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The 'Haybox' & other composting toilets

  • 12 Sep 2013 01:13
    Quote
    Reply # 1386922 on 1386059
    Anonymous member
    David Tyler wrote:
    The choices available here appear to be Canadian sphagnum peat (Annie would never speak to me again) or douglas fir bark mulch (bark minced up quite fine). Would the latter work, I wonder?

    Theoretically the bark should work. One way to find out :-) I seem to recall that Brent Swain said he used moss that he just gathered ashore. So that also may be worth looking into.
  • 11 Sep 2013 02:44
    Quote
    Reply # 1386164 on 1386059
    Deleted user
    David Tyler wrote:
    .. or douglas fir bark mulch (bark minced up quite fine). Would the latter work, I wonder?
    That's the $64k question, havent seen an answer to that one. Have plenty of sawdust here, byproduct of our boatbuilding.
  • 11 Sep 2013 00:00
    Quote
    Reply # 1386059 on 679928
    Anonymous member
    I'm still finding the Airhead easier to live with than a pump-out toilet, eight months on, but I've used up all the coco-fibre bricks I bought in Hawai'i. They're not available here in Sitka. 
    The choices available here appear to be Canadian sphagnum peat (Annie would never speak to me again) or douglas fir bark mulch (bark minced up quite fine). Would the latter work, I wonder?
  • 18 Jan 2013 03:33
    Quote
    Reply # 1182580 on 679928
    Anonymous member
    I should try it in my bucket toilet and see if it makes a difference, though the bucket is not too bad, we've used it for up to 3 days and it's been okay.
  • 18 Jan 2013 02:14
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    Reply # 1182524 on 1182514
    Anonymous member
    Gary Pick wrote:I've emptied the P-tank once, no problem. I have a lot of 'Bio Magic' holding tank treatment stuff (no aggressive chemicals) left over from the Lavac, which seems to kill the smell in that tank as you empty it (Airhead recommend sugar).

     I find that bit of info interesting, I wonder how much sugar?
    They say 1/2 - 3/4 cup of sugar in the 5 litre tank. The Bio Magic works by supplying a lot of oxygen to the bacteria, and the sugar will do the same.
    Last modified: 18 Jan 2013 02:20 | Anonymous member
  • 18 Jan 2013 02:02
    Quote
    Reply # 1182514 on 679928
    Anonymous member
    I've emptied the P-tank once, no problem. I have a lot of 'Bio Magic' holding tank treatment stuff (no aggressive chemicals) left over from the Lavac, which seems to kill the smell in that tank as you empty it (Airhead recommend sugar).

    I find that bit of info interesting, I wonder how much sugar?
  • 18 Jan 2013 01:10
    Quote
    Reply # 1182485 on 1151532
    Anonymous member
    David Tyler wrote:
    David Tyler wrote:

    I'm going to join the composting brigade. When I get to Hawai'i, I'll see if I can get an Airhead sent across.
    I now have an Airhead all bought and paid for, and all I have to do is to find a way of taking delivery of it, and installing it.
    The Airhead is installed and working. I'm only using it part-time, since I'm currently at Ala Wai marina, with shore facilities available, but so far, so good. It doesn't smell at all, unlike my old Lavac. 

    My eco-credentials are unsullied. It came with a shrink-wrapped block of coco fibre, house-brick size, which you put with 2 litres of water overnight and it swells hugely and turns out like damp, coarse sawdust. I've bought some more here, different brand (Gaviota Green), but the same weight, 650 grams. If each is good for a month's use, I can carry a year's supply, easily. 

    I've emptied the P-tank once, no problem. I have a lot of 'Bio Magic' holding tank treatment stuff (no aggressive chemicals) left over from the Lavac, which seems to kill the smell in that tank as you empty it (Airhead recommend sugar).

    I've given the Lavac to a local sailor, who thought it was going to be an improvement over his brand of pumped marine toilet.
  • 04 Dec 2012 17:42
    Quote
    Reply # 1152186 on 1151461
    Deleted user
    jane sewell wrote:I live off grid in Portugal  for 6 moonths a year and have a composting toilet, very simple seperating toilet.
    It is made as an enclosed box with a 30lt cool box for the solids and a standard 5lt Asda Spring water bottle for the pee. Works a treat, we throw a hand ful of sadust or earth on the solids.  I'm sure it could be altered to make it work at sea as well by putting seals round the seperator and the lid of the cool(solids) box.
    Hi Jane - That sounds like a fascinating use for an icebox and an Asda bottle. Where do you dump them?
  • 03 Dec 2012 20:32
    Quote
    Reply # 1151532 on 1117186
    Anonymous member
    David Tyler wrote:

    I'm going to join the composting brigade. When I get to Hawai'i, I'll see if I can get an Airhead sent across.
    I now have an Airhead all bought and paid for, and all I have to do is to find a way of taking delivery of it, and installing it.
  • 03 Dec 2012 20:09
    Quote
    Reply # 1151507 on 679928
    Anonymous member
    Using an esky (coolbox, or if you're a Kiwi, Chillybin) is quite a novel idea.
       " ...there is nothing - absolutely nothing - half so much worth doing as simply messing about in junk-rigged boats" 
                                                               - the Chinese Water Rat

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