January 1, 2013 From Astor, Florida on the St.

Johns River and at the Ocala National Forest

Hope everyone had a great holiday with family and friends, as we did. Imagine, some people woke up with a toilet under the Christmas tree!

Well how time flies! Here we are in the New Year and the last time I sent out a newsletter was in June 2012. I had planned on making the newsletter a quarterly, but I got side tracked. When you start getting emails wondering if you are still in business, then it is definitely time for me to get behind the computer and get out some news! I hope all is well in your neck of the woods. Updates: Where to start?! C-Head News Changes There have been several. While the C-Head remains almost unchanged in overall appearance, much has changed. The C-Head and BoonJon are now 100% plastic. For a long time, I was trying to use as much recycled materials in the construction as possible. This has proved to be unpractical, and since this didnt seem to be much of an issue with my customers, and since doing so made the process much more labor intensive, I made the switch to a PVC plastic substrate for the housing instead of plywood. I am now experimenting with a black interior instead of white. I still have white interior units in stock so until they are sold out, you may get a white or black interior. If you have a preference, please let me know. I havent decided which I will stick with but, I will let you know. I changed the outside finish from recycled sheet plastic to high pressure plastic laminate commonly known as Formica or Wilson Art. High pressure plastic laminate has a much harder finish. It is easier to clean and easier to keep clean. It is also available in a variety of wood grain finishes and colors. To date, I have finished the exterior in white, beige, black, gray, teak and mahogany plastic laminate finishes. They all look great, especially the teak and mahogany versions. Real wood finish is still an option for a slight premium. There has not been a great demand for real wood finished C-Heads, which is a shame since they are definitely beautiful. So while I will continue to make them, they will cost slightly more since

they require a lot of labor to build. Most people want a white C-Head and they will remain the basic standard. C-Head now sports a nicer upgraded toilet seat with stronger hinges that can hold it open in the upright position, although resting the seat against a wall or other vertical surface is still recommended whenever possible. For a peek, visit this online slide presentation http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yYSiQXwe8SA

Teak laminate finish version of the angled back model ------------------------------------------------There has been a lot of great chatter on the Forums about the pros and cons of composting toilets in general and the C-Head vs. the Natures Head and Airhead. Click on the links below to visit the websites if you are interested in reading opposing views. Wooden Boat Magazine forum http://forum.woodenboat.com/showthread.php?114077-Nature-s-Head-vs-AirHead-Toilet&highlight=airhead Cruisers forum #1 - http://www.cruisersforum.com/forums/f115/airhead-c-headnatures-head-83358.html Cruisers forum #2 - http://www.cruisersforum.com/forums/f115/compostingtoilets-33029-28.html Cruisers forum #3 - http://www.cruisersforum.com/forums/f115/compostingtoilet-natures-head-85662.html Sailnet forum - http://www.sailnet.com/forums/gear-maintenance/58601composting-toilet-report-34.html Sailfar forum - http://sailfar.net/forum/index.php/topic,3470.msg38099.html#new Landfallvoyages blog (graphic, informative and entertaining) http://landfallvoyages.com/?p=1542

