SOG toilet emptying... bio-hazard ? (1 Viewer)

scotjimland

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I was thinking of installing a SOG In my new van.. then it occurred to me.. do SOG toilets, (or indeed those that only have a washing liquid instead of a proprietary toilet chemical) , present a bio-hazard to those emptying them?

Does anyone take precautions.. ie .. use disposable cloves, mask and or goggles when emptying them? I've certainly never seen anyone doing that.. but there must be some risk from splashes or droplets in the air getting onto your hands, clothing or being inhaled..

I know SOGs are popular and their users sing their praises.. and I can see the benefit of having the gasses expelled outside.. but if you also need to use toilet fluids to be safe, frankly I see little benefit.


What do you think ?

Do you

a) Use a SOG without chemicals
b) Use a SOG with toilet chemicals
c) Don't use a SOG
 

Snowbird

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SOG with Tescos finest bio. No gasmask, goggles or green rubber suit when emptying. How did you manage to empty the RV black tank Jim :).
 

Theonlysue

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No sog. No chemicals. Daily emptying with gloves.

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GJH

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I use bio washing liquid but no SOG. I keep a pair of gloves in the van in case the disposal point is filthy but hardly ever use them. A good hand wash when finished, using anti-bacterial liquid, has always been sufficient. Having been brought up in the country, where we played in farm fields often enough, has probably given me some immunity and changing nappies provided the rest :LOL:
 

Snowbird

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I use bio washing liquid but no SOG. I keep a pair of gloves in the van in case the disposal point is filthy but hardly ever use them. A good hand wash when finished, using anti-bacterial liquid, has always been sufficient. Having been brought up in the country, where we played in farm fields often enough, has probably given me some immunity and changing nappies provided the rest :LOL:
Changing nappies...ugggh, please don't go there Graham, I feel all queazy thinking about it 20 years later.
 
Aug 27, 2009
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I guess one of the problems with using washing liquid is no movement in a static van tank. Washing machines work on rapid mixing and movement. I can say that after just one night of liquid only usage, the content is putrid. I wouldn't want a splash in my eye, mouth or even on a hand.

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icantremember

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SOG - No chemicals &empty at least once a day if possible.

I usually wear rubber gloves as you never know where the flush water hose has been before.:eek:

I also try to stand back and keep my gob shut!

These are exactly the same precautions I would take if using chemicals.

The gloves are chemical resistant and get sprayed with anti bacterial fluid after use and get washed regularly.
 
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DBK

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I just wash my hands thoroughly after emptying it. The contents are not a great risk - unless someone in the MH has cholera or ebola.

I can't remember the proportion but if you took a swab from the hands of say a hundred people you would find faecal bacteria on quite a few of them.
 

trekkin

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Like an RV tank I understand them to be aerated. This keeps all the good bacteria alive that helps to process the waste in a totally natural way, the same way in fact that it it processed in the sewage treatment plant. There are no nasty harmful chemical required, no smells in the van, and the end result is a natural product So if left long enough it will become totally harmless

The only reason you need to add chemical to the cassette type toilet is that they are totally sealed and air tight, this suffocates the good bacteria and stops the natural breakdown process. Using harmful chemicals to destroy all the bacteria reducing smells, and disguising the odour with that distinctive smell

The contents of a aerated tank (be it RV or sog) is in fact far less harmful to the environment that the contents of a cassette with elsan type chemical, even the environmentally friendly type. So any that is inadvertently dropped on the ground is less of a pollution problem.

So in reality it should prob be the other way around, bio suit to empty the cassette, after all, your local water authority do not issue bio suits to the workers at the sewage works, just good hygiene and ensure that their booster jabs are up to date

Why use chemicals when you don't need to, SOG without

Adrian

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Jim

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No sog, no chemicals, definitely no gloves. Chances are, with all that emptying, gloves harbour more dangers than the waste. Your waste might be hazardous to others, but not really dangerous to you. In the elsan locker I keep some anti-bacterial gel and always use that after touching that tap that's had all those filthy gloves on it. :)

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Mar 26, 2009
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No SOG & no chemicals. Empty daily (cassette that is not bladder:LOL:). No gloves just a good hand wash on completion (cassette and bladder:LOL:).
 
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Feb 16, 2013
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Not really any problem as long as your sensible, how many of the old nightsoil collectors keeled over, you wouldn't eat it but it's just normal stuff unless as someone said they have some deadly disease , in which case they hardly be motorhomeing.

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Snowbird

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I am with Graham on this. Anyone that has survived changing nappies should have no problem with a cassette. Does this bring back memories.
 
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scotjimland

scotjimland

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I am with Graham on this. Anyone that has survived changing nappies should have no problem with a cassette.

brought up six Dave, .. so well acquainted with the pleasures of changing and washing shitty terry nappies.. (never used disposables) .

nor do I have an issue emptying shit from a cassette.. or a black tank.. smell doesn't bother me.

