Separett Weekend vs Villa 9000 Comparison - The Little House Company

[@MartinDoyle]

***** Thanks for your comments. Where to start? Flushing toilets are great and were developed in response to very poor sanitation 150+ years ago. Trouble is, each person in the UK (other countries will vary) uses an average of 150 litres of drinking quality water per day (directly piped to the building), of which 35% is flushed down the loo. That's a lot of drinking water, with all the embodied energy - not so good from an environmental point of view. Bacterial growth is brilliant!!! It's what will turn shit into lovely compost, free from nasty stuff, pleasant smelling and nutritious for your soil. Bacteria are all around you - 80% of your gut is bacteria! There is no smell with modern compost loos, and even emptying them is more a psychological issue than anything else (believe me, I've emptied them and was surprised at the lack of smell). I also just started using compost from my own loo - it looks great (not like shit), has a compost smell and will hopefully be growing some lovely food in it. The 'bucket' is usually lined with a compostable liner, so nothing comes into contact with the interior of the unit, so nothing really to clean up. At the end of the day, turning animal excrement (whether human or other animal) is one of the most natural cycles on the earth. Unfortunately many humans have become so disconnected from nature (partly by virtue of the services we are provided with), that these natural cycles can become repugnant. I do understand your view, but 3 years of using a compost toilet has proved to me that you don't have any need to worry! As the world becomes more water stressed, waterless toilets and re-using a great resource like human compost will become ever more important! The important aspect is to separate urine from feces (which these toilet do) and then compost the manure to remove a) smell and b) any pathogens. Used this way, there is no risk to public health!

[@MartinDoyle]

Hi Carol - you are 100% right - the 'Weekend' was made by Torp Isak and the plastic is slightly 'softer'. It's basic but functional and does the job! Separett suggest that the vent pipe on the Weekend (or the 12v Villa 9010) should have to more than 2 elbows and 4 metres of pipe, although less is better! What do you mean by 'drain it out the upper top of the toilet to a tank'?

[@CarolSteinfeld]

The Torp Isak is the original! It was a company that went out of business 10 years ago, and its moulds are now used again. A big difference is the fan (12 volt computer type fan) and the fact that it vents straight out the back. This means it either should vent straight out the wall OR one has to add an elbow to vent it up. The problem with vent elbows is they add drag to the air flow. Also, the plastic is different. A nice hack on these is to drain it out upper top of the toilet to a tank.

[@aaronking5076]

Dimensions? Width, depth, height? Is there a catch or something to hold the blue door open so you can stand to wipe and still toss paper in the bag? Does poo get on the walls on the way down very often, or is that a rare thing? Like, are you having to wipe the sidewalls every time you poo?

[@textpros]

Very informative videos! Thanks

[@MartinDoyle]

+Eric Shernell Thanks!

[@johnpuccetti9383]

Do you like your home made toilet better?

[@coinappreciation]

I thought I heard voices in my head talking then I realized it was part of your music soundtrack.

[@MartinDoyle]

Ha ha! Yes, there is a background track called 'Compost' by a band Rhombus!!!

[@coinappreciation]

***** That makes good sense. Good video. Cheers.

[@darvabmk]

What is your best recommendation for use with no electricity at all? So no fan, just vented?

[@MartinDoyle]

You'll need to use a cover material, such as sawdust or fine wood shavings. These will act as a soak, odour suppressor and also help balance out the carbon and nitrogen to give a better compost at the end of the day. In most cases, you won't need to ventilate to the outside, but the box that the 'bucket' sits in should be ventilated to the room to help moisture levels even out. I'd recommend having a urine separating toilet. The fan keeps it simple for the user (no cover material) but of course needs power and needs a hole to the outside. My own preference is to keep things as simple as possible and if you can avoid using any electricity, so much the better. What country are you based in?

[@FreeSpiritGear]

For optimum performance the Separett fan should remain on at all times. Here is link to energy usage of fan: separett-usa.com/index.php/installing-composting-toilets.html

[@HuaWei-oe7os]

You can pull the ventilation up above the roof and use windventilator or solarpowered ventilation system. Theres some people using a carbattery to use the ventilation. Someone mentioned that the car battery lasts for 2-3weeks.. but you might not have to run it all the time even.

[@ScootOverMan]

Hi Martin, I plan on a Separett toilet for my soon to be tiny house.One question,what disinfectant/cleaner would you recommend? Some number 2 will inevitably end up where the pee area is. Thanks.Tim.

[@FreeSpiritGear]

Most customers fine white vinegar, hydrogen peroxide or Castile soap to work just fine. It is recommended to pour white vinegar down urine every couple uses as well for optimum performance.

[@Robbrown92]

I’m looking for a composting toilet for a camper van. How would this product hold up in a room that is also used for showering ?

[@MartinDoyle]

Hi. As long as the water is not pouring onto the loo, it would be fine. That said, there may be better products for camper vans such as the Kildwick Kabin or Koodle.

