# Anyone have a residential composting toilet system?



## Weagle weagle! (Mar 11, 2013)

I am looking into this option for the home we are planning to build. Do you use electric or non? Are they really non-odor? Any info appreciated. For some reason I cannot get the thread search to work on my tablet


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## Cyngbaeld (May 20, 2004)

Look into doing a build it yourself one. I have the Nature's Head and it is now un-installed and in the storage trailer. Sawdust bucket works better than any of the commercial toilets, IMHO if you aren't putting in a septic. I finally did get a small septic and a couple of the RV low flush toilets and am very happy not to have to carry out buckets or deal with that stinking compost toilet.


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## Ernie (Jul 22, 2007)

I wouldn't spend any money on any composting toilet on the market.

A $3 bucket from Home Depot and a toilet seat lid is what we use. All of us. All seven of us. Wife and kids all. We throw some mulch material in the bucket, then do our business on top of it, then cover it up again with more mulch. About twice a day one of the kids will take it out and dump the contents of the bucket into a compost pile.

There's not usually an odor, but sometimes one of the kids will unload a real stinker and not cover it up properly. Then they get booed by the whole rest of the tribe for awhile. 

Even a flush toilet will leave odor behind and lingering in the air. That's what scented candles are for.


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## MDfamilyman (May 15, 2012)

Check out the brochure which should answer several of your questions. I ran into this yesterday while look ing at sheds.

http://www.storageshedspa.com/content/sun-mar-compost-toilets

The wife and I are planning on going this route. Good luck!


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## sisterpine (May 9, 2004)

Hi, thought you would find a bit more data useful. We had a biolet delux for years and it never could handle the amount of urine from two adults full time. Ours was electric and there was no odor until I went to empty the flooded compost! Once we figured out to pee outside and poo inside it got a bit better. But who wants to pee outside all the time in the mountains of montana. I have never, repeat never, met anyone who had success with the compost toilets made for residential use. However, I have also never met anyone who used the ones where the compost container was in the basement and the toilet on an upper floor. The do seem to work in the forest service places but I think those are basically outhouses with water?


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## lemonthyme7 (Jul 8, 2010)

We had a composting toilet (electric model) and always had trouble with to much moisture no matter that the electric was supposed to help keep it dried out. It was a royal (and stinky) pain to clean out because of the slushy mess. We did everything by the book and used plenty of absorbents and had an overflow tube for liquids and it still never worked like promised. I agree that a simple bucket works better than the expensive composting toilets you buy and at least with a bucket it is easily emptied. Heck, our camp toilet that we used sawdust in was better than the composting toilet!


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## Ernie (Jul 22, 2007)

lemonthyme7 said:


> We had a composting toilet (electric model) and always had trouble with to much moisture no matter that the electric was supposed to help keep it dried out. It was a royal (and stinky) pain to clean out because of the slushy mess. We did everything by the book and used plenty of absorbents and had an overflow tube for liquids and it still never worked like promised. I agree that a simple bucket works better than the expensive composting toilets you buy and at least with a bucket it is easily emptied. Heck, our camp toilet that we used sawdust in was better than the composting toilet!


Here's another advantage to the buckets too ...

I'm 6' tall and I have long legs. If I have to sit on a regular toilet for any length of time, they're a little too low for me and my legs always fall asleep!

Not so with my bucket. It's just the right height and is very comfortable for me to use, no matter how long I sit there pontificating on the weightier matters of the universe. 

If I were y'all, I would try the bucket thing BEFORE I tried the expensive solution. If it doesn't work then you wasted $3, but if it does work then you saved several hundred.

Several hundred dollars can buy a LOT of rolls of toilet paper.


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## K.B. (Sep 7, 2012)

the bucket system is simple and reliable. one bucket for liquids and one for solids. 

Dilute the urine 10X or more and use on the garden or pour on mulch.

Use dry high carbon mulch for the solids bucket and cover your business well. We use rotten conifer loam that is abundant on our property. It is very fine when sifted through a screen and it's easy to get a hundred gallons or so in an hour or two.


