Disposing of Solid Waste From a Dessicating Toilet

[Mike OReilly]

Originally Posted by alanfw

I've considered it, but I can't find a place to put it that doesn't involve ripping out huge amounts of fibreglass and remodeling. If I buy an OGO, all I have to do is attach a base sheet (eg ply) where the current head is and attach the OGO to the base. (The base is needed because the OGO is 3 to 5 cm deeper than the shelf the current head sits on.) A step will also be necessary too, but that's a WHOLE lot easier than trying to fit a holding tank!

And the composter takes up a lot less space. As I mentioned, one of the main reasons we switched was to recover the significant space occupied by the holding tank, and all the associated plumbing. In the same space I now carry a couple of tool bins, a spare windlass, our gennaker, and two inflatable kayaks.

[Bowdrie]

Originally Posted by dannc

However, they news reports gloss over or ignore the nitrogen pollution from human waste water.

Interesting.
For at least a couple hundred years, (before the "Nitrate Trade",) it was common for families to collect and sell their urine to companies that rendered out the nitrates which were then used in the production of gunpowder.
Those who "Didn't have a pot to piss in" were the poorest of the poor.

[SV__Grace]

Great point. When we bag the contents of our composting toilet it doesn't smell!

It might be a bit heavier than a similar sized bag of garbage but having raised 3 kids (that all started as babies) I can tell you that their diaper pail smelled to high heaven AND it went into the regular garbage and landfill.

Originally Posted by Jim Cate

Untold millions of disposable nappies (diapers) go into land fills every day, via household trash, marina bins, park receptacles and various other routes... and no one seems to care. And that "stuff" isn't even dessicated!

The biohazard associated with a few yottie dessicators seems pretty trivial in comparison. Jim

[Seabeau]

I've had a C-Head for about 5 years now. The simplest of all the composters. No problems whatsoever. For additional capacity, I carry two 5 gal. buckets equipped with "Gamma Seal", waterproof lids. The urine storage container, for the C-Head, is a simple one gal water or milk jug. The additional dry capacity gives me and one crew member approx 3 to 4 weeks of usage without dumping. I dump the bagged contents in dumpsters or in a composting bin at my home.

[Mynard]

I recently switched to an OGO and I'm very happy with the capacity and performance of this unit. The after sales support and advice from the OGO team is also fantastic.


as far as usage goes, same as most, 3-4 weeks before emptying (double bagged into the trash) super easy. We could probably go another week without emptying though. I've also found that it has less odors than a standard water based head.


I changed mine for two reasons, this definitely cuts down on head maintenance, and you don't need to look for pump-out stations or venture offshore every time your black water tanks needs emptying. I still have one head on the boat with a bw tank, but that's only so I have an option (read as redundancy).


I have only One issue with my OGO, and this is not due to the product but rather to the space I have allocated for it. I replaced a standard manual pump Marine head. which in my boat was mounted on a bit of a raised platform next to the shower. So with the OGO this raised platform makes the seating position about 10cm (4") higher than flat on the ground. Some modification need to follow when I feel like cutting out the platform to have a more comfortable seating position.

[dannc]

Originally Posted by Bowdrie

Interesting.
For at least a couple hundred years, (before the "Nitrate Trade",) it was common for families to collect and sell their urine to companies that rendered out the nitrates which were then used in the production of gunpowder.
Those who "Didn't have a pot to piss in" were the poorest of the poor.

And before the production of nitrogen from natural gas, having fertilizer for growing food was a major issue that the Nitrate Trade only sorta helped. After all, there are only so many places full of bat and bird poop. Before that trade, human waste was used as fertilizer and might still be in some places.

We just happened to tour the "house" one of the Pilgrims stayed in Leiden, NL. It was a nicer "house" in that it had an indoor toilet which was nothing more than a hole in the ground under the "house" which had to be cleaned out from time to time. It was not said but I assume the waste was eventually used as fertilizer. The "house" was basically one small room, with a built in bed, small cellar, and the toilet. Amazing that it still exists and we would have liked to have done another tour to talk to the guide who obviously knows more than she can tell us in the time of one tour.

A few years ago, the UK food supply system almost crashed due to the high prices of natural gas. Not only is natural gas needed to make fertilizer but it is used to make CO2 which is used to process livestock. Only two companies in the UK make fertilizer and CO2 and at one point they shutdown or were going to shutdown due to the prices of natural gas. The government had to step in to keep up production or the short and long term supply in the UK would have been impacted.

I read somewhere that the nitrogen in a person's urine is enough to grow the food the person needs to live. No idea if that is true but I thought it was interesting.

Later,
Dan

[alanfw]

Originally Posted by Mynard

...
platform next to the shower. So with the OGO this raised platform makes the seating position about 10cm (4") higher than flat on the ground. Some modification need to follow when I feel like cutting out the platform to have a more comfortable seating position.

This is the same issue I have, except the platform is more like 8 inches. I will DEFINITELY need to make a step. I've been thinking about something that can be easily folded up/down as needed.

[alanfw]

Originally Posted by Seabeau

I've had a C-Head for about 5 years now. The simplest of all the composters...

Unfortunately a C-Head is too big to fit in my boat. I'm looking at the OGO because it's the most compact, and even it doesn't quite fit properly, but it's not far enough off to be a significant problem.

[mvweebles]

Originally Posted by alanfw

Unfortunately a C-Head is too big to fit in my boat. I'm looking at the OGO because it's the most compact, and even it doesn't quite fit properly, but it's not far enough off to be a significant problem.

Unfortunately, C-Head is out of business. If the 34 BBB complaints are accurate, C-Head cashed several purchase-checks shortly before going out of business. They have an F rating with BBB.

https://www.bbb.org/us/fl/eustis/pro...-0733-90764606

[smj]

Originally Posted by mvweebles

Unfortunately, C-Head is out of business. If the 34 BBB complaints are accurate, C-Head cashed several purchase-checks shortly before going out of business. They have an F rating with BBB.



https://www.bbb.org/us/fl/eustis/pro...-0733-90764606

Just to clarify, Sandy, the designer and original owner of C-head sold the business before it went belly up. Sadly Sandy passed about a year ago.

[Nekton73]

Thanks to the various contributors for the coir links. I'm definitely going to give it at try.

[lady sophie]

We have a Nature's Head and use a small manual transfer pump bought at Home Depot to discharge the urine overboard from the cockpit drains. We never have to take the urine container off the boat.

[Chotu]

Originally Posted by lady sophie

We have a Nature's Head and use a small manual transfer pump bought at Home Depot to discharge the urine overboard from the cockpit drains. We never have to take the urine container off the boat.

This is perfect. I have been dreaming of doing this for years but never got around to it.

[senormechanico]

Originally Posted by Mike OReilly

I don’t understand this comment at all. Is there a translation problem? I’ve never mentioned Electroscan. The double bag is for transporting, usually to a forest or off shore. Obviously the bags come home with me.

I think you need to read more carefully.

It is nothing more than a question disguised as a comment about all the machinations about avoiding smells, dragging bags around when one can simply press a button, all the baddies get zapped and the nitrogen load is compared to a couple of maple leaves...

[senormechanico]

It's interesting how many people here trumpet their goodness about how simple and environmentally aware they are, but still pump or dump their urine overboard and/or feel guilty about dumping their halfway? dessicated poop in various places.
They then say they will "get over it".


I know using an ElectroScan in an NDZ is illegal. So is most, or all of the above.
The real question nobody is addressing is, how real is the actual impact?
The nitrogen seems to be the problem.

If it's legal from landowners but not boats, the answer is staring us in the face!