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Composting Lavatoirs


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Everyone's wee, including Rasputin's, ends up in the sea, unless it is intercepted downstream of the sewage works and processed once again for drinking water! 

Oh, apart from that of the composting fraternity who pour their urine considerately into the soil to be broken down naturally.

 

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On 05/08/2017 at 21:19, Bargebuilder said:

 

Oh, apart from that of the composting fraternity who pour their urine considerately into the soil to be broken down naturally.

 

 

Natural or not, is it legal to do that?

 

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Rasputin,

I have never found a coastal pump-out station anywhere I have sailed in the UK.

I should think that over 99% of toilets in coastal yachts are pumped out directly into the sea and the tiny number of people with holding tanks simply go off shore to pump out because there is no alternative. 

I think that using a composting toilet to remove the raw faeces from the sea is a major improvement which is one reason why I am a keen advocate.

I clearly don't need to convince you that urine is just about sterile and of no danger to the coastal environment or the environment in general.

 

 

 

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2 minutes ago, Bargebuilder said:

Rasputin,

I have never found a coastal pump-out station anywhere I have sailed in the UK.

I should think that over 99% of toilets in coastal yachts are pumped out directly into the sea and the tiny number of people with holding tanks simply go off shore to pump out because there is no alternative. 

I think that using a composting toilet to remove the raw faeces from the sea is a major improvement which is one reason why I am a keen advocate.

I clearly don't need to convince you that urine is just about sterile and of no danger to the coastal environment or the environment in general.

 

 

 

Very good, but most people who participate on this forum are on a canal.

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12 minutes ago, Bargebuilder said:

The inland regulation is that liquid waste from a single toilet may be poured no closer to a watercourse than 10m.

 

 

 

Are canals classed as watercourses, being manmade, or is it just rivers and streams.

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On 05/08/2017 at 21:58, Bargebuilder said:

The inland regulation is that liquid waste from a single toilet may be poured no closer to a watercourse than 10m.

 

 

Ah that's encouraging. So not composting bog owner has ever poured their urine bucket under the towpath hedge obviously, as that would be illegal.

What do you do with yours please? I've not noticed you say yet.

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Hi Mike the boilerman, 

I'm absolutely sure that more cassette toilet users have secretly poured the contents of their cassette directly into the river or canal than composting toilet users have tipped a few litres of urine into a hedge closer than 10m from the waters edge. I say that because there must be thousands of cassette toilets out there and only a tiny number of composters. 

I would also comment that rasputin drinks his urine (possibly only on special occasions) indicating how sterile and free from pathogens urine is, whereas raw faeces from a cassette, especially one with 'chemical' in it, is extremely harmful to the environment. 

I have on several occasions seen on narrowboat roofs coiled up 2" pump-out hoses with hand pumps attached and ready to go. Given the lack of places where self pump-out is allowed, might these be used to illegally dump waste?

Might it be possible that an ecologically minded person who insists on composting his or her faeces is less likely to wantonly damage the environment than some others?

I am lucky enough to live on tidal waters where any urine that we produce can totally safely and completely legally be poured directly into the sea. The combination of microbial action and ultra violet degradation together with the extreme dilution renders an already nearly sterile liquid completely harmless.

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On 05/08/2017 at 22:54, Bargebuilder said:

Hi Mike the boilerman, 

I'm absolutely sure that more cassette toilet users have secretly poured the contents of their cassette directly into the river or canal than composting toilet users have tipped a few litres of urine into a hedge closer than 10m from the waters edge. I say that because there must be thousands of cassette toilets out there and only a tiny number of composters. 

I would also comment that rasputin drinks his urine (possibly only on special occasions) indicating how sterile and free from pathogens urine is, whereas raw faeces from a cassette, especially one with 'chemical' in it, is extremely harmful to the environment. 

I have on several occasions seen on narrowboat roofs coiled up 2" pump-out hoses with hand pumps attached and ready to go. Given the lack of places where self pump-out is allowed, might these be used to illegally dump waste?

Might it be possible that an ecologically minded person who insists on composting his or her faeces is less likely to wantonly damage the environment than some others?

I am lucky enough to live on tidal waters where any urine that we produce can totally safely and completely legally be poured directly into the sea. The combination of microbial action and ultra violet degradation together with the extreme dilution renders an already nearly sterile liquid completely harmless.

