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Anyone tried a kildwick compost loo?


Ayesha walker

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13 minutes ago, bastion said:

Best thing I have done is buying one. Got rid of my Thetford  and not looked back.

Was it a kildwick you bought?  I know there are many different kinds but the Kildwick is half the price of others such as the airhead it would seem .

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5 minutes ago, ditchcrawler said:

Where do you plan to dispose of the solid waste?

 

Here we go again :o Well it only takes THREE months to become compost so if its a narrowboat you just need about ten buckets strewn around the place in various states of composting, no one would ever just take it uncomposted and put it into a bin now would they :) meanwhile you still have the urine to dispose of every few days anyway. Fab idea that's why nearly one in a hundred boats have them fitted :D

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3 minutes ago, Ayesha walker said:

Was it a kildwick you bought?  I know there are many different kinds but the Kildwick is half the price of others such as the airhead it would seem .

Yes a Kildwick, no moving parts or water supply to worry about, nothing at all like the air heads or similar, very much a big step forward. You can either go the whole hog and compost to use later or dispose with other refuse, no worse than soiled nappies in fact better as it is already started to compost. I prime the urine bottle with ecover toilet cleaner so no smell.

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3 minutes ago, bastion said:

Yes a Kildwick, no moving parts or water supply to worry about, nothing at all like the air heads or similar, very much a big step forward. You can either go the whole hog and compost to use later or dispose with other refuse, no worse than soiled nappies in fact better as it is already started to compost. I prime the urine bottle with ecover toilet cleaner so no smell.

Great info, thank you. I guess you just use sawdust to cover solids? Also some come with an air vent as well I believe? Did you get one of those on yours?

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12 minutes ago, bastion said:

Yes a Kildwick, no moving parts or water supply to worry about, nothing at all like the air heads or similar, very much a big step forward. You can either go the whole hog and compost to use later or dispose with other refuse, no worse than soiled nappies in fact better as it is already started to compost. I prime the urine bottle with ecover toilet cleaner so no smell.

I thought they didn't smell

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Yes use pet bedding, only vented to outside the box. Had a lot of problems in previous occupation with macerators, pumps and holding tanks on an industrial scale so would never consider a holding tank on a boat. Have to put up with some awful smells when pumping out in my present occupation, far worse than anything from my Kildwick in fact no smell at all.

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4 minutes ago, ditchcrawler said:

I thought they didn't smell

If the urine bottle still has fresh water in it the bacteria in the fresh water will make the urine smell so it is better to have 2 bottles and rotate them.

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41 minutes ago, mrsmelly said:

Here we go again :o Well it only takes THREE months to become compost so if its a narrowboat you just need about ten buckets strewn around the place in various states of composting, no one would ever just take it uncomposted and put it into a bin now would they :) meanwhile you still have the urine to dispose of every few days anyway. Fab idea that's why nearly one in a hundred boats have them fitted :D

Hey everyone needs a hobby....what's wrong with looking after containers of poo....surely you don't suggest that it's just shitting into a bag and chucking it in the bin????

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1 minute ago, frangar said:

Hey everyone needs a hobby....what's wrong with looking after containers of poo....surely you don't suggest that it's just shitting into a bag and chucking it in the bin????

:o As if I would. The CLUE is in the word COMPOSTING ;) so surely that's what everyone does?

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The 'littlehouse.co' website describes in detail how to build the same thing yourself from parts available from them or eBay for around £100, depending on how much you want to spend on the airtight housing. It takes just a few hours of simple diy.

For this small investment in time and money, try it and see if it suits you.

Every loo has its pros and cons and some people get on better with some than with others. 

After years of problems, smells and the huge costs of buying and running a macerator, I wouldn't give up my 'composter'.

 

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We have a home made compost toilet using Kildwick's separator and per bottle.

Simple extractor using a cheap computer fan & equally cheap ducting.

Less smells than a cassette, only empty poo/ sawdust/ ash mix every three to four weeks. Using a green waste bag, I put it in a normal rubbish skip, a lot more eco-friendly than the hundreds of small plastic bags full of dog crap that it's joining!

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7 hours ago, Ayesha walker said:

Great info, thank you. I guess you just use sawdust to cover solids? Also some come with an air vent as well I believe? Did you get one of those on yours?

As you will have gathered by now Members views on the appropriateness or otherwise of 'composting' facilities on boats is hopelessly polarised.

Just to set my stall out I am all in favour of composting toilets in general. 

Properly dug and given minimal attention they are excellent in all regards and are commended without reservation.

I'm a huge fan of a well run 'shit-pit'. :)

I am also as a matter of record, equally committed to the view that they have no place on your average pleasure-craft.

Following years of spirited discussion and heated debate, I have developed a simply calibrated value system with 'Bona-fide, Fully Compliant Continuous Cruising Live-Aboard' rated as the boater who's composting activities are the most impractical, unworkable and idiotic through to the homeowner with an EOG mooring and a compost heap to whom it may be no more of a faff than any other option.

Those that have committed to the lifestyle are fiercely protective of its validity as a sensible and practical choice at first, for any number of well-meant, ethically unimpeachable reasons.

After a month or two they invariably fall strangely silent. :)

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4 hours ago, Chop! said:

We have a home made compost toilet using Kildwick's separator and per bottle.

Simple extractor using a cheap computer fan & equally cheap ducting.

Less smells than a cassette, only empty poo/ sawdust/ ash mix every three to four weeks. Using a green waste bag, I put it in a normal rubbish skip, a lot more eco-friendly than the hundreds of small plastic bags full of dog crap that it's joining!

So that's not composting....that's shitting in a bag then......mind you I guess running a tour bus that becomes second nature....:unsure:

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2 hours ago, tomsk said:

After a month or two they invariably fall strangely silent. :)

We've had our composting loo for 18 months, and I'm happy to tell anyone how much better it is than the pump out it replaced.

If composters are silent, it's probably because it's a waste of time arguing with people who've never tried one, yet are totally opposed.

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