Nature's Head composting toilet

[Happycampers]

The bricks cost about $2.50 each and one will work for 7-10 days. It just has an earthy smell. Hubby says he prefers this to the black tank.. I can even do it.. no problem..The harvest can be put on the ground but not on vegetable gardens... we do that only on our property..

[texasbound]

My natures head fit in a smaller footprint than the thetford that was installed. Luckily, I sold that one for $100 :-)

[MaxAB]

Originally Posted by texasbound

My natures head fit in a smaller footprint than the thetford that was installed. Luckily, I sold that one for $100 :-)

Can you send pix of your installation? Thanks! Art

[texasbound]

Originally Posted by MaxAB

Can you send pix of your installation? Thanks! Art

I had to build a very small base to clear the black tank hole area. I retained it so a future owner could go back to conventional if desired. I tapped into my black water tank vent piping for the natures head, and after bleach treating the black tank, I've significantly increased my gray water capacity.





Word of caution... the pee container fills quickly when full timing. I find myself emptying it every two to three days, but I believe this is because we freshwater spray the bowl after 1 or 2 to keep it clean.

[2vets]

We also love our NH toilet. Only used it for one camping season so far but no issues and no smell! I do think the "urinal" part of if fills up quickly... especially if you are drinking beer... but when we bought it they were having a special by throwing in an extra urinal container for free. You just need to find the right sized tote bag to carry it discretely to the rest rooms and flush the liquid contents down the toilet! Installation took 10 minutes. Note you need a 12 volt wire to run the internal muffin fan. We used the aluminum roof vent cover that people had mentioned on the forums and vented it through the adjacent closet. Not the most attractive toilet in the world, but NO BLACK TANK!

[MaxAB]

2VETS, Texasbound: Great installation jobs! Looks great - thanks for the pix!

Art

[timzog]

Originally Posted by 2vets

We also love our NH toilet. Only used it for one camping season so far but no issues and no smell! I do think the "urinal" part of if fills up quickly... especially if you are drinking beer... but when we bought it they were having a special by throwing in an extra urinal container for free. You just need to find the right sized tote bag to carry it discretely to the rest rooms and flush the liquid contents down the toilet! Installation took 10 minutes. Note you need a 12 volt wire to run the internal muffin fan. We used the aluminum roof vent cover that people had mentioned on the forums and vented it through the adjacent closet. Not the most attractive toilet in the world, but NO BLACK TANK!

Hi 2Vet. Could you give a bit more detail regarding how you connected the hose to the vent at the roof? Did you add a screen? Will you be able to replace said screen easily?
Thanks,
Tim

[andreasduess]

Thanks for the installation pictures. Very useful. We'll definitely go that way ourselves.

[2vets]

Sorry Tim..it took me awhile to find the pictures. We did place screen over the holes in the vent. I believe we secured them with vulkem but I can't remember. In order to access the screens you have to remove the roof vent. We used the original black tank vent hole to vent through which means we had to be creative in venting it through the closet. Note the part next to the ceiling will be partially covered by the wooden partition/curtain holder between the bathroom and the bedroom which we haven't installed yet! The other white pipe in the photos is the venting of our grey tanks.

[pinkflamingoes]

This is great. Maybe we'll use the black tank we ordered and haven't put in yet for extra boondocking water!

[laducky]

I'm encouraged reading the positive reviews of composting toilets. Dump stations are a little intimidating to me and this seems like a more pleasant solution for an unpleasant task. I have a few questions for everyone...

Has anyone built their own separating toilet? I was considering doing that so it combines well with the cabinetry I'm going to build throughout the trailer. If I could get away with this the only thing that will give it away as a toilet is the seat and lid mounted on top.

How necessary is a 12v vent? My tanks' venting is on the curb side and the toilet location is on the street side so I'd have to snake it around somehow if crucial to function. From searching the interwebs it seems like there's a wide spectrum starting with a bucket and cover material to separated, vented, and churned toilets.

Where is everyone disposing of the contents? I know this will get a variety of responses and opinions

Thanks everyone!

[webspinner]

We use our Nature's head almost exclusively for liquids, so it is only composting moist toilet paper. In several years of use, I have never needed to empty the solids. Every six months or so, I scoop some leaf mould (decaying organic matter with some dirt mixed in) or some forest duff and put it in the composting section. This seems to introduce enough biological activity to continue the breakdown of whatever is in there. Once, I added more moistened peat moss, when the volume in the solids box had composted itself down to too small a quantity.

We dispose of the liquids in the nearby facilities if any are available. When we are camping on our own land (our prolonged camping trip) we usually use the outhouse for our business. We use the Nature's Head for night trips and then dribble the liquids in a remote part of the woods every four or five days. It mixes in with what the deer, racoons and other mammals leave there.

When we have an opportunity to boondock where there are no outside facilities, the Nature's Head will be available and ready to break down what we contribute to it. Meanwhile, it's kept us happily camping about 60 nights a year with very little work, no dump stations and only a slight odor of forest floor.

[andreasduess]

Originally Posted by laducky

I'm encouraged reading the positive reviews of composting toilets. Dump stations are a little intimidating to me and this seems like a more pleasant solution for an unpleasant task. I have a few questions for everyone...

Has anyone built their own separating toilet? I was considering doing that so it combines well with the cabinetry I'm going to build throughout the trailer. If I could get away with this the only thing that will give it away as a toilet is the seat and lid mounted on top.

How necessary is a 12v vent? My tanks' venting is on the curb side and the toilet location is on the street side so I'd have to snake it around somehow if crucial to function. From searching the interwebs it seems like there's a wide spectrum starting with a bucket and cover material to separated, vented, and churned toilets.

Where is everyone disposing of the contents? I know this will get a variety of responses and opinions

Thanks everyone!

Unless you're not planning on producing grey water either you will still need to empty your tanks at a dump station. Once you've done it once or twice there really is nothing to it - connect a hose and pull a handle, that's pretty much it.

The Nature's Head toilet works because it removes excessive moisture, first be separation and then by further drying of the solid content by the 12v fan. Especially for a smaller container I would think this to be mandatory but then you're right, there's lots of people in the Tiny House community who make do with a bucket and peat moss. I am not sure however if I'd call these solutions a composting toilet though.

[laducky]

My use would be fulltime... for the moment stationary as my home with the obvious advantage of being mobile in the future. I figure if I use organic/nontoxic soaps and no harsh chemicals and whatnot the grey tank isn't really an issue... just watering the plants. Black tank however is a different problem. I still have to figure out the configuration if I'm going to attempt to create one from scratch. I must be nuts.