Composting toilets or wet sewage systems

[Meanderthal]

Originally Posted by bletso

Actually, to each his own. This kind of remark is exactly what Mike was referring to.

It.was.a.joke. To lay waste and desecrate. Maybe you should look at my post history.

No need to find it funny, but aggroing friendlies is not exactly holding up your side.

[Scout 30]

As one of the animals using a litter box I have to say it's been a positive change for us. No worries about rebuilding the head, replacing smelly hoses, making sure the holding tank isn't leaking & the vent is open, checking the seacocks, looking for a functional pump out station or worrying about being legal. No discharge - no worries.

I'm 62 now & I've had & used marine heads since I was 6. There's nothing Peggie or anyone else can tell me about a marine head that I don't already know and I couldn't care less what she or anybody else thinks about our choice.

[Mike OReilly]

I conducted a poll last year asking which head people have on board. At current count it shows that 24% of respondents are using a composting system.

http://www.cruisersforum.com/forums/...ve-184086.html

I predict this percentage will continue to grow as more people come to understand the strengths of this type of sanitation system.

[Paul L]

Originally Posted by Mike OReilly

I conducted a poll last year asking which head people have on board. At current count it shows that 24% of respondents are using a composting system.

http://www.cruisersforum.com/forums/...ve-184086.html

I predict this percentage will continue to grow as more people come to understand the strengths of this type of sanitation system.

There's got to be a ton of selection bias in that stat. In the boats I see crossing the Pacific I doubt the number with composting heads is even 5%. I've known 3 cruising boats with composting heads. The first guy was a real evangelical about composting heads. A few years latter he removed it. The second is on his second season and has told me the jury is still out. The third is an extremely experienced circumnavigation couple who really like there composting setup. It did look like they have a lot of coconut husk storage on-board.

[handmer]

Originally Posted by uhu

BabyWipes in a composting toilet ?

? where did you find biodegradable BabyWipes ? = interested !

We don't actually do any secondary composting, so desiccating toilet is a better description. Thus no issues with whatever ending up in there.

But Google suggests that in Australia at least, cotton based compostable wet wipes are available from the supermarket. eBay seems to have a lot of options too, but that might vary depending on your location.

[bletso]

Originally Posted by Meanderthal

It.was.a.joke. To lay waste and desecrate. Maybe you should look at my post history.

No need to find it funny, but aggroing friendlies is not exactly holding up your side.

If it was a joke, I apologise. It is more the tone of the thread that skewed my interpretation of your post.

[Mike OReilly]

Originally Posted by Paul L

There's got to be a ton of selection bias in that stat. In the boats I see crossing the Pacific I doubt the number with composting heads is even 5%. I've known 3 cruising boats with composting heads. The first guy was a real evangelical about composting heads. A few years latter he removed it. The second is on his second season and has told me the jury is still out. The third is an extremely experienced circumnavigation couple who really like there composting setup. It did look like they have a lot of coconut husk storage on-board.

You bet … many levels of bias/self-selection going on here. The best we can say is 24% of CF users who are interested enough in poop claim they have a composter. No where near a statistically sound selection, but at least it’s better than individual anecdotes and personal observations.

I ran the poll b/c of the line you just gave: that it can’t be more than 5%. I was quite surprised where the compost number came in. I was expecting perhaps 10%. I was also surprised at the low number for Type II systems, as well the “other” category. Not sure what those people are doing .

[Scout 30]

Originally Posted by Paul L

There's got to be a ton of selection bias in that stat. In the boats I see crossing the Pacific I doubt the number with composting heads is even 5%. I've known 3 cruising boats with composting heads. The first guy was a real evangelical about composting heads. A few years latter he removed it. The second is on his second season and has told me the jury is still out. The third is an extremely experienced circumnavigation couple who really like there composting setup. It did look like they have a lot of coconut husk storage on-board.

It was a simple poll of who on the cruiser forum uses what kind of head. No selection bias. Then you disregard the results in favor of your own personal anecdotal evidence. There's your bias.

[BlackHeron]

This is an amusing discussion.

What I find a little bit shocking is the inability of so many people to make a simple hand-pumped plumbing system like the typical marine flushing head and MSD work without it stinking or causing all the myriad problems they have with them. This isn't rocket science, it's just the reverse. The "head mistress" lays out the steps in a fairly simple and easy to follow system in her book, but apparently is just too hard compared to going back to a litter box. IMHO the flush toilet is what makes modern civilization "modern."

So I guess I'm finally starting to get that many people just have a hard time with simple machines.

Now I have to wonder how these same people can even keep a marine diesel engine running with any degree of dependability, which is a few orders of magnitude more complex and requiring a much finer degree of expertise with smaller margins for error and tighter tolerances.

[smj]

Originally Posted by BlackHeron

This is an amusing discussion.



