Composting toilet options for A25

[Nancy]

>>5. The limited electrical draw fully justifies the thousands spent on rewiring, new batts, functional bigazz switches, etc.<<

WillieC, I'm still chuckling over this.

[WillieC]

We no longer own the WillieC, she has a new name, but she will always be our first boat. I can't quite let go of the name yet.

We, through a series of misfortunes and timing, are now owners of a Nordic Tug 26'. Only one foot bigger, but in both length AND width. Huge difference. Got to say, though, the head isn't that much bigger, but it doesn't have the electrical panel in it. Hope I didn't mislead you, Tribologist.

You are on the right track with a decent plywood base. On the Albin, we installed a porta-potty with a transfer pump attached to the MSD, which effectively enlarged our holding tank by five gallons. I also kept the manual whale pump for open sea dumping and of course the deck fitting for pump out. In retrospect, we'd have done better with a composting toilet. No more worrying about finding a pump out. And much more room for storage.

[DesertAlbin736]

Ulf,

Scarcity of pump out facilities no discharge zones (which actually includes no dumping urine) is a problem, especially in Canada. Can't comment much on composting heads. We went the route of upgrading to a 20 gallon holding tank where the batteries used to be, relocating batteries to the storage locker under the starboard bench seat. Switching to a composter now ain't gonna happen since we will be selling La Dolce Vita later this year. That will mark the end of 26 years of sailing and ownership of a series of 6 different trailerable boats, 5 sailboats plus the Albin, over the years. If we ever do the Rideau it'll be on a Le Boat charter. Anyway, as you know one of the few downsides of Albin 25s' is the cramped size of the head compartment. Now what I've done to extend the range of the holding tank on our Groco head up to 4 or 5 days is for me to use a pee bottle (with a composter you have to separate urine anyway). Then when it comes time to do a #2 I use the bottle of saved #1 to aid in flushing, followed by smaller volume of regular pumped flush of course. That lessens the number of actual flushes needed. The Admiral flushes directly since I wouldn't make her suffer the indignity of peeing into a jar or other distaff suitable container. The practical capacity of the 20 gallon holding tank is closer to 16 gallons, perhaps as few as 15 to as much as 18 gallons at most, subtracting the 2 inches at the top inlet & the 1 inch at the bottom outlet that never completely drains. 16 gallons x 2 qts per flush x 4 qts per gallon = 32 flushes divided by 8 flushes per day = 4 days or more between pump outs. That's about the best we can do. Three miles offshore on a coastal cruise like out to Catalina Island we can drain the tank overboard.

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[Pegasus]

If you want to keep it simple, this is the one I went with.

https://myboxio.com/products/boxio-toilet

[tribologist]

If you want to keep it simple, this is the one I went with.

https://myboxio.com/products/boxio-toilet

I was looking on a few of the bag ones. Mostly the Swedish Separett Tiny but i figure ine more like the classic ones that has a auger would be better. We will find out. Picked up a sheet of 5/8 marine plywood for a new floor board but lately i been focused on the hot water heater and pump

[Pegasus]

If you want to keep it simple, this is the one I went with.

https://myboxio.com/products/boxio-toilet

I was looking on a few of the bag ones. Mostly the Swedish Separett Tiny but i figure ine more like the classic ones that has a auger would be better. We will find out. Picked up a sheet of 5/8 marine plywood for a new floor board but lately i been focused on the hot water heater and pump

We had a Natures Head composting toilet on our sailboat. The unit was ok but the auger function was a bit of a let down in my opinion. The way it is designed, the scraping function of the auger lets "material" build up along the walls and I had to go in and scrape the walls of the holding area manually. I like the simplicity of the Boxio style. Obviously the Boxio does not hold as much material as the Natures Head unit, but like anything else in boating, it's all about the compromises. Either way, in my opinion, I will take any compost unit over a conventional holding tank any day. By the way, that is a good looking install on the water heating unit.

[tribologist]

We will see, this one has a auger from the bottom and a rod going diagonally down. It looks like it should keep things away from the sides. I’m also looking at adding a charcoal filter on the vent line and a splash proof vent.

[hetek]

You could always vent it through the existing head compartment vent. Might "disturb" a sunbather on the bow though.

To Nancy's point... Never at a restaurant dock or in a marina.

I once had a 32' Pacemaker with a measly 5 gallon capacity head. My wife and a life-long friend of mine were going on a cruise for the weekend but the head was full. We stopped for gas and a pump out. "Sorry, pumpout is broken".

My friend got into a serious panic! "What are we going to do?!" I told him not to freak out while I pumped the gas. He was still panicking.

I told him there was an overboard discharge valve with a pump and we can use it once we are 3 miles out.

5 minutes later he comes up from below and says "All done!" Uh... All done with what? Yup. He did.

I handed the hose back to the gas dock attendant, gave him a nice tip and never got gas there again.

[dkirsop]

How did hanging your hot water tank work out?

[tribologist]

How did hanging your hot water tank work out?

Looks decent. I wish i had a wider board. Its cramped to fit pump and accumulator.

[WillieC]

How big is that accumulator? I think I cheaped out on mine. Tight spaces on lots of boats.

Oh. That’s the heater and pump I’m seeing.

[tribologist]

This show from bottom. Its a 1l accumulator

[WillieC]

That’s very close to my set up! A tiny accumulator. Took me two days and two sets of clamps to stop the leaks. I replaced as much as I could with pex. The rest will have to wait. No more leaks as it holds pressure almost indefinitely.

Carry on!

[tribologist]

That’s very close to my set up! A tiny accumulator. Took me two days and two sets of clamps to stop the leaks. I replaced as much as I could with pex. The rest will have to wait. No more leaks as it holds pressure almost indefinitely.

Carry on!

Im using braided hoses with FIP ends wherever I can. Im tempted to buy 1/2" threaded adapters for the accumulator and pump too.

[tribologist]

Got the composting toilet installed. It hangs over a little but it is a very sturdy unit so it seem ok but i have a 5/8 sheet of marine plywood i plan to use for a new base. I ran the vent up behind the controls and made a half loop to prevent water from coming in. I ended up using a shower drain and i covered it with a perko clamshell. Its loaded with cocochoir. We plan to test it on Champlain canal this weekend.