Been on the fence lately regarding a composting toilet. Currently, Hemispheres’ toilet has a y-valve that can pump overboard directly or into the holding tank. But the tank has to be pumped out, no macerator to dump the tank offshore and there really isn’t pompous locations in the Bahamas.
So options are installing a macerator for the tank and re-plumbing just about everything cause I’m not adding another thru hull. NO more holes in the boat below the waterline. Or…rip it all out and go with a composting head. Pretty much a lot of sailors I know have already gone that route and rave about it. So, it was time to explore. Was at the Annapolis Boat Show, aka the annual sailors pilgrimage and looked at AirHead and NaturesHead. Had decided on the Airhead IF I decided on that route.
Heard about OGO Origin Composting head and David put me in touch with Monty who’s an affiliate dealer here in Oriental and happens to have a demo unit. He was kind enough to let me borrow it for the day to visualize it on Hemispheres, to make sure it’ll fit and work out right. As the molding is rounded from the floor to the wall, need to raise the toilet three inches so it can slide back a further three inches and it works out nicely. Will be building up the base with starboard and add a couple of inches for a lip to rest your feet.
So why the OGO over Airhead. I’m a gadget guy, it has a powered agitator, push the button and it runs for 45 seconds. But still very simple. Next is the aesthetics and retains al the needed functions. One of the biggest features I like is the compost resides in a small bucket that you take out, unlike other brands where you have to take out the entire composting head. That may be fine for an RV on land, but at anchor, don’t think I want to have to take apart and remove the toilet, take it up on deck and dump it in a bag. Definitely not doing it down below. With OGO, a small bucket comes out and put just put a four gallon bag over the top and flip it over. Can do that inside the head.
So, on order and will tackle that project shortly. But before putting it in, I’ll be handling that shitty situation of ripping out all those hoses and the holding tank. So what’s going in that big, cavernous space where the tank will no longer be? Can someone say…Daewoo Mini washing machine?
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