Our Composting Toilet Modification to Divert the Liquids into our Black Tank

In today's video, we do one of the DIY Airstream renovation projects that has been on our list for ages. We modify our Nature's Head Composting Toilet and divert the liquid from a tank, which needs to be emptied every day, to flowing directly into our black tank. We love how our composting toilet allows us to combine our gray and black tanks and boondock for much longer periods of time.
Emptying the solid/compost every 6 weeks was fine but we had a few incidents in the beginning where we forgot to empty the liquids and there were overflows. While that hasn't happened in ages it's still a smelly chore (more smelly than the solids). Now not only do we not need to worry about it, but we also can clean the composting toilet easier with the addition of a spray hose using the water line from our old RV toilet. Success!
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[@rapunzeleh546]

wow... you really know how to show your parents a good time!

[@rogerwhiting9310]

After watching and commenting on your project with dad... I had a night's sleep and realized the project is just like what I WOULD have done with my Dad... if he was still here. I miss him now more than ever.

[@leanbean8376]

Sry for your lost Roger! R.I.P. Dad

[@rogerwhiting9310]

@@leanbean8376 thanks.He had a good life.

[@RikkHansen]

The C-Head brand composting toilet I recently installed in my travel trailer had an optional "bottom exit kit" that does exactly this. A very easy install and uses the existing black tank opening.

[@rogerwhiting9310]

How do you like that brand? It seems like it has a smaller market share and cant find honest reviews. Smell? Simplicity? Usability? Thanks

[@RikkHansen]

@@rogerwhiting9310 Having used the C-Head for 3 months now, I've been impressed. I like the design better than the two more well-known brands, the construction is excellent, and no smell (plus I have not needed to install ventilation - even though it was included in the install kit.) Based on my experience so far, I'd recommend C-Head.

[@pressxtojason]

I have a composting toilet in my tiny house. This video helped me figure out how to do this with mine. Although my set up is way simpler, the basic idea came across beautifully! Thanks for the inspiration!

[@drromando3871]

Exactly what I've been thinking to do. Thank you for showing how!! Such a helpful video.

[@LDhusky]

That is thinking and doing!! Impressive. I can see lot of toilets being modified.

[@rogerwhiting9310]

Everyone is telling you what you could have done to improve it. I think you did it the best way. S traps and check valves are NOT designed to hold urine 24/7... and they will eventually clog and fail. That ball valve is perfect. I am about to buy the same toilet and I am going to follow your leads with very little deviation. The composting toilet will hardly ever need changing the medium and urine is taken care of. Nice job.

[@joetorres9372]

Wow Oct 20 2018 will always be in my memory bank, the day pee was diverted! It was such a big event that I was compelled to subscribe. Thanks cool video

[@AStreaminLife]

Haha! Monumental! Glad you subscribed :)

[@rogerwhiting9310]

Me too

[@georgemoomaw9437]

Excellent DYI video. Perhaps you could give lessons to others on proper lighting, sound quality, and background noise elimination, and the elimination of time wasting instruction. Most people looking for guidance on how to do a project already know the difference between a drill and a saw. Most don’t need to be “shown” how to drill or cut. Having no obnoxious, needless, music or graphics is a real bonus. Last but not least, being able to gleen so much valuable information is the icing on the cake. Thank you

[@AStreaminLife]

Glad you got so much out of it. We appreciate your comment!

[@RollinHomies]

Nicely done. Just got ours and I needed an example to follow for converting our pee jug to pass through to our holding tank.

[@metamud8686]

Amazing, you just re-invented the flushing toilet!

[@AStreaminLife]

Haha. Still no sewage for us which makes it worth it :)

[@magicdaveable]

Nice job. I would have plumbed it with a one way valve for the liquid drain. My composting toilet uses a liquid diverter that drain into a 25 ft. deep gravel filled drainage "well." the pipe is really well insulated because winters are very long and very cold up here in the wilds of upstate NY. The solids container is a 5 gallon plastic bucket. It gets dumped into my rotating composting barrel once or twice a month. When the first 55 gallon drum is filled the second gets used. Usually the first 55 gallon drum is finished "cooking" and gets emptied.

