Separett Villa Urine-Separating Compost Toilet

I waited over a month to leave this review. This toilet is truly AMAZING. I'm so glad I decided to go this route instead of all the other compost toilets on the market. I bought this for my upstairs living space where there would be no possibility to have a sewage drain. First of all, the design of this toilet is very well and it is super high quality. I was a littk weary about installing it, but it really wasn't bad, took a total of about 2 hours to install. I had to run an additional extra long 3" pvc pipe for the vent. Note that it only comes with a very short piece of pvc and one 90 degree bend, and if you want to do extra bends and extra length for the vent, follow the instructions exactly. The pipe will match up. I didn't use any glue either. Just tapped with a rubber mallet gently that way if needed to be cleaned the vent could be removed. My only thoughts on improvement are the instructions are a little vague on some other things and I felt some things were out of order. For instance, you should know this also has a urine line that connects to the back of the toilet and needs to run outside. This I didn't know until I bought the toilet. So, a second hole is needed to be drilled out of the house and the pipe is only about 6 ft long included so same deal if you need to extend it. This pipe should be attached prior to mounting! It says to mount the toilet first which makes it nearly impossible to attach the pipe so I had to unmount and remount it. Beyond that, people have also complained in here about how the compost bags don't last long and if you don't empty in time you'll be cleaning the bucket. Not me! I don't know why nobody suggested, but I use a thick large black glad bag and place it inside the bucket first, then I place the compost bag inside that! I was able to get 5 weeks of use by myself every day before I needed to clean it out! By then you could start smelling it outside. Cleaning it out was easy. Put the lid on the bucket and pulled it out. Then simply extracted the bag to the garbage. Everything was contained, no cleaning necessary. The smell outside disappeared by the day after. The urine drain I pour white vinegar in after every use, this keeps urine from staining the toilet and also cleans the line from the acid build up. Don't miss this step!! It will save you a lot of headache and is very cheap. Lastly, it is very comfortable. As a male I have no issues sitting down and going number 2 and number 1 in the different drains at the same time. I have yet to have any of the two cross over and need any sort of cleanup. The only little thing is the flap likes to stay open after I get up instead of close automatically, so I simply just put the seat down and tap it down quicky and it closes it. Overall 10/10. Worth every penny! Great company!

I did a lot of research on the composting toilet concept - most of these toilets do the composting in the toilet itself. If you have ever had a compost pile, though, you know that it often takes months to achieve finished compost. I saw other toilets with mixers inside and varying levels of complexity. I decided to finally pull the trigger on this toilet because of its simplicity. The composting is performed in the compost pile (outside) and you don't have much interaction with poop. That was the theory. Anyway, we finally had some opportunities to use it in our little guest house. So far, the reaction has been stellar. People always ask, so do I need to put something in after I poop? No... It is pretty simple, and now that I used it myself, I could not believe how much it was like using a regular toilet in North America. What I did notice upon arrival is that the materials aren't as "heavy" as I expected. What I mean by this is that it seems like a lot of parts are made out of plastic. I contacted the manufacturer about this topic - because one of the pieces inside had actually broken during shipping. It was a part I could live without - but I was worried about other parts breaking. The manufacturer wrote back VERY quickly and was extremely good about giving me confidence that they would take care of anything if it went wrong. As such, I hope they stay in business because I really like this toilet and it would be a shame if any proprietary parts broke. This toilet looks nice (and more like a regular toilet), it works great... and after realizing just how simple it is to grab the bag out of the bucket and put it either in the trash or deep in the compost pile, I am SO GLAD that I didn't go with any other design than this one. I give it 10 stars because it is just a minute to clean and much more pleasant than I imagine one of the other popular systems to be (I think you have to unhook that one from the floor to empty it?) Finally, I just want to add that we have experienced zero odor from the toilet. The fan works perfectly. It really is an amazing unit.

