One of the most frequent and serious problems that owners of composting toilets frequently complain about is dealing with excess liquid in their composting toilets. Excess liquid can change the composting process from aerobic to anaerobic decomposition, which means you will have an odorous mess on your hands. Composting toilets will not work if they are flooded with liquid, and can be quite unpleasant to empty if they end up in this state.
Most composting toilet manufacturers state this is a problem with how these models are being operated. Users must add the proper amount of dry carbon materials when they are using them (sawdust, peat moss and the like) and electric fans and heating elements should also help eliminate excess liquid as well. Still, many find that finding the proper balance is a challenge and often are discouraged or angry when their composting toilets become out of balance.
The Nature’s Head composting toilet may be a solution for those who are frustrated with dealing with excess liquid in their toilets. This composting toilet has a unique internal separation device the diverts urine into a separate tank (to be emptied frequently by the user), thus keeping the other portion of the composting toilet essentially dry (in fact, you made need to add moisture to this toilet in order to ensure complete and proper composting).
The Nature’s Head composting toilet models also are a bit easier on the pocket book than many other composting toilet systems. The basic Nature’s Head Composting Toilet starts at $850, nearly half the price of a Sun-Mar mobile composting toilet which is designed for similar purposes (marine and recreational vehicle use. The unique design features of the Sun-Mar Mobile are discussed in the article “Composting Toilets for Boats“).
However, Nature’s Head composting toilets are not for everyone. These models were specifically designed for mobile applications (campers, boats, trailers and the like) and have a limited user capacity. They are built for small spaces, but may seem a bit small for residential purposes. If more than a couple of people will be using your composting toilet, you will probably be better off considering a remote composting toilet system rather than a small, self-contained model such as that being produced by Nature’s Head.
Nature’s head is a fairly new company on the composting toilet front and do not have a huge track record to back them up (“head” is the term boaters use to refer to toilets, hence the name “Nature’s Head”). The company is headquartered in Mobile, Alabama and started production and shipping of their composting toilets in June, 2007. The few reviews that I have found and read, however, have been quite positive.
If you are interested in reading more about portable composting toilets for marine, camping and other outdoor applications, as well as additional articles covering the basics of toilet composting and other manufacturer reviews, please return to the Toilet Composting website.
Are you interested in using solar energy, but are discouraged by the high prices of solar panels? If so, click here to learn how to build you own solar panels for less than $200!