Hi everyone, I've been doing a lot of research on vermicompost toilets recently and I'd love to install one for my rv on my remote property.
I am having a hard time conceptualizing the design? I think my biggest hurdle is the black water tank in the trailer, from what I gather it would be a bad idea to let the tank fill then dump the full 30 gals into the worm bin?
So would I need to remove the tank on the trailer and straight pipe the system or is there a way to make it work without removing the tank?
Thanks in advance for any thoughts or insights.
Hi. Yes ideally you need to take your toilet waste straight to the worms. That way, they're processing it as it's generated in a manageable way and they're dealing with it fresh, as nature intended. Without knowing the design of your particular RV, it's hard to suggest to you the best way to do this.
Are you thinking about having a static worm bin outside your vehicle which you want to discharge the toilet into? Is the RV effectively no longer a vehicle, ie. is it parked up permanently for the rest of its life? If so, then the simplest solution would be to get rid of the on-board tank and pipe the toilet waste direct to an external worm tank. If not, then there may be other options.
How many people use the toilet? If it's mostly just you, I'd be thinking about ways to convert the black water tank into a worm tank. I have no idea whether a 30-gallon tank would be big enough. Possibly 50 would be better. But to my knowledge, nobody's done the experiments yet to work out the minimum size of tank necessary. I've talked to a lot of people about vermicomposting in mobile RVs, so hopefully someone's taking it forward and will remember to report back here when they have some conclusions.
Hi Wendy, happy new year!
I suppose I should have been more specific, it's not technically an rv, it's a 36ft Dutchman travel trailer.
The trailer is permanently parked and serves as our home until we are able to start building our house.
There will be four to six people using the bathroom, depending on the time of the year. Unfortunately turning the on-board tank into the worm tank probably won't work with that many people; the on-board tank is only 12" high x 7'L x 24"W
I think removing the on-board tank might be the best option. Another issue i have is my land is generally flat, but there is a 4ft deep silage pit about 40ft away. I think it's deep enough I could put the worm bin and greenfilter there, I just worry the drain pipe might not get buried deep enough to prevent freezing in the winter.
Thanks for any advice,
Chris
Hey Chris - Happy New Year to you too!
Yes, 4-6 people will need a full size IBC tote. If freezing is an issue in winter, you could go deeper and closer to the trailer, and build a block-lined pit for the worm tank (with good access for refilling with organic material). and install a tank to collect the filtered water and a pump to get it back up to the surface?