The 'Haybox' & other composting toilets

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  • 10 Oct 2018 04:50
    Reply # 6715414 on 679928
    Deleted user

    Just as others have, we went to a composting head on Mango Moon. Got rid of two vulnerabilities in an otherwise 5mm steel hull. No pong. Pong gone. Hmm, almost a good name for a junk? Very happy with it. 

  • 05 Oct 2018 23:50
    Reply # 6709504 on 679928
    Deleted user

    I mix all my wood waste 3:1 with newspaper and press it into biofuel briquettes for my wood stove, for what wood costs here I'll be damned if I'm going to throw any away! never thought I'd ever find a use for junk mail :)


    Bill

  • 05 Oct 2018 09:29
    Reply # 6708373 on 679928

    On Fantail, I found that the nonpareil of composting materials was softwood, planer savings (from a machine, not a hand plane).  Lots and lots of people make them, apart from boatbuilders - I hate to think how many bags I've produced. They go to the local pet shop - kitchen cabinet makers, furniture makers, even timber merchants.  I found 5 litres would last several weeks.  I will put a big bag to one side for when I finish the boat.  For what it's worth,  I didn't like coir at all!

  • 03 Oct 2018 19:00
    Reply # 6705659 on 6705602
    Robin/Karen wrote:

    we have used sawdust heads("hayboxes?") sans plastic bag.....dumping any sort of (plastic biodegradable or not) in the sea is deplorable.

    https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/may/23/
    biodegradable-plastic-false-solution-for-ocean-waste-problem

    Absolutely. Bagging of waste is for when it must be brought ashore. At sea, waste goes overside sans plastic bag, biodegradable or not.
    Last modified: 03 Oct 2018 19:00 | Anonymous member
  • 03 Oct 2018 18:18
    Reply # 6705602 on 679928
    Deleted user

    we have used sawdust heads("hayboxes?") sans plastic bag.....dumping any sort of (plastic biodegradable or not) in the sea is deplorable.

    https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/may/23/biodegradable-plastic-false-solution-for-ocean-waste-problem

  • 03 Oct 2018 15:13
    Reply # 6705208 on 679928
    Anonymous member (Administrator)

    A digression...

    David,
    I sometimes get attacked by dry cough, myself. The only remedy I find to work, every time, is one or two bits of Fisherman’s Friend, the mint type. I never go anywhere without them.

    Annie and Mark,
    In the forest-rich Norway there are sawmills everywhere, and they all seem to have a big mountain of sawdust on the site. Nowadays this sawdust is being pressed into pellets, small or big, or filled into bigger bags (not so hard compressed) for cat litter, etc.

    I have used the big pellets (0.83kg) in my wood stove for several years, and hardly buy ordinary firewood anymore, as the pellets are so good, and cheaper as well. I bet the small pellets would be fine in the small wood stoves for boats. It depends a bit on costs. In my country, one kWh of hydro-electric energy costs between 1.00 – 1.50NOK (0.12-0.18 USD), including every extras, VAT etc.
    Sometimes, when the pellets are sold with discount, they compete well with electric energy on price (that is, when I reckon my wood stove to have 50% efficiency).

    Cheers,
    Arne


  • 03 Oct 2018 13:56
    Reply # 6705068 on 679928

    I did hear that wood based pellets for cat litter are available in many supermarkets.  Not only for your composting toilet but also for your wood stove.  I have been thinking of trying them in my wee camping 'wood gasification' stove for sometime. If it was a practical option could be a good one for a boat cooker. 

  • 03 Oct 2018 08:50
    Reply # 6704375 on 1462352
    Annie wrote:
    I have been in touch with Mr C-Head who suggested that a sustainable alternative to peat would be equine pine pellets.  Has anyone ever heard of such a thing?  I've heard of cows being fed all sorts of things that no self-respecting cow should have to swallow, but didn't know that people fed wood to horses!

    Anyway, I'm sure some of you composters will investigate and report back.
    I thought I'd share this, in case it helps someone.

