Strange question but...is there a way to turn human feces into a benign (smelling at least) product with commonly available products?

[user801028]

As per my previous thread about a stove my venture into living in a van full time has been a great education in self-sufficiency. As such I have to do commonly taken for granted tasks myself, even those thought of as less desirable as per the title.

 

If I am out in the wilds with no one nearby then it is no problem to bury my waste, making sure to use bio degradable bags to hold it, and let nature take its course.

 

I am often not in nature though. The common advice in the vanlife community is that you can just dump it in any public trash bin since that is where baby nappies (diapers for you americans) go as well as dog poop bags. Although I have done this I do not feel right doing it. It feels anti-social and I feel like I am doing something nefarious and makes me uncomfortable.

 

I am wondering if there is a way to mix certain readily available chemicals or whatnot to make the waste matter more benign such that it wouldn't be offensive so I could store in in my van without it feeling nasty as well as feeling better about throwing in the trash mixed in with my other trash.

 

In the vanlife world there are commercially available toilets which incinerate it. Sounds great but they cost a few grand.

 

I know drying out is a way to preserve food and removes smell. Could that help here? Although the act of 'cooking' one's poop would probably cause a huge stink in the process so not keen on doing that in the enclosed space of my van let alone if passers by may get a whiff, unless chemicals could be added to subdue that.

 

I know criminals use hydrochloric acid to decompose bodies so would probably do the same? Too extreme for the job at hand and risk not to mention accessibility but perhaps the theory can inform using a weaker, relatively safer acid to break it down?

 

We know that waste turns into compost if left in the ground for a year or so but I don't have that time or the land to bury it. So I am wondering if I can do a similar process in a compressed fashion. Well it doesn't have to turn to compost. My goal is just to make it benign smelling enough as to be unrecognizable as its original product giving peace of mind to place in public trash bins.

 

Perhaps my question is naive and if anyone could do this they would be very rich selling a proprietary product? Or maybe there aren't market pressures for it since most humans are happy with their home plumbing systems.

 

I know 'water treatment' plants treat human waste to extract water but have no idea of the process or how specialized it is and whether any of the steps are accessible to the lay person.

[TheVat]

6 hours ago, user801028 said:

Well it doesn't have to turn to compost. My goal is just to make it benign smelling enough as to be unrecognizable as its original product giving peace of mind to place in public trash bins.

 

Perhaps my question is naive and if anyone could do this they would be very rich selling a proprietary product? Or maybe there aren't market pressures for it since most humans are happy with their home plumbing systems.

 

I know 'water treatment' plants treat human waste to extract water but have no idea of the process or how specialized it is and whether any of the steps are accessible to the lay person.

Some processes are more feasible when done on a larger communal scale.  Sewage treatment might be one of those.  Some cities started using sewage to make fertilizer, though some of those programs were discontinued due to PFAS and other toxins turning up in the product that farmers were putting on their fields.

https://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2013/04/10/176822392/cities-turn-sewage-into-black-gold-for-local-farms

And home composter devices generally cannot handle human poop.  (unless it's a large and expensive composting toilet, which cannot be used with a van)  Nor are the chemicals that would neutralize the odor anything you would want to be adding to a landfill or sewage system.

Emptying your van receptacle into a public toilet is likely the best destination.  Or networking with someone in the area who has a composting toilet and is willing to take shit from you, so to speak.