Another How To Article
Several people have written to me wanting me to write an article about installing a BEX kit in their C-Head for use at home, RV, travel trailer or houseboat. Here is a step by step plan for doing that. Keep in mind that all installations tend to have special issues that must be overcome on a case by case basis. If you do have an issue that you cannot resolve, please contact us for help.
Continue reading “Installing a BEX Kit”Marine composting toilets on the ICW
I was contacted by a concerned C-Head owner regarding the recent passage of Georgia House Bill 201 that changes the laws in Georgia in an effort to reduce pollution in the estuarial waters of the ICW along the Georgia coastline. I researched HB 201 and it becomes apparent that the underlying purpose of the law is to control the use of bum boats polluting the scenery more so than the water. I get it. I live on the water and pay the government extra for the privilege. Truth be told, these people don’t produce enough human waste to effect anything, certainly not on the scale of the estuarial waters of Georgia. But toilets are an easy target for solving a problem that has little to do with the toilets. Few people will protest this angle of attack.
Beauty is more than skin deep!
In addition to being able to have a customized fit, there is no other composting toilet on the market that comes close to being as beautiful as the C-Head. Choices in both the outside finish and the toilet seat size and color makes all the difference and make no mistake people want their bathrooms to look inviting, even as uninviting as the tasks may be. It’s called the “throne” for a reason. Today’s composting toilets have a range of looks that goes from resembling a washing machine (and the same size) to a plastic water cooler; from looking like they belong on the space shuttle or else in a local laundromat. Why is that? Well, expediency in manufacturing is probably the most basic reason. Ease of cleaning sure isn’t. The outsides can be deceiving as far as cleaning the inside goes.
Continue reading “Beautiful and Durable Outside Finishes”One Month In
It is May in Florida and we are starting to get rain about once a week. Winter tends to be our dry season. In the spring, it rains hard when it rains but it doesn’t last long so we are getting about 2-3 inches a week. That is important because, you want to keep your compost moist but not wet. Too wet could cause it to smell and can wash out the nutrients and too dry will impede the composting process. There is a happy medium. Because you need to control the moisture content of the compost, the wishing well tower is designed not to be waterproof, but allows you to control how much rainwater gets inside the tower. The roof is made of slats that allow water to drop between the boards, and the same goes for the hinged lid over the tower. If you find yourself in a period of high precipitation, that is heavy, frequent rainfall like we get here in Florida occasionally, then you want to cover the slats with water proof material like canvas or corrugated tin or plastic material to shed the water away from the tower.
Continue reading “The Wishing Well Compost Tower – Part II”The Best Laid Plans!
Our warranty on return or parts replacement is pretty straight forward.
We work hard to make sure that the customer gets what they need and know exactly what they are getting. This saves everybody a lot of headache. In some cases the customer may want to return the toilet and request a refund. For that reason, upon receiving the toilet, the customer should take pictures of any damage to the shipping container, including holes, scrapes or obvious re-taping of the exterior. The customer should also take pictures of any damage found to the toilet while unpacking, preferably with the postal clerk or UPS guy in the picture. Gotta love them smartphones. Follow the handling instructions guide found at the very top of the box under the flaps. If any damage is found, take pictures of the damage and notify us immediately by email.
Continue reading “Our Product Warranty”The other half of the permaculture lifestyle
Meet Kristina Monroe. Some time back, she purchased a C-Head (which at that time was for land based purposes called a BoonJon) and incorporated it into her incredible home design. She has even written a book about how her new home came into existence, including the dream, the design and the final outcome. The name of the book is “Twisted Oak” and in it she devotes almost a complete chapter to the advantages of my toilet design and how it has worked with respect to her permaculture lifestyle. In her book she lays out in story form why she and her family decided to take the plunge and build the house of their dreams. She describes how they take maximum advantage of the property and its assets and construction techniques to create an environmentally friendly, beautiful, warm and cozy home with results that are fantastic.
Continue reading “Designing Your Sustainable Home 101”
The C-Head toilet works especially well in houseboats. The larger holding tanks and the existing flushing toilet with it’s through the floor toilet flange, give the houseboat owners an advantage over other type boats. Specifically, they can use the BEX kit (bottom exit kit) to take advantage of the existing plumbing and make life easier. The BEX kit, allows you to drain the urine into the holding tank directly through the bottom of the toilet using the existing flange. Since you are only using concentrated urine with a little flush water occasionally, the capacity of the holding tank is increased greatly, which reduces the need to find a pump out station. You can spend an extended time, weeks or months even, on the water and hold the liquid waste until you return to your marina to have it pumped out. No special trips or going off the hook to find a marina so that you can empty the tank. The C-Head is unique in this regard since there is no other composting toilet on the market that has this capacity.
Continue reading “Houseboat Installations”How Dry I Am . . . How Dry I Am . . .
With a bucket and chuck it system, you can simply pour the mixed pee and poop waste contents of your toilet onto a pile of compostable material and then cover it with more material and let nature do its thing. This is a common method of composting your waste in a permaculture way. Joe Jenkins has a nice system for doing just that. It is, however, impractical for use on a 1/4 acre residential lot, simply because of the size and the amount of compostable material needed to create thermophilic composting in the winter time. It also doesn’t have a means to sort out and manage any waste that may be suspected of being unhealthy, that is to say, waste that comes from a person who is demonstrably ill or suspected of being so. You need a processor that allows you to separate and process unhealthy waste more aggressively and cleanly as well as one that allows you to take advantage of the useful properties of your poop and pee separately.
I wish I might, I wish I may, I wish my poop would go away!
I finally finished one of my pet projects that has been in the making for a couple of years. People have asked me again and again, what do you do with the poop once you empty it out the toilet. For most travelers who use my toilet (boaters and recreational vehicles owners), the waste winds up in the trash. That has created a lot of discussion on whether it is legal or proper to do that. Actually it is both if the user uses minimal common sense. I foresee an issue in the future for boaters if emptying the contents into a marina dumpster becomes a common practice. If the waste is sealed in a 5-gallon plastic bucket as I advocate, then it shouldn’t be a problem, but some people can be more careless and create issues for everybody. So I have always thought; why not have a nice compost tower at home or on the facility where you can dump your waste and let nature do what nature does best. Put it to its intended use as fertilizer.
Continue reading “The Wishing Well Compost Tower”Can you put it in the toilet?
We come from a magical world where you simply flip a handle or pull a chain or push a button and all your nastiness simply swirls away down a hole off to some other place that is far, far away. Not one person in a thousand has any idea where it went. With that mind set, the issue of toilet paper becomes a non-issue. Using toilet paper is without doubt the crudest ritual that people of European heritage practice. The toilet paper business is a well entrenched industry with jobs and fortunes at stake. Vast amounts of money are spent every day advertising its existence, so much so that no other method of cleaning one’s bum is given any serious consideration. Hold that thought and read on.
Continue reading “The Problem with Toilet Paper”
