Over filled, over pressurized holding tank. Once I realized what was going on, after a few fruitless pumps of the head handle, I got to a pump out as quick as possible. Opened the deck pump out port and the crap geysered all over my foredeck, me, and the young dock girl earning some summer scratch when home from college. I bought a nature's head that week. And tipped excessively well
"We're going to get that hooked up later, as in never" 🤣 Grok that! Our house is still full of those projects even after putting the camera down years ago to get them done.
I bought a catamaran that had been on the hard for a season. The first time I used the head it would not pump out so I had to take it apart to rebuild it. Was not a fun Job. I then had to manually pump out into a 45 gallon drum. My second not fun job. A week later the toilet would again not pump out as the pump handle was stiff. When I checked the tank to see how full it was and it was overfilled. My third not so fun job. I found that the black water tank was only 12 gallons. I installed a Natures Head and have not had a problem since. I also use peat moss stored in large zip lock freezer bags. Two people full time requires dumping every 2 months. More often when it is cold. The old black water tank now is our “pee” tank when fresh water or on the ICW.
That’s a nice usage for the old tank! Dumping the pee tank is the only main drawback with the natures head, but it’s a small task when compared to any head repairs! I like the freezer bag storage option. It probably stores a lot easier than my giant tubs of peat moss.
I didn’t read all the comments so I’m sorry if this has already been answered. How do you keep the pee bowl from splashing into the poo bowl when you’re underway in heavy seas? I have a CSY 44, and I converted the aft head into a sail locker, so the only head is forward of the mast on the port side, and oriented fore and aft.
Thankfully it doesn’t. The two holes let it drain even when heeled over. I think it would be an issue if mounted athwartship as one side would pour into the poo side. Fore-aft mounting seems to just pour into the holes. We also reef if we hit 20°, especially if we need to be down below.
I changed out the old marine head on my boat with one of these and it's been great. Coming up on 10 years and no issues, except the fan starting getting noisy (not surprising, after 10 years x 24/365 operation). I've never had even the slightest smell from it. No more pump-outs, 2x through-hulls and valves to not worry about, no stuck joker valves, no nasty odors. If you live aboard constantly and have a huge crew you might overwhelm it, but for a cruising couple it works well.
We have used a nature head compost toilet for 6 months as our second toilet and it is an easy install. Disposal of the poop is easy and and doesn’t smell. The urine bucket is a different story. How do you dispose of this at sea? We were In British Colombia and would pour it down the toilet when we pumped out the other toilet. The smell is awful. Disposal while at see would involve pouring it over the side and I can that going wrong in lots of different ways. Good back up toilet but not the solution to all the smell issues. Disposal of a holding tank at sea is much easier.
When offshore, we pour the pee bucket over the side. To combat the smell, try pouring some white vinegar into the pee tank, it will neutralize the smell instantly. It doesn’t take much, just a little bit will do the trick.
I got the hose at Home Depot. It’s the cheap sink hose and fits perfectly in the toilet vent hole. I ran it out of the boat through an unused through hull on the topsides where it has little chance of getting splashed to let water back in. I did run the hose up to the deck just in case though.
I'm just getting started with my composting toilet, and I've been experimenting with various desiccating materials. Coconut coir packs the most solidly, but it takes water to crumble the bricks, and using as little water as I can still leaves it to moist, and results in mold. My next experiment will be letting the coir air dry for a few weeks before using it.
Or just give the peat moss a try. We met people who used coconut, saw dust, cat litter, paper shreds, sand, you name it but they all had complaints. We have been pretty happy with peat moss :)
@@RiggingDoctor My best, so far, has compressed pine pellet horse stall bedding. But it's bulky. Peat moss is also bulky. Coir takes the least space of everything I've tried.
@@RiggingDoctor the case against peat moss is that it is an environmental disaster: peat beds are an ecological resource as important as coral reefs and sailors would not dig up coral reefs to use in this way. Not meaning to guilt trip, but there *is* a reason people look for alternatives such as Coir.
@@RichardPhillips10 a fair point, but it is largely virtue signalling. The amount of Peat Moss the composting toilet uses in a year is miniscule. Check out the tons and tons that is sold in any home Depot in a year to home gardeners, never mind professionals, and it is clear that using it as a composting medium will make not even the slightest difference. But, if it makes you uncomfortable to use, other media will work, but perhaps not as well. It might be good enough, though.
