomings to everyone in the anchorage, you may well be violating other laws --"

Some folks use the swim platform to check the water temperature , others the water depth!
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Personally I am with you on this except of course in a marina or in an area with little "flushing" :whistling: action (water movement). However, common sense is sometimes not very common.

However, don't get caught in a no discharge zone (eg. all of Washington State - Puget Sound). There are other ways of getting caught other than visual. A LEO (Law Enforcement Officer) could board, and during the inspection notice your composting head and ask to see your urine storage. Finding none, a fine could (maybe) be levied. This would then become an issue for the boater. Pay or fight, a problem either way. This would be something like the boater who gets caught (during an inspection) with the overboard discharge valve (holding tank) not locked in the closed position. Fined even though the only oversight might be failure to lock.
Just food for thought.
 
firehoser75 said:
Personally I am with you on this except of course in a marina or in an area with little "flushing" :whistling: action (water movement). However, common sense is sometimes not very common.

However, don't get caught in a no discharge zone (eg. all of Washington State - Puget Sound). There are other ways of getting caught other than visual. A LEO (Law Enforcement Officer) could board, and during the inspection notice your composting head and ask to see your urine storage. Finding none, a fine could (maybe) be levied. This would then become an issue for the boater. Pay or fight, a problem either way. This would be something like the boater who gets caught (during an inspection) with the overboard discharge valve (holding tank) not locked in the closed position. Fined even though the only oversight might be failure to lock.
Just food for thought.
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If you boat in those zones, just buy extra urine tanks for your composting head, or store it in whatever container you want, like a water/milk jug.

Maybe ask the LEO if he wants to smell it to verify if it’s actually pee. [emoji51] (stored urine smells pretty bad)

I have not been boarded since I converted to a composting head. Have any here been boarded in FL and had any trouble?
 
cardude01 said:
I have not been boarded since I converted to a composting head. Have any here been boarded in FL and had any trouble?
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I have not been boarded in an NDZ, but spent several months in the Florida Keys (which are an NDZ) and had no issues. In Key West, the (free) pump out boat had the ability to pump out from a Jerry can. We used that as urine storage. They came by once a week and emptied it.

In other places, we could empty on shore.

This was 4 years ago, so things could have changed. I have heard that since then Boot Key requires to you prove you are bringing urine to shore. That seems like a reasonable way to handle it to me.
 
Agree. I have no problem bringing urine to shore for disposal in a NDZ.
 
Maine Coons are very smart cats, the one problem they have is the males tend to drop dead young from heart problems.
 
rsn48 said:
Maine Coons are very smart cats, the one problem they have is the males tend to drop dead young from heart problems.
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That’s a shame. They are stunningly beautiful cats.
 
rsn48 said:
Maine Coons are very smart cats, the one problem they have is the males tend to drop dead young from heart problems.
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We have neighbors with one. I'm not a huge fan of cats (I have had 4 in my lifetime) but this cat is great. Smart, friendly, agreeable, and big enough that the raccoons leave him alone.
 
On our 90/90 we would lower the Grumman dink in davits aft , then bring it alongside to climb in.

LUCY would jump in , go forward to the mast support and was delighted to be rowed about the harbor.

On return we would pull up aft and LUCY would climb up on deck , a rolled hunk of carpet held loosely to the external rudder was her ladder .
We would follow as the bronze hand hold/steps grips were easier to go up than down.

On two occasions that I observed LUCY self rescued herself , in very rapid time,Cats can swim!

LUCY was so great we named our 50ft Navy Launch LUCY , hoping the launch would be as pleasing as the cat was.

Seems to have worked , only maint on the Loop was oil changes.
 
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How did this topic go from Composting Toilets to Cats??:offtopic:
 
Wait, I'll get it back on topic. Anyone put their cat in the composter?
 
"The entire Puget Sound in Washington State is a no discharge zone, and even treated sewage is not allowed to be discharged." Really? Well, the city of Victoria pumps its sewage directly into Puget Sound (only the Canadian side, of course). I always thought it a bit hypocritical that the Victoria marina mandates pump out of holding tanks only to have the stuff then go into the city's waste discharge and back to Puget Sound. I understand Victoria is working towards a new sewage treatment facility to go on-line in 2020. Next project is to have 33 ton whales defecate in outside neutral zones before entering Puget Sound.
 