[@AStreaminLife]

Sounds like a great setup!

[@Sabactus]

You could have made a S bend instead of using the valve to make a plumbing trap. Kind of like how sinks and regular toilets work.

[@scritterz]

It's called a P-trap!

[@willeveryday]

If you fill the s bend with oil it won't fill with urine and stink out the lav. The urine is heavier than the oil and will sink. It has the added benefit of being able to hold a few drops of essential oil to make the John smell a bit more pleasant.

[@cunning-stunt]

A HepvO waterless trap would be best, S and P traps in caravans and motorhomes are generally installed by people that don't know how to carry out waste plumbing in transportable structures.

[@blackhatter011]

@@scritterz in this case it's called a Pee-trap.

[@thequales]

@@cunning-stunt Wow, this is helpful! thanks!

[@KTown9173]

Funny this was the video I was waiting for! Knew you would do a nice job with it thank you for sharing, a little bummed we didn’t get to see the whole process but looks great!

[@geraldhenrickson7472]

Thumbs up from me! For more ideas about batch toilets, sawdust toilets and more...see if your local library has some "Whole Earth News" issues from the 70's and 80's on the shelf. That era created a ton of low impact ideas for cabin (and coach) many of which are being revived in this millennium. Its interesting stuff!

[@bonitaohyea9258]

Clean or rinse the urine separator part with vinegar....never use bleach.

[@thechumpsbeendumped.7797]

Bonita Oh Yea Why not bleach?

[@olly-kai]

@@thechumpsbeendumped.7797 because bleach breaks down plastic tubing.

[@tajladkin4971]

@@thechumpsbeendumped.7797 also because if any of the bleach gets into the solids compartment it will kill the bacteria which is necessary for the composting process to work.

[@Kamikaze3557]

The fumes from bleach destroy the lining in your lungs.

[@leanbean8376]

@@Kamikaze3557 but it also kills Covid, 🤔 wondering which is worst! However with no lining, I suspect continuous Covid attacks might really have a field day!😜...

[@tuib]

Great mod and it's great your dad helps out. Cool beverages of choice were consumed I hope 😉

[@AStreaminLife]

But of course :)

[@stevenrichardson6793]

Great video, very helpful....Thanks for sharing...

[@danielhwang6653]

Great modification, I don't know why people (referring to earlier comments) don't understand that you are basically just reusing your black tank now as a grey tank for urine which holds a lot more liquids than the 2 gallon receptacle that came with the Nature's Head which fills up way too quick IMO. Sewage occurs when mixing solid and waste, urine alone is considered grey water and doesn't smell as bad as solids and urine mixed. Plus you save on water usage (no flushing) and that allows you to boondock/off grid camp much longer. Or you can just pee in a bush I guess. :) I plan on doing this to my Nature's Head in my 72 AS and will probaly use a 1.5" hepvO valve instead of a ball valve. Thanks for the great video guys BTW!!

[@ariloves10]

Bravo. Understood both of you!

[@rogerwhiting9310]

Not being argumentative but urine in the tank to me makes it still black. Gray water is soapy water... you can really dump it in the driveway or the street. If you dump a week or a months urine in the driveway... or the street..... its black and horribly disgusting. Gonna smell like a subway station bathroom...

[@danhwang2962]

First of all I wouldn’t dump my grey tank if it was full of urine on my driveway. That would not smell pleasant especially after eating asparagus. Yuck! On the other hand urine is 99% sterile unless you have a urinary , kidney or bladder infection. It’s a good replacement for sterile water.The army actually recommended their medics to use urine to wash out minor wounds and for bug bites if needed. Also urine can help make the surrounding vegetation thrive.

[@rogerwhiting9310]

@@danhwang2962 I guess I need to describe my point. I dont always include everything in my head. I am picking up a used Rockwood trailer tomorrow. I am taking the rv toilet out because I dont eant to have to use a dump station late in the year... they are mostly closed in cold areas. If I route the urine to the black tank and utilize the rest of the composting toilet/ solids I wont have to worry very much about dumping... small amount of urine in black tank and solids in composter not often. The gray tank can remain soapy water and dump anywhere. Thats sort of my ordeal as planned... trying to almost never dumping black tank. Sorry if I didnt make it clear.

