Composting Head - Solids Disposal at Marinas

[AA3JY]

The jury is still out..I speak from ground zero here at the very popular marina where this whole Ga. HB fiasco started...

[Cthoops]

Originally Posted by Mike OReilly

Agreed, but I know I'd read somewhere that someplace had banned, or restricted their use. So, a DuckDuck search turned up a thread over at Sailnet: Annapolis bans composting toilets for cruisers on hook?

We have a Nature’s Head and when we anchored there last fall we went in to register as required. We were asked what head we had and when we said it was composting we were told that we could only anchor for three days. Yet we have cruising friends with a composting head that arrived at the same time, picked up a mooring, and were never asked about their head. When we were there the year before we picked up a mooring and were also never asked.

Boats with traditional heads can anchor there for weeks without hassle as long as they get a pump out every week or so (can’t remember the exact amount of time). It’s just the composting head boats that have the strict limits on anchoring.

I have to say, I love Annapolis but this policy with no rational basis really put me off. It’s the only municipality we’ve stopped in between Rhode Island and Florida that singles out boats with composting heads.

[seandepagnier]

Originally Posted by roverhi

Composting is a misnomer for these heads. They are really dessicating heads. Composting actually takes months and, if used regularly, they simply don't have the holding capacity to go that long without emptying.

The composting process is started in the head to the point where strong fungus colonies occur before emptying. The process is completed when you go on land to a forested area and bury the waste far enough away from water or streams. The same is true if you need to go while camping.

The ideal disposal solution would be to dump the contents in the head at the marina, assuming they are hooked to a working sewage treatmett facility or septic system.

You must add peat moss/ash or other material while using a composting head. It would be a bad idea to dispose of it in a standard head. Furthermore, a standard pump out consumes energy and causes pollution and should be avoided.

Bagging the contents and disposing in a dumpster is no different, in fact better than throwing diapers in the trash. See no health problems for marina workers unless they are in the habit of dumpster diving for their meals.

Not only is it probably illegal, it also causes pollution to haul more garbage away. Unlike a septic system the actual waste will be buried where fungus and plants do not even benefit from it at least for a long time, so it is twice a waste. Worse than pump out.

[mvweebles]

This thread cracks me up. Bunch of compost anti-bodies claiming the high ground of "its hazardous waste." At home in central Florida, garbage day is tomorrow for me - twice a week in this moist warm climate. Spoiled food, some construction debris including pressure treated lumber and drywall, God knows what type of normal household cleaning solvents, and all sorts of packaging such as plastic wrap that is not recyclable, and a bunch of organic yard waste. Two of us are fairly frugal and we manage to fill a large trash barrel once a week.

At a marina on Sunday night, the dumpster is full of beer bottles, Styrofoam takeaway containers, plastic bags, various empty boat product containers such as oil jugs or cleaning products, tossed foam cushions, etc. It's a real shitshow of a dumpster at the end of a weekend

Seriously, there are people who think the problem is waste from a composting toilet? Gimme a break.

[Mike OReilly]

Originally Posted by Cthoops

...I have to say, I love Annapolis but this policy with no rational basis really put me off. It’s the only municipality we’ve stopped in between Rhode Island and Florida that singles out boats with composting heads.

Good reason to avoid Annapolis. Honestly, the more I read about some of the insanity down south, the less I want to leave Newfoundland.

[David B]

Originally Posted by Mike OReilly

I suspect you are right on all counts here Adeline. Which is why I would never raise the question with the marina (not that the OP is going to).

What I'd love to see, and would be a smarter regulatory response, is to institute some sort of proper collection service at the marinas. As the popularity of these heads grows it only makes rational sense to do this, just as was done with liquid effluent.

Pump out services are widely available (at least in some areas). There's no reason a similar collection system could not be put in place to take compost head material. If anything, it should be a lot easier to manage.

But I realize this would be a rational response, and governments are not always particularly rational.

Now that's a sensible suggestion Mike.
There should be pump-out for normal heads.
There should be liquid waste for engines (with a rack to drain old filters before re-cycling)
There should be general waste, organic waste (food scraps etc) and recycling for paper, plastics and metals.
And bio waste for those who use 'composting' toilets - including emptying their urine containers ………

[Cthoops]

Originally Posted by Mike OReilly

Good reason to avoid Annapolis. Honestly, the more I read about some of the insanity down south, the less I want to leave Newfoundland.

With the exception of Annapolis, anti-cruising boat regulations don’t start getting stupid until south Florida (and now Georgia with their legally questionable anchoring restrictions).

That being said, we are back in the Bahamas with plans to go further south. Assuming we both stay healthy, we won’t be returning to the U.S. with our boat for at least 18 months. Family visits and medical appointments will have us flying back only for 3-4 weeks once a year. I do feel a sense of relief that I didn’t quite expect, but I’m sure there are reasons for that not limited solely to the east coast of south Florida’s anti-cruiser mentality.

