Doing your "Doody"

[Old-Biscuit]

Originally Posted by mocarski

I'm considering one so that I can use my black tank for gray water and extend the amount of time I can boondock. For that it seems to work. I never expected to produce usable compost out of it lol. I compost at home and one of the things they say to not add is human or pet waste.

You have 79 gallon fresh water tank and (2) TWO 40 gallon grey tanks plus the 40 gallon black

You run out of fresh long before filling waste tanks so isn't your boondocking limited by amount of fresh water??

I have 70 gal fresh, 50 gal black , 50 gal grey and a 28 gal galley
Galley fills up fastest.
All tank drains tie into a common header.
I installed an 'additional' drain valve on horizontal run of common header just before elbow that turns drain out to side of 5vr

With 'additional' valve closed I can open both grey/galley drain valves and equalize those tanks......giving me 78 gal of grey capacity
Or I can open ALL three valves (black/grey/galley) and have 128 gal capacity.
All for the cost of a new valve/flanges and about 20 mins of my time (once) ~$20

[mocarski]

Originally Posted by Old-Biscuit

You have 79 gallon fresh water tank and (2) TWO 40 gallon grey tanks plus the 40 gallon black

You run out of fresh long before filling waste tanks so isn't your boondocking limited by amount of fresh water??

I installed an 'additional' drain valve on horizontal run of common header just before elbow that turns drain out to side of 5vr

In some Luxes they install 2 gray tanks. I think it's the ones with 2 bathrooms but don't quote me on that. I only have 1 40 gallon in mine so that is the one that fills up first. We installed another valve like you did and plan to do exactly what you are doing.

[gdhillard]

The push back against composting toilets is interesting. Almost always from people who don't have one, or who don't use it right. You see the same thing in veggie diets, Mac ownership, bike commuting, and other behaviors and choices that seem to unsettle the mainstream crowd. I understand the whole loyalty thing to what you have and what you do, but it gets in the way of progress sometimes. The comments against it are either from people who don't have one, or who are doing it wrong.

I am coming up on two months with my Nature's Head, and absolutely love it. I am dumping the 2.25 gallon pee jug about every two weeks or so, simply capping it and taking it to a toilet and pouring it in. No hassle, no oder. The poop tank continues to amaze me, in that poop is stirred in by the agitator and simply disappears. The level of "compost" has not risen at all, and I have had reports of two person parties going full time for three months with no change in the fullness of the tank. Where this stuff goes is a mystery, but it magically works. Still no oder, no hassle, and no cleaning required. It must be biologically breaking down, since even the toilet paper disappears. The target hole on the Nature's Head seems considerably bigger, both wider and longer, than the hole on the Air Head, and I have yet to have anything hit the sides on the way in. Clean shot every time. Where I am set up now, in a campground, the neighbors are driving their rigs, or hauling the big blue tanks down the hill to the dump station, every few days, while I just hang out here and write. I don't miss that trip at all.

[computerguy]

Originally Posted by gdhillard

The push back against composting toilets is interesting. Almost always from people who don't have one, or who don't use it right. You see the same thing in veggie diets, Mac ownership, bike commuting, and other behaviors and choices that seem to unsettle the mainstream crowd. ...

Dunno. The video clearly states they use it and have so for awhile. They go into detail (and sometimes too much detail) about what works and more so what does not work.
My black tank simply works. I too drink a lot of water. No smells no worry about a fan or having a wet poop. The water takes with it anything that might be thinking about sticking to the bowl. I would vomit if I had to go and clean up after a healthy dump and some of it decided to not make it directly in the hole. No thanks. Glad you like yours. Diff'rnt strokes for diff'rnt folks. It's what makes the world go round.

[lalaposhi]

For me, I'm simply concerned about the 'timeline' (length of time I can boondock with the DW, on BLM)

the compost toilet (per the pee jug per 2 people) lasts 7 days (according to gdhillard/2 days according to fitRV)

If can last longer than 7days with the fresh/grey/black tanks, then no compost toilet needed

Do any of 'you guys' do 7-14 day stretches dry camping without the need to dump/offload any of your tanks?

[twogypsies]

Originally Posted by lalaposhi

Do any of 'you guys' do 7-14 day stretches dry camping without the need to dump/offload any of your tanks?

It all depends on your tank sizes.

We could last 2 weeks. Our tanks were 105 fresh; 65 grey; 45 black. We didn't dump grey on the ground. The grey filled first and that was our leaving time. We usually still had fresh and black space even though we dumped dish water in the black. As stated earlier - after two weeks we wanted to move to another place anyway so it was no big deal to dump and then move. We're not ones for sitting still.

[dagmandt]

I've read a ton on the subject and watched many video testimonials. What a lot of folks here are ignoring is the fact that you don't empty the solids tank after every trip. You leave it in for months, or the entire season depending on the level of the waste. You absolutely get composting if you use it correctly. From my research and from testimonials from folks using these toilets correctly, you can go 6 months with two people full time before emptying the solids tank. Now, the liquids tank is another story. If you aren't filling up 2.5 gallons in a couple days you aren't drinking enough water. But that isn't a huge deal in my opinion. Just have a couple tanks around and store one under the trailer when full and empty them as you see fit.

Do your research and you'll find this is a pretty intriguing option, especially when you can connect your gray and black tank as a common gray to extend your holding capacity.

As I mentioned, I have no first hand experience but I have done a "crap-load" of research!

[Davidjeff]

As suggested, proper disposal of material is essential. I can't believe they stated to throw it in the dumpster
. Really, what's in the bags are biohazard material....

