Natures Head Toilet Installed

[Elandan2]

Good to see it's all coming together.  Although if the word gets out, I may be out of business.    Keep us posted on how it works out.  Rick

[Oz]

To get a gander at the Nature's Head Toilet installation/users manual, click on this link:

http://www.mediafire.com/?odffuzj9lma6x87

A big thank you to joanfenn for scanning the manual to share with everyone!  

[ClydesdaleKevin]

All installed, and it works just like its supposed to!  Everything goes where its designed to go...lol.

Turns out, after using a reciprocating cutting tool on the flange, that its a screw in flange after all!  The vibrations loosened it up, although I couldn't get it to turn before that at all...thus the reason I thought it was a glue in fitting.  So back to Home Depot I went for a 3 inch threaded pipe plug and thread sealant, returned the tee plug, and then came back to the RV and installed the pipe plug...easy as that!

The hard part was the hole in the plywood floor since the new toilet sits in a totally different place than the old one...but I traced a pattern on a piece of paper, cut it out, drilled it for 8 pocket screws, and sanded it at a slight taper on my benchtop sanding belt.  It was a perfect tight fit the first go around, and then screwed in place.  Henry premixed floor leveler filled in the cracks and pocket screw holes.

While the leveler was drying, I used a hole saw to make a hole in the lower cabinet, then used the same hole saw to cut the included polyethelene hull flange into just a disk with a hole in it...then drilled 4 countersunk holes in it and screwed it down with brass screws over the hole in the wooded cabinet as a trim piece. 

Next I glued the reducer into the T fitting, then cut the vent pipe under the cabinet and glued the t fitting in place.

Then I ran a long 2 wire cable behind the cabinet and shower, through the rear dinette compartment, under the dinette along the wall under the table (already has a cable and water line routed that way under a carpet piece.), and into the front dinette compartment where the inverter is, and where the hot water heat is.  Then I wired it in direct to the batteries with the provided fuse and fuse holder.  Once that was done, i wired in the provided cable to the wire, and was ready for the next step.

By now the leveler was dry, so I installed the 2 new tiles and a new floor register...the old one was broken...and marked the bracket alignment on the floor.  Screwed those down, and installed the toilet to the floor with the provided knobs. 

All that was left was to add the dampened peat moss and a table spoon of raw sugar to the urine bottle...and to hook up the hose and plug in the 12 volt plug.

It looks great!  A very clean install.  And as preambled in the post, it works just like its supposed to without any special position on the seat. 

Grey water only from now on...SWEET!

Kev

[DonD]

This head would also be great for a boat!!!   

Where would you put the motor?  W%

[Indigo Crow Weaver]

Alright! You folks are a riot!


I can't wait to go look this toilet up... cuz I'm not interested in the black water tank and frankly was thinking of taking out my charming puke yellow toilet and replacing it with something else. A composter like this looks absolutely ideal. Thanks for sharing your adventures.

[Elandan2]

Glad to see that everything has been coming out alright!! :)rotflmao

[ClydesdaleKevin]

So far so good!  No odors at all, and the seat is big and comfy.  Only been a couple of days...I'll let you all know in about a month how it all works out in the long run for us fulltimers.

Kev

[DELTA912]

raw sugar to reduce urine oder? really? dose that work or is it just some thing that just is and can't really explain.

[Elandan2]

I think it may be some new way o' makin' shine.

[ClydesdaleKevin]

Had to empty the urine bottle this morning (not shine, and certainly wouldn't wanna drink it...lol), and true enough, there wasn't a heavy urine smell while dumping it into the campground toilet.  Guess the raw sugar works!

Also, you have to raise the top to get the bottle out, and there was no odor at all from the peat moss compost...it works!

Lets see how it all pans out after a month of use!

Kev

[moonlitcoyote]

Cant wait to hear the results after a month of use, but I just cant get my head around not having water to flush. It seems to me the toilet would get awfully dirty. I dont think I could make the switch.

[ClydesdaleKevin]

Its actually very well designed and doesn't get dirty.  Especially since us menfolk have to pee sitting down...lol!  The trap door is large enough and perfectly situated such that if you go the other number it drops down into the compost and never even touches the toilet bowl.  A quick spritz with a water spray bottle rinses the urine trap, and if you really want to be neat, just wipe it down with some TP every time you use it.  Ours is as clean as the day we got it.

Kev

[Oz]

Hmmm.... you still have to dump the holding containers and apparently quite frequently compared to an OEM holding tank. 