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## Weagle weagle! (Mar 11, 2013)

We have been employing the bucket method for the last couple of months when we are out there, and it has been fine and "legal" since there is no dwelling on the property right now. I was trying to get an idea for when we live out there to be within the "law". The way I read them, a composting toilet is fine for a legal dwelling, in certain situations (which we would plan within to avoid the expense of an expensive septic system). I definitely do not want to pay that much for a messy, stinking toilet that doesn't work as advertised. Maybe we should just buy a huge old camper or motorhome to live in and fall under portable storage tank


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## Ernie (Jul 22, 2007)

Weagle weagle! said:


> We have been employing the bucket method for the last couple of months when we are out there, and it has been fine and "legal" since there is no dwelling on the property right now. I was trying to get an idea for when we live out there to be within the "law". The way I read them, a composting toilet is fine for a legal dwelling, in certain situations (which we would plan within to avoid the expense of an expensive septic system). I definitely do not want to pay that much for a messy, stinking toilet that doesn't work as advertised. Maybe we should just buy a huge old camper or motorhome to live in and fall under portable storage tank


I'm sure my commentary on this topic is going to upset a lot of good taxpaying citizens, but I'll share you the sordid tale of Ernie versus the State.

When we moved out here to rural Texas they informed me I had to have a septic tank. No composting toilet allowed, no outhouse. 

Now a government that is going to tell me I can't poop in a bucket has gotten a little too big for its britches, in my opinion, and I'm always one to buck the system.

So we built our cabin anyway. When they hassled me about why they did not have a septic tank permit on file, I told them it's because we don't generate any waste. We do not "go poopsies" around here, as the fine commissioner put it. We generate compost. 

_There are no regulations regarding the generation of compost, only the handling of human waste_.

You're a gardener? You don't generate waste. In fact, waste is probably a dirty word in your household. Everything has a use!

I made such a big and dramatic deal about it in their office that they backed down and that was the end of it. Apparently they may have been afraid to drag this melodramatic hillbilly into court and have him embarrass them all over a man's God-given right to poop in the manner to which pleases him.

Unless you live in some area where they have inspectors and building codes and nosy busybodies such as that, my advice to you is to poop where you darn well please and tell the state to get out of your business. They don't even have the right to discuss the issue with you unless your neighbor complains about poop running over onto HIS property.


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## ErinP (Aug 23, 2007)

yet another vote for a plain old sawdust toilet. 
I did a LOT of research when looking for the composter for our house, and all I read were reviews like in this thread; unreliable, messy, stinky. 
I figured for less than $50 I could build a nice-ish sawdust toilet and it would be a much cheaper experiment if it failed. 

These are the basic plans I used:
http://humanurehandbook.com/humanure_toilet.html
And from them, I built this:

















(it doesn't have to LOOK like a bucket!!)


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## Weagle weagle! (Mar 11, 2013)

Ernie said:


> I'm sure my commentary on this topic is going to upset a lot of good taxpaying citizens, but I'll share you the sordid tale of Ernie versus the State.
> 
> When we moved out here to rural Texas they informed me I had to have a septic tank. No composting toilet allowed, no outhouse.
> 
> ...


I hear you and wish I had the guts to argue. The only permits required and inspector in this county are for septic. I am positive the neighbors could care less, as long as we respect their land.


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## Ernie (Jul 22, 2007)

Well, if you're concerned that your arguments might not win them over, you can always buy an old RV for very cheap and park it somewhere on your land and tell them you're using that for a bathroom because your house isn't finished. 

"Just haven't had the money to finish the bathroom plumbing in the house yet. Tough economy and all that. You know how it is. Or maybe you don't because you've got a job. Hey, are y'all hiring down at the inspector station?"

Nothing will get an inspector off your land quicker than asking him for a job or for money.


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## BigHenTinyBrain (Apr 4, 2013)

I grew up with a bucket toilet, which is gross if you do not use some kind of absorbent material (sawdust is my preferred choice, but a neighbor uses old leaves). It's also good plan for an outhouse, if hving a bucket of poo inside is too much for you. 
I HIGHLY recommend the Humanure Handbook (link in Erin's post) as a good way to get an overview of different composting toilets and their positive and negative points. 
We've used commercial composting toilets on a limited basis and in my experience they always had a hint of "Old Pee" about them. We have 3 perfectly fine flush toilets and I'm in the process of converting all of them to buckets. It just seems so much less wasteful (and so much cheaper in the long run).


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## Forerunner (Mar 23, 2007)

Here's another plug for the bucket, and the Humanure Handbook. We have both and wouldn't trade for anything...and sawdust is the magic ingredient....... but watch that Ernie character. He'll get you into all kinds of trouble with his anti-tyranny, libertarian, a-man-ought-to-be-free-to-pursue-nature's harmonic balance-unfettered nonsense. :indif:


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## Ernie (Jul 22, 2007)

Forerunner said:


> Here's another plug for the bucket, and the Humanure Handbook. We have both and wouldn't trade for anything...and sawdust is the magic ingredient....... but watch that Ernie character. He'll get you into all kinds of trouble with his anti-tyranny, libertarian, a-man-ought-to-be-free-to-pursue-nature's harmonic balance-unfettered nonsense. :indif:


Of the two of us ... how did *I *get labeled as the crazy one?