@@continuousmoon Nothing virtue signaling about it - yes the volume is not large but it all 'adds up' and keeps the trade in peat bog destruction going. Per my anoalogy, do you think sailors would be happy using 'ground up coral reef' on the basis that the quantity was small!! But each to their own and some of us make strong efforts at green living in some areas but are more relaxed in others. I was not judging here - but pointing out that there are problems with peat moss that others might not be aware of. Interestingly the sale of peat moss to gardeners will be banned in the UK in 2024 - it is a major issue and those bans will appear elsewhere.
Well I've been thinking about what we should do with our head, you might have moved me to the "dark side" of composting toilets..... Had way too many issues since we bought our Passport 40. I've spent too many days in the front anchor locker where our black tank is located tring to unblock original fibreglass black tank vent... then finding that the pump out pipe is blocked, and the alternative "dropping the tank" pipe is also blocked spending time on a paddle board tyring to unblock that one again is something i'm not looking forward to . We've some nasty digester int here at the moment trying to eat the brown poop....
10 years of use and it got a lot of stain in the front part. We tried sanding it and polishing it, but it kept staining a lot. We got a new one for cosmetic reasons.
Ok I can see this working on anchor - but while sailing no way you often can barely hit the bowl. Hitting seperat (relativly smalle holes) seems quite a challange under sail
Herby when you say the peat moss lasts for 6 months are you saying that the toilet goes 6 months without being emptied ? Or does some of the peat moss stay in the bottom chamber after the contents are emptied out periodically ?
It’s 6 months between empties. It’s really nice to not worry about the pooper for half the year. When I have to do it, it’s still not as pleasant as walking on a beach, but it’s not that bad.
Thanks for sharing guys. In Malaysia, our diet is predominantly spicy and it does affect the output. What happens if your output is regularly not solids into peet moss? Would the consistency end up as mud? 😅 😢
Easy...we have two Natures Heads aboard and we love them. When we have guests, one of the first things we do is "potty train" them so they know how to use the head. Its easy, but many years of micturating in a land based throne has conditioned people to just pee and forget to check the level of the pee tank, no matter what we say or no metter what the sign in the head says. Although we empty the guest pee tank habitually ourselves, the day comes when we miss the fact that the guest pee tank is full full full. After a night of celebrating the guests aboard might fill the tank and more. The pee is now backing up and starting to fill the body of the toilet above the removable tank. I affirm that many quarts of pee will fit in the upper part of the head and never leak out. The guests leave and we go to empty the pee tank and what a surprise!! Unlatch that toilet so you can take out the pee tank and behold! A flood of yellow covers the shower floor, your slippers, wash cloths, towels, dirty laundry bag and everything else on the floor. What should have been effortless has turned into a disgusting mess. CLEAN UP ON AISLE FIVE!! Lesson, check the guest head frequently.
I have only used peat moss because of reading I did before I bought the toilet. We have met people who have used everything imaginable and they all had major complaints, so I think pray miss might be the best way to go
I found coconut Fibre to be better, I realized if I bought the bricks I can just throw them in a garbage bag (after I figure out which amount to use) fill it with water..tie it off and set it on the deck. The next day I have all the replacement material I need. Saves on storage space.
It’s not that bad since it turns to dirt. If you are living at a dock, it’s nice to not use it for a few days before dumping it if possible, but we never had that luxury once we started cruising. It wasn’t pleasant, but it wasn’t terrible.
That is true, they all have their issues. We have greatly enjoyed this toilet over the years and after 10 years of use, bought a new one for cosmetic reasons
The old one got stained. 10 years of acidic pea took off the outer smooth layer. It became pretty bad looking, so we decided it was time to replace it.
I think I could save, and dry out enough coffee grounds in 6 months. "Empty this somehow" sounded less than promising... The 6 month maintenance must not include emptying the front bucket... Ah, that was what I wanted to ask, how do you keep the front bucket from getting crusty inside? We have used wood pellets before and they have worked fine, don't smell.
The front bucket gets dumped when it gets full. It did get crusty in there but I found that putting stones in the bucket and shaking it around would break it off the sides.
@@Tb0n3 using weak bleach spray to "flush" the urine funnel might be ok, but enough to dissolve the uric salt crust on the side of the container? That is a lot of bleach to A) bring with you across oceans and B) more bleach than I want to throw in the ocean in one spot.
We didn’t have a vent for the first 8 years of use and it was fine. We would get bugs from time to time though. I have it vented to a through hull up above the run rail to minimize the risk of water getting in to the hose.