[valhalla360]

Originally Posted by Woodland Hills

Given how the most recent deposits are essentially fresh, how is tossing it into a dumpster any different from pooping everyday in a plastic bag and tossing that in the same place. Would that be acceptable?

Considering there is no law against diapers going into the trash...yeah, it's acceptable as long as well bagged.

[Mike OReilly]

Originally Posted by Cthoops

With the exception of Annapolis, anti-cruising boat regulations don’t start getting stupid until south Florida (and now Georgia with their legally questionable anchoring restrictions).

That being said, we are back in the Bahamas with plans to go further south. Assuming we both stay healthy, we won’t be returning to the U.S. with our boat for at least 18 months. Family visits and medical appointments will have us flying back only for 3-4 weeks once a year. I do feel a sense of relief that I didn’t quite expect, but I’m sure there are reasons for that not limited solely to the east coast of south Florida’s anti-cruiser mentality.

Thanks Cthoops, it's good to know the anti-cruising areas are still few. Hope your journeys continue to be grand .

[newhaul]

Originally Posted by Dsanduril

As we contemplate the installation of a composting head, and with being regularly in a marina for the first time in years as we replenish the cruising funds...

I've seen a couple of comments lately about marinas refusing liveaboard status to boats with composting heads as they are concerned about solids disposal and exposure of marina personnel to human fecal matter.

I can see their point, if you dispose of your solids bucket contents in the marina trash receptacle as soon as it gets full then your last deposits will not be composted.

Has anybody here got first-hand experience with this issue? Any resolution you could work out with the marina?

I could see having two buckets, and continuing composting on the full one for 'x' days or weeks (that means stirring and oxygen, so not a sit and forget item). Or double-bagging and sealing. Disposal as green waste after composting. Agreement simply not to dispose of at marina. Lots of options, but curious what others have run into.

Disposal at sea and in remote places seems pretty straightforward, it's more the uptight marinas I might need to inhabit for the next year that are the question.

Thanks for any experience.

honestly I have never heard of a marina having an issue with composting heads . I actually had a marina allow me to liveaboard because of the composting head . They required a 15 gallon holding tank onboard per person for the head unless it was composting. ( on a 24 ft boat there's no room for a tank that big .) Then they didn't care as long as you took your " trash" to the dumpster.
Personally I would recommend that you empty the solids bin into a black garbage bag and tie it off so the contents are not readily visible. No problems .
If you are really concerned about the composting part they do make " compostable" plastic refuse bags.

[Happ]

Originally Posted by Dsanduril

As we contemplate the installation of a composting head, and with being regularly in a marina for the first time in years as we replenish the cruising funds...

I've seen a couple of comments lately about marinas refusing liveaboard status to boats with composting heads as they are concerned about solids disposal and exposure of marina personnel to human fecal matter.

I can see their point, if you dispose of your solids bucket contents in the marina trash receptacle as soon as it gets full then your last deposits will not be composted.

Has anybody here got first-hand experience with this issue? Any resolution you could work out with the marina?

I could see having two buckets, and continuing composting on the full one for 'x' days or weeks (that means stirring and oxygen, so not a sit and forget item). Or double-bagging and sealing. Disposal as green waste after composting. Agreement simply not to dispose of at marina. Lots of options, but curious what others have run into.

Disposal at sea and in remote places seems pretty straightforward, it's more the uptight marinas I might need to inhabit for the next year that are the question.

Thanks for any experience.

What do you do with the pee? It goes in a separate container and has to be emptied regularly. Dump it overboard? In Annapolis you are not allowed to use a mooring with a composting head. Much less live aboard.

[Mike OReilly]

Originally Posted by Happ

What do you do with the pee? It goes in a separate container and has to be emptied regularly. Dump it overboard? In Annapolis you are not allowed to use a mooring with a composting head. Much less live aboard.

Yes, this seems to be the one place which has this silly restriction in place. Luckily it's a big world. If they want to hassle me about my head, then I'll happily go somewhere else.

Actually, can anyone update us on this situation? In my search for official information the only references I can find are from a Sailnet discussion on the topic. I can find no actual documentation on this apparent ban. Not even when I search the Annapolis bylaws and statutes page. There's nothing about it on the official Harbourmaster website.

The only rather oblique reference I can find is under the "Violations" section (15.10.140) where "The use or non-use of pump-out facilities" is listed as one possible "consideration." Composting heads can be "pumped out" if required.

BTW, urine usually gets dumped over the side, except when tied to a dock with land facilities. Then it can be dumped in the toilet.

[newhaul]

How about this a small thru hull a short hose and a transmission funnel . Open the valve and urinate then close the valve . That I do believe would meet the definition of direct discharge.

Opinions??