[@freeze4460]

Instead of or in conjunction with the ball valve, you could create a small trap like under your sink with 3 pex elbows.

[@DougFordsr]

love the idea, I am doing a remodeling / renovation of a 1985 Airstream and plan on using the Nature's head toilet as well.

[@AStreaminLife]

We love our Nature's Head and this upgrade has made it even better and easier for daily life. We highly recommend it.

[@ncplantdoctor]

I think that should work well. Certainly the black tank will no longer have problems with a pile accumulating.

[@alanday5255]

You could have used a one-way flow valve as well. They cost a few dollars more but they are more automatic and fed by gravity.

[@AStreaminLife]

Great suggestion! We might eventually retrofit it.

[@sohappytosew1082]

I wondered about that.

[@kadetang9988]

Would this eliminate the need for the handle? Thinking of converting my natures had to this as I'll be parked in an RV park full time and have access to the sewer

[@kadetang9988]

AStreaminLife do you have a parts list for this??

[@Falko99]

Is there one that is sensitive (minimum flow rate) enough?

[@itsalovelyride8559]

Great info! We’re planning on getting a Nature’s Head and appreciate you sharing this.

[@amandaworley2064]

The sprayer is genius

[@AStreaminLife]

It was a great add-on!

[@shawnrussellmusic7410]

What sprayer did you buy? I can't seem to find one the screws into it

[@4239LEO]

I would have like have seen the parts used in the project and where to find them!

[@cogalh.1131]

I like this idea! Think we might try to add a DIY squatty potty where the the tank holder is. The seat is pretty high for the vertically challenged. A project for next spring.

[@AStreaminLife]

We own a Squatty Potty and it works great! We definitely recommend making or getting one.

[@olly-kai]

Awesome video! Thanks

[@katobaggins]

Good job! I've been pondering how to do this with our RV. Your video helped sort out a couple of things. And I like the spray nozzle idea. Gonna have to borrow that one. :)

[@chp2]

Nicely done! I very well might do this. Thanks for the run down 👍🏼

[@AStreaminLife]

You are welcome!

[@hovermaster939]

Strong work, excellent idea.

[@jaxta86]

Awesome idea, will try this in the future

[@AStreaminLife]

It's really made the whole process so easy for us!

[@rogerkern]

Simply brilliant 👍👍

[@johnpuccetti6019]

Nice work! This is my idea for our country home.

[@Wingmanbill8007F]

Take a look at the C-Head Composting Toilet, that company has made available a model that does this very same thing!

[@AStreaminLife]

Very cool! We wouldn't trade out now since we have our Nature's Head exactly the way we want it...but it's always good to have options! Thanks!

[@sungkim6923]

Great idea. Great job!

[@CindyHouck]

We plumbed our Airhead in 2017 as well. We didn't use the valve you have, but made a u-bend. Bad idea, because the urine crystalizes in the low point. Yours appears much better. But it looks like you have the plumbing going horizontally along the floor - have you noticed problems with urine plugs? Or does the "flushing" with the hose take care of it?

[@JpegErza]

Great job!

[@St34mPunkPrivateer]

good idea with the in line shut off, but maybe modify it with a inline check valve so you only need to shut it off when bad things are happening ?

[@AStreaminLife]

We've realized fumes aren't a huge problem when we are using it often enough so we mostly keep it open and close it when moving or leaving the Airstream for 24 hours or more. Great idea!

[@luisbrac8483]

Pretty good idea, thanks.

[@AStreaminLife]

You are welcome!

[@reginajaquysh7360]

Realizing this vid is 5 yo, but I hope you can accommodate a request for all the parts you used for this project. Would be so helpful as I attempt to do the same in my vintage AS. In any case, thanks for the very helpful video!

