It’s all about loo!
It’s all about loo, baby!
You’ll be singing that for the rest of the day now.
One of the lessons we learned while we were travelling in Atlas, was that not all loos are equal. The Porta Potti that we used while we were away was a small model, the Thetford 92814 Porta Potti 345 Portable Toilet, in fact. Given that this was at the end of lockdown but before the world had properly opened up, we had to rely on it quite a bit.
Now, don’t get me wrong. I thought it was perfectly functionable, easy to clean, easy to empty, but both John and I are tall. And old. Getting up and down was a feat in itself. Plus we didn’t have any privacy. We’re not overly shy but I do draw the line at some things, which meant walking the dogs around the field, IYSWIM!
So began numerous earnest discussions about which loo we ought to utilise in Alfie.
Some people suggested we just take a shovel and attend to business in the great outdoors. The thing is, that might work somewhere remote—particularly in Australia, Canada, the US or NZ, but you’re never particularly remote in the UK. So nope. That wasn’t an option for us.
Initially I considered a Nature’s Head toilet because I really want something fairly sustainable. The Nature’s Head Composting Toilet is a dry toilet that costs around £1000. It has two sections that hold pee and poo separately, allowing you to easily empty the pee jug more often. Because liquids and solids don’t mix, they don’t become sewage. It’s described by Nature’s Head themselves as an ‘eco friendly toilet with its stainless steel hardware, robust construction and user friendliness.’
The thing is, it doesn’t really ‘compost’ in the way I understand composting. You add an agent to it, usually coconut coir, and mix it up using an agitator (a bar on the side). When the solids container is half full you dispose of it in a suitable place. Bearing in mind it doesn’t compost, you can’t just spread it on your neighbour’s roses, okay?
For more information you can find Nature’s Head here and a good Youtube review here.
So then we considered a larger Porta Potti, namely the Thetford Porta Potti Qube 165 Camping Toilet 21 Litre Tank with Natural Seat Height Aquasoft. I particularly liked the idea of this one because it’s not so far down and it has a large tank capacity. I’ve seen them in other campervans and they operate fine, but also at around £90, this is an excellent choice for a campervan on a budget!
It has a 21 litre tank, with 15 litre capacity for the ‘flush’ water. It’s easy to clean and empty and it is the devil we know. You can find out oodles more info on the Thetford website right here.
But, after watching numerous Youtube videos I came across the Separett Tiny and I think I’m convinced by this. Unfortunately it is quite expensive—prices vary depending where in the world you are, but in the UK about £750. They are available from WooWoo Waterless Toilets in the UK, but probably other places too.
There's a fan inside that works continuously; which keeps any odour from developing. According to reviews you never see the inside of the solids bin, useful if you’re squeamish, and the liquid hose takes care of the liquid separately. You don’t have to turn the solids every day either, which you do with the Nature’s Head. It’s a good height for our creaky knees and it looks good.
I emailed the people doing our conversion to check their thoughts and they told us they wouldn’t have a problem fitting it so, if it’s the one we choose, I’ll be sure to let you know my thoughts of it in action (so to speak!). Watch this space.
For more information on the right campervan toilet for you, I highly recommend YouTube as the go-to place. This excellent video from Seven O Savage is a great starting point.
If you have any comments about which campervan toilet to choose, I’d love to hear them!