Worst toilet story. I lived on a 25m dutch barge and fitted a vacum toilet with a 600l tank along with the pump in a utility room behind a watertight bulkhead door. This was great because all the noise and smells of the toilet were entirely seperate from the main living area. I rented out the boat and after a few months the tenants called that the toilet was not working and when they tried to open the bulkead door water was leaking out. Luckily, there was an overhead hatch so I could get a proper look without openining the door: the entire room was filled with raw sewage to a depth of about two feet - with central heating, tools and all sorts just sitting in effluent. I had to get a pumpout hose down to get most out, then go down in person with pressure washer and pump out to clear the space. Imagine how pleasent *that* job was - and the 'jobs' I was removing were not even my own. Turned out that the vacume pump had a membrane which split and served to pump the sewage into the room - for a period of three months. Lesson learned 1: boats are rarely suitable for tennants. Leson learned 2: consider composting toilet next time..
This past year, 2023, my California marina wanted to CANCEL my slip permit and liveaboard permit which would kick me out of the entire 30-nautical-mile range of coastline, since they are the only harbor marina with liveaboard, all because I said during the mandatory yearly boat inspection, that I had a composting head. They deemed this illegal according to their rulebook and sent me notice that I had 15 days to fix the deficiency or have my slip permit revoked. After a 2.5 hour meeting with the harbor manager, during which time the harbor manager admitted he did not know the difference or distinction between the three different US Coast Guard certifications of holding tanks (Type 1, Type 2, Type 3), he insisted that ALL BOATS in the marina MUST HAVE HOLDING TANKS, regardless of US Coast Guard rules. Finally, since I had been in the marina for over 10 years now, he said he would allow me to be 'grandfathered in' as a rare, special case to use a portapotty, NOT a composing head, as an alternative to forcing me to install a marine toilet and holding tank. He stated that regardless of what the US Coast Guard says, the Harbor will do whatever it wants. He stated that he did not want ANYONE walking down the dock with a "bucket of sloshing sewage" which could "suddenly splash on someone's kid", otherwise known as, a ridiculously stupid and irrational comment from someone fearful of being educated on something they don't comprehend; as during over 10 years of using various pee-bottles such as recycled laundry detergent jugs or recycled large vinegar jugs (1+ gal size), not once have I ever had a spill, inside my boat or anywhere when emptying. Part of this ridiculousness is because the Harbor and Marina is owned and managed by the City. Anyone attempting to bring facts into the mix will instantly get a name drop that they will be up against the CITY ATTORNEY. Which, the harbor manager mentioned three times during this 2.5 hour meeting. I was forced to buy a portapotty (Dometic, a piece of shit design, no liquids/solids separation capability) and send photos to the harbor office that I had installed it. They accepted this and renewed my permit for 2023. It only took ONE attempt at emptying the portapotty in the harbor slip-owner restroom facilities (toilet stall) for some spillage to occur and for me to resolve to never use a portapotty again. They are all horrible, horrible designs. So now I have to keep the portapotty, for use during harbor inspection, AND use a pee-bottle just as before. It is 2024 and I just finished (YET AGAIN) my annual boat inspection for a harbor permit. I brought out the portapotty to the cockpit for the inspector to sign-off on. So now, after about a 2 week wait, for any possible "your permit is on hold until you fix problems on your boat" notification from the office, which means if I don't get notified at all (other than getting a big fat slip bill at the end of the month), it means my slip permit has been renewed for another year, for 2024, and I will move the portapotty back into storage, and immediately resume using pee-bottles again... I have heard some few stories about various strict harbors in the world which do not allow composting toilets and only allow marine heads+holding tanks. Because, their bureaucracy forces a rule that all boats must be inspected and a tie-tablet dropped into the head, to verify against any sewage discharge into harbor waters; and this bureaucracy can't comprehend any other type of toilet (such as a composting toilet) which doesn't flush immediately and directly into the seawater below, so, rather than educate their boat-inspectors, they simply mandate that every inspection must have the tie-tab test, which means every boat must have a marine head which "visibly" flushes into a holding tank. Required for harbor berth.
I meant dye-tablet not tie-tablet. The dye-tab dissolves in the marine head and is flushed into the holding tank. The dye shows bright-green in ocean water (I thought it would be orange, something more visible, but they said it is bright-green, which also seems dumb) so it is a visible indication of someone dumping sewage in the harbor. Not that any compost-head user would ever have to worry about such an occurrence, because there is no plumbing to a thru-hull! But the harbor does not comprehend this.