 

A masterclass in ducking the question.

I have't seen this technique used on an internet forum for a while now but you are very good at it. Set up a load of straw men and knock them all down instead of engaging in proper debate.

I'll ask nicely a second time. What do you do with your urine buckets please?

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16 minutes ago, Jerra said:

Am I the only one who finds it strange there hasn't been a rush of those in favour of composting telling us exactly how they dispose of the waste and how often.

They are stood on the roofs of their boats drinking beer by the gallon trying to build up enough pressure to piss 10 meters over a hedge, because if you walk to the hedge you may step in a turd on the way back, so do you scrape your shoe into the compost bucket?

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1 minute ago, Mike Hurley said:

They are stood on the roofs of their boats drinking beer by the gallon trying to build up enough pressure to piss 10 meters over a hedge, because if you walk to the hedge you may step in a turd on the way back, so do you scrape your shoe into the compost bucket?

You very nearly ruined a laptop!

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I don't know the answer to the question as I don't have a compost loo yet. I'll find a solution to the wee problem when I get to it. (scuse the pun)

But in all seriousness. How many folks here can honestly say they have never peed up a tree or in a hedge, ever.

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Hi again Mike the boilerman, 

I did say "urine that WE produce", by which I meant my wife an I and any guests of course. We don't keep urine in buckets, why would we when it can be piped directly into the sea.

The only reason why I have deliberately not been specific about what I do, is that we don't live on a canal, so what we do wouldn't be allowed for the rest of you, as I was quite rightly reminded earlier. 

I went over to composting because it was recommended to us by a good liveaboard friend who I trust and who had one which he said worked brilliantly well.

It was much cheaper to set up than replacing my macerating toilet.

I no longer have to worry about the blockages that used to plague my old system.

I no longer have toilet smells in the bathroom.

I no longer have to store and flush into the sea raw sewage: even though this practice is legal, it certainly isn't pleasant or desirable.

I now produce tiny volumes of 'solid waste' which after standing on deck for a few months is crumbly and odour free and ready to feed the Marsh plants.

There are no negatives for us.

I accept that on the cut one can't pipe urine into the canal, but there are plenty of bramble banks back from the water's edge where urine could legally and safely be poured.

Some narrowboat owners will fully compost their waste as I do and dispose of it correctly and some won't.

Some cassette users will occasionally dump the contents of their cassettes in the canal.

To accuse all composters of being polluters is no more valid than accusing all cassette toilet users of the same, just because some break the rules.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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5 minutes ago, AllanC said:

I don't know the answer to the question as I don't have a compost loo yet. I'll find a solution to the wee problem when I get to it. (scuse the pun)

But in all seriousness. How many folks here can honestly say they have never peed up a tree or in a hedge, ever.

There is, to me a slight but noticeable difference between peeing against a tree and emptying a Jerry can (I have read these are commonly used) full of the stuff much of it a few days old.

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The pathogens in urine diminish with time. The smell gets worse because of the production of ammonia, but the ammonia helps to kill off any pathogens. After one month urine is accepted by most authorities as sterile in terms of viable pathogens, but whiffs a bit!

Urine of any age is a very mild, mainly nitrogenous fertiliser, that will help to green up the foliage of most plants. Before using on a lawn it would be safest to dilute it, just in case it is particularly strong, to avoid possible scorching of the foliage. It is always best to pour around the roots of plants: They will thank you for it!

 

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5 hours ago, Bargebuilder said:

I now produce tiny volumes of 'solid waste' which after standing on deck for a few months is crumbly and odour free and ready to feed the Marsh plants.

Remind me not to eat the samphire next time I visit Lawling! 

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7 hours ago, Bargebuilder said:

 

I have on several occasions seen on narrowboat roofs coiled up 2" pump-out hoses with hand pumps attached and ready to go. Given the lack of places where self pump-out is allowed, might these be used to illegally dump waste?

I'll have you know that there are lots of sanitary stations where one may use a self pumpout. In over 20 odd years of owning such kit I've never felt the need to pump into a field or the cut nor have I seen anyone else doing so. 

You are fighting a losing battle I'm afraid. If you have a totally off grid small holding with a lot of land and no access to a septic tank then there might be an advantage to a "composting" toilet. On a boat with limited storage which when cruising passes numerous waste disposal facilities there is none whatsoever. 

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