I decided to go with Natures Head Composting Toilet. I saw them 2 years ago at Annapolis, and they'll be there this year as well. I like the look and price, which appears to be ~$100 less than Airhead, but you can always bargain.
I pulled the trigger on the Natures Head and ordered it yesterday, it'll arrive tomorrow. I called and spoke with Larry, and since they're at a boat show in PA, he gave me the boat show price of $825 with free shipping. I'll document the installation in my usual drawn out manner and post it, after the dozen or so yet still in the Que and are pending submission.
"Sub" Ed
No flame taken. One of the big reasons I've stayed with this site and dropped out of all of the other sailing ones is the lack of arguments over usually trivial differences of opinion that kill the fun in the other ones. Sailing is a hobby, not nuclear disarmament. We're all here to learn and share what we've learned.
My rational for dumping urine began as an expedient when the porta-potti broke one November night. I wasn't about to walk the 1/4 mile up to the facilities at 2AM when it was snowing sideways. Mea culpa. My authority for doing it with the composting toilet is the manufacturer, who I trust has thoroughly researched the matter since his business depends on it. I haven't seen the article by Casey, who is a respected authority on nautical matters. If it turns out I'm wrong, then it's not a big deal to put the bottle in the cart and take it up to dump in the toilet at the end of the weekend, and I will have learned something. It will still be a lot easier than the porta-potti. So far, I haven't come close to filling it with two people on board. I've read that some folks have a 2nd bottle on board for long trips. I haven't heard of anyone doing that with a porta-potti tank, although you could.
It's entirely possible that the legality in a specific case is dependent on who reads the rules. It wouldn't be the first time that regulations meant to be clear would up being confusing or ambiguous in a specific instance. The ballast water issue comes to mind. One problem with requiring official pump outs or dump stations is the lack of them. It's also not unknown for regulations to be impossible to follow due to lack of funding for carrying them out.
On the water quality question, as part of a science experiment, I tested the nitrate levels of the water where the boat sits and also the water out of the hose on the dock. The water from the hose was 3X the recommended maximum and the water from the sound was 45X the maximum. I now drink bottled water on the boat. I want to be a good neighbor and follow the rules, but I wonder how much treatment waste that goes into the system gets if the sound is already so polluted.
I'm not against porta-pottis. They are a great, inexpensive solution for the occasional user, and it was fine when I stored the boat on a trailer and didn't use it much. Likewise, the plumbed in, pump out MSD works well where you have places to pump it out. However, I found the smell and inconvenience of the porta potti was an impediment to using the boat once I had it slipped and spent several nights a week aboard. A plumbed in MSD seemed too complicated for me to install and maintain and puping out was a problem. The composting toilet was a risk, since they are new, and the sailing community is notoriously conservative, but it's been a great solution for me, so far. I'm fortunate that I could spend $1000 on it. Comfort and livability are priorities on my boat. Many people would laugh at how primitive my electrical and electronic systems are. But I've found you can't be too worried about what other people think and sail a MacGregor.
I'm off to the boat for a couple of days. Had several problems with the '98 Nissan 50 two stroke last week, the main one being the nut behind the wheel (me). At least the admiral and I wound up sailing home under a beautiful full moon. If I can't fix it on the water, I'll pull the boat for a water pump and carb rebuild. Wish me luck.
Installed the Nature's Head this past weekend. Looking for to composting next underway period (Pirate Sail in Beaufort, NC). Regarding the urine dumping topic, I was at a marine market last weekend and our local SC Dept of Natural Resources (DNR) folks were there promoting their initiative to build more pumping stations through out the state. When I told the rep that I was going the way of the composting head. He said, and I paraphrase... 'that's great, then all you have to do is dump the urine anywhere and your good to go...' Then he caught himself.
With an MSD the solids and liquids mix so when you pump overboard, the oxygen depleting bacteria lower the O2 levels starving the marine life. Urine, on it's own, doesn't do that. Still shouldn't be dumped inside 3nm.
In any case, I loaded my new head several gallons of peat moss and she's now read to rock.
Laws aside, marine waste has negligible effect on the environment in coastal waters. Sewage runoff from municipal waste systems after a rainstorm can exceed 1,000,000 gallons per day!!!
Yeah. We just get the porta-potty low on the transom and pour while underway. Indelicate topic, but every animal on the planet poops. Not my fault.
Funny story: So we're on our way to Catalina with some friends who are also accomplished sailors. We're in a massive pod of Dolphins, the brown and tan ones that look like the color of a black & tan beer (if you've been through the San Pedro channel you've seen this pod). There are literally hundreds of dolphins around us, within feet of the boat and seemingly to the horizon.
The admiral is on the helm, and my buddy's admiral is marveling at the dolphins and talking about the magic and majesty of the whole scene (she's a bit of a granola cruncher).
So I start using the "aft head". Immediately two of these majestic creatures start fighting over who gets to be in the stream. Not being one to make inter-species judgements, I just let nature take its course and observe, as a scientist would.
Being a larger person, having done damage to a cooler full of modelo negro (neither of the accomplished helmswomen imbibed, thus freeing their captains to act like the boys that they are) this circumstance went on for quite some time--long enough for cameras to be brought to bear, and myriad opinions on the subject to be surfaced, so to speak.
In any case, the admiral has rejected the boat name "Knot On Porpoise", and the boat remains unnamed.
dep reg: washing your hands under a out side fauset is not polution .washing your hands over a sink under the fauset and having it dump on the ground is polution. so straight from the sourse is ok but putting in any container or hose is polution.go figure
Peeing off the side of your Mac is not illegal, peeing in a bottle and THEN dumping it off the side is. The lawyers( God bless 'em) had to draw the line somewhere - thanks to industrial polluters.
zephyr101 wrote:dep reg: washing your hands under a out side fauset is not polution .washing your hands over a sink under the fauset and having it dump on the ground is polution. so straight from the sourse is ok but putting in any container or hose is polution.go figure
