Dear Elisabeth, dear all,

Thank you for the realistic documentation, showing the EcoSmellstop dry urinal and the Separett villa separation toilet.

We supply the Separett villa since 10 years and produce the dry urinal ("URINUS") with positive feedback, advising our customers, to use a spray bottle with diluted vinegar or citric and wipe it with a toilet tissue or else after. The dilution with water should be 1 : 20, not to destroy the membrane trap. The dilution can be sprayed as required. It helps to avoid calcification and has in our long-term experience (German research project at Valley View University, Accra, Ghana) no negative influence on the collected urine and on the trap itself. For cleaning the surface of the urine drain, we recommend a toilet cleaner on the basis of vinegar or citric acid and to use a discarded soft toothbrush.

Also special cleaners are offered by producers of dry urinals on the base of concentrated bacteria spores. The application is the same as described above, but the spray film of the surface should not be wiped.

We also offer a tablett for the urine basin, which contains enzymes to prevent urine salt deposits not to block the urine pipe. To activate the function of the tablet, Separett recommends to rinse the urine basin with a small cup of water after each use.

Best regards
Wolfgang

Dear all,

I want to add something to this old thread about waterless urinals, because I wanted to show you what the change in colour of white plastic urinals, which Wolfgang mentioned above on 29 June 2012, looks like.

So I recently took close-up photos of the waterless urinal and Separett dry toilet that I have in my house since 3.5 years and 4.5 years, respectively.

There is now a yellow stain around both urine drains which is impossible to remove with ordinary cleaning methods:

Waterless urinal after 3.5 years of use:

Stain around urine drain of plastic urinal after 3.5 years of use by Sustainable sanitation , on Flickr

Separett toilet close-up (after 4.5 years of use):

Stain around urine drain of Separett toilet after 4.5 years of use by Sustainable sanitation , on Flickr

Stain around urine drain of Separett toilet after 4.5 years of use by Sustainable sanitation , on Flickr

Personally, it does not bother me, because it does not change the functionality. But I am an "eco-freak", whereas "normal users" would probably have a problem with this. Is there any method to avoid this? Or is that the downside of plastic (versus ceramic) that one has to live with for the much lower price? I haven't tried yet with vinegar and so forth, maybe that would remove some of the colouring.

By the way, here you can see the urinal and toilet when they were new in 2009 and 2008, respectively:
www.flickr.com/photos/gtzecosan/sets/721...653/with/8915941421/
(quite a nice little demonstration on this simple system in a German household over a number of years now)

And here you can see the compost that comes out at the end (compost made from kitchen and toilet waste (i.e. faeces and toilet paper) together).

Sieving the compost with a coarse sieve by Sustainable sanitation , on Flickr

But that's a different topic.

Regards,
Elisabeth

Dear Elisabeth,
dear all,

We sell dry urinals mainly to gardeners with allotment houses to reduce application of additives like dry bark in our mulch toilets. Also these customers like to have a dry urinal to avoid misuse of our urine separating toilets by male users, when they don´t sit. The function of the Smellstop trap is perfect. It is also in use for many years in our research project at the Valley View University in Accra, Ghana. Many gardeners fix the urine bowl without trap on the outside wall, hidden by bushes or similar, and are happy with it.

Because of the change in colour at white coloured plastic urinals, we offer them only in granitic or anthracite colour. However, we also have a white ceramic one with a Smellstop trap inside, which is about EUR 250, excl. taxes and shipment (see attachment).

Best regards

Wolfgang

Dear Ola and Wolfgang,

Thanks for bringing up the topic of portable urinals here, we haven't had enough on urinals yet, I think. I like urinals, they are so easy to make waterless and to collect the urine with. Since the video which you posted above is from me and my bathroom, I feel like I should post a little reply here!

My husband really likes his urinal and we often wonder why they are not more popular in private homes. No more fights with your husband about leaving the toilet seat down!
I guess the reason why people don't have them is because they take up a little bit of extra space. In our case, we were lucky as there was a "spare" toilet room which we are using for our waterless urinal and dry toilet, see here:

A modern bathroom with everything you need for urine diversion by Sustainable sanitation , on Flickr

Close-up of the urinal (we have since lowered it because it was a bit too high):

Portable waterless urinal by Sustainable sanitation , on Flickr

I must actually take some up-to-date photos soon, these ones are from March 2009 which is when we got the urinal. Nowadays it doesn't look quite as white anymore around the drain, but still fine (a bit more stained yellow).

This is a photo of the above-mentioned EcoSmellStop (ESS) from Addicom which is in the drain and which works great (it prevents odour from the urine barrel to enter into the bathroom):

EcoSmellstop close-up by Sustainable sanitation , on Flickr

And back view, showing the silicon curtain:

EcoSmellstop close-up by Sustainable sanitation , on Flickr

If you want to see more photos, just click on the flickr link above and you will get to the entire set. I promise to take some new ones soon. My EcoSmellStop is now about 2 years old, it has some few incustrations but not much (they can be cleaned off) and it still works well.

A question to Wolfgang: how well is business going with these portable urinals? How many of these portable urinals have you sold so far and to what kind of client? Mainly people in allotment gardens? What are your experiences so far with the urinals and th EcoSmellStop?

Here is a photo where I took the urinal with me to the BBQ party of my former boss where we even distributed the urine in his big garden afterwards:

View of location of urinal: at the base of the stairs to the cellar by Sustainable sanitation , on Flickr

Applying the diluted urine to the soil next to the bushes by Sustainable sanitation , on Flickr

Kind regards,
Elisabeth

Dear Wolfgang, thanks a lot for the information, good to know what is available for this kind of usage. I would definitely want the Smellstop to come along. I will let you know if/when I decide to get one!
All the best,
Ola

Dear Ola, We have a license production of the Addicom urinal in Germany and we offer them in two colurs (bright grey granitic and anthracite, see attachments). There is version with a Smellstop-trap for inside installation and a version without trap for outside installation. We could improve the quality, which however means that also the prize is higher than in South Africa: The prize for the urinal without trap is about EUR 75, together with 1 m hose about EUR 82. The prize for the urinal including the Smellstop trap is about EUR 139, together with a stainless steel bracket about EUR 160. All prizes are without taxes and shipment. We are shipping worldwide. Greetings from Wolfgang www.berger-biotechnik.com

Hi, thanks for the reply.
Just to clarify, I'm interested in a waterless (portable) urinal and not a dry toilet. At least for now. As far as I know Separett does not have that kind of urinal in their portfolio. Any ideas where I can find one closer to home?

forum.susana.org/forum/categories/34-uri...are-store-in-germany

Says made in Sweden... so you are probably able to get it in Norway easily.

I'm planning to install a simple waterless urinal in my appartment in Norway (with access to a small garden) and to use a setup similar to what I've seen on this youtube video:

Simple waterless sanitation at private residence in Germany (dry toilet)

I like that it's light weight/portable and able to rest on the piping and plastic barrel alone, since I want to leave the bathroom wall unaffected if I can. On the youtube posting it's written that it's imported from South Africa - and I guess it is an Addicom urinal? Does anybody know of other producers of portable urinals like that, preferably closer to Norway, or is importing from South Africa the only way to get hold of one? How much would such a urinal cost?

Thanks!
Ola