[@protocol6]

Have you considered gravity filtering through a jug with layers of activated charcoal, crushed limestone and green sand; then diverting into grey tank? Basically like putting it through a britta filter. Pretty cheap and should take out the color and odor; the grey water should dilute salts and anything else that makes it through sufficiently.

[@lindapasaribu7066]

thanks for the explanation

[@joeyschnare6050]

GENIUS!

[@dianacooper9342]

Great idea

[@isaiahbangura4421]

HepVo valve. Liquid goes one way and not the other way. You could attach PVC then the HepVo valve. I'm using it for my sinks and shower too.

[@livinglife8333]

Just get a good heavy spray bottle and use a vinegar water mix to spray your wet area to clean after use.

[@carlscottamos6501]

You should put a P-trap (pun intended) in the plumping like under your sink. Regular household toilets have a P-trap built-in.

[@AStreaminLife]

We considered that but decided to go with the valve instead :)

[@nancyulloa7119]

Make sure you pour a little vinegar down the actual urine pipe to keep the urine from crystalizing which happens and could clog the actual pipe.. The spray is great for the toilet bowl and smell. But not the pipe😊

[@charliealexander1096]

GREAT IDEAL

[@everydayadventures361]

You could attach an 12 volt electric solenoid to the light switch in place of the valve

[@Yvonne4Jesus]

What will you do when you have to change the compost? Don't you have to take the whole unit out? I'm sold on the Separett 9215 which comes standard with urine diverter, drainage to gray or black tank and bagged compost, so you don't have to remove the toilet once it's installed.

[@heartslessons6243]

You could have used a Spring lever on the outside so you didn't have to open it up all the time to let the P out And it would close it backup.

[@darrisx8146]

Some composting toilets are built where you just pee in the compost itself. Can someone explain why sometimes they separate them and other times they don't?

[@candybegley8656]

it saves on having to clean it out as often and helps with the smell although I've never seen either have a bad smell

[@VoklstWestie]

I can say that if your a woman and older (or a man with prostate issues) You pee...alot, so putting both in one compost bucket/bag, you would need to dump often. Separated, not so often you could pee until black tank capacity. And dump the poop bucket/ bag as needed. omo

[@bluestarhealingangels9162]

Still have to empty the black tank

[@RSmith1982]

Hose clamp to a funnel and either gray water or right on the ground. You'll know where to pull the trailer so you can leak on the ground.

[@AStreaminLife]

When we are allowed to dump gray water we do!

[@jackriley5974]

I can't believe Airstream would segment the base shoe to attain the radius behind the toilet? Of course it may just be what my brother used to call an obstacle illusion!

[@ohbobpleez]

Did you use a lubricant or petroleum jelly to ease the removal and reattachment of toilet to the pee hose? That small tank you removed did support some of the load are you going to replace that support?

[@AStreaminLife]

We haven't used any lubricant and haven't seen a need yet. If that changes we will figure it out. The support issue is one we are noticing. It's enough that the toilet does move sometimes. We are considering options for that. Great questions!

[@savagerobot18]

Can you make a compost urinal/waterless urinal?

[@javierrodriguez2863]

Can you use kitty litter to dry the liquid!after you empty the gray water tank?!

[@juliadawnyel4331]

Lot easier to put plastic bag in bucket and empty

[@cdtelting]

Create a small p trap. You might be able to do it by heating some pex and letting it cool to shape. You can also create a small one with copper 90s. For urine the smaller the better. You don't need one the size needed for a sink. Once installed pour small cup of water to displace new urine in the trap. The smaller the trap the less liquid you need. Potentially only a few Oz's. Put a few drops of soap it it would be even better. You can also use a diy small flusher... gravity or tiny pump.

[@mobilitytactics9877]

Wouldn’t you also need to vent it to avoid syphoning?

[@nemmrrc]

Clever solution. Thanks for sharing. I am puzzled, isn't the purpose of a composting toilet to avoid having to use a black tank ?

[@same8078]

That's what I'm thinking.

[@treefellonya]

Not really. The pee has to go somewhere. The black tank prevents carrying around a gal jug ever other day and finding a place to empty it. The composting isnt done with the liquid. It is done with the solids. However, if you are living off grid, then the pee can be used as a nitrogen source for plants by diluting it.