I have a Natures Head. Excellent product. I use the coco peat My fan failed as well. The only downside is certain months you can get fruit flies invade and it’s a pain in the @$$ to get ride of them. Other than that it’s great
I have found that sprinkling diatomaceous earth on the top layer of the poo bin pile kills them all quickly. We used to refer to it as “the poo bin has bloomed” when the flies would come out in droves!
I wonder why they dont have a plastic bag in the base of the toilet I guess Im contemplating 2 gallons of sh*t in the bottom of the bowl, that I want to look at as little as possible, and a bag would help that
There are cartridge toilets that have a disposable bag. The idea behind this one is you are supposed to put the results into your compost pile or similar. You might think this is eww but... farmers around here get the results of the local town and put it on their fields and then grow crops using that. The output of NYC is also sent to farmers who use it as fertilizer. Not sure that is great for our health with all the prescription drugs people take but that is what is done. Composting your own output for use in the garden should be a bit safer. Of course on a boat there is no garden so... no idea where the final result goes when cruising but I'm guessing into the ocean.
For those who know, know, pump outs and tank flushing is not all that great. Gee Henry, when was the last time you pumped out, not sure, well it's time, gag. We get to the pump out station, low and behold out of order. I suggested a compost head and Henry bought one. It took all day to discard the old toilet including plugging plumbing and about 1 1/2 hours to install the new, the vent and fan taking most of the time. It's been 2 years now and Henry is elated with conversion, for me, no more smelly sailing.
Wrapping up and throwing your tissue in a trash bag is too much for some people to overcome, but having lived in Asia, this is common place and I did not have the revulsion other people have. Dont put tissue in there.
@@RiggingDoctor This is where the term 'hit the can' comes from... I lived in the hills where some folks still had homes without indoor plumbing and if you think they wandered out to the outhouse in the middle of the night that was not the case. I've seen simple compost toilets with a 5 gal bucket and a bit of sawdust. Don't pee in 'em though. set up a funnel to keep that bit separate (which is why you buy the pro deal). Poke some sawdust on top when you're done and no smell. Pee in them and big smell. Gotta keep 'em separated.
Well... Until you said it was totally "disgusting" just from having to take off the top of the old one to get it out. Seawater marine heads are disgusting, freshwater heads don't stink.
Tell us your worst boat toilet story!
Over filled, over pressurized holding tank. Once I realized what was going on, after a few fruitless pumps of the head handle, I got to a pump out as quick as possible. Opened the deck pump out port and the crap geysered all over my foredeck, me, and the young dock girl earning some summer scratch when home from college. I bought a nature's head that week. And tipped excessively well
I had mine for 10 years as well, I still love it.....I can't believe I never thought of taking the damn hinges off! 😂😂😂
We all learn from each other
"We're going to get that hooked up later, as in never" 🤣
Grok that! Our house is still full of those projects even after putting the camera down years ago to get them done.
I'm not a specialist, but if that bit of peat moss in that toilet lasts you six months, I don't think you're getting enough fiber in your diet.
I never thought about it but I guess that’s where the extra ruffage in the bin comes from!
We have on. it is awesome. in the close quarters of a 27ft Winnebago, the lack of smell is so pleasant.
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Fewer holes in the boat is a good enough reason to switch.
Indeed! Absolute peace of mind
I bought a catamaran that had been on the hard for a season. The first time I used the head it would not pump out so I had to take it apart to rebuild it. Was not a fun Job. I then had to manually pump out into a 45 gallon drum. My second not fun job. A week later the toilet would again not pump out as the pump handle was stiff. When I checked the tank to see how full it was and it was overfilled. My third not so fun job. I found that the black water tank was only 12 gallons. I installed a Natures Head and have not had a problem since. I also use peat moss stored in large zip lock freezer bags. Two people full time requires dumping every 2 months. More often when it is cold. The old black water tank now is our “pee” tank when fresh water or on the ICW.
That’s a nice usage for the old tank! Dumping the pee tank is the only main drawback with the natures head, but it’s a small task when compared to any head repairs!
I like the freezer bag storage option. It probably stores a lot easier than my giant tubs of peat moss.
Cool stool 🤔
Love it ❄️💩
How do you get the poop out?
You dump it out every few months
I didn’t read all the comments so I’m sorry if this has already been answered. How do you keep the pee bowl from splashing into the poo bowl when you’re underway in heavy seas? I have a CSY 44, and I converted the aft head into a sail locker, so the only head is forward of the mast on the port side, and oriented fore and aft.