Sit down to pee?!    N:(   
Look, I fought in the Revolutionary War and WWII to retain our right to stand up and pee!  Sniper(00)
Also seems like just as much maintenance... adding sugar, butter, crushed peanuts, color sprinkles... BanDan

I suppose it would be advantageous when you aren't going to move for a long time and you don't have a dump station or direct dump outlet but you still have to dump it somewhere...

I mean, why couldn't a similar process be used in a regular holding tank?  Hm?

I'm not pooh-poohing this system at all but I'm just not seeing the incredible advantage to this option compared to the high expense of it.   i??

[DonD]

A lot of bathroom/lav sinks drain into the black tank.What say ye Kev?

Also, what if a barf is unavoidable? Trash can I suppose i??  How about unstoppable squirts?   Hm?

[ClydesdaleKevin]

Okay, to answer some question as to the advantage of this system over the conventional, especially fulltiming it and boondocking it on the cheap or in remote areas:   

   
• The urine bottle is the only thing you have to dump on a fairly frequent basis.  Its a 2.5 gallon bottle though, and lasts Patti and I for over 3 days before having to take it out, screw on the cap, and carry it over to a toilet, porta potty, or even a tree if necessary, since it won't hurt anything...us guys have been peeing against trees for years...lol.  At sea in a boat, owners of these toilets just dump it over the side. 
  
• There are no chemicals, period.  And a box of raw sugar packets will last over a year, at a whopping 2.75 cents...and its not necessary to add the sugar, but makes the job of dumping the bottle more pleasant since it really does pretty much eliminate the urine smell.
  
• You'll never have to pay a dump fee again, unless you are in a place where you can't dump the grey water.  Only 5 bucks at a Flying J, but we've paid as high as 40 bucks to dump at a campground we weren't staying in...just one along the way and our tanks were getting full...and as high as 45 bucks to have a honey wagon truck come pump us out at renfaires, where they don't usually have dump stations or full hookups.  The cheapest we've ever had our tanks pumped out at renfaire campgrounds is 25 bucks, and had to be done about once a week.  Now do the math on that one...an 8 week long show, at 25 bucks a week, costs us 200 bucks to keep the tanks empty...and that is at the cheapest rate.  4 shows a year, plus dump fees in between, and the toilet easily pays for itself in just one year with our fulltimer lifestyle.
  
• There are no unpleasant odors.  The compost bin smells like dirt from your garden.  The sugar keeps the urine odor away.  The toilet stays clean because of its design.
  
• It saves a LOT of water!  The only water used is the tiny bit you spray into the urine trap after using the toilet to keep the potty smelling nice.  We haven't even used half the spray bottle we keep next to the toilet since we got it.
  
• Since the poo is composted and decomposed when you dump it, except for the last couple of days of use, when you do finally have to dump it (supposedly not until after over a month of use for 2 adults), in addition to not having any unpleasant odor, they designed the toilet so a 13 gallon kitchen trash bag fits snuggly over the opening to the compost bin...you just turn it over, shake it into the bag odor free, and add more dampened peat moss.  Then you can just take the bag over to a dumpster and throw it in.  Or a trash can.  Or deep in the woods to fertilize the trees.  Homeowners with big compost bins for their gardens dump it in with the compost and use it for fertilizing ornamental plants.  Gloves aren't even required, although not a bad idea since its human waste and the last couple of uses won't be fully composted yet.
  
• As in our case, you now have the option of replumbing your black tank so that it becomes an additional greywater tank.  Thus effectively doubling your greywater holding capacity, which allows for longer boondocking in sensitive areas where dumping the grey to ground isn't an option.
  
• Peat moss is cheap!  It only uses two gallons of peat moss, and a bale at Home Depot was 8 bucks...we divided it into gallon zip lock bags and stored it in a compartment.  That is over a year of peat moss for 8 bucks.  24 bags in the compartment, very light and don't take up much space, and the bale is still over a quarter full...we'll just store it here in our workspace for next year.

So yeah, it pays for itself, uses no chemicals, has no odors, and you never have to worry about your tanks getting full before you can find a dumpstation or schedule a honey wagon dump.  And your greywater capacity goes up, and your water usage goes down.  The toilet looks nice too...lol!

Not saying this system is for everyone, like the occasional weekend camper that always goes to campgrounds with full hookups...but for us fulltimers that boondock a LOT, its the perfect system.  It would also be highly advantageous to those that like to go to state parks or national forests to camp instead of expensive campgrounds that don't feel like camping.  A lot of state parks and national forests don't have dump stations and have very limited hookups, but they are way cheaper and way prettier than most RV parks, and this toilet gives you the option of staying at them without worrying about holding tanks.

