Dry flush toilet eliminates stink
A new American product promises to make “doing the business” in a caravan a clean, odourless experienceMany caravans and motorhomes these days offer the convenience of an on-board toilet. But despite the use of deodorising chemicals, power-operated water flushers and separate cassette or ‘black’ tanks, it can still prove a smelly and unsavoury experience, particularly when it comes time to remove the waste.
But a new American invention promises to make RV sanitation issues a thing of the past. Two years in development, Dry Flush is an odorless, waterless toilet designed for use in RVs and boats.
According to the Dry Flush website (and demonstrated in the video below), the waste is automatically wrapped during a “flush” and hidden in a lined container under the seat. When the cartridge is expended (after about 15 uses), you simply lift up the toilet seat, remove the liner bag containing the wrapped waste and throw it in the bin.
The manufacturer guarantees “You will never see or smell waste at any time”, with waste able to be left for three weeks or more without odor escaping.
The device works inside a normal size toilet, and has only one moving part. It runs on 12 volts, via a plug-in adaptor, or a battery pack that works for 300 flushes.
Dry Flush has applied for patents for the toilet, as the only waterless unit that has both flushing action and a bagging system for waste.
Motivated by smelly RV dunnies inventor Rod Livingston, first came up with the idea to use air pressure to create the flush that sends waste into a bag.
After much trial and error, he then came up with a system that added a single layer of aluminum molecules to keep the smell in, not unlike that used in the laserdisc industry to keep moisture out.
According to Livingston, the waste bag "keeps the odor in, just like a package of tuna or potato chips. Nothing can get through a very thin layer of metal like that."
Manufactured in Connecticut, the Dry Flush currently costs $420 in the US while replacement cartridges come in packs of three and cost $49.
At the moment there's no indication yet whether a version will be made available for sale in Australia.
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