[mocarski]

Originally Posted by Davidjeff

Really, what's in the bags are biohazard material....

lol. what are you eating? prior to indoor plumbing my parents and grandparents used it as fertilizer for the garden. There is one local landscape supply company that acquires the waste from local township sewer systems and sells it as top soil. I'm pretty sure they are processing it fully into compost/top soil but you never know lol. Our society is becoming way too civilized in some ways lol.

[ModestMonk]

Originally Posted by Davidjeff

As suggested, proper disposal of material is essential. I can't believe they stated to throw it in the dumpster
. Really, what's in the bags are biohazard material....

I realize we all have opinions, and I realize that some of us do things different than others, but can we share ideas and talk them through before we throw the baby out with the bath water?

Psssst....so what do you do with baby diapers? Now they contain some real hazardous material!

Originally Posted by mocarski

lol. what are you eating? prior to indoor plumbing my parents and grandparents used it as fertilizer for the garden. There is one local landscape supply company that acquires the waste from local township sewer systems and sells it as top soil. I'm pretty sure they are processing it fully into compost/top soil but you never know lol. Our society is becoming way too civilized in some ways lol.

Some...SOME of the Amish still do that. We do not use manure any where near the planting areas on our organic farm. I will use it, Horse btw, and combined with compostable material in the hay fields. We grow our cover crops aka green manure.

[ModestMonk]

Originally Posted by mocarski

lol. what are you eating? prior to indoor plumbing my parents and grandparents used it as fertilizer for the garden. There is one local landscape supply company that acquires the waste from local township sewer systems and sells it as top soil. I'm pretty sure they are processing it fully into compost/top soil but you never know lol. Our society is becoming way too civilized in some ways lol.

I meant to mention I've used this product many years ago before we moved here. Milorganite

[Davidjeff]

Originally Posted by ModestMonk

Psssst....so what do you do with baby diapers? Now they contain some real hazardous material!

True, but I never left them in parking lots and such.. if it composted or in process of composting at least it is being handled in a decent way. Valid points

[ModestMonk]

Originally Posted by gdhillard

The push back against composting toilets is interesting. Almost always from people who don't have one, or who don't use it right. You see the same thing in veggie diets, Mac ownership, bike commuting, and other behaviors and choices that seem to unsettle the mainstream crowd. I understand the whole loyalty thing to what you have and what you do, but it gets in the way of progress sometimes. The comments against it are either from people who don't have one, or who are doing it wrong.

I am coming up on two months with my Nature's Head, and absolutely love it. I am dumping the 2.25 gallon pee jug about every two weeks or so, simply capping it and taking it to a toilet and pouring it in. No hassle, no oder. The poop tank continues to amaze me, in that poop is stirred in by the agitator and simply disappears. The level of "compost" has not risen at all, and I have had reports of two person parties going full time for three months with no change in the fullness of the tank. Where this stuff goes is a mystery, but it magically works. Still no oder, no hassle, and no cleaning required. It must be biologically breaking down, since even the toilet paper disappears. The target hole on the Nature's Head seems considerably bigger, both wider and longer, than the hole on the Air Head, and I have yet to have anything hit the sides on the way in. Clean shot every time. Where I am set up now, in a campground, the neighbors are driving their rigs, or hauling the big blue tanks down the hill to the dump station, every few days, while I just hang out here and write. I don't miss that trip at all.

One of the most current loyalty issues that makes no sense to me are the GM commercials. Where they're dumping a front end loader worth of concrete blocks into the back of a $46,000 pick up truck. How much tougher that iron/ steel pick up bed is compared to the ford aluminum body. I have a friend who jokes about how many aluminum beer cans it takes to make a Ford truck. No logic just emotion. this whole election cycle has been much of the same.

12 years ago when we bought this property we had horses pigs goats chickens turkeys ducks. We collected all the manure and combined it with green brown fibrous material a lot of it being sawdust mixed it all up creating compost piles larger than a pick up truck. Every 10 days or so I stirred them with the bucket of the tractor and by the following year each pile was reduced to the size of a pup tent. After two years we spread it on the hayfield. If I had spread it on the ground 2 inches thick and you came upon it you could sit on and have a picnic and not realize that this was once a big huge pile of manure. Grass and flowers would grow and proliferate...it's a normal cycle of life and death.

[PathfindrVan]

Chevy has announced they will be building pick-ups built from Aluminum in the next 1-2 years...they were just "stoopid" in their attack campaign.
And farmers composting farm waste is just good practice. The waste from these toilets are not usually being afforded the processes on a farm.

The replies here about these toilets, show an amazing split in reality.
So, a composting toilet is great if you DON'T USE it? Like weekender RV'rs who let it sit between trips...or the owner who uses the campground facilities when ever available(?).

So between trips, does the RV (with a use loaded solids bin in the toilet) stay plugged-in or have solar so the evac fan can stay running(?).

My problem with these toilet systems is the owners who dump their solids waste (nah, it's not compost - yet) into the trash system or in a shallow hole and dump the liquid tank on the ground near where folks camp (not into a toilet which does not exists in a boondocking area)

BTW disposable diapers are bio-waste, but typically have only a tiny amount of waste compared to the amount of absorbent material in the tape-closed diaper...nasty, but not a good comparison to the used/filled desiccant of these toilets.

It's just WAY TOO easy to be lazy and ruin beautiful camping areas for others...IMHO.
My thanks to those who do not get lazy