We’ve heard of off-grid toilets that macerate, compost, incinerate and electro-wrap. We even stumbled on one that “super-composts” just a few weeks ago. We guess we should have expected one that processes waste into a fine fog … but we did not. The French-designed Etteliot S is an add-on for existing dry separating toilets that automatically electrolyzes and aerosolizes urine so campers don’t have to see it again later. Inspired or insane?
Dry separating toilets have become fairly ubiquitous in RVing, overlanding, tiny homesteading and other off-grid lifestyles, and they’re offered by more brands than we’d care to count. They can vary in specifics, but each one splits waste into separate urine and feces containers.
The “dry” part of the equation refers both to the complete lack of water and the treatment of feces, which is separated from the urine and either bagged for immediate disposal or covered in a deodorizing desiccant like sawdust or dried coffee grounds that assist with the composting process.
Etteliot
The urine collection is simpler but not dry – the liquid is funneled down a hole at the front of the toilet and collected in a bottle below. Once the bottle is full, users are left to dump it – perhaps in a flush toilet if their time off-grid is temporary, like when camping, or directly outside as fertilizer, in an evaporation bed or in a compost pile if they’re living more permanently off-grid without access to a plumbed toilet.
The addition of an Etteliot S system makes for what might be called a drier separating toilet. It goes to work automatically, pulling urine out of the collection bottle through a feed tube and filtering out any solid particles that might have fallen in. It then sends the urine into the main housing where an electrolysis process neutralizes bacteria, enzymes, urea and ammonia to create a clean, odorless liquid that gets discharged out the drain pipe as an ultrasonic mist out. The pipe can be routed out the wall or floor, and Etteliot tends to show it dropped down to the underbody of an RV.
Wood & Van
For a price of €950 (US$1,100), we’re not sure the juice is worth the squeeze for the average part-time adventurer, but if you’re living off-grid more permanently and don’t relish the process of emptying the urine bottle, it might be worth installing this rather simple, seamless upgrade. The Etteliot S design also seems like it could be a natural solution for denser off-grid living, such as tiny home communities within cities or suburbs, where you don’t have much private space to be flinging piss out every few days.
But considering the Etteliot S system costs multiple times more than a basic dry separating toilet itself, we’re not sure how hungry the market really is. Plus it requires a 12-V power source to operate and a regular descaling maintenance regimen to keep running smoothly.
That said, Etteliot seems to be pushing it more toward camper van builders, and as an added feature that’s price is absorbed within the much larger invoice of a custom camper van or expedition vehicle, it makes more sense. It certainly simplifies a potential headache of road life and helps set a vehicle apart from the rest of the crowded market. Etteliot has worked with French camper converters like Wood & Van, which offers the system as part of its van conversion packages.
Plus, firing filtered urine steam out from your van chassis every flush is a fun party trick for campground and tailgate.
Etteliot
In addition to the independent S package, Etteliot packages the system with a Trelino dry separating toilet, offers a DIY kit for building and equipping your own dry toilet, and sells conversion kits for several Thetford portable cassette toilets. The Etteliot S unit processes up to 4.8 liters of urine per day.
What we’d really like to see is for Etteliot to team with CompoCloset in adding the Etteliot S system to the new S1 toilet, a hybrid dry separating design that features an auto-bagging system for feces and a urine bottle. With the addition of the Etteliot S, the entire hands-on part of waste disposal, not counting physically relieving oneself, would be minimized to throwing sealed, odorless baggies in the garbage.
Etteliot’s sales footprint is concentrated in France but also includes select locations around Spain, Germany and other EU countries. It will be interesting to see if this type of system catches on, especially now that waterless auto-wrapping toilets seem to be moving toward the mainstream.
Source: Etteliot
