DIY Compost Toilet for a Small Boat

We cover benefits of replacing the marine head with a compost one, whether to buy a commercial composter, and what is involved in design & building your own. This work was done on a 27' Pacific Seacraft Orion.

[@shara-la8629]

I do not have a boat (sadly) but hoping for a tiny house in a near future....Thank you for sharing in details your brilliant idea.

[@trailsandsails2722]

Thanks for your kind words!

[@karensprings4237]

This is an awesome diy. I have been looking for some good ideas for a composter/ desiccator toilet for my off grid house. You hit the nail on the head. Thanks to your detailed walk through I am ready to jump in and get to work. 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻

[@DM-li3hh]

Amazing job!! I am envious and admire your ingenuity and skills.

[@trailsandsails2722]

Thanks very much for your kindness. Good luck to you on your projects!

[@49otterhound]

Really well done and the best part is it can be tailored to suit the space.

[@trailsandsails2722]

Thanks for kind words!

[@bruceharkness4497]

The previous owner of my sailboat did a DIY composting head. Based it on a 5 gallon bucket. Built in a place for the coconut husks. Uses a solar fan to have a positive airflow. He did not bother with a stirrer, we just put the coconut husks on after every use. I use the heavy duty bags meant for a bucket toilet. I just pull the bag out and dispose when it reaches about 3/4 full. No mess, very little cleaning needed. This is an occasional use boat, works perfectly for what I need. All the stirring and required cleaning of the bucket does not seem necessary. I don’t plan on using the dehydrated waste for anything. I don’t see the advantage of agitating it.

[@trailsandsails2722]

Thanks for your comment and sharing your experience. I think we both agree this type of toilet is a great alternative to the traditional head which with tubing and holding tank uses a great deal of space on a small boat. Many people like you don't mix and that's ok. I thinking mixing breaks up solids and promotes drying which reduces odors. But good ventilation might take care of that. I might try running a week long experiment this summer and test mixing vs no-mixing to see myself.

[@bruceharkness4497]

The system I have uses a standard through the deck solar powered vent with a battery in it to run 24/7, above the head. The previous owner also installed an in line 12V fan in that ducting. He was pretty clever and removed a blade to make that fan be unbalanced and make some noise, which is a good thing in a small space. I have had the boat for three seasons and it has been odor free. My guess is the number of folks using it might be a limiting factor. The beauty of it is just closing up the heavy duty bag and dumping it. My girlfriend was not sure, but she has come around. I am sure she still prefers the Purosan system I had in my Chris-Craft, that was a great solution too, but not legal in all waters. I had one boat with a holding tank and never again.

[@SailingwithMaury]

Well I am again at a crossroads. I kicked the project down the way a few months ago but now am rebuilding seacocks on my Orion 27. Would love to go composting.. The challenge is not having a shop with all the necessary equipment to do such a nice job given the Orion complexities.

[@thecorbettchronicles]

Very neat!! Thanks for sharing!

[@trailsandsails2722]

Thanks for your kind words!

[@wadeintoit]

Hello, that is a fantastic build, Sir. The plastic welding you have done has produced and end result that doesn't resemble some mishmash of parts. It all belongs & looks very intentional. You may have inspired me to pick up my very own Harbor Freight plastic welder! Where do you acquire your stock/plastic?

[@trailsandsails2722]

Thanks much for your reply! I bought the bucket, cataloged as a tank, from US Plastics...a bit pricey but it has a thicker wall (about 2x thicker) than a typical 5 gal bucket -allowing a better build when adding hardware attachments and it's about 1" wider too for better volume. For "welding rods" or filler I cut thin long pieces off of the tank I bought since it was taller than what I could use. Plastics vary a lot in composition so it's usually better to use filler that is the same as what you are trying to weld together. There are two of us living aboard using it for the past 2-3 weeks. Time to change the coconut coir. Make sure you get some practice in with the welder before taking on your project. Thickness and type of plastic dictate what your heat setting should be and speed of welding. Work in a well ventilated area. Best of luck to you on your projects!

[@davidsfollys]

Thank you. That was very useful to see how you made it. After two years, how has it worked out?

[@trailsandsails2722]

Thanks for kind words. I'll have details in an up coming video: "DIY upgrades: What worked and what didn't!" but- in brief- we were really happy with this. Two of us using for 2 months. No worse odors than a household toilet, stir 2x a day, dumped/refilled 2x or every 2 weeks, and avoid putting toilet paper in there- jams the stirrer and reduces time between changing coconut coir.

[@davidsfollys]

Thnaks for the feedback! Good to know it has worked well. @@trailsandsails2722

[@dugslug3000]

great ideas in this video! What is the exact bucket you bought from US Plastics? I was looking through their website and couldn't find one that was similar (thickness and such).

[@trailsandsails2722]

Here's the invoice entry from US Plastics for the bucket (they call it a tank): Item No. 4150 5 GAL CYL POLY-E TANK 11DIA X 14HI I just checked their web page and its still available but-wow- have they gone up in price! This is the thicker wall tank (1/4"). Thanks much for your kind words and best of luck to you on your project!

[@dugslug3000]

@@trailsandsails2722 thank you!

[@SailingwithMaury]

Nice going given all the angles. I am about to create a composting system in my Orion 27, from 1981. In retrospect what are the pro and cons of your system? Is it easy to keep clean?

[@trailsandsails2722]

@@SailingwithMaury I'm assuming you mean the interior of the bucket and tumbler. Its much a function of how dry the solids are. I don't know how soft stools would do. I coated the tumbler with epoxy since the anodized AL would likely be more prone to holding onto stuff so polished SS would probably be better and that's what AirHead, I think, uses. Key thing is moisture- drier the solids, amount of deposits, mixing couple times a day or more, warm dry environment, and air flow with the ventilation system allows wet stuff to dry and break into small pieces. That's a reminder that this type of toilet is a actually desiccator. I do add Nilodor in a dilution but its just one pump of fine mist. I use coconut chor but Practical Sailor says wood ash is better at desiccating but my guess is that would be pretty messy and hard to dry out.