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Chemical toilets and long term travel Chemical toilets and long term travel
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Equipping the Overland Vehicle Vehicle accessories - Making your home away from home comfortable, safe and reliable.
Photo by Marc Gibaud, Clouds on Tres Cerros and Mount Fitzroy, Argentinian Patagonia

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  #1  
Old 11 Jun 2019
maria41's Avatar
The franglais-riders
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Thanks for the answers.

Always been on motorbike before and I used to use the proverbial bush or public WC on the road.

A lot of things to figure out with a van.
I like the idea of using fabric softener as it can be found everywhere in the world.

We will check out the vans at the HU meeting in Wales this weekend to pick up ideas too. First outing on our van so big experiment!

anyone coming I will be doing a couple of presentations about Russia/central Asia and Africa if interested.... those trips were on bikes though. Adjusting to 4 wheels might be tricky!

Cheers,
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  #2  
Old 24 Jun 2019
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After a while we used the porta potti, without any chemicals, no problem at all. As far as possible we used a bucket for the pee. That was easy to dispose of and dramatically reduced the smell.
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  #3  
Old 25 Jun 2019
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Smile New Loo
Hi Maria

Composting toilet is the way to go, we spent 5 months in our van with an Air head from Woo Woo in London. The solids are separated from the liquid so no smell, the solid which is pretty clean compost only needs emptying after 4-5 months continous use. The liquid lasts 3-4 days depending on how much you drink!

They are not cheap, but worth it on environmental grounds and the fact there are no smelly chemicals. A cheaper option is Separatt, also from WooWoo you just buy the separating seat and add your own solid container, but there is no built in liquid container, 'tho that could easily be fitted under the van.

If you are around Bristol you are welcome to come and have a go on a working one, or call me on zero seven eight one one 871859.

Cheers

Bruce
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  #4  
Old 20 Aug 2019
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Location: In Ireland, Working to save for the next trip
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We travelled almost 3 years with a portapotti. Worked great. When we found blue chemical, we would stock up to 3 bottles. We used tiny amounts, and only was needed in warmer climates. if we had to use the potti for solids, we went ahead and did all liquids in there as well. After a drive, it makes the thing way easier to empty. Nuff said on that.

The blue did'nt help with breaking down the solids, just the smell. There is a better way called a sog.

https://www.soguk.co.uk/

We never had one, but we talked with other owners. It will be in our next one.

Merv.
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  #5  
Old 25 Aug 2019
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Sog
We have used a "sog" for the last 10 years with no chemicals
Making it easier to find an empying place and no nasty smells.
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  #6  
Old 19 Dec 2019
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Clothes washing liquid with enzymes on the ingredients is what you want if blue is unavailable or just a bit too nasty.
People do make their own composting loo, we bought a Separitt though.

Auction sites often have urine diverters, then you need a bucket at the rear and a bottle at the front. Some sort of bio mass in the bucket to allow air circulation under and around the "deposit" to allow the moisture to evaporate. A Separitt does not have a stirring handle like the Airhead does. It does have a computer fan extracting air from the container the bucket is housed in out of the outhouse/vehicle. The company we bought ours from was near Birmingham and sometimes got cocoa shells from the small chocolate company there, so a lovely smell! Fine sawdust isn't good, moss and bracken better. Wood shavings might be ok. The result when it's full isn't compost though, it's just heading in that direction.
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  #7  
Old 1 Jan 2020
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Blue is just about extinct now as you can get green which is usable for disposal into bio type systems (eg septic tanks etc) , or as prev post use a bio type wash liquid , have used in holding tank set ups (American RV) as well as the Euro cassette type Thetford etc. Sog sorts smell if it becomes a problem which isnt always the case.
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