I'm not convinced that the 'friendly' bacteria kills the 'bad guys' in a SOG , that takes time and aeration .. that doesn't happen in the time between dumps in an enclosed cassette ..

the question was, are we potentially exposing ourselves to pathogens from untreated toilet feces when emptying a SOG toilet.
 

DBK

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the question was, are we potentially exposing ourselves to pathogens from untreated toilet feces when emptying a SOG toilet.

No. People have drunk their own urine (it's sterile) and female dogs will eat the faecies of their pups. Neither kill. It may not be pleasant but even well matured and smelly it isn't deadly. There are worse bugs in the soil. And that's not meant to be a pun.

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Nov 18, 2011
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Just empty when full use bio washing fluid haven't dyed yet of cholera or typhus yet but thar again I don't in tend drinking it.
The risk of getting any of those is slim unless you contaminate you water supply or food good hygiene and don't drink the poo water
BILL
 

GJH

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the question was, are we potentially exposing ourselves to pathogens from untreated toilet feces when emptying a SOG toilet.
I suppose, given the word potentially, the answer has to be yes. However, I should have thought the risk was low, no more than using some less well cared for public conveniences :)

EDIT - That would apply to any cassette, not just SOG ones

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scotjimland

scotjimland

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No. People have drunk their own urine (it's sterile) and female dogs will eat the faecies of their pups. Neither kill. It may not be pleasant but even well matured and smelly it isn't deadly. There are worse bugs in the soil. And that's not meant to be a pun.

Yes , all correct, and some people even use it in sex games.. yuck

Sorry.. Not convinced there is no risk..
IMO .. untreated waste in a cassette must be considered hazardous .. and handled accordingly .. washing fluid only masks the smell.
 
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scotjimland

scotjimland

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That would apply to any cassette, not just SOG ones

Not so.. If the correct toilet chemicals ( not washing liquid) are used the bacteria are killed..

Thetford Aqua Kem Blue which is a powerful anti-bacterial, perfumed chemical toilet waste tank formula that kills germs and eliminates odours. Aqua Kem Blue promotes the break down of solids and toilet paper whilst reducing the formation of gas which helps to keep the toilet waste holding tank pure and fresh.
 
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Not so.. If the correct toilet chemicals ( not washing liquid) are used the bacteria , viruses etc are killed..
I know that even formaldehyde dose not kill every thing but it dose slow down the bacteria.

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Hollyberry

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The risk is more likely if you create a chain-- you empty the cassette ( or use the toilet) don't wash your hands, then handle food prep utensils, then handle food, which is consumed. You're creating a chain where the bacteria has ideal living and multiplying conditions ( something to cling to, starch/ sugars / protein to live on, moisture, etc..)
Most risks can be reduced to insignificant levels by good hygiene. Effective hand washing is the best preventative to spreading disease. Proven all over the world to reduce pro partum deaths, spread of colds, spread of flu, MRSA and thousands of other diseases.

It's not widely known but there is a minute risk of contracting polio from a baby's nappy. The vaccine given to a baby is a live vaccine ( I think it's the only live vaccine a baby has to have) A small amount of the vaccine can be excreted via the bowels into the nappy. IF the person changing the nappy has not been vaccinated in their lifetime against polio and IF they do not wash their hands and ingest some of the vaccine carrying faeces, theoretically they could develop polio.
The risk is minuscule, but I always used it as an example to trainee Nursery Nurses to wash their hands ( and dispose of faecal matter ) properly.
 

icantremember

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I reckon the best way of looking at the situation, if records are available is to count the number of chemical toilet users who have suffered illness as a result of the process involved .... not many I guess.

Imo there's little risk if normal hygiene standards are applied.

I :h: my SOG(y)
 

BwB

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Anyone who flushes a domestic toilet has the potential to cover themselves in anything they've just "done" in that toilet. This can be reduced by closing the lid before flushing but is probably on a par with emptying a cassette - which causes less airborne spray back.

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Good hygiene after the event is the trick.
 

Snowbird

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I often think we are becoming to health conscious. All these allergies we have today were unheard of years ago. Even I remember people with shared privies and the night soil truck coming round to empty them. My grandfather grew tomatoes to supplement his pipe tobacco purchase and fed them on nothing but night soil mixed up in a dustbin in the yard. Those tomatoes were the best ever, and tasted like tomatoes. I remember my father planting potatoes in a drill on top of a bed of well rotted muck with no detriment to any of us. I am of the belief that the body needs to be subjected to some form of germs, otherwise it has to live in a completely clinical environment. Am sure unless you actually tipped the contents of a cassette over yourself, no harm would come to you.
 

Don Quixote

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Not long enough, but a little common sense helps..........
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