As far as the occasional bouts with the squirts, the instructions for the toilet say its just fine, although if they start making the compost material too damp, you simply add a little more dry peat moss to the bin and you're all set.  Same with vomiting, although I'd recommend a trash can for that one.  And since you've already converted the black tank to grey, if your lav sink drains into it, its all good.

The only downside really is that it only comes in one color...white speckled with little grey dots.  And its polyethelyne so it can't be painted as no paint will stick to it.  So if you are trying to color match it to Harvest Gold or Avocado it can't be done.  Because of the speckles, it doesn't clash glaringly with the bone colored sink or shower in our rig though.  Installation is more complicated than an OEM toilet, especially if you want to replumb the black tank to grey, and you have to run 12 volts to the toilet and a vent hose, but these little details are easily overcome with a little creativity.

Again though, I'll let you all know after a full month of fulltime use, when its time to empty and refill the compost bin, just how pleasant or unpleasant that turns out to be...so far so good though, with absolutely no odor at all from the compost bin, even when lifting the lid to dump urine bottle.

Kev

   

[joanfenn]

Well said Kevin.  I wanted to wait for your reply before posting mine.  The reason that we went with this was because of all the problems that we were having with the toilet in our trailer.  Small space, too low, etc.  To change the existing toilet in the trailer could have created more problems by raising and moving the toilet back to gain height and the needed KNEE ROOM.  Then we discovered with the little ledge inside the black tank where the discharge was for the toilet could still cause problems with blockages, this was the easiest solution for us.  We removed the old throne, blocked off the water line to the old toilet and put a plug on the floor to the black water tank.  Installed the new head and ran the electrical to the power in the bathroom and the vent out the side of the trailer. 

We aren't full timers but even though we are alternating between the trailer and the motor home we still like the conveniences of stress free camping.  And if we don't have to worry about dumping the black tank every trip out great.  Worth every penny.  Will probably get another for the motor home or easier yet, just move the toilet from one to the other depending on the type of camping we are going to do at that particular time. 

These are much easier to dump with trees and pit toilets all over the place where as the sani dumps are harder to find and when you do there is usually five other RV's in front of you.  I am happy that I did all the research on toilets that would solve all the problems that we were having and came across these.

I think that the idea is great from the composting point of view.  We are doing our little bit for nature.  Also if it is embarrassing for you to carry 2 gallons of pee to the outhouse every few days to empty it just get one of those cloth bags and put the jug in there to disguise it.  You can also dump it in the bathtub drain, urine is sterile so it isn't going to kill you or anything else.  Great idea, we like it and worth every penny.

[Oz]

So, using this unit as a replacement for the black water tank system, you can either remove the black water tank and make it into a storage area or additional battery compartment or re-plumb it to increase your greay water capacity.

[joanfenn]

  Re-plumbing is a great idea that Kevin came up for more capacity with the grey water.  We are just leaving the tank there in case we ever sell our trailer and we will replace the toilet with a regular RV type.  And then we will have the natures head toilet to use either in the MH or new trailer.  These are made to last with a 5 year warranty, are light weight, easy to clean, etc. etc.  They will pay for themselves before the warranty is up.

[ClydesdaleKevin]

Its been 10 days so far, and absolutely no odor at all from the compost bin!  Had to empty the bottle again today...3 times in 10 days and not a big deal (way easier than dumping the black tank into the tote tank and towing it with the Jeep all the way down to the dump station to dump it out once a week, and smells a lot better too!)...The peat moss compost smells just like peat moss without a trace of foul odor.

The toilet is just as clean as the day we got it.  It's a brilliant design!

I'll update this again at 20 days, then at 30 days when I have to dump the compost bin.

So far so good!

Kev

[Oz]

   

[HandyDan]

 :)rotflmao

[ClydesdaleKevin]

LMFAO!  Not quite what they meant I don't think...hehehehehe!

:)rotflmao

Kev

[Oz]

Sorry gang but, I just couldn't piss this one up... I mean, pass.. yes, pass...

[ClydesdaleKevin]

Day 20 since the installation, and its still working exactly like its supposed to, and is as clean as the day we installed it.

No odors at all...still smells like peat moss when the lid is lifted to remove the liquids bottle for emptying.  Also doesn't appear to be filling up very quickly.  The instructions say to empty the solids bin when its 3/4s full, but since we put the TP in the little lidded trash can next to the toilet, the bin is barely over 1/2 full at this point.

We'll see how its going in another 10 days.  Working perfectly so far!

Kev

[Oz]

Awesome!  Anything which greatly improves your quality of RV enjoyment is well worth the price.