Home made composting toilet

[mistericeman]

Haven't popped onto WC for a few weeks, and what fun to find a toilet thread on my return! I looked into composting loos for the "Dunny with a View" that we are planning in the back garden but ended up planning a rainwater flush (with a mains water back-up) and waste piped to the septic tank as being easier.
I confess that we like the comfort and convenience of the Thetford in the van, but we find it limiting on the capacity side. With our last van we carried a spare cassette but we don't have a big locker now.
What I'm interested in is the compostable doggy bags for solids half-way system, to keep us going for a few more days. Would anyone care to enlighten me on the actual mechanics of this one?

Fairly basic....
Compostable bag in the 'pan' and a handful of dry material (not everyone can perform a No2 without passing liquid at same time)
And a handful of dry material to cover and soak (drier proceedings are the less smell....)
Though using 1 bag per person it's less of an issue....
Toilet paper in the bag IF you're not going to be composting the proceedings....

There ARE commercially available bags from a Norwegian company from memory that contain a gel substance to soak up fluids....

Obviously IF you were going down the dry toilet route and bagging/disposing of the products every few days then the cover material is more important smell wise.

 

[Sharon the Cat]

Fairly basic....
Compostable bag in the 'pan' and a handful of dry material (not everyone can perform a No2 without passing liquid at same time)
And a handful of dry material to cover and soak (drier proceedings are the less smell....)
Though using 1 bag per person it's less of an issue....
Toilet paper in the bag IF you're not going to be composting the proceedings....

There ARE commercially available bags from a Norwegian company from memory that contain a gel substance to soak up fluids....

Obviously IF you were going down the dry toilet route and bagging/disposing of the products every few days then the cover material is more important smell wise.

Thank you. In my mind I was seeing nappy sacks that we use for dog poo which probably aren't easy enough to aim into. Can anyone post a bag example please?

 

[mistericeman]

Thank you. In my mind I was seeing nappy sacks that we use for dog poo which probably aren't easy enough to aim into. Can anyone post a bag example please?

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Portable-Replacement-Compostable-Compost-Certified/dp/B079N33LKC

 

[Herbenny]

Thank you. In my mind I was seeing nappy sacks that we use for dog poo which probably aren't easy enough to aim into. Can anyone post a bag example please?

Please not with the contents in it though


Sorry this topic brings out the 5 year old in me

 

[Sharon the Cat]

Please not with the contents in it though


Sorry this topic brings out the 5 year old in me

Behave

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Portable-Replacement-Compostable-Compost-Certified/dp/B079N33LKC

The elephant reference is a worry and then I saw the capacity!

Capacity	8 gallons
Brand	GREEN ELEPHANT

 

[Nabsim]

Some of the ‘eco friendly’ ‘bio degradable’ bags still take 1000 years to break down and are a con. The green bags posted earlier do biodegrade but not convinced the toilet bags will in anyones lifetime. Polyester usually hangs around a while. Of course that is only an issue if you are thinking of doing composting because it environmentally friendly rather than a way of extending pit stops. For extending pit stops just put a sheet of decent kitchen roll in the pan then put it all in a normal nappy sack then bin it.

You don’t need to rip out a Thetford you can use it as Annie does and many others do

 

[campervanannie]

Haven't popped onto WC for a few weeks, and what fun to find a toilet thread on my return! I looked into composting loos for the "Dunny with a View" that we are planning in the back garden but ended up planning a rainwater flush (with a mains water back-up) and waste piped to the septic tank as being easier.
I confess that we like the comfort and convenience of the Thetford in the van, but we find it limiting on the capacity side. With our last van we carried a spare cassette but we don't have a big locker now.
What I'm interested in is the compostable doggy bags for solids half-way system, to keep us going for a few more days. Would anyone care to enlighten me on the actual mechanics of this one?

Line the toilet bowl with a caddy size compostable bag place in the bag either sawdust, straw or even toilet tissue do what you need to do close the bag gently squeezing out as much air as you can then seal the bag by tying a knot place in an airtight container until you can dispose of it either dog poo bins or composting bins hope this helps.

 

[campervanannie]

Some of the ‘eco friendly’ ‘bio degradable’ bags still take 1000 years to break down and are a con. The green bags posted earlier do biodegrade but not convinced the toilet bags will in anyones lifetime. Polyester usually hangs around a while. Of course that is only an issue if you are thinking of doing composting because it environmentally friendly rather than a way of extending pit stops. For extending pit stops just put a sheet of decent kitchen roll in the pan then put it all in a normal nappy sack then bin it.

