5 Applications for Composting Toilets

A composting toilet is an excellent solution for use in a variety of places, particularly where it is difficult or impossible to install a septic system or hook up to a traditional sewer line.  There are an enormous number of potential applications for composting toilets, but in this article, we'll examine five of the more common locations where these fixtures are used.

1. Boats
Marine grade composting toilets are a great option on board a houseboat or yacht.  Traditional toilet fixtures on boats require hookups and pump-outs, an unpleasant and cumbersome process that requires the boat to dock on a regular basis.  For vacationers who want to spend several weeks at a time on board their boats, without having to return to port on a regular schedule, a composting toilet is a great option because it's clean, odorless, and efficient.  Most importantly, composting toilets are self-sufficient, providing a lot of independence to boat owners.

2. Motor Homes and Recreational Vehicles
Motor homes and RVs are another great application for composting toilets.  Like boats, motor homes have a waste tank that has to be emptied regularly via a pump-out station.  For more RV owners, this is usually the most unpleasant part of owning the vehicle.  With a composting toilet fixture, the need for pump-outs is entirely eliminated, allowing motor homes to stop freely for the night without worrying about emptying a waste tank.

3. Pool Houses
Families building a pool house soon learn that running sewer lines to the building can be very expensive.  The other traditional alternative, putting in a septic system, is also costly and can sometimes run upwards of $10,000.  Composting toilets are a good option in pool houses because they require no pluming, making them very simple and inexpensive to install.  Furthermore, with a composting toilet in the pool house, kids that are dripping wet from the pool won't be running in and out of your main house to use the bathroom.

4. Barns and Outbuildings
In rural areas where large barns and other outbuildings are common, installing a toilet in these buildings often requires a secondary septic system, which is usually more than most families can afford.  Again, a composting toilet is an excellent alternative because it is comparatively much less expensive and is very easy to install.  Composting toilets can also be installed in workshops, horse barns, and remote offices, as well.

5. Cottages and Cabins
For homeowners who dream of building a remote cottage or cabin in the woods, the realities and expense of running common utilities such as electricity, water, and sewer lines can often crush their hopes of a vacation home.  Composting toilets are an excellent alternative.  With their venting systems, a composting toilet is completely odorless, and many have been approved and certified for use in residential settings.  If you only live in your vacation home part of the year, the composting toilet can easily be left during the off season and then re-started again the following year with some simple maintenance procedures.

Other potential applications for composting toilets might include camps, boat houses, cabanas, garden sheds, dormitories, classrooms, security posts, and gate houses.  They are an inexpensive and effective waste management solution when you don't want to go to the trouble and expense of putting in a septic system or running new sewer lines.  As you can see composting toilets are a great eco-friendly solution, and can be used virtually anywhere, anytime!