Composting heads

rick&sue":mlw4g464 said:
We also have completed the installation of the Airhead and used it for a one week outing. The question I have: is everyone using the coffee filters?? or not?
Not. The manufactured indicates that they are intended for heavy users like liveaboards. Presumably because it's harder to keep clean. I figure they take up a lot of room in the "repository" so don't use them.

Lobo":mlw4g464 said:
...The liquids bottle can be emptied overboard, even in a marina....
I keep seeing/hearing comments like this. But the EPA regulations say "discharge of sewage" is illegal. And sewage is defined as "human waste", not just solid waste. I'm confused... :?
 
The Airhead sounds like it's a throne.... :lol:
 
Regarding the discharge of urine. It may technically be considered human waste, but it is fairly benign. It is 95% water and the other compounds are potassium, urea, chloride etc. Bacteria, which is in faeces is not prevalent in urine unless the is an infection. At least that is my understanding. Anything in large quantities is an issue. There is many a Guy and perhaps women who have used anything other than a toilet to urinate and the world seems to have survived. I would think that the gray water discharge is a lot more of an issue than urine. We use the marina head for emptying when it is practical, but when anchored or on the move it is either empty the tank or do the guy thing. Same results.
 
I've had an Airhead since buying my R25 new, and thus since the holding tank was never used I repurposed it as a 2nd water tank. By fooling with the hoses to the new spare 30 ga water tank, I simply redirected the macerator pump outlet to a garden hose connector in my big starboard lazarette. By connecting a ten foot hose to that connector and passing the hose through the door into the cabin and out the window over the stove I can pump (via the macerator) water from the spare tank into the normal FW tank. Ranger positioned the FW tank inlet so it can be reached from the window, which is handy to pour a little bleach into now and then when the water gets smelly. Hence, I go around with 60 ga of fresh water.

I've done something interesting, which eliminated the only hassle with the Airhead, which was emptying the pee tank every couple days (if two people were on board). Sooner or later you're going to find it full in the middle of the night, and its an ordeal then to empty it. Kind of gross when people see you pour it overboard and guess what it is with the foam and all.

Anyway, Geoff will sell you a pee bottle with a valve at the bottom, and I found a snap on connector to attach that valve to standard vinyl tubing, thus you can easily disconnect (http://www.omega.com/Green/pdf/QDFitting.pdf) the tube when needed. I hole sawed a 2.5" hole in the FG under the sink cabinet and using the deck plate under the sink for access ran the tube out along side the water heater into the lazarette. There I installed a small 12v pump. The tube continues around the stern and then up the port side of the boat past the batteries to the through hull that used to serve the macerator. I used some simple barbed adapters to attache the vinyl hose to the through hull fitting, and I even threaded the tubing through the old macerator hose-that protected the vinyl and reduces kinks which it is prone to. I find that gravity empties the tank, and at the end of a trip I pour half a gallon of fresh water (I have lots) into the AirHead and run the electric pump so urine doesn't sit in the tubing.

The AirHead is now perfect. I get an entire summer season on the solids tank it using the boat occasionally. The manufacturer says a couple will fill the solids tank in a month with daily use, but Mike gets 6 weeks using marina heads when possible. I met a couple on the St. John River in FL who live on their catamaran and use an AirHead. When the solid tank fills, he puts a lid on it (it comes with one) and bungies it out on his forward deck to allow another month of composting, he then dumps it on a garden somewhere and switches it out with the tank in the AirHead to start over. Geoff sells spare tanks and lids. Geoff even sells packets of enzyme to speed composting. You'll be in touch a lot with the manufacturer when you install the unit which argues for the AirHead as Geoff is responsive. The Nature's Head is a copy made by his ex-employees and I can tell you they either don't respond or don't know the answers to most questions.

No pump out, extra water (or diesel with an upgraded tank), no hassle. I've talked to the harbor master in Key West and he told me just dump the urine bottle over the side as urine is sterile and you won't find more paranoid people about their water quality folks then in Key West.
 
Can someone post pics of the installation / location of the venting outside? I am very curious about this concept and would love the extra room . Or you can email me pics if that easier.
 
JerryE":rwagsdsu said:
I've had an Airhead since buying my R25 new, and thus since the holding tank was never used I repurposed it as a 2nd water tank. By fooling with the hoses to the new spare 30 ga water tank, I simply redirected the macerator pump outlet to a garden hose connector in my big starboard lazarette. By connecting a ten foot hose to that connector and passing the hose through the door into the cabin and out the window over the stove I can pump (via the macerator) water from the spare tank into the normal FW tank. Ranger positioned the FW tank inlet so it can be reached from the window, which is handy to pour a little bleach into now and then when the water gets smelly. Hence, I go around with 60 ga of fresh water.

I've done something interesting, which eliminated the only hassle with the Airhead, which was emptying the pee tank every couple days (if two people were on board). Sooner or later you're going to find it full in the middle of the night, and its an ordeal then to empty it. Kind of gross when people see you pour it overboard and guess what it is with the foam and all.

Anyway, Geoff will sell you a pee bottle with a valve at the bottom, and I found a snap on connector to attach that valve to standard vinyl tubing, thus you can easily disconnect (http://www.omega.com/Green/pdf/QDFitting.pdf) the tube when needed. I hole sawed a 2.5" hole in the FG under the sink cabinet and using the deck plate under the sink for access ran the tube out along side the water heater into the lazarette. There I installed a small 12v pump. The tube continues around the stern and then up the port side of the boat past the batteries to the through hull that used to serve the macerator. I used some simple barbed adapters to attache the vinyl hose to the through hull fitting, and I even threaded the tubing through the old macerator hose-that protected the vinyl and reduces kinks which it is prone to. I find that gravity empties the tank, and at the end of a trip I pour half a gallon of fresh water (I have lots) into the AirHead and run the electric pump so urine doesn't sit in the tubing.