[@graciemiller9279]

I am looking into building a tiny house myself. I am looking at composting toilets but I have one serious question. Where do you put the waste after you've dumped it? I know you can wait up to almost 2 weeks maybe longer before dumping but, it sitting there, does it break down?

[@MartinDoyle]

Because these units don't need sawdust or any cover material, the solids container will fill very slowly - for example, an average person exclusively using these toilets, would fill the container in 6-8 weeks. The contents will start to change as it oxidizes and breaks down (although this is not proper composting as such). You can also put a lid on the container (they come with spare containers) and leave it for several weeks if you can't yet proceed to the next step. At that point, you can empty the contents onto a compost pile, add some bulky matter (sawdust, wood chips, straw etc) and leave it. Build your compost pile up over time and after a year, the bottom layer will have turned into odour-free compost that will add humus, nutrients and structure to your soil.

[@signalfire6]

+Martin Doyle - I'm using compost and urine to feed a stand of timber bamboo - it goes up six inches a day. Literally turning poo into building material! This kind of compost is great for anything requiring heavy fertilization and with the bamboo there's no 'ick' factor like feeding a food garden might entail.

[@leonpse]

Read human manure on-line booklet and it seems to say that things don't need to be turned over in the compost pile, because the wastes are put in small amount and done so frequently, but if the composting toilet have two months of wastes, can that be a problem?

[@FreeSpiritGear]

A great resource is the Humanure Handbook. We also have more ideas here separett-usa.com/index.php/installing-composting-toilets.html

[@dnhman]

Instead of a fan would a wind turbine at the top of the vent pipe be suitable? Also what is volume difference for the solid bucket between the weekender and the villa?

[@MartinDoyle]

Hi. Generally speaking, a wind powered vent on a vent stack would not be powerful enough to pull all the odours through. If you were designing the toilet from scratch to do this, I'd take the vent directly out of the top of the toilet so it didn't have to turn through 90 degrees first. You could use some wood shavings as cover material (this reduces the need for a fan) and if the room was well ventilated, it might work, but you would be operating the toilet outside of the design criteria, so who knows! The Villa and Weekend have roughly the same physical volume for the solids containers, but I'd expect the Villa to last slightly longer as it rotates the container on each use so the contents get distributed better - but there wouldn't be a hugely significant difference. The main reason to choose the Weekend is it's slightly more compact dimensions than the Villa.

[@dnhman]

thank you! I'm in the US and trying to find the best system for an off grid cabin which we not be using during most of the winter. I do like this product over the others as I see it is simpler to clean vs removing the entire system to clean out.. The price for the villa is a concern but if you weigh the cost of installing a septic system it is probably not bad at all:) @@MartinDoyle

[@slblades4695]

Hi Martin, it has already probably been asked but if you use the villa 900 how do you dispose of the No2s that go into the bag, hope this makes sense

[@MartinDoyle]

Hi. Several options depending on your use/frequency of use of the toilet. It comes with 3 buckets, so if you were using during the summer, you can take a full bucket outside, put some soil over the top and leave it somewhere out of the way for 6 months and then bury it. However, most people empty it onto a compost pile or compost bin - add lots of carbon (sawdust, grass, hay etc) and mix. After 12 months you'll have lovely compost. The compost heap/bin does not smell by the way!

[@FreeSpiritGear]

You can also find great ideas in the Humanure Handbook. More ideas of solid disposal can be found here separett-usa.com/index.php/installing-composting-toilets.html

[@jenniferlynn8817]

I like this idea about the toliets for my she's only just seen this video where does the wee go lop

[@MichelleJacobshistoryrepeating]

'the bucket of doom', lol.

[@boxsociety6349]

just asking what happens if the poop go to the front side. where the urine usually go. you need to clean it yourself?

[@MartinDoyle]

I wish I could say that the magical little pixies came and cleaned it for you, but unfortunately that hasn't happened so far! It should be very rare that poo gets in the front (urine) part, but if it does, then you have to get those disposable gloves on and clean it out! Using a compost toilet is a compromise, but the benefits overall far outweigh (in my view) the occasional downsides.

[@boxsociety6349]

yeah it does have its benefits. like easier setup and noneed for septic. thanks for replying.

[@ЦогтгэрэлБямбаа]

I would like to know

[@sylviabaker3014]

Flies, flies, flies! Lids are not sealed and even in an enclosed room you'll get tons of maggots in a a few days. Do not waste your money!

[@MartinDoyle]

The lids don't need to be sealed because of the air flow through the toilet. Flies are not a problem with this toilet - 100,000 users across the world and 20+ years of manufacturing will let you know that!!! You shouldn't judge something you haven't tried - your comment makes you look very naive.

[@ToxicVaccines_HivHoax]

Great video! Are you aware of any squat composting toilets on the market?

[@MartinDoyle]

+WaterFluoridation PoisonOnYourTap Not that separate (although I haven't tried them). You try a standard urine separator, but I guess the position would be hyper critical and people more prone to 'miss'. The easiest solution would be to opt for just a sawdust toilet (bucket effectively) with a squat seat over it. People should try to urinate elsewhere before squatting - just cover with sawdust after each deposit.