Easy to Use
The Air Head Composting Toilet’s best feature is its simplicity. Unlike standard marine heads, there are no levers and pumps to fuss with while trying to balance the need to use enough water to adequately “flush” your system without filling up your holding tank. The Air Head Composting Toilet simplifies this process immensely. Open the lid, use a paper bowl liner for solid deposits, pull the lever to dump the liner and its contents into the solids container, and turn the handle a few times to stir. For liquid deposits, women don’t need to try to “aim” to keep the liquid separate. The unit is designed to separate the urine automatically, even if it falls on the trap door to the solids container. With the drying action of the fan, even if a little urine gets in the solids container, it will not “ruin” anything. The contents will dry and begin to compost just fine.
Great for Guests
With an Air Head Composting Toilet, you don’t need to have unsightly “potty directions” posted on the head wall for guests to study. You can explain it in a few sentences. Request that men sit for every use, and point out the lever for making solid deposits disappear. Your guests will be more comfortable and less intimidated without feeling like they should read the owner’s manual. You will be more confident letting guests use the head, too, since there is no risk of their flooding the boat when the wrong levers are left open. Guests also are no longer subjected to endless pumping trying to remove their deposits from sight, as with conventional heads. In fact, guests don’t even have to “stir.” If the contents sit unstirred until the next person uses the head, there is no ill effect. No one will even know. But imagine a guest’s embarrassment if they cannot figure out how to flush a conventional head. It is also not possible to “clog” an Air Head Composting Toilet: another potentially embarrassing moment when guests use a standard marine head.
No Smell
Because there is no holding tank and no hoses, there is no “head” smell in the boat. With standard marine heads, unannounced guests often lead to the panic of wondering “Does the boat smell like holding tank?” How many of us have rushed to close the head door to keep the smell contained when guests arrive unexpectedly? When someone asks to use the facilities, you don’t have to worry about hoses that have been permeated with that disgusting holding tank smell. The Air Head Composting Toilet allows you to invite people aboard with confidence because it simply does not smell, except briefly after the unit is flushed. Then you may notice a slight earthy smell, like after a long rain in the forest.
Clean
The beauty of an Air Head Composting Toilet is in its design. The exterior is made of hard plastic, making it easy to wipe clean with any household cleaner. The inside of the solids container does not need to be cleaned since the goal is to retain the “good” bacteria that aid in composting. For daily cleaning around the unit, there are no hose clamps to cut your hands and forearms as you reach around it. In fact, there is no plumbing in the way at all. When the entire unit is removed for emptying the solids container (about once a month for fulltime use by a couple), it gives you complete access to the platform on which it sits for cleaning. Compared to trying to clean all the nooks and crannies around a standard marine head, with no hoses or hose clamps (or even the toilet itself) in the way, your head will be easier to keep clean and fresh smelling.
Petite Crew
Women and parents of children often wonder about the size of the unit and the ease of using it. The Air Head Composting Toilet sits slightly higher than standard marine heads, but this can be remedied for petite captains and crew. Many boaters have built small “stools” (either permanently installed or removable) for the comfort of smaller crew members. Another option is small “step pads,” again either permanently mounted or ones that flip out of the way. Yacht heads are designed around the plumbing needed for standard marine toilets. This means that the platform the toilet sits on is often raised. Since the Air Head does not require this plumbing, that platform can be lowered, making the seat of the Air Head Composting Toilet a comfortable height. All boats are different, but accommodations are easy to make for sailors of all sizes.
Hassle Free
The biggest hassle-saving advantage of the Air Head Composting Head is the absence of pump-outs. You no longer have to move the boat from your comfortable slip or anchorage to try to squeeze it into the farthest slip at a tiny marina to reach the pump out station. Even better, you won’t have to endure the hassle and stench of the pump-out boat coming alongside your yacht every week to extract the gallons of stinky holding tank contents you have been carrying around. With an Air Head Composting Toilet, you won’t be bothered with broken joker valves, leaking hoses and fittings, and the mess left after rebuilding the head pump. You can even choose to compost used toilet paper, leaving no possibility of residual “head” smell.
If you still have questions or concerns? Feel free to contact a member of our team who has years of personal experience using an Air Head Composting Toilet on her boat. Even your most gender-specific questions can be addressed.