The transaction was smooth, and delivery was fast. Just to let you know our toilet usage. We have a 750sf cabin that is primarily used on weekends and for a full week now and then. There have been long stretches of time when we do not go. Most of the time there are 3-4 people at the cabin and a few times we had 10 people. We had a composting toilet at our cabin for 14 years. There were many problems with it. It was the type that had a heater, churn, and you had to add compost medium. I felt like I had to constantly monitor it. A few times guest did not fully understand how it worked and broke it. I got tired of repairing it and threw it away. Most of the Pros in the list are based on the problems I had with my old toilet. I talked with people that had different composting toilets and researched different composting toilet models. The Separett Villa 9215 is the best choice for our needs. Pros • Price of the 9215 is competitive. • No need for compost medium. • We can use it shortly after arriving at the cabin during freezing temperatures. No compost to thaw before using. • When we or guest leave the Separett gets emptied. No compost is left in the toilet when the cabin is vacant. Huge Plus! • Easy to use. Minimal user instructions. First time users can understand. • Few moving parts. If something breaks, I can easily remove the compost bucket and repair the toilet. All the parts can be accessed by opening the toilet. • Emptying the Separett is fast and easy. • Low power draw. • Quiet • Vent fan works well. No odors. I installed 30” of pipe with one sweep 90 for venting. We have a wood stove and a range hood fan that compete for makeup air. • The Separett takes up less room, looks good, and feels good to sit on. Cons • The installation instructions state you can use SCH 40 PVC. I decided to use white SCH 40 PVC because the fittings that were provided did not fit snug and I needed a longer piece of straight pipe. The vent grid will not go inside SCH 40 PVC. The I.D. of SCH 40 is slightly smaller than the PVC that comes with the toilet. The O.D. is the same. I had to transition to a short piece of PVC that is provided so the vent grid could be installed. I believe the PVC that comes with the toilet is SCH 20.

This isn't a thing people usually talk about but when it comes to compost toilet reviews, I've read just about everything. We've had this toilet for about a year and a half now. So here's what I've learned. So here goes. 1) Install is pretty easy as long as you've got the tools to cut a hole in the wall and you measure twice before cutting anything. 2) I know people say they use composting bags but with loose stools, those would begin to break down too quickly. 3) If you aren't sure if the fan really works, try accidentally unplugging it for a day. You'll be convinced after that! 4) Cleaning the bucket is pretty straight forward and simple. Definitely breathe through your mouth during the process. You'll thank me for that tip later. 5) There is a spot behind the bucket to the left that gets feces on it. I don't know how this happens. I just know it does. To combat this, I shove a paper plate in there and toss it in the bag when I change it. 6) If ANYTHING gets under the bucket somehow, cleaning that out is nearly impossible. There is tubing under there and the spinning tray the bucket sits on somehow (no idea how) stuff gets under there. I've yet to figure out how to clean that area. 7) The little divider thing gets urine stains under the front and if someone doesn't sit far enough back for a bowel movement (you have to sit ALL THE WAY BACK), then feces will get on the back of the divider. Or worse, it will miss the hole in the back entirely and you'll be putting on some gloves to clean a dirty job out of the urine space. Which will be very difficult because of the slots in the urine output. 7.1) If someone with dangles needs to pee, they may want to put on some gloves and remove the divider first. Otherwise their dangles will rest on the divider and that's uncomfy. Also, if you're getting on in years and you're dangles dangle more than they used to, the resting might happen even if you remove the divider. Sorry, I don't have a solution for that one. 8) Speaking of the urine output, it will get stained. We've tried the blue pucks Separett makes and they don't help. I've had to soak it in bleach and that is literally the only thing I've found that works. Which I don't like because we're trying really hard to not use chemicals. 9) This isn't our vacation toilet that we use occasionally, this is used daily by two adults and occasionally by visitors. 10) Visitors will need a toilet tutorial. And yes, EVERYONE must sit down to pee. 11) The difficult to attach rubber thing on the bottom of the toilet that's "optional" should not be optional. If you don't put that on there, you risk your toilet moving around. The last thing you want moving around is a toilet with a urine output tube at the back. I'm sure I don't need to go into further detail on that. 12) Caulking is your friend. I recommend a good clear bathroom and tub caulk to go around the entire base of the toilet. 13) The seat. We've found that after several months of daily use, the seat gets loose and needs to be tightened back down as it will sort of "clunk" and make you startle. So just good maintenance on the seat is recommended. 14) Some reviews will say they only clean it once a month. We clean ours weekly. If we wait a few extra days, we can definitely tell it's time to clean it by smell and by weight when I lift the bag out. 15) Paper. Some people put their paper in the toilet, some use a trash can for urine paper and some use s trash can for all paper. This is really up to you. We put ours in the toilet. We tried the trash can for urine paper and it smelled quite quickly. So we went back to putting it all in the toilet. Would I buy again? Yes, absolutely! Does it need a few improvements? Also, yes!

