kokilo

Well it has been 2 weeks and 3000 miles since we headed out with our new Nature's head composting toilet from Vancouver Island, British Columbia to Ottawa, Ontario.

It has been completely free of smell and has been easy to use and maintain.
Because we have been using the composting toilet for everything except for a few exceptions it has had a good trial. Temperatures on the trip were in the 80's and 90's most days with night temps in the 60's.

Because of the relatively high usage by two people we did have to empty the toilet after two weeks and refill with Coir (coconut fiber). We emptied it into a plastic bag lined 5 gallon pail with lid where it will continue to compost for a few weeks until we can dispose of it. The material at that point should be ready for disposal. If we were at home it would be added to our compost heap where it would finish decomposing.

We are going to be staying in this area for a month or so but the usage of the toilet will be reduced as we use other facilities as well. We probably wont have to empty/refill until we head back west in September.

Advantages:
1 - Absolutely no smell.
2 - No slosh.
3 - No need to dump black water every 2 days. No dump fees. Unit will go from 2 weeks to months before having to empty depending on use.
4 - 900 dollar price is offset by low maintenance costs.
5 - Unit is nice looking and well made. All components are good quality plastic and stainless steel.
6 - Emptying/refilling of the toilet takes 10 minutes and is a clean, simple process.
7 - The oxidation of carbon by the aerobic bacteria produces heat which keeps the decomposition going despite colder ambient temperatures.
8 - No deodorizing chemicals needed.
9 - No water required for use other than the water needed to hydrate the coconut fiber or peat moss. We do this before we leave home and carry the hydrated coconut fiber in 1 gallon zip lock bags (2 bags per refill).
10 - The Nature's head composting toilet is a USCG certified class III holding tank.
11 - An environmentally "green" solution.
12 - Usage may sound difficult but in reality it's pretty easy.

Disadvantages:
1 - Urine bottle has to be emptied every two days or so with two people using it. We dump it daily so we don't forget. This has not been a problem anywhere. It fits inside a re-usable grocery bag so you don't have to advertise what you are doing.
2 - Proper hydration of the coir can effect the ease of cranking the toilet to mix the contents and provide aerobic composting. This needs a bit of tuning but is not difficult. Once you get a good ratio of water to coir or peat moss cranking effort is reduced.
2 - If using full time, the toilet it has to be dumped before complete decomposition has taken place. Smell is minimal due aerobic decomposition but there is some when you are dumping, just wear gloves to avoid any remaining pathogens. Putting it in a plastic bag lined, 5 gallon pail for two weeks finishes the decomposition enough for disposal.
3 - If traveling for an extended period disposal of the composted material may be an issue. Personally I see no problem in disposal of material which has been composting for a month in a landfill but finishing the composting in a compost heap is ideal.

This is not for everyone. Poo phobics may have a hard time with this. For my wife and I this is a good solution which is making our TM more pleasant to use and expands our range of what we can do with it.

Peter