Should urine always be separated?

For various reasons, people can have strong views on whether urine should be separated or not based on their previous experiences. We believe both separation and non-separation of urine can work equally effectively in the right situation, so it’s important to consider the setting and typical user base of the toilet, together with any location and size restrictions and go from there. Naturally, we’re happy to help guide you to make the most appropriate choice.

In some circumstances, separating the urine is a good option as it allows you to reduce the volume of the material to be composted and can make aspects of the management easier.

For public and semi-public toilets, we recommend toilets where the separation is done automatically, deeper within the toilet (ie not with a urine diverting bowl). An example of this is the Kazuba system where excess liquid falls onto an evaporation plate, so the user is not aware of it, and isn’t required to sit in a specific position, meaning it’s simple to use without the need for complicated instructions.

For homes. mobile users (boats, motorhomes etc) and where the use is low and/or space is limited, you can opt for a toilet with a urine diverter, such as those made by Separett or Air Head. Users will need to be given instructions (such as always sit fully down on the toilet), however, most people will easily adapt to this.

The WooWoo GT composting toilet is an example of a non-separating toilet (technically, you could argue that the urine is being separated through some evaporation, consumption in the composting process and ultimately some leachate discharge).