[@jmjrosary4697]

Then you have to turn around and empty the black water or the Gray water tank I don't understand where that is if you could describe that process. Thank you. You're a good, precise carpenter. How long does the urine stay in the Gray water tank before that has to be emptied ?

[@Wendel22]

Definitely a great idea. We use Downy in the pee pot to alleviate the smell of urine . Put in about 1/2 cap. Mix with a bit of water. Did you use 1/2 inch pipe or 3/4 inch pipe...

[@deniseward002]

Downy fabric softener? Hope that's not what you mean as that is all chemicals from empire.

[@gac914]

Okay, fess up. . . . How many times have one (or both) of you forgotten to open the ball valve before use??????? Whoops!!!!

[@AStreaminLife]

Hasn't happened yet but we shall see. Luckily if we do it won't overflow....most likely and we should notice

[@geraldhenrickson7472]

I believe I would forget half the time so why not skip the valve altogether and instead use an S-bend in the hose. Then just send a cup of water down the pee drain after each use. This works well in my converted wonder bread truck.

[@keithprosser35]

nice job but if you put in a u bend trap you would not need the tap to stop smell

[@MrTubeman123456]

I'm not saying to much but with all the work u did u could have just made your own composting toilet. But video was very good thank you.

[@jaysmitty6158]

Nice video... Dude where's the gloves?

[@Charlietuna49]

Ok, I now know what a bulkhead fitting is. Did you use a 3/4 in? How do you use it with a square hole? Did you just glue the two pieces together? Thanks, Steve

[@AStreaminLife]

Hi Charlie! Yes, it's a 3/4 in. We used a box cutter to cut out the very center of the square so the bulkhead fit relatively well. We used rubber bushings, too, which made the seal even better. We finished with some cement sealant on top of everything for good measure. Sorry for the delay in getting back with you! :)

[@Charlietuna49]

Thanks

[@maryhornbostel6959]

Transformed your composting toilet into that French type that starts with B. Spellcheck wont help me. Lol

[@divinemamagaia1727]

Mary Hornbostel Bidet

[@metroplexchl]

Great video. Please forgive my ignorance because I have ZERO experience in this, but if you're going to go back to vent urine to the black tank isn't that going back to the original toileting format of the vehicle? Why not just go back to all waste goes to black tank if you'll be emptying the black tank again anyway? Again, sorry if this is a dumb question....

[@AStreaminLife]

No stupid questions! The solid waste still goes into the composting toilet and is emptied separately so the only waste product going into our tanks is urine. Urine one its own is not sewage (that requires mixing solids and liquids) and is in fact considered gray water. So anywhere you can dump greywater you can dump urine. The other major reason we switched to a composting toilet is how little water we use (in fact almost none). This means 1) we aren't depleting our fresh water tank on the toilet so we can stay out longer using the same amount of water and 2) we aren't filling up our waste tanks with extra water making it so we have to dumps sooner. So now with the composting toilet, we can stay out for up to 2 weeks without having to get water or dump our tanks.

[@stevenmitchell1240]

Do you actually have a list of all needed material that you used to complete this task

[@AStreaminLife]

Unfortunately no. We didn't end up compiling one since there were a few hardware store trips. We know to make sure we do for next time.

[@lonelymisanthrope2329]

Interesting...

[@thechumpsbeendumped.7797]

I’d experiment with having a self closing valve. I think if you installed the valve the other way up (which I think is the correct direction of flow) then add an offset weight to the end of the leaver so it naturally wants to close, this weight in turn would have a cord tied to it that connected to the loo seat lid and when you open it, it in turn opens the valve. Does that make sense to you?

[@AStreaminLife]

Yep! But, we've been using our current setup for a couple of years now and like it. No reason to change at this point.

[@justskoolinaround11]

Personally I wouldn't want a tank full of pee travelling with me.... lol

[@AStreaminLife]

Our black tank? It shares with our gray so it's heavily diluted with water. Much more than a typical RV toilet would do...not to mention the whole poop thing haha :)

[@mattolsson8816]

should have removed the front part that normally holds the urine tank? Or is it not removable?

