Composting head
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quote "seems like the description of a litter box for people."
That is pretty much exactly what it is. You do your business and then churn the poop/peatmoss mixture which buries and covers the waste. The whole solution to the smell problem is dividing the pee from the poop at the onset. After you churn it, it does not smell like sewage at all. You get a potato cellar smell when you open the lid but with the lid closed there is no smell at all, even if the toilet is unvented.
You wouldn't use clay or shale cat litter because it it heavy and abrasive. Peat moss, coconut coir or sawdust works better.
Sandy
That is pretty much exactly what it is. You do your business and then churn the poop/peatmoss mixture which buries and covers the waste. The whole solution to the smell problem is dividing the pee from the poop at the onset. After you churn it, it does not smell like sewage at all. You get a potato cellar smell when you open the lid but with the lid closed there is no smell at all, even if the toilet is unvented.
You wouldn't use clay or shale cat litter because it it heavy and abrasive. Peat moss, coconut coir or sawdust works better.
Sandy
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We lived aboard Lily Pad for five years. Unfortunately, I didn't develop the C-Head until the last year. To answer your question, if you are in a slip, a cloth grocery bag is designed to hold two 1-gallon milk jugs. Using that you can carry them up to the marina restroom discreetly and pour them in the toilet. If you are on the hook, store the urine in gallon jugs or pour them into a 5-gallon jug until you can get off shore or to a restroom. If you can save it and bring it home and mix it with water, it is a fantastic fertilizer for you trees and plants.
East coast sailors are much more likely to just dump it overboard almost anywhere and certainly in any tidal area. There is general disdain on the Atlantic side for restrictions on where you can dump your pee and many sailors pee in a jug and pour it overboard to keep from filling up their holding tanks. I'm not saying it is right or good, it just happens to be a fact that you will discover very quickly if you cruise that area. Foreigners seem to just do what they do at home, which is dump their holding tanks when and where ever they please. West coast sailors seem to be more sensitive about the water. Do as your conscience dictates.
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It is true that the original C-Heads were made from plywood that was imbedded in plastic but they have been constructed from all plastic for over a year now. Some plastics absorb odor (polyester being one) and others are better at resisting odor (epoxy, phenolic and PVC are odor resistant and what is used in the construction).
Sandy
we will be cruising the bahamas. we are full time live a boards, with occasional breaks for temp work situations. we had a composting toilet on a weekender and it worked well. now we have moved full time onto an island packet 31. the hoses for the head need replacing. the po replaced the original holding tank with a very small one. only six gallons. So i have some major head issues with the sewage on this boat.
I was thinking about using a composting head, and storing the urine in the holding tank. then perhaps pumping it out. I would pump the urine from the holding tank directly to the pump out. the rest of the hoses i would not use. Also would not have the problem of having to use seawater to "flush" the solid waste.
i am concerned about the coast guard or other inspectors as we enter the bahamas and the caribean. we will have to show how we did not pour our urine overboard. and we will have to store our compost.
any feed back on how these issues are handled by other cruisers
Oh my GOD! For those of you that have not relegated me to their ignore list, I will go on record here, or anywhere else for that matter to say, a debate over pouring pee into the ocean has GOT to be THE MOST RIDICULOUS thing that I have ever read. Peeing in the OCEAN? Get a grip on yourself. Hell, we're not more than 75 years away from out-houses, and all this hand-wringing about PEE? I'm going to urinate in the ocean today. If you don't believe me, come watch. Several times actually, in utter defiance of the pee police.
I contend that Sandy has probably designed and built a very functional unit, and I can surmise this by the very fact that he's a live-aboard, of whose ideas, opinions, and developments generally tend to be far superior than anything conjured in a lab.
And if you have a female on board, with any modicum of civility whatsoever, would not stand for a smelly toilet. (Yes toilet, heads and their terminologies have been "obsolete" for 50 years. Cool name for it on the docks to impress the land-lubbers, but it's a crapper nonetheless). A friend of mine very recently made his final opinion on the purchase of their next boat over the fact that she could not smell the boat. (Take note anybody trying to sell their boat). Personally, I'd spend 5000 dollars on a system that worked well, regardless if it was powered by a nuclear reactor. Mine currently works well because it is all new. When it does not, out it goes, and a new one put in. Period. All of it.
And I will not say I'm sorry at this point for speaking my mind that this whole "green" thing is so out of hand that the next person that speaks the very word green to me, I am going to puke down their shirt front. Twice.
Is nobody here old enough to remember the old catch phrases of the past? In the 60's everything was "Atomic". It was the nuclear age, and EVERYTHING was atomic this, and atomic that. It was cool. I still have some plutonium buried in the back yard in reverence. How about "Just Say No". Mmhmm. That's working out equally well also..
In fact, I'm peeing in the front yard right now, while typing with one hand. The neighbors kids think it's funny, but they're getting used to it. The H.O.A. is a little slower about coming around to the idea, but they're starting to act a tad gun-shy about putting letters in the box.
So, just thank a merciful God in your next prayers, that in his infinite wisdom during the creation of times that he disabled aquatic creatures ability to urinate in the ocean.
