Composting toilets; Do they work (at lest for my application)?

 My application is for long term (month long) solo
boondocking/drycamping in remote desert areas with my trailer.
Composting toilets seemingly are the best solution to the problem,
with water savings and potential elimination of the black water tank.

I'm wondering if the 12 Vdc models really work.  I've read some really
bad stories about what happens when these things don't function as
advertised, and... yuck!

The model I'm interested in is the Envirolet DC12 with the extra added
12 Vdc turbo fan.  This model has no heater, it's rated at 4 persons
full-time, but they state on another page:  "All Non-Electric and
12VDC Battery [models] are fitted with special Filter Drain that must
gravity feed..."

So I wonder, with the load of one (myself) being only 1/4 of the
full-time rating of the DC12 model, will it have the evaporative
capacity to function properly without a drain?  I'm thinking I'd
probably be just fine, given the dry desert air, addition of the turbo
fan accessory, and low 1/4 of capacity demand I'm expected to make on
it.

  Usenet Messages wrote:
 

You want to make a fortune with toilets?

Come up with a toilet that can test for blood (heomoglobin).

If you can make a toilet that can test for blood, then that would
serve as an early test for colon and bladder cancer.  You'd make a
fortune.

 

On Sat, 17 Mar 2007 15:38:25 -0700, Usenet Messages


The big question that I have is... "What happens when the shit hits
the fan?"  

Seriously, there is a lot of liquid waste compared to solid wastes.
Urine is high in nitrogen and forms crystals of uric acid if left.
Feces on their own are probably very ammenable to composting.
The drain may minimize the uric acid component.

For $1500, I would dig a hole in the desert to pour the urine and
feces, along with some carbon, like sawdust, and a few worms.

For much less than $1500, you could dessicate the waste with some sort
of solar setup, and burn the remaining solids.

For a buck a dump,  you could poop in a pan and burn it to ash on a
propane stove.  1500 dumps?  At a dump a day, that is four years of
dumps.  

 

On Mar 17, 9:19 pm, someb...@somewhere.com wrote:

I recommend buying a post hole digger (less than $50). Dig a four foot
hole. Each time you use it, just sprinkle some dirt over your
donation. Each hole can easily last more than a month. You can do a
whole year in an area less than 6'x6'. In two years you can reuse the
old space.

 

I used a composting toilet for 4 people for about 4 years and the disgust
factor on a scale of 1-10 is somewhere around 6 with changing a baby's
diaper being a 9.5.  Like someone else said the liquid is the
problem--unlikely you will be able to evaporate it without a heater.  I
experimented with various methods and overall I'd say that you could
probably get by with a 5 gallon bucket with a toilet seat and a small
exhaust fan on it as long as it has a drain for liquids.  Add some peat
moss, saw dust,  or shredded weeds after each use.  Then, about once a week,
you will have to empty the bucket somewhere.  If you make a compost heap
then you will need to add weeds, sawdust, or peat moss (or whatever is
handy) to the top of the pile and turn it occasionally.  Maybe throw some
dirt or sand on top of it.  Now, my experience says that yes, you can do
this without any noticeable odor or flies but it would just be a lot easier
to dig a hole, like someone else suggested, with a post-hole digger and run
your waste duct into it.