You don’t need to rip out a Thetford you can use it as Annie does and many others do

Not the compostable ones.

 

[Sharon the Cat]

Line the toilet bowl with a caddy size biodegradable bag place in the bag either sawdust, straw or even toilet tissue do what you need to do close the bag gently squeezing out as much air as you can then seal the bag by tying a knot place in an airtight container until you can dispose of it either dog poo bins or composting bins hope this helps.

Thanks Annie - Compost caddy size?
I've got a few of those in my bag stash. In the van they go!
What a shame we didn't try this when I had cat litter delivered every couple of weeks by artic.

 

[Sharon the Cat]

Not the compostable ones.

Oops cross-posted there.
Please would you post a link?

 

[wildebus]

quite a few magazines, including the National Trust and the Camping & Caravan Club ones, are sent to subscribers in Bio-degradable bags which could be suitable for this kind of use maybe? (though with a one a month delivery might have to keep yours legs crossed! )

 

[campervanannie]

Thank you. In my mind I was seeing nappy sacks that we use for dog poo which probably aren't easy enough to aim into. Can anyone post a bag example please?

 

[campervanannie]

Thanks Annie - Compost caddy size?
I've got a few of those in my bag stash. In the van they go!
What a shame we didn't try this when I had cat litter delivered every couple of weeks by artic.

Thanks Annie - Compost caddy size?
I've got a few of those in my bag stash. In the van they go!
What a shame we didn't try this when I had cat litter delivered every couple of weeks by artic.

Sorry that should say compostable and not biodegradable

 

[Sharon the Cat]

Sorry that should say compostable and not biodegradable

Thanks Annie, all is now clear. I didn't realise earlier that you were replying to someone's comment about bags being biodegradable. The ones I have a defo composting ones. I shall put them in the van.

 

[Pudsey Bear]

I think everything is biodegradable if you wait long enough, and compostable can take a good while too.

 

[Herbenny]

This toilet thread has been enlightening to say the least … I spent the whole morning looking up strumpets, Trollops and found myself on some unfavourable websites

But definitely going to change things around in the toilet department. Im lucky I don’t even have to deal with the emptying, well I did do once
But I can’t bring myself to talk about it

 

[Nabsim]

Ah the bags the council here give you for free

Is this a Yorkshire thing as we never had them in Derbyshire where we were before. You get caddy and bags here

 

[mark61]

Keep us posted on how you get on with it please .. you don’t have to be too graphic

Will do.
Got me Dollop and Dumpit ordered.

https://www.strumpetandtrollop.com/product/the-two-stained-little-floozy/

 

[mistericeman]

Behave

The elephant reference is a worry and then I saw the capacity!

Capacity	8 gallons
Brand	GREEN ELEPHANT

Dangers of looking for one thing (compostable bags for the solids in a simploo type) at the same time as something else (should've been these for smaller toilet pan use lol)

UNIVERSAL ROLLS

2 MONTHS SUPPLY PER BOX* ★ AWARD-WINNING POO BAG ★ 100% Biodegradable & Home Compostable EU Certified EN 13432 and TUV approved Made with sugar and corn starch blend Box and cores made of cardboard Strong -18 microns thick Easy to remove stickers Versatile size 9'' x 13 '' Dark & opaque with...

greenpoopbag.co.uk

 

[REC]

Just come back online and thought I would put in my two penneth ( wait for the comments) We have a composting toilet in our barn in Portugal. Contents go onto a heap and break down over a couple of years. Wee is separated and piped out directly onto compost heap.No smells, no flies, rats or any other issues. We had a cassette in one van and I hated emptying it, seemed so much more unpleasant. Personal choice but we decided to go for a dry toilet in the van. Home made using a separator from kildwick, a six litre container for urine. No fan, stirring..just an occasional shake of the box and good cover. The urine gets emptied every couple of days, the "box" every three weeks or so depending on how much it is used. We use compostable bags (many supermarkets sell green compostable bags which hold quite a lot.) Empty onto compost pile at home or barn. Rarely bag and bin. We have had a long trip where we filled the bag and nowhere to empty so just tied the bag securely, put it in another bag and left it in bottom of the "box" till we got home. We " bury" the bags into the centre of the compost heap and cover with weeds or cardboard. The heat produced kills any pathogens (left for more than a year and they would be dead anyway!).
BTW tractor funnels make a good, wide urine separator and very cheap.