Hi
We just got our van converted. We are moving from motorbikes to 4 wheels for a bit. So total newbies on campervans.

Our van has a chemical toilet, it needs a blue chemical stuff in the waste disposal. Apparently to be changed every 5 days!

We plan to get to Eastern Europe, turkey, Azerbaijan etc... for 4 to 6 months trip, to test the van.

We will use the toilets only if we have to. So long term, off the grid, how do you deal with your chemical toilet? Do you pack lots of the chemical product and keep changing it every 5 day? Not use any chemical ?

I am just puzzled at the practically of using chemical product on long term travel!
Any advice welcome!
Thanks,

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Maria

www.franglais-riders.com

Maria, I'm thinking similarly about doing a van conversion--not now, but within 5 years or so as I get older and accumulate more physical limitations.

During previous trips by van I carried no toilet at all--there were bushes, forests, and various forms of toilets in restaurants, lodgings, stores, rest stops, tourist information offices, etc. Those were shorter trips and largely within North America. It gets old, and at times it feels like the whole trip is organized around finding toilet facilities--not the feeling I'm looking for.

I've also used the standard river rafting system--basically, a five-gallon plastic bucket with a liner and a seat. This requires someplace to deposit the liner bags, hopefully responsibly, as necessary. Some people use chemicals with them, some don't. They have the advantage of allowing storage of filled liner bags until you find a place to deposit them (ick), but I'm not too sure about the ecological consequences of leaving behind a trail of plastic bags full of poop.

And I've used little two part camping toilets while living outdoors for long (5 months) periods back in the day--the equivalent of what I presume you're describing. I always ended up with an over-full, un-emptied, impossible-to-deal-with mess at some point--not only is the emptying kind've gross and prone to accidents (use your imagination), but sometimes there really just isn't any place appropriate to deposit five or ten gallons of concentrated poop, whether chemically-laced or not. It's also a bit awkward to walk around with the full bottom section--40-80 lbs/65-130 kg--even when you've found a place to empty it out. I usually ended up going back to digging dispersed cat holes in the woods--the most ecological solution, as far as I know.

Currently I'm thinking along the lines of composting toilets designed for boats and vans. There are a lot of examples, but the first which came up on a search was this one: https://natureshead.net/road/ I've heard some good reports, but haven't actually seen or used one. If they work, even partially, they seem like the best of the available solutions.

I've never traveled with an actual blackwater collection system as you'd have in a large RV or overland truck. If that's what you're looking at I'm afraid the above will be of little use unless you decide to replace it with a composter.

Hope that's somewhat helpful.

Mark

my partner lives on a narrowboat, he has a %hit box camper chemical loo. He does not add blu to it all that often, and it only occasionally smells.

Most people on the narrowboat forums use biological clothes washing liquid as an alternative to the more expensive chemical blu, if you are worried about the expense and carting something extra around. Also being on the road there are plenty of other opportunities for toilet stops, just good to have if the weather is foul, or big scary animals outside.

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https://fernsforays.wordpress.com/

The chemical is usually formadehyde to preserve the contents of the toilet!
long term the best solution is to fit a SOG type fan to the toilet which will evacuate smells and help to break down the contents of the cassette.
https://www.soguk.co.uk/what-is-a-sog/

Thanks for the answers.

Always been on motorbike before and I used to use the proverbial bush or public WC on the road.

A lot of things to figure out with a van.
I like the idea of using fabric softener as it can be found everywhere in the world.

We will check out the vans at the HU meeting in Wales this weekend to pick up ideas too. First outing on our van so big experiment!

anyone coming I will be doing a couple of presentations about Russia/central Asia and Africa if interested.... those trips were on bikes though. Adjusting to 4 wheels might be tricky!

Cheers,

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Maria

www.franglais-riders.com

After a while we used the porta potti, without any chemicals, no problem at all. As far as possible we used a bucket for the pee. That was easy to dispose of and dramatically reduced the smell.