Thankfully it doesn’t. The two holes let it drain even when heeled over. I think it would be an issue if mounted athwartship as one side would pour into the poo side. Fore-aft mounting seems to just pour into the holes. We also reef if we hit 20°, especially if we need to be down below.
I changed out the old marine head on my boat with one of these and it's been great. Coming up on 10 years and no issues, except the fan starting getting noisy (not surprising, after 10 years x 24/365 operation). I've never had even the slightest smell from it. No more pump-outs, 2x through-hulls and valves to not worry about, no stuck joker valves, no nasty odors. If you live aboard constantly and have a huge crew you might overwhelm it, but for a cruising couple it works well.
That’s great to hear! Another long term user :)
We have used a nature head compost toilet for 6 months as our second toilet and it is an easy install. Disposal of the poop is easy and and doesn’t smell. The urine bucket is a different story. How do you dispose of this at sea? We were In British Colombia and would pour it down the toilet when we pumped out the other toilet. The smell is awful. Disposal while at see would involve pouring it over the side and I can that going wrong in lots of different ways. Good back up toilet but not the solution to all the smell issues. Disposal of a holding tank at sea is much easier.
When offshore, we pour the pee bucket over the side. To combat the smell, try pouring some white vinegar into the pee tank, it will neutralize the smell instantly. It doesn’t take much, just a little bit will do the trick.
So where did you fun your hose fan to?
I got the hose at Home Depot. It’s the cheap sink hose and fits perfectly in the toilet vent hole. I ran it out of the boat through an unused through hull on the topsides where it has little chance of getting splashed to let water back in. I did run the hose up to the deck just in case though.
I'm just getting started with my composting toilet, and I've been experimenting with various desiccating materials. Coconut coir packs the most solidly, but it takes water to crumble the bricks, and using as little water as I can still leaves it to moist, and results in mold. My next experiment will be letting the coir air dry for a few weeks before using it.
Or just give the peat moss a try. We met people who used coconut, saw dust, cat litter, paper shreds, sand, you name it but they all had complaints. We have been pretty happy with peat moss :)
@@RiggingDoctor My best, so far, has compressed pine pellet horse stall bedding. But it's bulky. Peat moss is also bulky. Coir takes the least space of everything I've tried.
@@RiggingDoctor the case against peat moss is that it is an environmental disaster: peat beds are an ecological resource as important as coral reefs and sailors would not dig up coral reefs to use in this way. Not meaning to guilt trip, but there *is* a reason people look for alternatives such as Coir.
@@RichardPhillips10 a fair point, but it is largely virtue signalling. The amount of Peat Moss the composting toilet uses in a year is miniscule. Check out the tons and tons that is sold in any home Depot in a year to home gardeners, never mind professionals, and it is clear that using it as a composting medium will make not even the slightest difference. But, if it makes you uncomfortable to use, other media will work, but perhaps not as well. It might be good enough, though.
@@continuousmoon Nothing virtue signaling about it - yes the volume is not large but it all 'adds up' and keeps the trade in peat bog destruction going. Per my anoalogy, do you think sailors would be happy using 'ground up coral reef' on the basis that the quantity was small!! But each to their own and some of us make strong efforts at green living in some areas but are more relaxed in others. I was not judging here - but pointing out that there are problems with peat moss that others might not be aware of. Interestingly the sale of peat moss to gardeners will be banned in the UK in 2024 - it is a major issue and those bans will appear elsewhere.
Well I've been thinking about what we should do with our head, you might have moved me to the "dark side" of composting toilets..... Had way too many issues since we bought our Passport 40. I've spent too many days in the front anchor locker where our black tank is located tring to unblock original fibreglass black tank vent... then finding that the pump out pipe is blocked, and the alternative "dropping the tank" pipe is also blocked spending time on a paddle board tyring to unblock that one again is something i'm not looking forward to . We've some nasty digester int here at the moment trying to eat the brown poop....
Sounds like a perfect time to convert!
I have a Nature's Head. What went wrong with your old one?
10 years of use and it got a lot of stain in the front part. We tried sanding it and polishing it, but it kept staining a lot. We got a new one for cosmetic reasons.
Ok I can see this working on anchor - but while sailing no way you often can barely hit the bowl. Hitting seperat (relativly smalle holes) seems quite a challange under sail
All you need to do is sit down, we did it without issues while crossing the Atlantic for a month.
I was imagining the peat moss as sphagnum moss for some reason...
I see now that its ground up peat.... like from an ancient bog...