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## Forerunner (Mar 23, 2007)

Time, chance and circumstance, my friend. 

A good line of BS delivered in timely fashion will take you far.


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## Ernie (Jul 22, 2007)

Forerunner said:


> Time, chance and circumstance, my friend.
> 
> A good line of BS delivered in timely fashion will take you far.


You never know when a good line of BS will save the day, which is why I'm an advocate of spraying a steady stream of it all day long.


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## Jim-mi (May 15, 2002)

To the OP . . . . . . .From all these posts you know darn well that a hi-tec 3 dollar bucket will/does work.
(my back-up poo depository is a 2 dollar bucket)

But you need to do some serious --quiet---home work.
What about bank money ? "required" inspections for loans., "occupancy" permits etc. etc.
Can YOU face up to jackboot inspectors . .??

The last thing you need/want is to be "Red Tagged"


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## Guest (Jun 13, 2013)

All I know about composting toilet systems is this , a friend built a new log home , off the grid & installed an expensive composting toilet that had a rather large collection bin in the basement . After a few months he removed it & had a septic system installed . I never really asked him detailed questions but I believe the main problem was too much liquid .


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## edcopp (Oct 9, 2004)

Ernie said:


> I wouldn't spend any money on any composting toilet on the market.
> 
> A $3 bucket from Home Depot and a toilet seat lid is what we use. All of us. All seven of us. Wife and kids all. We throw some mulch material in the bucket, then do our business on top of it, then cover it up again with more mulch. About twice a day one of the kids will take it out and dump the contents of the bucket into a compost pile.
> 
> ...


$3 for a bucket, you can scrounge better than that.


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## Forerunner (Mar 23, 2007)

He was applying a lightweight version of BS, Ed. :heh:


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## Teri (Jan 13, 2003)

We used both a sawdust toilet and a commercial composting toilet (not at the same time). Both stank something awful, and yes, we emptied/turned them everyday. If you're not dealing with the waste of 9 people as we were (including teenagers), you'll be ok, but don't waste your money. Get a copy of the Humanure Handbook and a sawdust bucket.
Erin, your toilet is beautiful.


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## Weagle weagle! (Mar 11, 2013)

Jim-mi said:


> To the OP . . . . . . .From all these posts you know darn well that a hi-tec 3 dollar bucket will/does work.
> (my back-up poo depository is a 2 dollar bucket)
> 
> But you need to do some serious --quiet---home work.
> ...


There is no loan as we are paying for it ourselves and no building inspectors or occupancy permits in the county.


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## Jim-mi (May 15, 2002)

Well good for you.
Too often people here on HT ask about things like this (pot potty) who live in a super zoned restricted community.......
For them it is an impossible uphill battle fighting all the *rules & regulations"........
You know . .The goobermint knows what is best for us peons............

Truth be known, If all those PC idiots of today were to know where most of 'yesterdays hero's' pooped they would have a heart-attack..............LOL


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## Ernie (Jul 22, 2007)

Jim-mi said:


> Well good for you.
> Too often people here on HT ask about things like this (pot potty) who live in a super zoned restricted community.......
> For them it is an impossible uphill battle fighting all the *rules & regulations"........
> You know . .The goobermint knows what is best for us peons............
> ...


I don't understand how people can even begin to homestead in those types of restricted communities. I suppose you can always find loopholes in any law, but you would have to fight tooth and nail for almost everything you want to do.

Homesteading takes pretty much all your energy. You don't have much left for bucking the system afterwards.


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## K.B. (Sep 7, 2012)

I've had loads of people in our heavily-regulated area tell us that they get through the inspections and then do what they want once the process is over... seems a pretty common attitude (and a waste of everyone's time/$ upfront).


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## tripletmom (Feb 4, 2005)

I picked up a brand new in the box biolet at a yard sale for $100 and we've been using it for a year and a half with no problems. There are 4 of us using it, me and three teenagers. Dh uses the outhouse. It has two bins and when the front one gets full it goes to the back and the back one gets carried out. The pee runs down a pipe to a small drain field outside. Every one covers their poo with sawdust and I carry the back bin out every week to ten days. The kids are embarrassed of it but they just tell their friends that mom is weird ;-)


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## Jim-mi (May 15, 2002)

I hear ya KB . . . . . But in the case of plumbing . .Consider the huge cost of "installing" a workable conventional toilet "system" . . and all the $$$$$ permits just to pass inspection and get the occupancy PERMIT .
Makes NO sense
When you and yours have agreed that a bucket and sawdust like the very good pictures above will suit your needs......For several thousand dollars less......?!?!


