Abe Noe-Hays

I don't know that system, but in general it seems people have mixed results using self-contained composting toilet units for full-time use. Often the issue is with liquid management or having to remove incompletely composted material.

The type of system I like best when it's impossible to have a remote composter under the floor: a urine-separating toilet with a removable bin for poop, paper, and wood shavings. Keeping the urine out of the rest of the compost helps SO MUCH with making maintenance pleasant and keeping the system non-smelly. When the bin fills you empty it into a larger composting container that is outside where there's plenty of room. It's like the humanure sawdust bucket system, but drier and more odorless. I've built systems like this that people liked more than the commercial self-contained units they'd had before. I like to incorporate a low-power (and quiet) fan to make it 100% odor-free, but even without a fan it's OK if you use enough wood shavings. (I definitely would be hesitant about a self-contained composter that had no fan and handled urine because of smell potential.)

You can make your own system using a urine diverter, but there are also some manufactured units that follow this strategy made by Separett and Nature's Head. I've worked with the Separett Villa and think it's a great system with a lot of capacity. They also make a simpler and cheaper unit called the Weekend that I've never used, but I think it's a lot like the units I've built and should be good as long as you don't have many bends in your vent pipe. There's also a low-power version of the Separett Villa that looks good but I've never used it.

Of course, the diverted urine is a fantastic fertilizer. If you have extra and live near southern Vermont you can even save your pee to donate to the Rich Earth Institute's Urine Nutrient Reclamation Project!

I hope this helps.

--Abe

I have some friends in Cape Cod who have been using a Clivus in their home for close to 10 years. If you want I can send you a private message with their email. They give toilet tours to curious people all the time so I'm sure they'd be glad to tell you the pros and cons of their system.

--Abe

Urine can be acidic or alkaline when it leaves your body, but as it becomes stale the urea converts to ammonia and the pH shoots up to about 9. However, as the ammonia converts to nitrate I understand that the process produces acidity, with the result that some alkalinity in the soil is consumed. So I think adding urine probably has a mild acidifying effect on the soil.

--Abe

It's hard to know what kind of flies you have without seeing a picture, but if they are the kind I've seen in composting toilets before they could be fungus gnats. Tiny little things the size of fruit flies or a bit larger. Like this:

http://www.growgreenerguru.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/Fungus-Gnat.jpg

Here is a close-up, but remember they are tiny and this is HIGHLY magnified.

http://bugguide.net/images/raw/YHUHRR6HHRUH9ZEH3HIL8ZMLNZNHRRNHWZXLUZILUZML9Z5LUZWHFHXH5Z7H1HXH6ZGLBZ5LVZWH.jpg

Some people have been saying to keep your compost dry, but I've need these gnats in both wet and dry compost.

The best control I've seen once they're established is biological. One natural predator is the hypoaspis mite, and you can buy them to introduce to your toilet. Here is one supplier: http://www.biconet.com/biocontrol/hypoaspis.html I think this is a place I have used in the past, but there a couple of online vendors. You just add the little mites (super tiny) to your compost and they prey on the gnats. I remember there is also a nematode or fungus for hypoaspis control, but I can't remember what it was right now.

Cheers,
Abe

I've seen a setup using leaves that made beautiful compost over the winter and spring: a pallet on the ground and about a 4 foot pile of hardwood leaves on top. The pallet was to allow air to circulate under and up into the pile. Urine added on top. Most of the composting surely happened in the spring, and the leaves became a gorgeous, black crumbly compost.

Or if you live near southeast Vermont you can donate your winter urine to the Rich Earth Institute's urine recycling program!