Technical Data

What is a composting toilet?

It works by separating urine (wee) and faecal matter (poo) and dealing with them separately.

Whereas the "wee" can be used almost immediately as a liquid garden fertiliser in a dilute state (i.e. 10% wee to 90% water) the "poo" will need time to degrade and form compost. The conversion to compost is not an overnight process: it may be 6 to 12 months before the compost is ready to use. It needs heat and time and you may find it beneficial to transfer the developing compost from the toilet into a specially-designed hot composter such as our Quick Composter 220 eco.

Depending on the duration and the number of people using the toilet, the waste is

(a) either turned into usable compost within the base of the toilet unit itself or
(b) when the toilet is full the waste may be transferred to a composting bin where it's "decomposition" into usable waste is completed.

The nutrients in the waste are recycled into a fertiliser that you can then use on the garden [on ornamental plants, for example]. And by "nutrients" we generally mean faecal matter and kitchen foodstuffs waste.

Therefore, the speed at which waste volume is "created" is critical when deciding how many composting toilets you need to supply.

Example: In the Scandinavian ancestral home of the composting toilets we offer, where a family of four might typically spend a 4-week summer holiday plus occasional weekends in their lodge on an idyllic, secluded lakeside, a 200 litre composting toilet might need emptying twice a year. By comparison, if you have a camping site with ten pitches and 4 people per tent for 20 weeks per year, the waste volume is going to be much higher. You'll create waste much more quickly than the 6-12 month biological process can cope: you'll need to put in additional compost toilets and composting bins.

We offer two versions of composting toilets:
(1) The eco and the Populett work as true composters where you will add "bulking material" into the toilet after every use. These are heavily insulated so that heat builds and the composting process begins in the toilet unit itself.
(2) The Villa 9000 and Villa 9010 are waste collecting toilets where there is no composting activity within the small 23 litre waste tank: you will transfer the collected "poo" to a separate composter (using the lidded waste tank). In these two units, bulking material is not required. In design these look very much like the white porcelain toilet to which we're all accustomed, but they are still a compost toilet where no water is required and urine and faecal matter are separated. In these two products, the contents of the tank are always kept hidden by a special flap, which only opens when you sit down. A fan (mains or battery-powered) will operate to evacuate any smell.
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It is of course a little different from a standard toilet and guests / users will need to get their heads around this fact:

(1) you (women, men, girls and boys) always need to sit down to use it
(2) the absence of water generally means that you will need to add some "bulking material" once you've completed your "business". This will mean adding a peat/bark type compost down the loo after each visit. Our eco 200 and Populett 220 work in this way.
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Composting toilets conserve precious resources!

It is estimated that in a domestic environment we each consume about 150 litres of water per day across a range of "activities."

To break this down a little, whilst showering and bathing, clothing and dishwashing consume large amounts of water as single activities, these may only take place once a day or a few times per week. e.g. a 5 minute electric-powered shower might consume 8 litres per minute, 40 litres per shower. Power showers consume much, much more.

Toilet habits:
However, the average healthy human being will visit the toilet 8-10 times per day. Even though modern toilet cisterns are generally restricted to a 4-6 litre flush, by adding on hand-washing as well, some sources indicate we use up to 10 litres of fresh water per toilet visit! So, that's a potential 60-100 litres of fresh water flushed away by every one of us, every day. That's a lot for a scarce resource.
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A composting toilet requires absolutely no water. It simply separates urine and faecal matter in different directions.

Instead of a "standard" toilet cistern, which requires mains water and "consumes" 4-6 litres of water and waste with every flush, a composting toilet requires absolutely no water: it simply separates urine and faecal matter in different directions. By separating the two, waste volume is probably reduced by 75-80%.

Although personal habits and health vary from person to person, if we were all to drink the recommended 2 litres of liquid a day then we can generally assume about 1½ litres of that will come back out as urine. If you remove the flushing water from the toilet process, you're "potentially" reducing water waste to 1½ rather than 60-100 litres per person. And as a composting toilet also separates urine and faecal matter in different directions, the resultant waste volume is furthered reduced by 75-80%. You simply have a certain volume of faecal matter.

To summarise their eco credentials, as composting toilets do not need water, they conserve our precious water resources. They massively reduce the use of fresh flushing water and therefore prevent the production of large volumes of (unnecessary) waste water which can harm watercourses and or need treatment at a sewage plant of sewage treatment works. Where you might otherwise collect waste in a cesspool, holding tank or septic tank, the use of composting toilets will mean that you will cut out the carbon footprint created by truck journeys to clean these tanks.



It is of course a little different from a standard toilet and guests / users will need to get their heads around this fact:

(1) you (women, men, girls and boys) always need to sit down to use it
(2) the absence of water generally means that you will need to add some "bulking material" once you've completed your "business". This will mean adding a peat/bark type compost down the loo after each visit. Our eco 200 and Populett 220 work in this way.

For an alternative solution, where bulking material is not required, you might specify our Villa 9000 or Villa 9010 toilets. In design these look very much like the white porcelain toilet to which we're all accustomed, but they are still a compost toilet where no water is required and urine and faecal matter are separated. In these two products, the contents of the tank are always kept hidden by a special flap, which only opens when you sit down. A fan (mains or battery-powered) will operate to evacuate any smell.
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During summer heat builds up in thecomposting chamber that aids the composting process. The product we aresupplying is double insulated to further accelerate that process. CAT goes onto say that there are many types of composting toilet, from expensiveproprietary systems to simple self-build designs. Keeping urine separate isusually the key to successful composting, or, it can become 'pongy'.CAT also states,that a composting toilet is a good option where there's a limited water supplybecause it needs no water for flushing. On a completely water-free site, you coulduse alcohol gel for hand cleansing, or a hand-washing facility [such asgravity-fed potable water].For a lot ofpeople, (particularly end-customers) they may find composting toilets a steptoo far and might, therefore, prefer other more familiar solutions. And we alsoagree with this caveat too - composting toilets are definitely not a solutionthat will sit well with everyone. But, nevertheless, they are a viablesolution. So, you do need to know what you are getting into though.

How do composting toilets work?

The oldest tanks we have supplied date back to 2010 and are still going strong. The product is rotationally moulded as a one-piece construction from UV-stabilised medium density polyethylene (MDPE) in a ribbed design for added strength. MDPE is particularly suitable for this application as it copes with temperature fluctuations, absorbs knocks, does not absorb smell from the (waste) contents and is easily cleaned. Repairs are rarely needed, but in the unfortunate event of damage, most repairs are readily carried out with a plastic welding tool, similar to a soldering iron.

Where are composting toilets used?

Totally off-grid "eco" sites

Shepherd's huts, glamping lodges/pods with no access to mains water or sewage

Using a composting toilet, you can live wherever you want without harming the environment. We supply composting toilet solutions that can run on mains electricity, 12 volt DC power or no power. To see what existing users think of these products check out the testimonials section. Founded in 2012 Toilet Revolution have the largest range of composting toilets in the UK and Ireland.

Allotments, campsites, outdoor retreats and training centres, churches, narrow boats and garden rooms

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