I was considering a Separett waterless tiolet but because of the price tag and what it actually is I’m reconsidering. At the end of the day its just a device that separates urine and feces into two separate locations. Urine to a black water tank and feces to a bag. I feel I can achieve this with just the Separett diverting seat and making my own box that holds a bag I can remove. The Separett diverting seat is roughly $150 compared to $700 for the complete unit. Has anyone tried this method described?
Greetings!
Plus you could probably create your own urine diverter to attach to a regular toilet seat from dollar store materials!
Cheers!
"Be the reason someone smiles today!" ~ Van_Dweller
Your craftsman skills will determine that. There is nothing difficult about the set up. Electrical for the pump, pex tubing, shower stall, RV toilet with seat and holding tank or tanks.
With that said I wounder if you would even save money doing it yourself.
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Thank you very much
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We are still stuck figuring out what to do. Originally our van had a toilet Electra Magic® Model 80 RV but with no holding tank and 3 gallons of waste adds up quick so pumping out every couple days (no holding tank) would have been a headache.
Next we tried to DIY composting toilet and bought all the parts off etsy (This item is unavailable - Etsy). This was pretty easy to put together and setup and for what it’s worth, the parts were made well and worked well. We had a few problems with this. 1.) it was in our shower so it was hard to keep water out of it while sitting on it closed. 2.) With the diverter my wife for some reason could never hit the correct spot so she basically peed in the bucket anyway. That led to a lot of smells. I still look at the natures head toilet and wonder if it would work. I can’t fathom dropping $1k on it if it doesn’t work.
Right now we just find places to go to the bathroom, which is actually not that hard at all or if at night just take a pee behind a tree in the bushes. We are still contemplating what to do next for this, but we are leaning towards a standard toilet and putting a holding tank on. Pumping out is gross but we haven’t found any options so far that have not been gross. 1bag per poo then tossing it might be the way to go.
When we were sailors we had a thetford portable toilet with a 5 gallon waste tank. This was the worst of them all. Do not go this route. Hauling around 5 gallons of poo and pee to dump from one of those is terrible and they smell awfully bad after about a day.
First of all, you should keep in mind, camper toilets would have some pros and cons because these are not your fast flushing home toilets like this. However, here, I am sharing the best options with you.
Natures Head Composting Toilet - Though it is an expensive toilet but could be a great option for eco loving campers. See its image below:
Dometic 970 - I personally like it because it is quite easy to use and give you a luxury camper life feel.
You can see more options here.
I’m pretty shocked to hear how many people are bagging and throwing away their poop. I don’t care how convenient and cheap it is compared to other options, that sounds like something a crazy person would do. If you could ask someone 100 years ago what they thought about that you’d get thrown in an asylum. I still can’t believe we bag and throw away our pet poop and will get scoffed at for not doing so. I’m planning a flush toilet with holding tank for my build. Emptying a black tank is by far the least weird and awkward sounding option to me. Plus it gives me the peace of mind knowing my waste will go through proper treatment.
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Incinerating toilet is probably the nicest to dispose of afterwards but they don’t come cheap, if compared to a bucket.
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Yeah hearing the number of people who dumpster their waste is surprising,
But a 100 years ago? The were still using chamber pots and outhouses.
In cities people would throw their waste out the window onto the street, second floor, even.
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I’m not living in a van yet but I’ve researched every possible toilet and shower possibility available. I really like the idea of a composting toilet but the fact is, the waste is not going to be in anyone’s van long enough to truly compost anyway. (That alone will save me $1,000 on an over-priced toilet.) A cassette toilet is simply out of the question because my priority, like yours, is to not deal with black water, toilet odors or chemicals.
source: empiretoilet
Greetings & Welcome!
Of all the choices available, I prefer my bucket style toilet. Once a week I add my trash to it, tie it up, and carry it in the bucket to dump it in the trash. I figure it’s no worse than dumping doggie doo. When boondocking, I also appreciate the fact that my toilet & shower are portable too, so they can be used either inside or outside.
For my shower, I went the weed sprayer route, with a kitchen sink sprayer replacing the wand. I painted mine black for solar hot water too. My shower enclosure consists of a dollar store hula hoop for a shower curtain rod, and dollar store shower curtains & hooks. It caan be hung from my ceiling inside, or a tree outside. Then I use a storage tote to catch the water. In a low top van, you can also shower while seated. I really like the fact that it requires no electrical or battery power too, and if no solar hot water is available, I can always heat water myself without power as well.
Full featured camper vans can be built very quickly, and very cheaply if you start with the right base vehicle. Passenger vans for the win. The floor, walls, & ceiling are already finished, and with the extra opening windows, no expensive roof vents are required. You can simply remove the rear seats & move your new interior in. My entire full featured conversion cost under $300.
Cheers!
"Always avoid complicated solutions to solve simple problems." ~ OffGrid
Thetford is one of the manufacturers that I trust the most when using. I used an RV toilet from this company to replace my 15-year-old unit. When I received it, I thought it would be a crumb. It is very light, made of plastic, and taller (17") than most RV toilets. It is easy to install and comes with the necessary gasket and everything else needed for a full installation. Another thing that I like about this RV toilet is that the foot pedal flush system, it makes flushing very easy and it covers the entire toilet.
Isn’t this very similar to the Thedford Cassette toilet?
A lot of preparations are necessary when you opt to stay in motorhomes and RVs. One of the things that you have to be mindful of is the call of nature. It comes any time and the two popular options to serve this need are the cassette toilet vs black tank.
The thought of clogged toilets disgusts most people.
Toilets have evolved since it was invented. Various technologies are applied to improve its functions. One of the things that intrigued many users is push button toilet vs handle flush. If you notice, a toilet with a flush button on top is considered a modern creation. It’s even the standard in most countries.
We love our trelino composting toilet in our van. Simple, no smell, no electricity or venting needed.
Greetings!
Isn’t that just an overpriced bucket toilet with a urine separator?
Cheers!
"Popular ≠ Practical! Just better promoted
for someone else's gain." ~ Money Matters
for someone else's gain." ~ Money Matters
I do not think it is overpriced at all.
I formally had a Separett Privy 501 Urine Separating Toilet Kit with Bowl $159, and a bucket ~25?, and some wood/plywood ~$50 to construct a box for it, with a plastic jug to catch the urine, and an internal structure to keep the bucket and jug aligned in the proper spots, screwed into floor. It was time consuming to construct. It worked fine, but had limitations that we didn’t like (ease of emptying, accidentally overflowing the urine jug, took up too much space, etc)
Overall the Trelino toilet is a much better design. It is more compact, better shape, much larger jug, easy to remove, easier to move around, can serve double duty as a bench seat/step into our bed. Costing only $350-550.
-tom