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BoonJon News (homesteaders, hunters, survivalists, etc.) I am going to experiment with a closed system for recycling the solid waste from the BoonJon. The purpose of it is to create a simple system made from available materials that would not only produce food but effectively handle waste. It goes something like this. 1. Pre-composted solid waste from the BoonJon is dumped with food waste (fruits and vegetable cuttings and fish scraps) into in a Black Soldier Fly larva breeder. These are fascinating insects (flies that look like wasps) that are cultivated for animal feed. 2. Black Soldier Fly larva are harvested and fed to fish in an aquaculture garden. 3. Black Soldier Fly castings and remaining animal bones are placed in the garden compost mound to compost further. 4. Fish tank water is cycled to water the aquaculture garden. 5. Collected urine is poured onto the compost mound. 6. Garden compost is used in the garden. This would be a system that produces food and utilizes waste at its maximum potential. If you are interested in the specifics, search black soldier flies and aquaculture on YouTube. Ill let you know how things progress in the next newsletter. For the Boonjon owners, now the only difference between the BoonJon and the C-Head is that the BoonJon will not come with a vent hood adaptor. All BoonJons will be made to the same standard as C-Heads and will be marine grade. The name will be used only to differentiate the application and installation instructions (that is, for use on land as opposed to water) a distinction without a real difference. Stainless steel housing lid hinges and waterproof materials and adhesives in all cases. The BoonJon is ideal for land applications where water is at a premium and weather or other adverse conditions makes it advantageous to stay inside when using the toilet. In addition, the urine diverting method of waste management has not only the advantage of controlling odor, but it also allows you to use the urine separately from the solid waste as fertilizer for growing food. In this regard, the BoonJon is the ultimate in a survival waste management system. The BoonJon is portable, compact, waterless, odorless, easy to maintain and clean, and it produces manageable waste that assists with food production. Survivalists will be interested to know that solid human waste, while not recommended for food production, can be rendered much safer for this use by processing it in a solar dehydrator. There are numerous videos on how to make a food dehydrator on YouTube that would work. As some of you probably already know, I was an Army Special Forces medic back in the day. Part of my job description was in oversight of guerilla base sanitation management and preventive medicine. This experience has given me an understanding of the basics and importance of safe waste management in a survival situation. Disease has probably killed as many soldiers and civilians as bombs and bullets.

With that knowledge in mind, I made a simple, field expedient, solid waste dehydrator from a black plastic trash can, a paint can, a piece of plywood (you can substitute a concrete block for the last two), a plastic milk crate, a 20-gallon plastic bin and a few common plastic PVC pipe parts. The interior reaches temperatures above 140 degrees Fahrenheit in the summer. The removal of water and the exposure to high temperatures will kill almost 100% of any human pathogens, parasites, fly larva and other vermin in the waste and then it can be added to the compost destined for the garden. One added bonus is that if you cover the bottom of the trash bin with boric acid, diatomaceous earth or insect sticky pads, you create the worlds largest roach hotel and fly trap which adds in controlling disease and unwanted insects in the area. For a video tour of the dehydrator click here It is a work in progress http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WssExSVeGcw _____________________________________ Some cool advice from a C-Head owner As a master herbalist I will share a tip with you...any time you have a musty smell, mix up a batch of probiotic tablets from a health food or drug store. 25 tablets to a gallon of water...spray this on whatever is causing the musty odor and the probiotic enzymes will eat the bacteria that are causing the odor. No more smell and probiotic's are naturally occurring bacteria so no side effects as you would get from bleach. Kathy I continue to experiment with ways to make the C-Head more odor free. When solid waste is mixed with a carbon medium, it immediately takes on a musty potato-like smell. This can become a little overpowering over time and that is why we would ventilate the housing. I have been experimenting with a previously mentioned product Febreze or more specifically Febreze Extra Strength. It comes in a bottle with a blue label and it works incredibly well. I have disconnected my ventilation system from my home test BoonJon and am only using Febreze for odor control. It seems to completely control the musty smell. I simply spray two to three shots into the solid waste opening after churning the toilet and then spray a shot into the urine diverter and the results are a mild perfume smell from the product and the urine has virtually no smell at all, even when I am pouring it out. When I open the seat lid and remove the sealing lid, there is no odor, nor is it present while sitting there.

I had been experimenting with a corn based cat litter called ARM & HAMMER Essentials Multi-Cat Natural* Clumping Litter- It worked too well and made the bathroom smell like a French whorehouse every time I churned it. I discovered that if I only added a cup to the initial

charge, it worked very well in removing the musty odor and replacing it with a mild perfumy smell.

I suggest that anybody using an unvented C-Head or BoonJon try one of these two methods and see how it works for them.

------------------------------------------------Found this description of a portable toilet on the web: Capt Rob Cozens newsletter http://www.marine-surveyor.com/newsletters/9910.html Portapotties require no plumbing; they may or may not have a reservoir for flush water. Bowl contents drain by gravity into a removable tank which is carried off the boat and dumped, although some larger models can be fitted for pumpout. Typically they hold between two and five gallons. Portapotties are automatically CG Certified Type III MSDs.
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I hope this information is helpful. Please send me any comments, questions, ideas or articles for publishing that you think might be of interest and I will include them in the newsletter. April will be the next edition. Sandy Graves The C-Head Newsletter Publisher
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