    All this summer, I've been troubled by a dry cough, getting particularly severe in August. It ties up very well, timewise, with the four months I spent cruising aboard Weaverbird. When I described the symptoms to someone, they reckoned it was asthma that I was suffering from. So I did some research on this, and came to the conclusion that this was probably right, but what was the trigger? There's not much aboard in the way of common asthma triggers that could be to blame. Some more research, and I came across some papers in the Journal of the Association of Physicians of India that confirmed that the workers who process coir fibre in southern India are very likely to get asthma. It's a known allergen, not just a dusty irritant, and there's a latency period of from six months to several years before the effect will be felt. That ties up with the fact that I've been using a composting head for about seven years now, using coir fibre as the medium all that time.

    Yesterday, I went to my doctor, and said "doctor, doctor, this cough is going to be the death of me." And he replied "it's not the cough that carries you off; it's the coffin they carry you offin!"

    No, he didn't really, but he did agree that my self-diagnosis is probably correct, subject to an x-ray confirming that there's nothing more serious.

    So now I'm looking for an alternative for next summer. I won't use peat, as it's unstainable. Mr C-Head mentions the pine pellets, and also cypress and red oak coarse sawdust or fine shavings [the pine pellets are used for stabling, in place of straw, Annie]. In the UK, it seems to be very easy to get wood-based pellets for horse bedding and cat litter, from various sources, includinghttps://www.purewoodpellets.co.uk/. Sorted. I hope.

  • 18 Apr 2016 07:19
    Reply # 3967578 on 3967178
    Annie Hill wrote:
    David Tyler wrote:

    I reckon I can make a much more compact arrangement by building in an enclosure as part of the boat, rather than trying to fit in any of the proprietary fully-built units. My problem is headroom, and this seems to be quite a good solution, as the urine container is low (but quite large). I have plenty of room fore and aft, and that's good, because I will need a container of composting medium readily available.  

    David, I see that there is no way of churning the solid waste.  I assume you have to add composting medium each time: that will fill it up rather more quickly.  But it's a good cheap method. 

    I assume that the bags are more appropriate to your weekending sailing.  However, as you don't garden, how will you dispose of them?

    I found a mini dustbin was the ideal container for the wood shavings I use.

    BTW I never found any need for a fan - there was never any significant odour from the C-Head.  To me this was a great advantage as I don't like that sort of continuous noise.

    I may, as a second phase, contact my good friend Professor Branestawm with regard to designing a tub with a churning device (I rather favour the concrete-mixer principle), but for the moment I'll add medium each time.

    The bags are just in case I'm somewhere where it wouldn't be legal to empty overside. In which case, it's legal to put them in a refuse bin (as for bagged disposable nappies/diapers).

    I couldn't hear the fan on my Airhead, but it definitely had a positive effect.

  • 17 Apr 2016 22:18
    Reply # 3967178 on 3950496
    David Tyler wrote:

    I've placed my order, as follows:

    Kildwick Kompact Urine Separator × 1 £45.00

    Eco-Loo 'Quiet' Fan Kit - 12v × 1 £20.00

    20 litre Solid Waste Container × 1 £8.95

    12 Litre Urine Container - translucent × 1 £34.00

    BioBag 25 litre Compostable Bag - Roll of 25 × 1 £8.49

    Eco Urinal Blocks - Pack of 10 × 1 £7.00

    Subtotal: £123.44

    ( to this must be added a standard household toilet seat in solid wood)

    I reckon I can make a much more compact arrangement by building in an enclosure as part of the boat, rather than trying to fit in any of the proprietary fully-built units. My problem is headroom, and this seems to be quite a good solution, as the urine container is low (but quite large). I have plenty of room fore and aft, and that's good, because I will need a container of composting medium readily available.  

    David, I see that there is no way of churning the solid waste.  I assume you have to add composting medium each time: that will fill it up rather more quickly.  But it's a good cheap method. 

    I assume that the bags are more appropriate to your weekending sailing.  However, as you don't garden, how will you dispose of them?

    I found a mini dustbin was the ideal container for the wood shavings I use.

    BTW I never found any need for a fan - there was never any significant odour from the C-Head.  To me this was a great advantage as I don't like that sort of continuous noise.

    Last modified: 17 Apr 2016 22:25 | Anonymous member
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