Separating pee and poo The first reason for the lack of unpleasant odors in composting toilets is the use of a urine separator. This device separates urine from feces, allowing the urine to be stored in a canister. This prevents the development of odors.
If you suspect the solids are the source of the stink, the first and easiest solution is to add more dry composting material to the solids. If it's an issue of liquids, adding a bit of vinegar to the liquids container (or with a spray bottle onto the diverter) will help reduce the smell of urine.
Should there be a smell coming from the outside exhaust fan of a composting toilet? Composting toilets, when maintained properly shouldn't be giving off any aromas or smells.
The Smell. Pro - If you maintain a composting toilet properly, there will be virtually no smell. Con - If your composting toilet isn't maintained properly it can get pretty smelly.
In cases like prolonged diarrhea or excessive condensation, add small amount of your composting bulking material (coco fiber OR peat moss). Make sure that the liquids in the solids bin is not from someone directly urinating into the compost solids bin.
This is actually the intended use of a composting toilet. You're supposed to mix the solid waste into a larger composting bin, along with leaves, grass clippings, weeds, and other organic materials. It generally takes about 120 days for human waste to break down into a biologically safe fertilizer.
Some models of composting toilets divert urine and collect it in a separate container. While these models are equipped with a fan for odour control, they do not have heating elements or leachate drains. This means once the urine container is full, it will need to be disposed of manually.
Disadvantages of a compost toilet include more maintenance than standard toilets. Improperly or poorly maintained systems can lead to odors, insects, and health hazards. These toilets usually require some type of power source, and the end product must also be removed.
That being said, as a general rule, you would want to remove compost at least once a month if your toilet is used residentially, and once a season if used occasionally or on weekends.
While humans will urinate several times a day, it is not necessary to add it all to the compost heap – too much is not always a good thing. The main issue to consider when putting urine on compost is the ratio of green and brown materials that you have in the heap. Ideally, you want a 2:1 ratio of brown-to-green.
Composting toilets deal with urine in, essentially, two different ways. Either urine is evaporated from your composting toilet via an exhaust fan or it's collected in a separate container and disposed of or used. Many composting toilet models have exhaust fans as part of their overall design.
If you have a composting toilet, you know about keeping the “pee container” clean. The various toilet manufacturers recommend using either vinegar or sugar to keep the container odor-free and to keep deposits from building up in the bowl and tank. We tried both and felt that vinegar was by far the better.
A great cleaner for composting toilets is pure vinegar for the urine diverter, the urine bottle, and seat, and an environmentally safe soap mixed with water for the rest. You can also mix water and baking soda as cleaner alternative that is microbe safe.
For those concerned about odors wafting through their home, choose the waterless Sun-Mar Excel Self-Contained Composting Toilet. Designed for odorless decomposition, this composting toilet has a bio-drum, an evaporating chamber, and a finishing drawer.
Some creative, compost toilet veterans even add used coffee grounds to their systems after making coffee each morning. This not only acts as a good bulking material, but adds a bit of good smell.
Composting toilet – Australian State Legislation
Let's go over our state laws. The Department of Housing and Public Works states that as long as the composting toilet you purchase complies with Schedule 8, Part 2 of the Environmental Protection (Waste Management) Regulation 2000, you're good to go.
Composting toilets are worth it if you are after a few of these advantages: Reducing dependence on traditional plumbing. Reducing wastewater use. Reducing impact on the environment.
Demerits of Composting: The composting process can emit unpleasant odors if not managed properly. The composting process requires proper monitoring of moisture and oxygen levels, which can be time consuming. Composting is not suitable for some types of waste, such as plastics, metals, and other inorganic materials.
For the two of us using the toilet full-time, it takes around 3-4 weeks for the compost bin to “fill up”. If you enjoy keeping a bowel calendar, or if you always go once per day, then you can do the math: Nature's Head recommends dumping the toilet after 60-80 uses depending on how much toilet paper you like to use.
Under heavy use a composting toilet will require daily maintenance to work properly. Otherwise, the compost may turn septic and emit horrendous odors both inside and outside the cabin. This is not only an expensive problem to fix, but it also will take the restroom out of service for extended periods.
Yes, most definitely. Although we recommend using recycled toilet paper, or even better, 'Who gives a crap' toilet paper. It's really important to not put anything that will harm all the bacteria and microbes that are in your composting pile into your composting toilet.
Fly strike can originate from other areas of your property and migrate to your composting toilet. The veggie compost bin is usually the main culprit of onsite insects, but things like sweating garbage bins, animal leavings, and decaying fruit matter from garden activities can also attract insects.
Many people like to add the waste from their composting toilets to an already established compost pile to continue the composting process with some additional organic waste. If this is the case, when the compost has broken down sufficiently and looks like topsoil, you can use it on your plants.