primitives discuss artificial commodes

[franksolich]

http://www.democraticunderground.com/11584005

Oh my.

jwirr (37,635 posts)    Wed Apr 6, 2016, 12:33 PM

Has anyone used an alternative toilet in their living space?
 
How bad is the smell in a small space? Do they depend on an electrical source. Where I live the electricity had been know to go off in the winter.

Tell me what you know. 

Well now, that's a new one to me, an electrical toilet.

The Velveteen Ocelot (43,745 posts)    Wed Apr 6, 2016, 01:30 PM

1. Well, there's kitty litter.
 
But only my roommates use it; I don't.

jwirr (37,635 posts)    Wed Apr 6, 2016, 01:37 PM

3. LOL. My tiny house has run into a little problem. The district
 
is trying to clean up our lake with a community sewer system around the lake. In the meantime they do not want anyone to go on the home sewer lines.

I am not sure why they will not let me do it as I could move directly into my daughters spare bedroom and not use any less water and sewer than I do now. But I want to know about the alternatives.

Warpy (87,055 posts)   Wed Apr 6, 2016, 01:32 PM

2. Composting toilets need to be emptied pretty frequently
 
but they don't tend to stink up the joint if handled properly and with the cover down.

Losing power shouldn't matter as long as you keep a few pails of water around to flush with. I've melted snow on a woodstove for that purpose a time or two.

jwirr (37,635 posts)    Wed Apr 6, 2016, 01:39 PM

4. Thank you. I will not be on a sewer line at all. So no flushing.
 
But I did ask about the smell. 

Warpy (87,055 posts)    Wed Apr 6, 2016, 01:58 PM

5. I've been to homes that had them
 
and together with the smell of the woodstove, cooking, and other things, the composting toilet wasn't noticeable. You knew it was there when you shut the door and lifted the lid, but it wasn't as bad as the usual outhouse.

ETA: One of my pottier grand aunts decided indoor plumbing was unsanitary, although she kept the tap in the kitchen. Her city in NY wouldn't allow her to dig an outhouse in the back yard, so she had a chemical toilet in the corner of a very stiff and fusty Queen Anne dining room (convenient!). I was four or five and fascinated by that thing until I had to go, and then it was "I'm not getting up on that thing!" My mother said we had to leave. I think she was grateful.

jwirr (37,635 posts)    Wed Apr 6, 2016, 02:08 PM

6. That is good. One of the reasons I want my tiny house is so
 
that I can have my great grandchildren visit - maybe I should rethink this. 

Warpy (87,055 posts)    Wed Apr 6, 2016, 03:40 PM

7. Yeah, I'd love to downsize
 
but I look at my albatross, a 4 harness rug loom, and realize it's a single wide for me, that's as tiny as I can get. I've lived in one before and it was great except for the space rental with only a month-to-month lease. Had the building boom continued, they could have sold the land out from under me and I'd have been in deep doo doo.

[BannedFromDU]

     Translation: "I didn't pay my water bill, so I have to shit in empty paint cans. Can I leave them open in between dumps?"

[BattleHymn]

     Translation: "I didn't pay my water bill, so I have to shit in empty paint cans. Can I leave them open in between dumps?"

I was going to say the same thing about this part as well:

Where I live the electricity had been know to go off in the winter.

[67 Rover]

Warpy (87,055 posts)   Wed Apr 6, 2016, 01:32 PM

2. Composting toilets need to be emptied pretty frequently
 
but they don't tend to stink up the joint if handled properly and with the cover down.

Losing power shouldn't matter as long as you keep a few pails of water around to flush with. I've melted snow on a woodstove for that purpose a time or two.

The perfect way to permanently f*ck up a cast iron wood stove. 

[thundley4]

The perfect way to permanently f*ck up a cast iron wood stove. 

How?  People have used cast iron wood stoves for cooking for decades.

[I_B_Perky]

How?  People have used cast iron wood stoves for cooking for decades.

I was wondering the same thing. Maybe he was talking about a heating stove and not a cooking stove.  Something like this:

[thundley4]

I was wondering the same thing. Maybe he was talking about a heating stove and not a cooking stove.  Something like this:

My sister used to have a small one like that in their bedroom and kept a teakettle full of water on it just to keep some moisture in the air.

[67 Rover]

How?  People have used cast iron wood stoves for cooking for decades.

A hot wood stove (400-600+F) and then proceeding to put snow in a bucket on top of it.  Great way to crack the cast iron, soap stone etc.

[thundley4]

A hot wood stove (400-600+F) and then proceeding to put snow in a bucket on top of it.  Great way to crack the cast iron, soap stone etc.

That might happen if the DUmmie scooped the snow with the bucket and went straight to the stove with it.

[67 Rover]

That might happen if the DUmmie scooped the snow with the bucket and went straight to the stove with it.

That's how I pictured it in my mind when she wrote it.

In my Jotul F600 manual it has a warning that says clearly to use room temp or hot water only when refilling the kettle/water pot on the stove as it may crack or warp the stove if cooled too rapidly.

[thundley4]

That's how I pictured it in my mind when she wrote it.

In my Jotul F600 manual it has a warning that says clearly to use room temp or hot water only when refilling the kettle/water pot on the stove as it may crack or warp the stove if cooled too rapidly.

I've seen cast iron electric motor frames crack by just being exposed to cool air too quickly.

[zeitgeist]

Does a bear shit in the woods?  Why the preoccupation with this?  Where I grew up power went out.  The alternatives?  Head to the barn, a long cold walk, or use the thunder jug.  I mean really.  Get a grip.  Shit happens.  Composting toilets were used by the cows all the time, shoveled out to the manure pile, along with what ever else, then  put in the spreader and put back on the hay field.   Sears and Wards catalogs were always available. 

[thundley4]

Does a bear shit in the woods?  Why the preoccupation with this?  Where I grew up power went out.  The alternatives?  Head to the barn, a long cold walk, or use the thunder jug.  I mean really.  Get a grip.  Shit happens.  Composting toilets were used by the cows all the time, shoveled out to the manure pile, along with what ever else, then  put in the spreader and put back on the hay field.   Sears and Wards catalogs were always available.

Just goes to show that WTSHTF, the DUmmies are finished for good.

[98ZJUSMC]

Warpy (87,055 posts)    Wed Apr 6, 2016, 01:58 PM

5. I've been to homes that had them
 
and together with the smell of the woodstove, cooking, and other things, the composting toilet wasn't noticeable. You knew it was there when you shut the door and lifted the lid, but it wasn't as bad as the usual outhouse.

ETA: One of my pottier grand aunts decided indoor plumbing was unsanitary, although she kept the tap in the kitchen. Her city in NY wouldn't allow her to dig an outhouse in the back yard, so she had a chemical toilet in the corner of a very stiff and fusty Queen Anne dining room (convenient!). I was four or five and fascinated by that thing until I had to go, and then it was "I'm not getting up on that thing!" My mother said we had to leave. I think she was grateful.

That explains a few things.   

[98ZJUSMC]

Just goes to show that WTSHTF, the DUmmies are finished for good.

 

My next door neighbor and I were discussing that very topic, this morning.  That was our conclusion, also. 

[ChuckJ]

Alternative toilet?

[Big Dog]

Alternative toilet?

When you must go, on the go!

[diesel driver]

Just goes to show that WTSHTF, the DUmmies are finished for good.

Can't happen soon enough for me. 

The fun will be watching them destroy their own in all the major metro areas, then more get wiped out in the suburbs.  By the time they make it to the country, they'll be too weak to fight, just walking targets.