[@mirkwoodforest6572]

Nice work...wouldn’t it be simpler to have a P or S trap (no valve to worry about)?

[@RxMixer]

The idea is great, BUT you'd always have only urine filling up the P-trap in which case it would be a smelly "pee-trap". HAHA, I'm here all week folks....and don't forget to try the lasagna...

[@mirkwoodforest6572]

But they rinse it with water...no smell

[@kentullis25]

@@RxMixer - Just pour a little light oil in. The oil will rise to the top of the liquid in the trap blocking any odors. Any vinegar / water mixture sprayed in will sink below the oil layer too.

[@kigo641]

Don’t understand what the purpose of this is. Now you have to empty your black tank. Why didn’t you just leave the original toilet if you were willing to deal with the black tank? Thanks.

[@1144wolf23]

Such a great idea. I'm trying to figure out how you connected the pex elbow to the black cap?

[@AStreaminLife]

Basically, lots of sealant. Quick drying cement stuff, though I don't recall the exact brand.

[@Reddaniels206]

Do you happen to have a supplies list? My partner and I are planning on doing this.

[@acater006]

Love your videos guys. I also have a natures head in my airstream. I was going to ask if you had a concern about undiluted urine in the black tank but just saw the section with the sprayer.

[@AStreaminLife]

Yup! We have the sprayer plus we have the two tanks sharing so the black tank also has gray water so we shouldn't' have any problems.

[@rogerwhiting9310]

I am doing this conversion now. I changed the plumbing a bit.... used a pvc union to connect to urine port and connect /disconnect there. I am also using a ball valve My space is so limited in width that I cant access the base knob on the right side due to elevated shower drain pan. I am looking for a new attachment point for stability. Any suggestions?

[@johngross6728]

So I did something similar 6 months ago but am having issues with it plugging from the compost. Are you using 3/4 or 1/2 pipe to the black tank? I built it with 1/2. Wondering if that is too small of pipe.

[@pinay56]

The idea is to keep liquids such as #1 is great; but what do you do when someone has diarrhea, or watery stools? Do you try to strain the solids from the liquids? I think to me, that no matter what you're still going to get water mixed in with the compost.

[@AStreaminLife]

No matter the consistency #2 always goes into the compost. If for some reason the compost gets more wet more quickly it just means adding more dry coconut coir or replacing the compost sooner than you otherwise would.

[@jeffmcgough9547]

Or. ..buy an Air Head and have the factory install an outlet and valve. You can divert it any way you need, keeping the liquid tank intact. Quick disconnect for removal of urine tank. We almost made the mistake of buying a Natures Head.

[@ThreeLittleTrees]

Hi guys! We’re finally going for it and doing this mod. Watched this video at least 20 times. :) Thanks for the inspiration. I think I’ve collected all the parts, except that white piece that connects the PEX tube to the wider tube at the top. Any idea what that’s called? Always love your videos.

[@AStreaminLife]

It was just a slightly flexible, but thick, tubing that "gives" a little bit on each end. Honestly, I don't remember exactly what it was called, sorry. :(

[@user-gv1fe5sz2p]

Can you dump that pee into your shower drain ???? Dumb question I know but curious if that's a possible solution

[@AStreaminLife]

Yup and we did when we had no where else to do dump it. It works fine but stinks up the trailer for a minute or two (just make sure to have the bathroom fan running). That was our solution before diverting it straight to our tanks.

[@kleenmary7060]

Curious to know how it has been dumping the tanks..Any downside to what you have done here? It is brilliant by the way.

[@AStreaminLife]

Not that we have found. We share tanks so urine gets diluted with soapy water. Dumping is still a whole lot better than when we had a traditional toilet and traditional black tank.