Easy to install (I am experienced with remodel and home repair, had to open the backside of the wall to tie in to existing drain and install an outlet added to existing gfi circuit.) and we love that the liquid waste goes out to gray water instead of having a container to monitor and empty. Love that it's normal height for a toilet, too! Our family of three, including a teenage boy, have been using this as primary toilet for about 7 weeks now. We find 2 to 3 weeks is time to empty, mostly because the toilet paper piles up so much. Adjusting toilet paper use would push extend the interval. The exhaust fan is barely audible and fully eliminates odors. You must follow instructions and clean the fan screen regularly. It's amazing how fast lint builds up. Takes a little practice to get used to the split aim, especially for the ladies. Guys, just sit down to pee. It will splatter if you stand, no matter how careful you are. The design is really good - if you sit, there will be hardly any spray! Unit as shipped by Amazon was damaged in transit. The original box and packing just aren't up to FedEx/UPS handling. I didn't want to send the whole thing back for one broken part, so contacted the manufacturer and they promptly arranged to replace the part at no charge. Truly great attitude and service! Yes, it costs way more than a Lovable Loo, but it looks great and maintenance and cleaning are a breeze.

This is a great toilet, as long as you have the fan going there is no odor. It all works well and isn't hard to empty or clean. We use it full time so I empty it weekly. They time diverts into a drainage system outside. The bags from separate are a bit pricey but work well. I use shredded pet bedding for moisture in bottom of bag. We will buy another for our camper soon.

I bought this toilet for my RV to eliminate trips to the dump station. It was easy to install, with clear directions and almost everything I needed. A urine trap would have been nice, but I just made my own from 45 degree pvc fittings. It does suck air out of the bathroom, so I had to change my heater output so it did not suck all my heat out the toilet! But the plus side of that is no smell, even when you are using it. You can feel the air being sucked into the toilet and all the smells go right out the vent. I highly recommend taking the vent to the roof and using the vertical vent cover. I used the horizontal venting right out the back to get up and running very quickly and the vent was right about head level. Every time I went behind the trailer, I would catch a whiff. Putting the vertical vent cover above roof level solves that problem. In addition, I use almost no water now, and with only urine going in the black water tank, it takes weeks to fill up. Update after 9 months of use: I took a trip after using my Separett Villa toilet, and was horrified at the smells I produced while using flush toilets. I got so used to absolutely no smell over 9 months of using the Villa. I was glad to get home and breathe freely again. I built a composting bin out of pallets, just screwed 4 together and presto, composting bin. I use straw, lime, and pine needles and cones, of which I have a huge abundance laying around on the ground. Start with an 18" base to provide a buffer between the compost bags from the Villa and cover with 6" of straw. I also use some chicken wire on top, just to make sure no animals try digging into it. All summer, no smell or flies, so it really works. A final tip. Do not take the bag out of the bucket, especially if you use the bags that come with the toilet. Just open the toilet, fold the bag tabs over each other, and put the top on the bucket. Then you can just lift the bucket out of the toilet, and carry it to your compost heap, pop the top, and dump it in, sprinkle in some lime and cover it with straw. This really minimizes the handling of the contents and eliminates the risk of the bag ripping (happened to me, not fun). With one person, I only have to empty the Villa every 2 to 3 weeks, so the bag typically seeps a little liquid in the bottom of the bucket, which I just spray with disinfectant and rinse out and dry before I put the new bag in.

This is our second composting toilet in the past decade. We originally bought a nature’s head and were very happy with it. The Separatt toilet is more aesthetically pleasing and much easier to clean. The urine diverting setup is also much better with this toilet. Yes, it’s expensive but worth it because we will use this system for many years. There is some serious genius that went into the detailed design of Separatt. The keys for success with this composting toilet are the fan, ease of cleanup, and a foolproof setup for keeping solids separate from liquids. Couple of things we have learned: Keep a pitcher of water next to the toilet and pour in a small amount after urinating. We also have a spray bottle with a mixture of white vinegar and water to give the urine drain a couple of spritzes afterward. No stains, no bugs, and no odor. Two adults can go over a week (full time use, longer if weekends only) without need to empty the solids bin. If someone in the family has loose stools (due to illness or medications etc), you can sprinkle some spaghnum (peet moss) over the waste to absorb excess liquid; we keep a container near the toilet just in case. Most importantly, there is no odor-ZERO SMELL from this setup. Highly recommend.