Van Dwelling Home Improvement Tips: Cheap Toilets

It's the middle of the night, your safely parked alongside a plumbing supply store for the night but there isn't a toilet around for miles. The last thing you want to do is get caught using the back alley as your urinal. So what's a person to do when you can't hold it any longer?

There are a number of options when it comes to providing a receptacle for the after product of that fine supper you had last night. It may appear the most convenient would be to install waste tanks and a permanently mounted toilet. Sure it's nice to be able to sit down and read the paper while your ... but do you have the room to dedicate not only the space for the toilet but the required waste tanks and water system that make it work.

Van Dwellers tend to look at things from a "Less is More" point of view. Maybe a Porta Potti arrangement would be more practical. With both the small water tank and waste tank being built in a Porta Potti won't require any further plumbing work to be fully functional.

Of course there is one problem with both these methods of human waste disposal. That being exactly where do you actually dispose of this waste your toting around once the tanks are full? This can be a problem, as self contained toilet systems are somewhat aimed at campers who would be staying at campgrounds. Finding a dump station when your living the Stealth Van Dweller lifestyle limits you to the occasional public dumping station or RV friendly truck stops. Depending on where your headed it could be days before you happen across a legitimate place to empty your waste tanks.

There are a couple more options to consider. First is the .Hacek style porta toilet. Lined with a plastic bag, it's primarily a one time use and dispose situation. The biggest negative is they are generally made of rather light duty plastic and they aren't very tall. Trying to balance yourself over one of these things is a real challenge for anyone over the age of 20 and weighing more then 98 lbs. I fail the test on both accounts.

Similar but more user friendly is the Bumper Dumper which is basically a toilet seat that mounts to your receiver hitch. Strong and at a more comfortable height, but certainly lacking in privacy.

Finally we get to the solution to the problem. A simple 5 gal plastic bucket, often found as a throw away container for various food products but as in my case purchased at the local home center for less then $3. They also sold a simple but well fitting cover for the bucket for another $1.25. With tax you have a sturdy receptacle for your output at a cost of about $5.

Final outfitting can be a matter of personal choice. A wooden housing can be built to house the bucket complete with a standard bathroom flip up seat. Kind of takes you back to the old Out House days doesn't it. This will provide good comfort, but here again it will take up a fair sized piece of valuable real estate in your already confining Van Dwelling.

Myself, I chose to keep it simple and just go with the bucket. It's at a comfortable height for me and will support my 240 lb weight. Besides I don't plan on using it all that often or sitting on it for all that long.

As to disposal of its contents, the most important part is before use to dump a couple cups of clean Kitty Litter into the plastic bag liner. Instead of going the cheap route when it comes to liners I recommend buying a roll of Hefty Tall Kitchen Plastic Bags. After use, tie the plastic bag shut tightly, then maybe put the whole bag into a Wal-Mart Shopping bag for that one more layer of protection.

There's some debate as to what to do with your "Bag of Poo" . Recommending that you do anything other then what local ordinances require would be foolish. I can only say, if you were traveling with a cat, and that cat's litter pan required emptying, what would you do? Personally I would bag the material securely and deposit it in the nearest garbage receptacle. You can take it from there as to where you will find any bags of used kitty litter coming from my van.