Yes indeed. I have met people who were using sphagnum and it was not pretty!! They also thought it was peat and didn’t know why it wasn’t working 🫠
I will never go back either. On every boat Ive lived or worked on for 40 years, there was a nasty smelly expensive job every 6 months.
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And the nasty job pales in comparison to the stories we have heard about holding tanks
Herby when you say the peat moss lasts for 6 months are you saying that the toilet goes 6 months without being emptied ?
Or does some of the peat moss stay in the bottom chamber after the contents are emptied out periodically ?
It’s 6 months between empties. It’s really nice to not worry about the pooper for half the year. When I have to do it, it’s still not as pleasant as walking on a beach, but it’s not that bad.
@@RiggingDoctor That sounds amazing !
Thanks for sharing guys. In Malaysia, our diet is predominantly spicy and it does affect the output. What happens if your output is regularly not solids into peet moss? Would the consistency end up as mud? 😅 😢
It would need to be changed more often than 6 months and you would want the fan hooked up to dry it out faster.
@@RiggingDoctor that makes sense thanks. Probably a super powered exhaust fan 😂
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Easy...we have two Natures Heads aboard and we love them. When we have guests, one of the first things we do is "potty train" them so they know how to use the head. Its easy, but many years of micturating in a land based throne has conditioned people to just pee and forget to check the level of the pee tank, no matter what we say or no metter what the sign in the head says. Although we empty the guest pee tank habitually ourselves, the day comes when we miss the fact that the guest pee tank is full full full. After a night of celebrating the guests aboard might fill the tank and more. The pee is now backing up and starting to fill the body of the toilet above the removable tank. I affirm that many quarts of pee will fit in the upper part of the head and never leak out. The guests leave and we go to empty the pee tank and what a surprise!! Unlatch that toilet so you can take out the pee tank and behold! A flood of yellow covers the shower floor, your slippers, wash cloths, towels, dirty laundry bag and everything else on the floor. What should have been effortless has turned into a disgusting mess. CLEAN UP ON AISLE FIVE!! Lesson, check the guest head frequently.
I know that feeling! Luckily ours is right over the shower drain so it doesn’t run anywhere far!
ive been using hamster bedding , which is excelsior chips i think , in my chead. have you tried this ? do you think peat is better?
I have only used peat moss because of reading I did before I bought the toilet. We have met people who have used everything imaginable and they all had major complaints, so I think pray miss might be the best way to go
No mention of liquid processing.
It just goes into a separate bucket that gets dumped when it’s full.
I found coconut Fibre to be better, I realized if I bought the bricks I can just throw them in a garbage bag (after I figure out which amount to use) fill it with water..tie it off and set it on the deck. The next day I have all the replacement material I need. Saves on storage space.
The space savings is nice!
I am surprised you only need to empty every 6 months. The tank doesn't look very bit. How gross is it to empty it?
It’s not that bad since it turns to dirt. If you are living at a dock, it’s nice to not use it for a few days before dumping it if possible, but we never had that luxury once we started cruising. It wasn’t pleasant, but it wasn’t terrible.
What do you do with the waste while at sea?
Pee goes overboard. The dirt only needs it every 6 months so we just plan accordingly and either change it before or after a passage.
@@RiggingDoctorcan't you dump the dirt overboard when far enough from land?
Yup
Dry toilets look more interesting, i have a normal head and have been pondering which one to get but nothings perfect.
That is true, they all have their issues. We have greatly enjoyed this toilet over the years and after 10 years of use, bought a new one for cosmetic reasons
What happened to the old one?
It wasn't possible to clean it anymore? @@RiggingDoctor
The old one got stained. 10 years of acidic pea took off the outer smooth layer. It became pretty bad looking, so we decided it was time to replace it.
I think I could save, and dry out enough coffee grounds in 6 months. "Empty this somehow" sounded less than promising... The 6 month maintenance must not include emptying the front bucket... Ah, that was what I wanted to ask, how do you keep the front bucket from getting crusty inside? We have used wood pellets before and they have worked fine, don't smell.
I've heard of people just using a bit of bleach, but I'm not sure if that would just make mustard gas.
The front bucket gets dumped when it gets full. It did get crusty in there but I found that putting stones in the bucket and shaking it around would break it off the sides.
@@Tb0n3 using weak bleach spray to "flush" the urine funnel might be ok, but enough to dissolve the uric salt crust on the side of the container? That is a lot of bleach to A) bring with you across oceans and B) more bleach than I want to throw in the ocean in one spot.