OK . . . Sit down and Shut up and let the stinking goobermint tell you ***what to do***

. . . .WRONG


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## Forerunner (Mar 23, 2007)

tripletmom said:


> The kids are embarrassed of it but they just tell their friends that mom is weird ;-)


Take it from one who understands......you _are_ blessed among women. :bow:


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## K.B. (Sep 7, 2012)

Jim-mi said:


> I hear ya KB . . . . . But in the case of plumbing . .Consider the huge cost of "installing" a workable conventional toilet "system" . . and all the $$$$$ permits just to pass inspection and get the occupancy PERMIT .
> Makes NO sense
> When you and yours have agreed that a bucket and sawdust like the very good pictures above will suit your needs......For several thousand dollars less......?!?!
> 
> ...


wish it were not so, but it's the law of the land around here.

Just finished having the lovely septic installed... ~2K$ in permits and another ~4K$ in materials/time.

When we first started our construction process back in 2010, I spoke to the local officials regarding the need for a septic if we didn't use a flush system. They said that using an "approved" composting toilet would allow us to reduce the size of the septic by 25%. Gray-water was not approved in OR at that time, and is still in it's infancy stage. 

It has made me want to ask, if I'm not flushing a toilet, and the gray water is routed to mulch basins, what exactly is going to the septic tank???

It doesn't pay to keep pushing with people/agencies.


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## Rick (May 10, 2002)

Any one here heard of treebog? It is our Dream Throne. 

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TsYpTgtB1PU[/ame]

I plan to feature a ramp to ours, taking advantage of our hilly landscape!


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## Ernie (Jul 22, 2007)

That's pretty cool. Makes me wish I had some trees!

I do have a bucket set up in a rocky path but it's not on level ground and if you get too active on it then it becomes the "rodeo toilet".


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## Jim-mi (May 15, 2002)

How cool is that tree bog !!!!!!

unfortunately my leg injury wood not enjoy all those steps

K.B. take a video camera with you (and tape the reactions) of all those idiot *inspectors* as you tell them "Here is the way I choose to do my business" "Take all your *permit--- taxes* and shove them where the sun don't shine*


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## motdaugrnds (Jul 3, 2002)

Ernie, I enjoy your posts so much...always uplifting!!

Rick what a treasure!! Now if only I had past year's agility!


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## MichaelZ (May 21, 2013)

lemonthyme7 said:


> We had a composting toilet (electric model) and always had trouble with to much moisture no matter that the electric was supposed to help keep it dried out. It was a royal (and stinky) pain to clean out because of the slushy mess. We did everything by the book and used plenty of absorbents and had an overflow tube for liquids and it still never worked like promised. I agree that a simple bucket works better than the expensive composting toilets you buy and at least with a bucket it is easily emptied. Heck, our camp toilet that we used sawdust in was better than the composting toilet!


I guess these composting toilets are not what they are cracked up to be 

At any rate, a lot of good info here.


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## Ernie (Jul 22, 2007)

Jim-mi said:


> How cool is that tree bog !!!!!!
> 
> unfortunately my leg injury wood not enjoy all those steps
> 
> K.B. take a video camera with you (and tape the reactions) of all those idiot *inspectors* as you tell them "Here is the way I choose to do my business" "Take all your *permit--- taxes* and shove them where the sun don't shine*


Well, for what it's worth, here's Ernie's Tip for Dealing With Government Officials # 47:

Don't push them into a corner or embarrass them. Always leave them an out where they can save face and walk away from you feeling like a winner. That way, the good ones who are just petty bureaucrats will move on and you only have to dig a hole to bury the bad ones who are jerks.


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## Forerunner (Mar 23, 2007)

What's the problem, Ernie ?

I understand that you've acquired a backhoe...... so, what's an extra hole or two to dig ? :shrug:


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## Ernie (Jul 22, 2007)

Forerunner said:


> What's the problem, Ernie ?
> 
> I understand that you've acquired a backhoe...... so, what's an extra hole or two to dig ? :shrug:


They don't walk here, you know. What do you do with their cars? 

You couldn't hide a tricycle in my pond right now. The catfish are starting to get ticks!