[@pauls466]

I do not want to be near you when you dump 25gallon of pie that has bin in the tank for a couple of weeks in 70F+ weather . Ask the poor soul who helpet me by holding the hose in Calais (F)(the hose came off and he had a shower )with 20 bystanders looking LOL

[@oma5031]

I was thinking the same thing! Wouldnt it be possible to deviate straight to the soil? If so, could anyone do a tutorial on how to do it using soil/gravel layering system? How deep in the soil? Etc.

[@hadesswagger3006]

Isnt the point of a composting toilet is to eliminate the black water tank and dumping...?

[@AStreaminLife]

It's to eliminate the need to flush the toilet.

[@bptraveler6608]

So I'm doing this mod but can't find the right sized braided clear tube that fits to the toilet. The toilet fitting measures 1-1/8" O.D but I can only find 1-1/12" I.D. tubing at the hardware. Where did you get your's or did you use the 1-1/2"?

[@AStreaminLife]

I'll be honest - I don't remember. It's been such a long time since we did that upgrade. I'm pretty sure we got everything at Home Depot, though.

[@bptraveler6608]

@@AStreaminLife Okay. thanks.

[@bptraveler6608]

I did find 1-1/4 at Home Depot and it worked great. Thanks

[@manninggrinnan621]

I don't have any RVing experience YET so I'm sure this is a naive question but.... if the main advantage of the toilet is to allow boondocking for longer periods, how does this help if the urine still goes into the tanks. I understand that the feces does not, but clearly that is not much volume as the Nature's Head only needs emptying every couple of weeks. Is it that the black tank used to fill sooner than the gray?

[@AStreaminLife]

It is true that having this empty into our black tank does add more liquid to the tank. However, it is a LOT less than a traditional toilet b/c we use very little extra water (unlike water in a toilet bowl to flush). While the best boondocking solution is to have the external tank and be able to empty it elsewhere we decided after over a year of having it the traditional way, that the convenience factor of not having to empty it was worth the little bit less black tank storage to us.

[@patrickr412]

You could have avoided the ball valve if you p trapped the pex to stop feums. I would have used 1.25" Pex to be safe as well

[@AStreaminLife]

Good suggestions!

[@paulschimel3572]

I like this. That pee bucket looks like it was a pain. Is it still worth having a compost toilet if you still have to empty the black tank? And where do you put your compost?

[@AStreaminLife]

Yes, we think it is still worth it because of the ability to now combine our black and gray tanks. So we can boondock up to 2 weeks without having to worry about running out of gray water space. You can find out more about our composting toilet in our playlist: kzbin.info/aero/PLP5B8MEl2oaX8Ir0FvtWyGGkf_NAM58SN

[@tomfommber]

Did you consider a pea trap? No pun intended. Side note, you’d need to use some clean water to create the vapor barrier. May be worth it though.

[@tomfommber]

Oh. A sprayer. Definitely install a simple pea trap. Alleviate the need for the manual valve.

[@tomfommber]

Further side note, now look at a “loop” system. You could be almost 90% waterless at least in the grey water.

[@jasneskis]

You have tile in there. Have you had any trouble with it? Grout falling out, tiles breaking loose.

[@AStreaminLife]

We have no real tile in the Airstream. Maybe you were talking about our cool sticker backsplash that looks like tile? kzbin.info/www/bejne/hJ3WZ3Wkitynqbs

[@FrancescoDondi]

In imagine there are good reasons why your design of black+yellow+gray all in one is not the default. Or not?

[@AStreaminLife]

Most people need a black tank separate from gray because they have sewage (solid waste + liquid waste). With the composting toilet, we separate out the solid waste so no more sewage. So combining everything is legal and the best way to hold as much gray + yellow water as possible.

[@LarryRichelli]

I really didn't understand how you connected to the composting toilet. Also don't you have that valve the combines the black and gray tanks?

[@AStreaminLife]

We connected the pex pipe to the nozzle where the liquids bottle used to connect. So now liquids drain directly down to the black tank rather than having it in the bottle. We do use the valve to connect black and gray as well!

[@chrisrosenkreuz23]

3:38 why not just use a check valve?

[@marlonsebastian2379]

I think check valves works if there is enough pressure in the line. Pressure is what keeps the valve closed or open, depends on the direction.