@@lenwhatever4187 not to break up any crystals but to keep the smell down.
We have used white vinagre to keep the smell down when necessary. It works pretty well
can u compost the paper you wipe with or do you throw away separately?
It goes down the same hole. It all turns to dirt :)
That being said, we generally throw away separately.
We would like to install one of these .How do you recommend venting the toilet?
We didn’t have a vent for the first 8 years of use and it was fine. We would get bugs from time to time though.
I have it vented to a through hull up above the run rail to minimize the risk of water getting in to the hose.
What kind of bugs? 😢 Ones that can crawl out???
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Worst toilet story. I lived on a 25m dutch barge and fitted a vacum toilet with a 600l tank along with the pump in a utility room behind a watertight bulkhead door. This was great because all the noise and smells of the toilet were entirely seperate from the main living area. I rented out the boat and after a few months the tenants called that the toilet was not working and when they tried to open the bulkead door water was leaking out. Luckily, there was an overhead hatch so I could get a proper look without openining the door: the entire room was filled with raw sewage to a depth of about two feet - with central heating, tools and all sorts just sitting in effluent. I had to get a pumpout hose down to get most out, then go down in person with pressure washer and pump out to clear the space. Imagine how pleasent *that* job was - and the 'jobs' I was removing were not even my own. Turned out that the vacume pump had a membrane which split and served to pump the sewage into the room - for a period of three months. Lesson learned 1: boats are rarely suitable for tennants. Leson learned 2: consider composting toilet next time..
😱 that is horrible!!
This past year, 2023, my California marina wanted to CANCEL my slip permit and liveaboard permit which would kick me out of the entire 30-nautical-mile range of coastline, since they are the only harbor marina with liveaboard, all because I said during the mandatory yearly boat inspection, that I had a composting head. They deemed this illegal according to their rulebook and sent me notice that I had 15 days to fix the deficiency or have my slip permit revoked. After a 2.5 hour meeting with the harbor manager, during which time the harbor manager admitted he did not know the difference or distinction between the three different US Coast Guard certifications of holding tanks (Type 1, Type 2, Type 3), he insisted that ALL BOATS in the marina MUST HAVE HOLDING TANKS, regardless of US Coast Guard rules. Finally, since I had been in the marina for over 10 years now, he said he would allow me to be 'grandfathered in' as a rare, special case to use a portapotty, NOT a composing head, as an alternative to forcing me to install a marine toilet and holding tank. He stated that regardless of what the US Coast Guard says, the Harbor will do whatever it wants. He stated that he did not want ANYONE walking down the dock with a "bucket of sloshing sewage" which could "suddenly splash on someone's kid", otherwise known as, a ridiculously stupid and irrational comment from someone fearful of being educated on something they don't comprehend; as during over 10 years of using various pee-bottles such as recycled laundry detergent jugs or recycled large vinegar jugs (1+ gal size), not once have I ever had a spill, inside my boat or anywhere when emptying.
Part of this ridiculousness is because the Harbor and Marina is owned and managed by the City. Anyone attempting to bring facts into the mix will instantly get a name drop that they will be up against the CITY ATTORNEY. Which, the harbor manager mentioned three times during this 2.5 hour meeting.
I was forced to buy a portapotty (Dometic, a piece of shit design, no liquids/solids separation capability) and send photos to the harbor office that I had installed it. They accepted this and renewed my permit for 2023. It only took ONE attempt at emptying the portapotty in the harbor slip-owner restroom facilities (toilet stall) for some spillage to occur and for me to resolve to never use a portapotty again. They are all horrible, horrible designs. So now I have to keep the portapotty, for use during harbor inspection, AND use a pee-bottle just as before.
It is 2024 and I just finished (YET AGAIN) my annual boat inspection for a harbor permit. I brought out the portapotty to the cockpit for the inspector to sign-off on. So now, after about a 2 week wait, for any possible "your permit is on hold until you fix problems on your boat" notification from the office, which means if I don't get notified at all (other than getting a big fat slip bill at the end of the month), it means my slip permit has been renewed for another year, for 2024, and I will move the portapotty back into storage, and immediately resume using pee-bottles again...
I have heard some few stories about various strict harbors in the world which do not allow composting toilets and only allow marine heads+holding tanks. Because, their bureaucracy forces a rule that all boats must be inspected and a tie-tablet dropped into the head, to verify against any sewage discharge into harbor waters; and this bureaucracy can't comprehend any other type of toilet (such as a composting toilet) which doesn't flush immediately and directly into the seawater below, so, rather than educate their boat-inspectors, they simply mandate that every inspection must have the tie-tab test, which means every boat must have a marine head which "visibly" flushes into a holding tank. Required for harbor berth.