Now that the evil menace is behind us, we can sleep at night..
I contend that Sandy has probably designed and built a very functional unit, and I can surmise this by the very fact that he's a live-aboard, of whose ideas, opinions, and developments generally tend to be far superior than anything conjured in a lab.
And if you have a female on board, with any modicum of civility whatsoever, would not stand for a smelly toilet. (Yes toilet, heads and their terminologies have been "obsolete" for 50 years. Cool name for it on the docks to impress the land-lubbers, but it's a crapper nonetheless). A friend of mine very recently made his final opinion on the purchase of their next boat over the fact that she could not smell the boat. (Take note anybody trying to sell their boat). Personally, I'd spend 5000 dollars on a system that worked well, regardless if it was powered by a nuclear reactor. Mine currently works well because it is all new. When it does not, out it goes, and a new one put in. Period. All of it.
And I will not say I'm sorry at this point for speaking my mind that this whole "green" thing is so out of hand that the next person that speaks the very word green to me, I am going to puke down their shirt front. Twice.
Is nobody here old enough to remember the old catch phrases of the past? In the 60's everything was "Atomic". It was the nuclear age, and EVERYTHING was atomic this, and atomic that. It was cool. I still have some plutonium buried in the back yard in reverence. How about "Just Say No". Mmhmm. That's working out equally well also..
In fact, I'm peeing in the front yard right now, while typing with one hand. The neighbors kids think it's funny, but they're getting used to it. The H.O.A. is a little slower about coming around to the idea, but they're starting to act a tad gun-shy about putting letters in the box.
So, just thank a merciful God in your next prayers, that in his infinite wisdom during the creation of times that he disabled aquatic creatures ability to urinate in the ocean.
Now that the evil menace is behind us, we can sleep at night..
As far as I know, there are no restrictions on pumping directly overboard in the Bahamas. There aren't pump out stations, I don't think and everybody discharges directly overboard. All the water that you see around you will be replaced by new sea water every three days in the Bahamas. Store your solid waste until you can get away from any anchorages and then dump it overboard. If you prefer not to do that, then take it ashore and put it in a dumpster using a 5-gallon bucket (treat it with chlorox) or wait until you get well offshore and empty it over the side.
As far as the USA goes, the USCG seems to love portable toilets or any system that has no direct overboard discharge as long as they look clean and maintained and the owners are polite and knowledgable about the system. If you have thru hull fittings from your MSD you will be suspect and they will inspect it pretty closely. Remember too that much of it is "unluck of the draw", so to speak. Every government official will give you a different answer about what is legal and what isn't. Much of it is "by guess and by God" and "because I said so!". If you get boarded by an officer who is having a very bad day, he is likely to take it out on you. They are only human.
Sandy
As far as the USA goes, the USCG seems to love portable toilets or any system that has no direct overboard discharge as long as they look clean and maintained and the owners are polite and knowledgable about the system. If you have thru hull fittings from your MSD you will be suspect and they will inspect it pretty closely. Remember too that much of it is "unluck of the draw", so to speak. Every government official will give you a different answer about what is legal and what isn't. Much of it is "by guess and by God" and "because I said so!". If you get boarded by an officer who is having a very bad day, he is likely to take it out on you. They are only human.
Sandy
Very Well said Chris "P".....
carry on sir, you verbalized my thoughts entirely. I did a calculation about "every boat registered in the Chesapeake" all 5 states a year or two ago for a MD newspaper as well as a commenter on a board similar to this one, using 100% of the registered numbers of boats, assumed a full 25 gallon holding tank on each......if all were to dump at the same time - it would still be less than what Baltimore City ALONE dumps in to the river (and thus the bay) on one Sunday afternoon during a football game. The you have all the other leaky systems, and some upstate MD still just dump, not treat.
Green, my foot! Another way for the pols to control and business to make money.
carry on sir, you verbalized my thoughts entirely. I did a calculation about "every boat registered in the Chesapeake" all 5 states a year or two ago for a MD newspaper as well as a commenter on a board similar to this one, using 100% of the registered numbers of boats, assumed a full 25 gallon holding tank on each......if all were to dump at the same time - it would still be less than what Baltimore City ALONE dumps in to the river (and thus the bay) on one Sunday afternoon during a football game. The you have all the other leaky systems, and some upstate MD still just dump, not treat.
Green, my foot! Another way for the pols to control and business to make money.
Just a very rough estimation of the amount of water in the Chesapeake Bay puts it at close to 2 trillion ounces if you dump 16 ounces of urine into that I don't believe that I could be detected. Urine is quite sterile anyway. Where as feces is almost entirely bacteria and non digestible fiber.
Full Disclosure: I do NOT have a C-head.....but I tried to buy one about 15 months ago. Unfortunately, the cut-out for my porta-pottie was about 2 inches too short to install C-Head, despite Sandy's (C-Head company owner) efforts to modify a unit for me. In all respects, it appears Sandy has a good thing going and the units work well (for a composting toilet). Admittedly, the C-Head is not as "production" looking as the other two brands available on the market.......for twice the price. I hope Sandy can eventually mod his design to be a little shorter........then I will buy one.
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