Never used a composting toilet? You might be surprised by how familiar it feels. You use a normal-looking toilet, follow a few simple instructions and save flushing water with every visit.
The questions are understandable. Can you put toilet paper in? What do you do instead of flushing? How do you keep it clean, and what happens when it's time to empty it? Let's go through the everyday jobs.
How Different is the Experience From Using a Flushing Toilet?
You sit down and use the toilet much as you normally would, including ordinary toilet paper. Most integrated composting systems take urine and solids together. With a urine-diverting model, the bowl separates the liquids into a container or drain. Follow the seating instructions so everything goes where it's meant to.
Put a short set of instructions beside the toilet for visitors. They usually only need to know how to sit, where the paper goes and whether to add bulking material. You can take care of the less frequent servicing yourself, following the system's instructions.
Do They Flush?
Most don't—they're waterless. With many systems, you add a measured amount of bulking agent instead. Others have their own dosing or mixing routine. There are also specified low-flush systems that use a small amount of water to move waste to a separate processor.
Check your model before getting into a routine. Adding a handful after every visit isn't right for every toilet, particularly if you start with a pre-charged chamber or have an automated system.
Can You Use Toilet Paper?
Yes—ordinary toilet paper can generally go into the solids chamber. Use the type and amount recommended for your toilet. Keep a separate bin for wet wipes, sanitary products, nappies and other items, even if their packaging says “flushable” or “biodegradable”.
What Goes Into a Composting Toilet?
Keep it simple: human waste, suitable toilet paper and the recommended bulking material. Add only the cleaning or treatment products accepted for your model. Some manufacturers also specify microbes at start-up or during use; check your instructions rather than assuming every system needs the same product.
We supply wood shavings, hemp hurd and mixes for particular systems. Our Bulking Agents & Dosing Guide helps you choose the right material and amount.
What Shouldn't Go Into a Composting Toilet?
Keep food scraps, plastics, sanitary products, litter, cigarette ends and household chemicals out of the chamber. Put kitchen scraps in a separate suitable composting system. Your toilet has been designed for particular materials and quantities, not as a general household compost bin.
If someone in your household is having chemotherapy or another treatment with special body-fluid precautions, ask their treating team for instructions and speak to us about the toilet before use. Adding compost treatments won't neutralise hazardous medicine residues or replace that clinical advice.
How Do You Clean Them?
Much as you would any toilet: clean the seat, lid, pedestal and bowl with a suitable product and the amount of water your model allows. We offer Nature Flush Enzymes for suitable cleaning jobs. Follow the current label and the toilet's surface-care instructions.
Keep disinfectants and concentrated cleaners out of the active compost unless the manufacturer specifically directs otherwise. If a seat or other touch surface needs disinfecting, treat that as a separate hygiene job. Our guide to cleaning a composting toilet explains the different parts.
How Much Compost Do They Hold?
That depends on the model, chamber size, number of users, climate and how often you use it. A large continuous chamber, a rotating batching system and a compact RV container hold and treat waste differently. A short emptying interval doesn't tell you that the material has finished composting.
When choosing a toilet, count your usual occupants and regular visitors. Having enough capacity gives the composting process time to work and makes the system easier for you to manage.
How Do They Empty?
Engineered batching systems: swap the in-use chamber for a prepared one. Leave the full chamber to continue its specified treatment period in that same purpose-designed chamber, with the required lid, ventilation and liquid controls.
Continuous systems: remove the specified amount from the designated removal area. Leave the active composting material in place.
Processor systems: follow your model's transfer, finishing and emptying instructions. Check that the required finishing stage is complete rather than emptying solely because the tray looks full.
Compact collection toilets: remove or exchange the container and take its contents to a facility or treatment arrangement that expressly accepts them. An ordinary garden bin, a compostable bag or a set waiting period doesn't, on its own, provide an approved residential treatment system.
Keep How to Empty a Composting Toilet and How to Safely Handle Humanure handy alongside your manual. Once you know how your particular toilet works, everyday use can be straightforward—for you and your guests.
Have a question about using your toilet?
Give us a call on 0800 022 027. Tell us which model you have and what you'd like help with, whether that's dosing, cleaning or your first chamber change.
