Welcome to Episode 3! If you missed it, feel free to pop back to Episode 2.
Now I am very fortunate to have a husband who is great at DIY! He is currently rebuilding the kitchen in our overlander, but he didn’t seem quite so keen when I suggested we could build our own composting toilet.
There are a number of companies that supply DIY kits, so we needed to investigate whether these kits met our expectations and if there was anything we were prepared to compromise on. The three DIY kits we looked at were by Strompet & Trollop (great name!), Kildwick, and Trombolo.
Strompet & Trollop Little Floozy Compact
Advantages:
● Reasonable price.
● Large 23 litres solid container.
● Size would fit both overlander and boat.
● Can choose a glitter/coloured separator section – Nick didn’t seem too keen when I said I wanted a purple, glittered one!
Disadvantages:
● Urine container only 4.4 litres.
● No fan.
● Need to use compostable bags inside the solids container.
● Looks like a wooden box with a lift-up lid.
● Requires material to cover each solid deposit.
Kildwick DIY Miniloo
Advantages:
● Reasonable price.
● Large 9.5 litre urine container.
● Proper bamboo toilet seat with lid.
● Size would fit both boat and overlander space.
● Spare solid/liquid containers are available to purchase.
● 12v fan system
Disadvantages:
● Solids container only 16 litres.
● No modesty cover for the separator to cover solids opening when not being used. ● Need to use compostable bags.
● Requires material to cover each solid deposit.
Trombolo TeraBloem
Advantages:
● Reasonable price
● Large 10 litre urine container.
● Good size for fitting both boat and overlander
● 12v fan system
Disadvantages:
● Very small 11 litre solids container.
● The solid container requires compostable bags.
● Material needed to cover each solid deposit.
So, after looking at these 3 DIY options and going back to our original requirements, none of them gave us what we really wanted, a decent capacity toilet in which the composting had already commenced when we needed to empty it. Plus we wanted a toilet that actually looked like a toilet! Now for a lot of people that might seem strange but for us, having bathrooms on both the boat and overlander, it is quite obvious that it is a toilet NOT a toilet cleverly disguised as a seat, neither of us fancied that! And who would want to sit in the bathroom all on their own? (Apart from when you are using it for the purpose it is designed!)
Were we prepared to compromise on anything? We both decided we weren’t prepared to compromise on something we would be using on a very regular basis! Well, that wasn’t too painful, the decision is made that we won’t go down the DIY route. Although it is cheaper, it won’t give us what we want and when you get to our age, if you can afford it, then you try and buy what you do want!
Now it was time to narrow down our research but you will have to wait to find out which one we actually chose. Don’t forget to come back and read the next blog on our journey!
