Mar 13, 2023

The most important facts about our composting toilets

Are you interested in a composting toilet, but still have a few questions? Then you've come to the right place! We would like to bring some light into the darkness and give you the most important information in advance so that you can find your perfect composting toilet. ☺

Top 5 facts about composting toilets:

Function of the composting toilet

Funktion einer Trenntoilette

The heart of the composting toilet is the separating insert, which separates the big business from the small business. The liquid gold is drained into a urine canister. This has a special membrane lid that prevents sloshing and prevents odours from escaping. The solids fall through the rear opening of the separator into a container lined with a bag. The toilet paper can also go in here. Afterwards, the big business is strewn with litter material. Separating and drying out the droppings with litter prevents the formation of bacteria that are responsible for the usual odour. Urine canister and solids container can be conveniently removed from each other. You can also find a good overview of composting toilets in our article "Composting toilets: The practical alternative to the conventional chemical toilet".

Bags

Streumaterial und Entsorgungstüten

Basically, you can use any waste bag for the solid waste container in our composting toilets. We want to do without plastic and therefore currently only offer compostable bags. These are reinforced and therefore thicker than the usual compost bags on the market.

Tip: Compostable bin liners eventually do what they were designed to do: they decompose. In order to prevent your waste from ending up in the bin when you lick the bag, you can use a "safety bag". Simply line the solid waste bin with a conventional bin liner and stretch the compostable bag over it. This way you are on the safe side and still save plastic.

Litter material

As litter material for drying the solids, we recommend natural materials such as very fine sawdust, small animal litter, coconut bricks or our scent blocker with activated carbon. We have had very good experiences with the scent blocker. The material can be used to generate high-quality soil that is perfect for fertilising your own garden.

Tip: Even if it sounds like the cat litter principle, do not use conventional granulated cat litter. This is often chemically contaminated, can develop its own odour and also forms quite massive, heavy lumps that make your bag tear. Better is organic litter based on natural wood fibre. Alternatively, if you like the smell of coffee, you can also try dried coffee grounds 😉 .

Emptying the containers

Trenntoilette entleeren

Emptying the composting toilet is as easy as using it: the urine can be emptied in any normal toilet or is ideal as fertiliser in your own garden. You can dispose of the bag with the solids in the residual waste or put the contents in the composter.

Tip: When using urine as a fertiliser, make sure that the dilution is sufficient (1 part urine to 10 parts water) and that the plants are chosen carefully. While rhododendrons or lavenders will turn up their blossoms, tomatoes, roses or geraniums will find a higher nitrogen content in the fertiliser fragrant.

Cleaning the composting toilet

Reinigung einer Trenntoilette

All our separating inserts have a special coating that supports the drainage. For cleaning, we recommend simply mixing vinegar (or vinegar essence) with water and putting it in a small spray bottle. With just a few sprays, you can clean the separator insert and the individual containers in no time at all. Pay special attention to the urine canister! Never rinse it out with pure water, as the combination of urine and water promotes urine scale and causes the typical unpleasant "public urinal smell". Instead, use a mixture of acetic acid or citric acid and water or agents with effective microorganisms.

Tip: Urine can develop its own odour due to nutrition. A good example of this is the classic asparagus smell. We therefore recommend adding a few drops of vinegar essence to the canister beforehand. This will prevent the odour and the formation of urine scale. 🙂

This makes our Trelino® composting toilets unique:

Quote "Simplicity is the ultimate form of perfection. (Leonardo Da Vinci)"

1. We separate properly!
The separation insert of our toilets is very separation-friendly thanks to the recesses and ensures clean separation of solids & liquids thanks to the extra-deep insert. The rear area has an extra large recess, the front area has a deep depression through which the urine can pass easily. Thanks to the additional coating, the separation insert is also easy to clean and robust.

2. Practical and compact
To enable you to use our composting toilets in the smallest of spaces, we attach great importance to compact external dimensions and low weight. The Trelino® composting toilets can be permanently installed or flexibly stowed away and are ready for immediate use when you are in a hurry. If you also want to use the toilet as a step or stool, you create space for an extra little helper in the smallest of spaces.

3. Nothing beats comfort
There's room for every little bum. In addition to clean separation, pleasant seating comfort is especially important to us, so that you can feel at home wherever you are doing the most natural business in the world. That's why most of our toilet seats are shaped to be "bakery-friendly". Some also have a soft-close lid.

4. Design meets functionality
A toilet doesn't have to look like a toilet. We have wrapped the sensitive issue behind a beautiful look that also makes it easy and hygienic to use. That's why you won't find any sharp corners on any Trelino® to bump into, nor any edges where dust collects. The absence of unnecessary small parts makes it easy to remove the containers and clean them.

5. Let's do something good!
From camper to camper: with our P(r)oduct we want to do something good for every traveller. We give you the freedom to take a little "like home" feeling with you to any place in the world. As a solution provider, we want to help you with advice and support. To strengthen the economy in the region, we love to work with partners from the neighbourhood. We produce our composting toilets exclusively in Germany. We want to make a difference, change and improve things. For this reason, we are regularly involved in social projects, which you also support with the purchase of your Trelino®.