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Eddy G
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# Posted: 11 Dec 2015 10:53am
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I've been reading (to much) about toilet options for our cabin.
Presently there is a chemical toilet (circa 1967) in the cabin.
I was told by the previous owner that it worked well and I don't doubt that it did but it's my opinion that there are better options out there and its time for this thing to go.
So I started researching.
As my topic title states....Why not 2 toilets?
I mean if you have room for 2 bowls (and I don't know for sure I do) why not put a separate bowl for solids (a composting toilet) and then another bowl for liquids that can piped out appropriately away from the cabin.
I think urine can simply be drained to a dry well easy enough.
That way the solids could compost easier, NO?
Or is it even worth the trouble?
My guess is even a waterless urinal would help with a composting toilet.
Anyway, any help is always appreciated.
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FishHog
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# Posted: 11 Dec 2015 11:54am
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sometimes I can't do one at a time
Seriously thought, your right and its a sound idea if you want and have the space. You need a certain amount of moisture for compost, but don't want too much. I typically use a bush for urine. At night, just a bucket that is dumped in the morning if I don't like feel like going out to look at the stars.
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Julie2Oregon
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# Posted: 11 Dec 2015 03:03pm
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If you ever have females at the cabin who use your facilities, that won't work.  And would you really want to be having a pee, realize "uh-oh," and then have to make tracks to the other toilet? Actually, that would have made an awesome "Seinfeld" episode! 
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Steve961
Member
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# Posted: 11 Dec 2015 04:28pm
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Why not just get a urine separating composting toilet? I have been using a C-Head composting toilet with their optional External Urine Diverting (EUD) accessory at my cabin for the past year and really like it. In my opinion this is the best of both worlds. I divert the urine to a greywater drywell which both reduces the odor, and the amount of absorbent I need to add to the composting pail.
My C-Head is also one of the more attractive composting toilets I have seen - looking very much like a real toilet. It also has a neat feature in that the EUD can be removed and replaced with a 1 gallon milk jug to collect the urine. Diverting urine to a greywater drywell would probably be frowned upon in my state, so I did want to have that option in case I ever get in trouble for doing it.
C-Head Composting Toilets
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Julie2Oregon
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# Posted: 11 Dec 2015 06:24pm
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Steve961
That C-Head is pretty cool! I haven't seen one of these! I'm still shopping around for a composting toilet and had tentatively decidedly on the ELoo which is pricey but that I hope will bolster my case for not needing a full-blown septic system.
In that vein, here's my question: What requirements do the powers-that-be put on waste disposal for straight-up composting toilets that don't use heat, chemicals, air, etc. to speed up the composting process? In other words, do they let you put the peat/sawdust-covered waste in a compost bin on your property, in the trash, take it to the dump, etc.? Or do they require you to have a contract with some sort of waste hauler to pick up the waste at regular intervals?
I'm going through permitting so I can't hide the fact that I'll be using a composting toilet. At $2K, the ELoo is more expensive than a basic composting toilet but less expensive than something like an Envirolet and it uses both passive solar and wind power to turn the waste into basically ash. The waste goes through two large chambers below the toilet and only needs emptied maybe once per year, depending on usage. Solids and liquid are separates and the liquid evaporates in its chamber quickly. Even if the county requires a company to dispose of the remaining waste, it wouldn't be a frequent service call for me.
I haven't pursued the composting toilet conversation discussion with the county yet. I wanted to have a lot of info and my ducks in a row first. I was told by the On-Site clerk, however, that they are allowed. ELoo is in service all over the place and, most importantly, in national parks so the state would have a hard time denying my use of it on the basis of environmental concerns.
My hope is that with the ELoo and by diverting the paltry amount of greywater I'll be generating daily directly (via pipe) to the 6-foot-long, 2-feet-wide raised bed planters I will have right outside my cabin, I'll have wastewater covered. Envirolet sells a rather nifty greywater filtering device called Biolan that uses peat moss and I'm willing to connect my sink and shower drains to that, if need be. Reusing greywater for my plants AND saving thousands of dollars would be awesome.
But I've found that the codes people aren't nearly as concerned about grey water as they are about blackwater/toilet waste and what happens to it.
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Julie2Oregon
Member
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# Posted: 11 Dec 2015 07:37pm
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Steve961
I just read the Oregon codes regarding compost toilets and you may have saved me about $700. I owe you many adult beverages. (Haha, but part of my planned carport just became a greenhouse so I can reuse my greywater year-round and apply for a DEQ permit to avoid the septic hookup. ) This so rocks.
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Steve961
Member
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# Posted: 11 Dec 2015 10:11pm
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Julie:
Glad I could help. I should have been clearer in my earlier post in that the C-Head is not a traditional composting toilet. It's more of a moldering toilet where it stores the solid waste until it is transferred to an outside composting bin. It's similar to the Loveable Loo in this way, but it looks and feels more like a real toilet, separates urine, is easier to clean and sterilize, and doesn't cost that much more (the Loveable Loo costs $400 now).
When I started researching composting toilets I quickly realized that I didn't want my composting to occur inside the toilet AND inside my cabin. First off, this would require either a very large interior bin under the toilet or under the cabin. This either makes using the toilet clumsy, or requires a complicated install.
Second, it takes a long time for waste to compost into a safe material. Just a single dump into already composted material resets the composting clock. This usually means having TWO composting bins to swap so one of them can sit undisturbed for the required amount of time to compost. It's just easier to have an outdoor composting pile to empty everything into when the container gets full, or just at the end of each weekend visit.
Third, I really don't want to take the chance that flies, or any other insect, could reproduce in my cabin for weeks at a time when I'm not there. I like being able to empty the toilet bucket, disinfect it, and close everything up not having to worry about it. My cabin is just a weekend getaway at this point in my life, so I'm not there enough to babysit an in-place composting toilet.
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