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## Conhntr (Aug 7, 2010)

I agree that going #1 into a gallon of freshwater and flushing it with another 2 gallons of fresh water is dumb (paraphrased from humanure book). The thing that gets me about #2 is seppage of bacteria into groundwater/creeks. Do you guys have a hot compost pile to put it in? What do you do when the pile is cold?


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## Ernie (Jul 22, 2007)

Conhntr said:


> I agree that going #1 into a gallon of freshwater and flushing it with another 2 gallons of fresh water is dumb (paraphrased from humanure book). The thing that gets me about #2 is seppage of bacteria into groundwater/creeks. Do you guys have a hot compost pile to put it in? What do you do when the pile is cold?


Well, first off, any bacteria that comes out of you has already been inside you, so I'm not worrying too much about it.

But think about your question for a moment ...

Most of those bacteria require various conditions to thrive. Conditions that are found on the surface of the ground, not under the ground. Certainly not deep as any groundwater is likely to be found. Any bacteria that are leached downwards are going to be stuck in the soil on their way to groundwater and probably won't make it in the first place. If they do make it then they're certainly dead.

Next, how much poop are we talking about? The average person excretes only a small weight in humanure, most of which is water which will begin evaporating off.

I suppose if you had a stadium full of people pooping on your farm then it might get to be a problem, but I can tell you that there's no problem with a family of 7 (and sometimes 4-8 houseguests).

A humanure pile is a little different than your standard compost pile. It's active in layers, but not universally through. You're adding to it each day, so the stuff on the very bottom may not have the high quality bacteria food in it that the newly added stuff has. And bacteria being bacteria, they're going to migrate upwards in the pile. 

There's also stages all along the composting process. You have the thermophyllic stage (hot pile) but later there's a whole host of critters that come in who love different conditions. I've stuck a thermometer into one of my piles and measured it at 130F but down at the bottom there are big, fat grubworms eating happily in a cool pile. 

As far as the creek goes, I wouldn't locate a pile next to a creek. That just wouldn't be polite to anyone downstream. There might be some runoff (probably less than a septic tank though).


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## Conhntr (Aug 7, 2010)

Why do they perform a coloform test on wellwater then? Is tht just in case soeone pooped down the wellhead? Not trying to be smart but i know people that had to get expensive filtration on their wellwater becuase of bacteria in the gorundwater


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## Forerunner (Mar 23, 2007)

This discussion could easily turn into another us and them debate.

There are those who just _know_ how to handle the material in question, and never have a problem.....
......and there are those who see nothing but insurmountable obstacles in the process, and cannot be consoled in the matter.

There really is no trick, save a spot of daily diligence in seeing to it that enough extra organic matter is added to the pile in covering the toilet to maintain enough heat to kill the pathogens. Compost pile management should be as daily as any other chore, especially when incorporated in such a closed nutrient circulatory system as we are addressing, here.


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## Ernie (Jul 22, 2007)

Conhntr said:


> Why do they perform a coloform test on wellwater then? Is tht just in case soeone pooped down the wellhead? Not trying to be smart but i know people that had to get expensive filtration on their wellwater becuase of bacteria in the gorundwater


I'd blame a septic system and poor well-casing first. 

Ever pile up cow manure outside your barn in the spring? Did it taint your well? How would that be any different?

I don't have a well so I don't think I can really answer your questions properly. Even groundwater flows downhill though, so I would think that proper placement of well and compost piles would mitigate any concerns you might have.


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## Fireboat52 (Oct 31, 2011)

This is a composting toilet that you can use in the house, that is easy to empty and that doesn't stink. I know because I make them. Almost every bucket toilet that people either make or buy is a square box that doesn't let you put your feet below your buttocks, which is the natural way to go. The trick to keeping the smell away is urine diversion and those composting toilets or other toilets that mix the two are going to stink and be messy to empty. Simple as that. Check out the BoonJon at this link. www.c-head.com if you want to see what I believe is the best solution to waste management.

Sandy Graves
Master Crapper Crafter


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## featherbottoms (May 28, 2005)

Cyngbaeld said:


> Look into doing a build it yourself one. I have the Nature's Head and it is now un-installed and in the storage trailer. Sawdust bucket works better than any of the commercial toilets, IMHO if you aren't putting in a septic. I finally did get a small septic and a couple of the RV low flush toilets and am very happy not to have to carry out buckets or deal with that stinking compost toilet.


I know this is a really old thread but I am curious. What, exactly, about the Nature's Head compost toilet did you dislike? Was it originally hooked up with the fan and everything?


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