Landshark said:
Well, the city of Victoria pumps its sewage directly into Puget Sound (only the Canadian side, of course). .
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This is incorrect. Victoria is on the North Shore of Strait of Juan de Fuca--not Puget Sound. A sewer plant is currently under construction.

Yes, it is a shame that our Canadian neighbors dumped sewage into the Straits. But the that is much different than Puget Sound which is a defined geographical area South of the Strait of Juan de Fuca. The Major US Cities on the South side of the Straits all have good treatment plants (Port Angeles, Sequim and Port Townsend.)

Our most recent boat has an air head--and we were prepared to remove it. However having spent several months full time cruising with the Air Head, we are converts. Yes you have to lug the urine, but it is far easier than maintaining marine heads (which we have done for over 55 years.)
 
I installed a Nature's Head about three years ago. Love it. No stinky hoses and no maintenance aside from occasionally emptying the composted material into a heavy plastic bag; then using that around the shrubs at home. Great stuff.
 
Landshark,
In your zeal to bash Canadians in general and Victoria in particular you have missed the entire point!!! By the way, US laws do not apply in Canada and vice versa (however, I do agree that Victoria should have addressed their sewage issue years ago).
What I was trying to point out (so owners of composting toilets have thought it completely through and can avoid any fines) was the actual law in Washington State (Puget Sound in particular). Regardless of what Canada is doing (and trying to use that as a defence for not following the US law will not work) you are not allowed (legally) to "dump" urine overboard in Puget Sound. LEO's can fine boaters who have not "locked" their overboard sewage tank discharge even though they may not have dumped anything. Likewise, I tried to point out (so composters can avoid fines) that failure to show how you store your urine (to a LEO) may also result in a fine (at least the same "logic" applies) because if you don't store it, you must dump it??

Let's try to stick to the facts of the topic, avoid politics, and not whale bash either :)

Composting toilets are great devices, but like most things on a boat, they do have their pros and cons.
 
Tom, It was not my intent to bash Canadians. I was simply identifying the hypocrisy of many of our environmental rules and regulations. For example, Victoria having strict pump-out rules and then they themselves pumping the effluent where they said you cannot. With regard to whales I find it amusing that pissing overboard is forbidden, but compared to when a when a 60,000 pound whale takes a dump it is insignificant. Now if you take offense to that, well that's just too bad. BTW, I bought my boat in Nanaimo and I know a thing or two about Canada and its rules.
 
Landshark,
We are in total agreement about the hypocrisy of many of the environmental rules, especially how lawmakers (in general no particular country) seem to want to often "single out" what in their views are the "rich boaters" when in fact, boaters often are insignificant when the problem is viewed in it's entirety. I think that the politicians do this as it looks like they are actually doing something about the problem (to the average voter who knows little about the full problem) when in fact they are leaving the "large low hanging fruit" untouched because addressing the real causes would not be popular with voters.

As far as the whales are concerned, 2 summers ago we had a humpback surface near us and "do it's business". Wow is all I can say about that monstrous slick. This was in Canadian waters so the whale was not in violation of any laws that I am aware of. :)
Glad to hear it was not your intent to bash, and if I overreacted, then I apologize for that.
 
Tom, you Canadians are just too nice. While we’re building a wall on our southern border, I hear you guys are planting a nice hedge on your southern border.:D
 
There is a secret program in whiskey Gulf in which the Canadian Navy is training whales to pooh in American waters only. And I bet you thought whiskey Gulf was for military matters only.
 
HopCar said:
Tom, you Canadians are just too nice. While we’re building a wall on our southern border, I hear you guys are planting a nice hedge on your southern border.:D
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Why thanks for the kind words Parks! :dance: Our hedge may take a few decades to get to a decent size as our Govt. is too cheap to buy mature plants.

RSN48, you know better than to let the cat out of the bag about the whales, must have been a slip?:eek:
 
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