What I find a little bit shocking is the inability of so many people to make a simple hand-pumped plumbing system like the typical marine flushing head and MSD work without it stinking or causing all the myriad problems they have with them. This isn't rocket science, it's just the reverse. The "head mistress" lays out the steps in a fairly simple and easy to follow system in her book, but apparently is just too hard compared to going back to a litter box. IMHO the flush toilet is what makes modern civilization "modern."



So I guess I'm finally starting to get that many people just have a hard time with simple machines.



Now I have to wonder how these same people can even keep a marine diesel engine running with any degree of dependability, which is a few orders of magnitude more complex and requiring a much finer degree of expertise with smaller margins for error and tighter tolerances.

Been on your boat before and it reeked of stinking head. I’m also guessing you have no experience with a composting system and probably very little experience with owning and maintaining your own system full time. I may be wrong.

[Scout 30]

Originally Posted by BlackHeron

This is an amusing discussion.

What I find a little bit shocking is the inability of so many people to make a simple hand-pumped plumbing system like the typical marine flushing head and MSD work without it stinking or causing all the myriad problems they have with them. This isn't rocket science, it's just the reverse. The "head mistress" lays out the steps in a fairly simple and easy to follow system in her book, but apparently is just too hard compared to going back to a litter box. IMHO the flush toilet is what makes modern civilization "modern."

So I guess I'm finally starting to get that many people just have a hard time with simple machines.

Now I have to wonder how these same people can even keep a marine diesel engine running with any degree of dependability, which is a few orders of magnitude more complex and requiring a much finer degree of expertise with smaller margins for error and tighter tolerances.

It's so simple someone wrote a book about how to maintain it. A book about how to maintain a composting head would be 1 page. And FYI, we don't change because we can't maintain the system, we change because we don't want to. Here's an idea, keep your condescending insults to yourself.

[Seighlor]

Originally Posted by Scout 30

It's so simple someone wrote a book about how to maintain it. A book about how to maintain a composting head would be 1 page. And FYI, we don't change because we can't maintain the system, we change because we don't want to. Here's an idea, keep your condescending insults to yourself.

*DITTO*

[BlackHeron]

Originally Posted by smj

Been on your boat before and it reeked of stinking head. I’m also guessing you have no experience with a composting system and probably very little experience with owning and maintaining your own system full time. I may be wrong, I just get that feeling from looking through your Facebook and webpage.

Yup it stunk when we got the boat. The only thing that is original is the Raritan head and the tank (which was never used).

One big thing to get rid of the stink was to sand the raw fiberglass strands that were behind the head where the head mounting platform was glassed to the hull. After sanding the entire head floor and repainting with a high-gloss topside paint that has been a huge improvement.

Totally replumbing the boat after taking out the reeking old hoses was big too, as well as making sure there was no place for standing effluent to sit. No low spots. Running a 1" secondary vent line from the tank was amazing too. Now I can just flush the vent out with a hose, so it doesn't get plugged and has great cross-ventilation.

It took a little work to fix right. But in the last two seasons using the head living aboard nearly full time

[smj]

Originally Posted by BlackHeron

Yup it stunk when we got the boat. The only thing that is original is the Raritan head and the tank (which was never used).



One big thing to get rid of the stink was to sand the raw fiberglass strands that were behind the head where the head mounting platform was glassed to the hull. After sanding the entire head floor and repainting with a high-gloss topside paint that has been a huge improvement.



Totally replumbing the boat after taking out the reeking old hoses was big too, as well as making sure there was no place for standing effluent to sit. No low spots. Running a 1" secondary vent line from the tank was amazing too. Now I can just flush the vent out with a hose, so it doesn't get plugged and has great cross-ventilation.



It took a little work to fix right. But in the last two seasons using the head living aboard nearly full time

Or you could have installed a composter and had no worries about future odors. But I understand the composting system isn’t for everyone and I try to RESPECT others choices, though sometimes I admit I may not come across that way.

[thinwater]

Originally Posted by Scout 30

It's so simple someone wrote a book about how to maintain it. A book about how to maintain a composting head would be 1 page. And FYI, we don't change because we can't maintain the system, we change because we don't want to. Here's an idea, keep your condescending insults to yourself.

Play nice. Bickering doesn't help acceptance.

I've known several people who took composting heads out because they could not get them to operate properly. Bugs, smell, tiered of handling media. They found pump heads simpler. Perhaps a book is needed covering possible mistakes, because there apparently are some.

That said, I'm here because I am interested and I believe the idea has strong merits. No condescension at all.

[What maintenance? Replace hoses 15 years if good quality (2 hours). Replace pump 5 years (15 minutes). Neither task is mesh if you flush clean water first. Clogging? Never had one, I suspect most have to do with poorly designed plumbing or the wrong TP. Push button to pump out (pump not serviced in 24 years). No stink, believe it or don't. I will accept the claim that composting units can be operated without stink if you will extend equal courtesy.]