Behold the Laveo Dry Flush

[TygerMark]

For even longer, people have used "honey buckets."

Not for everyone.

Nothing is.

[ilmor]

Testing is going well. No issues so far after 4 days. Works great!

[InterBlog]

Several months ago on a previous thread -- but was it this forum, or another? I don't remember -- I described a method of greatly extending the capacity of a conventional black water system but without the corresponding price of a Nature's Head or a Separett or Laveo or whatever. Let me re-explain.

In our case, a new toilet protocol was born of necessity. We drove over the Canadian border and then with no legal ability to stop anywhere or come into contact with any person or access any dump station, we had to drive 450 miles straight to my property and proceed to quarantine for 2 weeks in our van, never leaving the backcountry (or even my particular 5 acres of it).

Well, 2 weeks is too long for 2 people to be using our black system - it does not have the capacity. Therefore we developed a urine diversion approach and the use of wag bags which can be placed in the bowl of a conventional gravity toilet.

Nothing radical in that approach so far - many winter campers use the same strategy when they know it's going to be too cold to use their black water system. Nothing new *except* for one eureka moment involving female urine diversion - insert TMI warning for the paragraph below, but this is important information for people weighing their options in this context.

Unless one uses a well-designed toilet like the Separett, female urine diversion is always going to be subject to imperfections in the execution. And even if you get it exactly right 9 times out of 10, you still have a big problem because of the mishap on the 10th.

The solution to that difficulty is for females to use the conventional gravity toilet as a secondary containment device. Place a medical grade urine collector in the dry bowl of the toilet. Learn to deliver the goods into that device to the best of your ability given the unavoidable anatomical limitations of the female body. In the event that a small volume of urine gets misdirected (which is inevitable), it falls harmlessly into the toilet. Simply cap the collection device and rinse/wash off its exterior while it is still sitting in the bowl. Flush that wash water into the black tank and then store the cleaned, capped collection device.

Necessity is the mother of invention and I had no choice but to use that procedure during quarantine. But I was so delighted with the practicality and reliability of that approach that I now divert urine that way most of the time. We have cut down our black tank dumps by about 80% because of this practice - what a relief! And yet the black system remains available for those trips when black tank dumping is more convenient than finding an appropriate place to dump medical urine containers (e.g., a state park camping ground).

^^ What I described represents the best of both worlds, but at near-zero cost for people who already own conventional gravity toilets and black tanks. It cost me about $15 for two medical urine collection devices of a good configuration to do this. If I were building a van from scratch, I might opt for a Separett (as a now-seasoned urine diverter, to me, the Separett looks to have a better ergonomic design than the Nature's Head). But rather than tear out what I've already got and install a Separett at over a thousand bucks in cost, I use this simple method instead. It works.

[ilmor]

Having no black water tank to worry about anymore is great!

[MsNomer]

I’m not quite understanding. Do you have a collection of these containers which are stored full, or do you empty after use?

[ilmor]

Originally Posted by MsNomer

I’m not quite understanding. Do you have a collection of these containers which are stored full, or do you empty after use?

Probably best to point you to one of the many videos that shows how the Laveo works - https://youtu.be/GMa6yTos38s

[booster]

For cold weather use, or short trip when the dump stations are closed, we just bring along a box of trash bags of heavier thickness and a pack of the Harbor freight tie wraps. Fit over regular tank based toilet under the seat, use for solids, lift up seat and install tiewrap and into dumpster. Normal liquid into a small container and dump in the pit toilet or toilet when found as easy to store in a sealed jug. Maybe 25 cents per use?

[TygerMark]

[/QUOTE] ......install a Separett at over a thousand bucks in cost, I use this simple method instead. It works.[/QUOTE]

Separett makes 2 diverting and desiccating toilets: the Weekend $700 and the more mechanically complex Villa $1,000.

[gregmchugh]

another option in cold weather are the generic wag bags at walmart. put in toilet and dispose in the trash.

[ilmor]

Not sure why this turned into a thread about the cost of portable RV toilets and "toilets" but the various opinions and thoughts are interesting.

[InterBlog]

Originally Posted by MsNomer

I’m not quite understanding. Do you have a collection of these containers which are stored full, or do you empty after use?

Not sure which post you are referring to, but we use two of these (one for husband, one for me). They are slim enough to wedge between the toilet and the wall for secure storage. They are 3 liters in volume apiece, so they can be used repeatedly before emptying (for comparison, the Nature's Head receptacle is about 8 liters and it stores on the front of that toilet rather than on the side as mine do).

This may be a little counterintuitive because it says "male" in the Amazon description, but as a female, I like the handle on it. I orient the handle toward the front of the toilet and then grab it as a positioning assist as it is sitting in the toilet. Crouch over it and go. Use the handle to adjust it a little bit this way or that way for best results.

[GeorgeRa]

Disposal of garbage bags with human waste can be done legally, like dirty diapers or illegally like recently in Oregon, bags with human feces dumped on Oregon roads near Portland. With black tanks, porta potties, or cassettes this illegal dumping is likely is not an issue.

https://www.oregonlive.com/eastportl...g-culprit.html

[ilmor]

Originally Posted by GeorgeRa

Disposal of garbage bags with human waste can be done legally, like dirty diapers or illegally like recently in Oregon, bags with human feces dumped on Oregon roads near Portland. With black tanks, porta potties, or cassettes this illegal dumping is likely is not an issue.

https://www.oregonlive.com/eastportl...g-culprit.html

It's a real shame what's happened in that area. Of course, those aren't RVers.

[GeorgeRa]

Originally Posted by ilmor

It's a real shame what's happened in that area. Of course, those aren't RVers.

You likely can make this judgment call but police folks still don’t know.

[MsNomer]

Originally Posted by ilmor

Probably best to point you to one of the many videos that shows how the Laveo works - https://youtu.be/GMa6yTos38s

Sorry. My question was addressed to Interblog.

[GeorgeRa]

Toilets with conveyers. https://www.theguardian.com/environm...ts-human-waste

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SQy3...ature=emb_logo

[pasusan]

Originally Posted by InterBlog

Not sure which post you are referring to, but we use two of these (one for husband, one for me). They are slim enough to wedge between the toilet and the wall for secure storage. They are 3 liters in volume apiece, so they can be used repeatedly before emptying (for comparison, the Nature's Head receptacle is about 8 liters and it stores on the front of that toilet rather than on the side as mine do).

This may be a little counterintuitive because it says "male" in the Amazon description, but as a female, I like the handle on it. I orient the handle toward the front of the toilet and then grab it as a positioning assist as it is sitting in the toilet. Crouch over it and go. Use the handle to adjust it a little bit this way or that way for best results.

Interesting... My question is *where* do you empty them?

[Sary]

Reliance Double Dudie Bags work very well - in fact, I have never even used the toilet in my 1997 Roadtrek 190. I simply insert the bags and remove and seal them up for the trash. Easy for women and I guess for men too.

[ilmor]

Originally Posted by pasusan

Interesting... My question is *where* do you empty them?

Urine can be emptied on the ground. I wouldn't do this too close to streams.

[GeorgeRa]

Having a camping trailer before the Sprinter I often had to park on rest stops in between semitrucks, choosing a decent parking place was based on lowest urine odor or sometime even a visible puddle.