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Great description of installing a Nature's Head on Valkyr http://downeasteryachts.com/ar.....hives/2887
Yet it leaves me with the following dilemma:
- why pay $1000+ for a fancy commercial (not to mention utilitarian looking) bucket that doesn't fit into a DE32's head that well without modification of the wood & fiberglass anyway?
Although "it's USCG certified" is often used as a main point in marketing brochures, the USCG doesn't certify toilets - it only certifies permanently installed holding tanks, which composting toilets do not have.
So I am building my own, starting with 2 buckets ($5 each), a wooden toilet seat ($15), a funnel yet to be purchased, and some plywood for a platform.
The main point I haven't yet worked out: how does the "stir bar" rotate in the commercial units?
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It is pricey. I paid the price for the convenience of it. You could build your own easily. However the higher the quality you want it the work factor is going to go up geometrically. Convenience = 2 hours to install.. do your own equals a few days of labor probably. There are a lot of little design features that you would only probably ever think of through using one of these. I know that they (natures head) improve the design one way or the other every year or so due to customer comments or requests or complaints 🙂
stir bar is simply a stainless rod that is bent into a paddle shape inside the unit and turns with a hand crank. I would love to go to a built in one that is lower profile than this one. Sitting on our platform in the head it is very tall. However it does work well. I can take the entire thing out of the boat. Clean it and put it back in the boat in 20 minutes flat. We just did this 3 days ago. I gave it the two year super duper cleaning. After a couple years we were getting urine crystallization deposits building up where urine flows through and into the holding tanks. So instead of our normal dump and change the compost with routine cleaning, I removed the whole unit from the boat and emptied it. I used some sort of super cleaner that the guy in the slip beside me used to manufacture and then I used vinegar after that to bring the unit back to factory level clean. All that and it was still only a 20 minute job. The rotomolded plastic this is made out of is the amazing wonder material for this application. Pretty much shit don't stick to it 🙂 lol. It makes it easy to clean. Just don't in cleaning it use abrasives. If you abrade the surface stuff will then stick to it.
Scott
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Oh I forgot to add. Your right about the USCG certification but the Natures Head is an approved marine head for boats by the USCG and that is why the company advertises it. Being able to say it is USCG approved has helped a few people when local authorities wanted to say they weren't legal without a standard head and holding tank. A home built unit would be harder to make that argument with. I would still be ok taking the risk though. I think the composting heads are becoming much more accepted in the last few years.
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The biggest downside to any commercial composting toilet is the tiny size of the liquid tank (full within 2 days). Whereas my typical head+large vberth mixed holding tank doesn't need emptying for a couple weeks, the typical commercial composting toilet has a liquid tank of about 1 gal size, so it needs to be emptied at least every other day. That's fine when out to sea (dump overboard) or at a dock (dump in marina restrooms), it is a lot of trouble if moored in a harbor for example where it is not possible to dump overboard. So even if I had a commercial unit I would want to modify the liquid tank somehow rather than "buy more small liquid containers and swap when full".
For the height, I think mine will be a 1' higher than the standard head, not as tall as the Nature's head, using a platform across the entire toilet area so multiple larger liquid tanks will go beneath. Also aiming to place the seat to face stern rather than to face the opposite beam, so sitting on the seat won't be as difficult when heeled.
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Our urine tanks on the Natures head are 2.5 gallons and we have to change them out every 3 days for two adults full time usage. We have two extra containers. Thus we can go about 9 days between dumping them out. Takes about 30 seconds to swap containers.
Dumping the urine containers are my number one gripe against the composting system. However its not that bad and I would gladly live with it compared to the hell of repairing and or cleaning up systems gone bad etc.... Been there done that to many times.
Also the general odor of our boat is head and shoulders above almost any other boat I have been on that has a standard marine head and holding tank, a lot of the time the head compartment smells fresher than the living area of the boat when you take into account the food odors etc...
I have the design of a small pump out system for the urine containers in my head with medical quick disconnect fittings and a small 12volt pump system. You would be able to use it to pump overboard when out to sea with a push of a button or a portable system to pump into a toilet ashore without having to actually pour urine out of the container. therefore minimizing the ick factor. If I never build it though I will be happy with the current system.
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