I meant dye-tablet not tie-tablet. The dye-tab dissolves in the marine head and is flushed into the holding tank. The dye shows bright-green in ocean water (I thought it would be orange, something more visible, but they said it is bright-green, which also seems dumb) so it is a visible indication of someone dumping sewage in the harbor. Not that any compost-head user would ever have to worry about such an occurrence, because there is no plumbing to a thru-hull! But the harbor does not comprehend this.
That is absolutely ridiculous!! Does the pee tank count as a holding tank for their nonsense rules? How incredibly frustrating!!
HOLY CRAP!!
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I have a Natures Head. Excellent product. I use the coco peat My fan failed as well. The only downside is certain months you can get fruit flies invade and it’s a pain in the @$$ to get ride of them. Other than that it’s great
I have found that sprinkling diatomaceous earth on the top layer of the poo bin pile kills them all quickly. We used to refer to it as “the poo bin has bloomed” when the flies would come out in droves!
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Did you say you DO NOT need to empty the toilet for approximately 6 months of use for the two of you or did I miss something there...😄
That is correct!
@@RiggingDoctorwooow think i will get one
Oh if anyone's interested, natures head will send you replacement parts that wear out for free. Gaskests/fans
I did not know that! That was a contributing reason towards getting the new one
That toilet looks surprised now, but you should see its face in five minutes...
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SHITTER’S FULL!
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I wonder why they dont have a plastic bag in the base of the toilet
I guess Im contemplating 2 gallons of sh*t in the bottom of the bowl, that I want to look at as little as possible, and a bag would help that
There are cartridge toilets that have a disposable bag. The idea behind this one is you are supposed to put the results into your compost pile or similar. You might think this is eww but... farmers around here get the results of the local town and put it on their fields and then grow crops using that. The output of NYC is also sent to farmers who use it as fertilizer. Not sure that is great for our health with all the prescription drugs people take but that is what is done. Composting your own output for use in the garden should be a bit safer. Of course on a boat there is no garden so... no idea where the final result goes when cruising but I'm guessing into the ocean.
I think it would get fouled up with the cranking mechanism
@@RiggingDoctor then the art of it is to avoid that
can I say, Im an engineer, and I make sh1t happen
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For those who know, know, pump outs and tank flushing is not all that great. Gee Henry, when was the last time you pumped out, not sure, well it's time, gag. We get to the pump out station, low and behold out of order. I suggested a compost head and Henry bought one. It took all day to discard the old toilet including plugging plumbing and about 1 1/2 hours to install the new, the vent and fan taking most of the time. It's been 2 years now and Henry is elated with conversion, for me, no more smelly sailing.
That’s great to hear!
Don't remember which boat they installed a composting toilet and the vent ran up to a solar vent fan.
That’s the ideal setup, but I didn’t want a hose dangling from the hatch, so I ran mine out a through hull that exits above the rubrail.
Wrapping up and throwing your tissue in a trash bag is too much for some people to overcome, but having lived in Asia, this is common place and I did not have the revulsion other people have. Dont put tissue in there.
We never do. We have a trash bag for tissue :)
This may be a little intimate but i would take your old one if you haven't tossed it.
Sadly it has already made its way to the dumpster.
Enjoyed your crap video😂😂😂😂!
I don’t think a dentist 🦷 should ever work on a toilet 💩👍👍
If you are cruising, you will work on every part of the boat 😷
Never install a composting toilette on your boat. The sea does a perfect job!!!
Only if the weather is nice. Imagine doing that on a cold night in the rain 🥶
@@RiggingDoctor This is where the term 'hit the can' comes from... I lived in the hills where some folks still had homes without indoor plumbing and if you think they wandered out to the outhouse in the middle of the night that was not the case.
I've seen simple compost toilets with a 5 gal bucket and a bit of sawdust. Don't pee in 'em though. set up a funnel to keep that bit separate (which is why you buy the pro deal). Poke some sawdust on top when you're done and no smell. Pee in them and big smell. Gotta keep 'em separated.
Well... Until you said it was totally "disgusting" just from having to take off the top of the old one to get it out. Seawater marine heads are disgusting, freshwater heads don't stink.
I’m just not a fan of poop in any age or state. It looks and smells like dirt but I know it’s a lot of poop.