Q. Do composting toilets smell bad?

A. No, a properly working composting toilet does not have any offensive odor.

Q. How does temperature effect composting toilet capacity?

A. Most of our listing including capacities for both full-time and vacation use. These numbers can vary widely­mainly based on temperature. Increasing temperature increases capacity­ between 2 and 3 times for every 10°! Below 50°F composting stops. By insulating bottom and top walls of the compositor, using heaters or light bulbs, you can significantly increase capacities. Other ways to increase temperatures include using heat from chimney flues, water pipes, grey water, and solar.

Q. The info that you sent me talks about the fact that you have to have direct vertical runs from the toilet to the compositor is this also true for the low flow toilet setup? I know that Sun-Mar talks about having horizontal runs of 15-18' with the proper pitch to the pipe. What is the "horizontal conveyor" that they talk about?

A. The angle needs to be either very steep or a very small degree. Keep the pipe at either 45 plus degrees if you can make it steep. For long, horizontal runs, or 1/8" to 1/4" drop per foot of pipe. (Over 8 feet of pipe that would be 1-2"of drop.) If you make the pipe too steep, the liquids go faster than solids which then clog the pipe.

Q. If you are using low flow toilets do you need a connection to a septic system to drain the excess liquid or is enough evaporated to take this to a minimum and infrequent manual emptying?

A. No septic needed. The Clivus system composts both the solids and liquids - you get both finished granular and liquid fertilizers. Use a French Drain like SunMar recommends if you anticipate occasional large amounts of liquids. (The less water you use, the better.) Some Sun-Mar units require this and some don't.

Q. Your catalog mentions a "built-in moistening system" with the Clivus Multrum. Is this piped in water which has potential to freeze and thus needs protection?

A. Composting stops below 45 degrees. If the space got colder than that you would need to drain and stop using to prevent freezing. Composting works best when temperatures are 65 degrees.

Q. Can you run a composting toilet system intermittently?

A. Yes, the composting process happens quite fast and once it starts tends to keep going. It slows with lower temperatures (below 50 degrees) and can freeze and stop. But freezing doesn't harm the compost - it starts again as soon as the temperature warms up.

Q. Can you run a fan on a separate solar panel, running it only when the sun is supplying the necessary power?

A. Yes. We have several designed for just this kind of an application.

Q. Can I convince my wife, and guests, that they are using a "real" toilet or will they feel like they are in a second rate bathroom? I know this is a vanity question but looks and feel can be important on a day-to-day basis. I don't want our guests to feel that they want to wait to get home to go to the bathroom because they don't know how to deal with ours.

A. The Nippon pressure toilets are much nicer than a conventional toilet (they're even self-cleaning) but quite expensive. We have several styles of Sealand toilets comparable to conventional toilets but smaller.

Q. Can tampons be put into a recycling toilet?

A. Into a Clivus Multrum or Carousel, yes, no problem - not into the other types like Sun-Mar.

Per David del Porto: "You can put them in all of the systems, really, except the BioLet, if you are removing material only through the tray. Reality is, tho', that you have to remove it from above at some point, too.

Also, I have a BioLet (which I'm not necessarily recommending), and tampons disappear in this, too. I think about 5 tampons a month is fine in the cottage systems (Sun-Mar + BioLet). The issue is simply that they don't break down as fast as other stuff."

More composting toilet information and pricing

FAQ - specifically Sun-Mar

How Do Composting Toilets Work