Nature’s Head Composting Toilet – First Impressions

[john stevenson]

Paul & others,
My Airhead arrived last week and I’m still mulling the vent installation, but I’ve already made on mistake – ordered an incompatible deck vent. Airhead recommends a passive vent such as those made by Nicro, but they also say the Nicro Day/Nigh Solar vent is a good option to augment the airhead fan and reduce battery drain. So I decided to order the solar vent even though I was undecided on the final installation. I figure if I decide not use the Nicro vent I can always find another place for it. When I ordered the vent online I didn’t notice the name was Day/Night Solar Plus instead of Day/Night Solar 2000. What just arrived with not mate up with the hose shroud provided by Airhead, or any hose adapter. This vent does not go into the standard Nicro deck fitting. The Plus vent is secured directly to the deck and cannot be removed except to de-install. It has a built in flange that goes through the deck and the headliner. Inside the flange is a sleeve that you pull down to open the vent and push up to close. If there was a way to secure a hose adapter to the inside of the vent you would have to remove the hose to close the vent in case of severe weather.
So it looks like I’ll have to find that other use for this vent.

On Mon, Mar 3, 2008 at 12:09 PM, < ([email][/email])> wrote:

Quote:

Thanks for the info Paul. I’m waiting anxiously for an update after you’ve used it a while. Please don’t forget to keep us posted.

—
Rich Carter

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Original message

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I ordered the composting toilet last month at the boat show special price of $800. plus $24. USPS shipping. It was shipped the next day.

When it arrived, the small muffin fan was not working, so they sent me
another one right away after sending an email. These 1.5″ square fans are
available for $7. on the internet or at any computer store.

The construction is both solid and very simple. All metal parts are SS.
Other than the muffin fan, there is nothing else that should break or wear
out. As mentioned, the unit is very simple in it’s design.

When starting a new “batch”, you throw 1.5 – 2 gallons of peat moss in the
bottom. Air Head on their unit talks about adding a couple tablespoons of
peat moss after each use, but putting it all in at the beginning is much
easier. While waiting for the replacement fan to show up, I used the unit in
a spare bathroom without any ventilation. I just left it open all the time.
Surprisingly little odour, as the large quantity of peat moss seemed to
absorb most of it. The liquid / solids separation works well, and with the
large trap door it has for the solids, the unit was completely clean after
using it for a week. No need to use coffee filter to collect the solids.

The solids bin is quite large at 1 cubic foot or about 6 gallons. I could
see it lasting a long time before needing emptying. Toilet paper looks like
it would take the longest to break down. A standard garbage bag fits easily over the bin for emptying. The liquid container is also quite large at about a couple gallons.

The toilet fits perfectly on the raised platform in the head on my ketch. It
only overhangs the platform by a couple of inches and is not in the way when using the sink. As mentioned earlier, I am going to route the vent line though the bilge vent line and out the back. I purchased a longer (20ft) vent line for that purpose. There is definitely an air flow drop at the end of this long of a vent line. If this become an issue, I will add a second
muffin fan (.08 amps). However, the 1.5″ vent line supplied is very flexible
and it could be run easily up to the dorade vent hole in the ceiling, as
John had mentioned doing, without interfering with head space.

So, overall first impression are good. I am looking forward to removing the holding tank and associated hoses. My original justification for the
composting toilet was because the existing holding tank was only 10 gallons and I was going to increase it to 30 gallons, plus replace all of the lines.

I can also fill in the 5 holes in the boat associated with the present
system. Also, no need to pull up to the pumpout dock after each weekend or worry about any plugged lines to have to fix while underway.

I will give another update after using the unit for the summer.

Paul
Boundless #28

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