The AirHead is now perfect. I get an entire summer season on the solids tank it using the boat occasionally. The manufacturer says a couple will fill the solids tank in a month with daily use, but Mike gets 6 weeks using marina heads when possible. I met a couple on the St. John River in FL who live on their catamaran and use an AirHead. When the solid tank fills, he puts a lid on it (it comes with one) and bungies it out on his forward deck to allow another month of composting, he then dumps it on a garden somewhere and switches it out with the tank in the AirHead to start over. Geoff sells spare tanks and lids. Geoff even sells packets of enzyme to speed composting. You'll be in touch a lot with the manufacturer when you install the unit which argues for the AirHead as Geoff is responsive. The Nature's Head is a copy made by his ex-employees and I can tell you they either don't respond or don't know the answers to most questions.

No pump out, extra water (or diesel with an upgraded tank), no hassle. I've talked to the harbor master in Key West and he told me just dump the urine bottle over the side as urine is sterile and you won't find more paranoid people about their water quality folks then in Key West.

Again very interesting,
Did you use Starboard for the platform extension for the pee bottle ?
 
Send me your e-mails and I can send some pictures. I actually modified the airhead a bit and have the exhaust hose exiting the back and directly through the hull liner with the exhaust at the starboard side of the stern with a clam-shell. I also converted my never used holding tank to water. No smells, no pump-outs and we can go for months before we have to empty it. Just turn the holding tank upside down into a garbage bag and throw it in the dumpster. if we are at home you will see that I have a well nourished lilac bush. It is not recommended to empty it in a vegetable garden.
 
knotflying":2umtcwdj said:
Regarding the discharge of urine. It may technically be considered human waste, but it is fairly benign. It is 95% water and the other compounds are potassium, urea, chloride etc. Bacteria, which is in faeces is not prevalent in urine unless the is an infection....
All true but those who write the laws tend to ignore the science. Perhaps not by intent but in practice that's the way most things end up. In my professional life I've had a lot of dealings with regulatory agencies and common sense has never entered into a conversation that I can recall.

JerryE":2umtcwdj said:
...I've done something interesting, which eliminated the only hassle with the Airhead...
That's interesting, Jerry. I agree that having to dump the liquids every day or two is the weakness of the system. Does the drain exit the bottom or side of the pee bottle? And have you been inspected by the CG since you installed the design?
 
Are we papering over the cracks a bit here? No mention has been made of what one does with the accumulated 4 to 6 weeks worth of toilet paper between the solid dumps. Flame sterilization of the paper in the BBQ does not have much appeal.
 
Without doing a forum search I would like to understand in this posting what the overall cost for purchasing/installing/boat-mods are for the Airhead.

For example...

1) Airhead Initial purchase cost + S&H fee ?
2) Airhead option(s) costs ?
3) Cost of misc stuff to install (such things as bolts, wiring, fan, tubing, tools, fuses) ?
4) Time/labor expense for removing the stock manual head ?
5) Time/labor expense for installing the Airhead ?
6) Annual time spent hauling liquid tank and compost material to garden or where ever ?
7) Annual time spent cleaning/sanitizing the Airhead ?
8) Does Airhead have option for easy lid closing (a lid that gradually closes down rather than banging down) ?

If there's one annoying aspect of the Airhead you have, what is it ?

Does the Airhead come in non-white ? Can the Airhead be painted affectively in a different color ?

Thanks... 🙂
 
Osprey":313b0s3i said:
Are we papering over the cracks a bit here? No mention has been made of what one does with the accumulated 4 to 6 weeks worth of toilet paper between the solid dumps...
If you do in-fact retain the solids long enough for them to truly turn to compost, the paper decomposes along with the rest of the stuff. Or at least that's the theory. Our season up here isn't long enough to compost the stuff. So in our case it's a moot point. It all still has to be disposed of.

It is interesting that all of the discussion is around the biological aspects of the airhead. That has nothing to do with why I put one in. In my case it was with the purpose of simplifying the boat. Eliminating the MSD removes a lot of complexity and maintenance headaches.
 
The Airhead Installation is about $1,000 if you do it yourself. Your choice of colors is white, white or white. If you want a self closing seat you will have to use your toilet at home. I empty my airhead once or twice per year. Probably all in it would be 1/2 hour of my time to dump, and reassemble. Urine dumping isd a non-issue. I wouldn't even count it as an issue. I use the world as my urine depository most of the time and I would probably do the same with a regular head. Having seen the experiences my fellow boaters have had with their heads I like the Airhead overall. As I have stated before, I am not a paid spokesman, I just like to promote good products and service when I see them.
 
Mike: Thanks for the cost Estimate. 🙂 A banking toilet seat is to this person a very annoying thing... especially in a boat where a loud bank noise can mean a lot of bad things. Adults tend to close the lid carefully, but kids and teenagers seem to take delight in making the noise for some reason, or simply don't take care, and some simply leave the lid open :lol:
 
I think all Airhead topics were covered very well but may have missed this. I had mine installed at delivery, on Mikes (Knotflying) recommendation and am surprised he didn’t mention that the black water tank having never been used was converted into an extra thirty gallons of fresh water. Very handy if you are on the hook for an extended stay or traveling.
The coffee filters. When I do take the seat I still use a filter but have graduated to a much smaller 4 cup size, but am always trying to perfect my aim!
 
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