Toilets without the smell of fart and urine: why composting toilets don't smell

The odour problem with conventional camping toilets

A camping holiday is undoubtedly a wonderful experience. However, the thought of having to go to the toilet in the vehicle when it is urgent can quickly spoil the pleasure. The reason for this for most travellers is the unpleasant odour that spreads during use and especially during disposal.

With conventional camping toilets, unpleasant smells often have several causes, such as chemical additives, inefficient drying processes or inadequate separation of solid and liquid waste. To minimise the odour, these toilets often require the use of special cleaning agents.

Unfortunately, chemical aids that ensure the decomposition of what is left behind are neither sustainable nor completely odourless. In addition, disposal can only take place in special black water stations.

Composting toilets are great! Without urine smell and poop deodorant

In contrast to the chemical toilet, the dry composting toilet offers a natural and environmentally friendly alternative based on the effective separation of solid and liquid waste.

This fascinating mode of operation prevents the development of unpleasant odours and creates a pleasant environment. We reveal the secret of the new camping freshness. Find out why neither the smell of urine nor the odour of big shops can spoil your camping pleasure and why the dumpling remains odourless.

How does urine odour develop?

Hand on heart: we have all turned up our noses at some sanitary facility or other with a penetrating urine smell. This is the result of bacterial contamination and/or deposits of limestone, commonly known as urine scale in toilets.

Urine consists largely of water and various dissolved substances such as urea, salts, proteins and other organic compounds. When these components react with other substances, the typical urine smell is produced.

These substances also include minerals that are contained in water. Hard water has a high concentration of calcium and magnesium. If this water is used in toilets, the minerals remain in the form of deposits. These deposits consist mainly of calcium carbonate, which is formed by the reaction of calcium and carbonate ions. When urine combines with these minerals, the limestone becomes urinary calculus.

The unpleasant urine odour with which the stone draws attention to itself is due to various factors. In some cases, the odeur results from urea interacting with the mineral deposits. Bacteria can also colonise the porous surfaces of the limestone and break down organic compounds, which can lead to unpleasant odours.

Sometimes the odour also comes from other impurities that accumulate with the urinary stone in sanitary facilities. These impurities arise, for example, from the use of cleaning agents, soap residues or other chemical substances.

The formation of urine scale is thus promoted by the interaction between the substances contained in the urine and the minerals in the water. For this reason, the urine canister of a dry composting toilet is never cleaned with clear water only.

Why fresh urine is a real "odour-free miracle

The smell of urine is not to be found in fresh "liquid gold". The lack of odour is due to the composition of urine. It consists of about 95 per cent water. Unpleasant odours only occur when bacteria start to break down the urea in urine and release ammonia in the process. In addition, food can also contribute to urine taking on an odour of its own. The best example of this is asparagus.

In the dry composting toilet, urine is neatly separated from solids. This way, bacteria from the big business have no chance to contaminate the urine. The development of urine odour is thus avoided from the first to the last drop.

Odourless and odourless: keep solids as dry as possible

Solid waste tends to develop odours when it meets liquid such as urine. The moist environment that results from this liaison is the perfect breeding ground for bacteria, which in turn create the classic fart odour. The dry composting toilet prevents this unwanted odour marriage.

By covering the solid litter with litter such as sawdust, small animal litter or coconut fibres, the drying process is also accelerated and odours are absorbed. Due to the systematic drying, odours do not stand a chance.

How exactly does the separation work?

The separation in a dry composting toilet is done by the so-called separation insert. This is located directly under the toilet seat. At the front of the insert is an outlet through which the urine is directed into a canister underneath. At the back of the separator insert is a large recess through which the solids fall into a separate bucket.

This is lined with a bin liner before the first session so that disposal of the large business later is as easy as possible. The bins can be removed and cleaned separately from each other. In short: two shops, two bins, an all-round clean thing!

Emptying the composting toilet: Without poop deodorant and urine odour

Emptying a dry composting toilet is pleasant and hygienic. The collected urine can be disposed of effortlessly and without unpleasant odour in a toilet connected to the sewage system. Diluted, it is also suitable as fertiliser in the home garden.

The solids, by now well dried and odourless, are disposed of together with the waste bag in the residual waste. Thus, emptying is an odour-free and environmentally friendly event - a graceful symphony of cleanliness, completely different from a chemical toilet.

Tips for the optimal use of a dry composting toilet

To help you get the most out of your dry composting toilet, we would like to give you a few tips on how to get the most out of it:

Regular emptying
Make sure you empty the urine container regularly to avoid odours and to prevent overfilling. We recommend emptying every two to three days. Emptying the solids container is less frequent, but should also be kept in mind.

Use litter
Use bedding such as sawdust, coconut fibre or straw to cover solids and speed up the drying process. This not only helps to neutralise odours, but also makes emptying easier.

Cleaning and maintenance
Clean your composting toilet regularly with diluted vinegar or citric acid, or with effective micro-organism products. Make sure never to rinse the urine canister with clear water only to avoid the formation of urine scale and urine odour.