Caravan Toilets and Showers: Everything You Need to Know

 Basic hygiene while going camping in the caravan is essential. The private toilet facility will ensure you can travel comfortably without being connected to any other amenity. You don’t have to settle for filthy public rest room blocks, hike through the dark camping areas at night, or forego your usual comfort to explore remote areas. Having dependable, clean caravan toilets and showers in your RV gives you the greatest sense of freedom to roam around freely without sacrificing your basic comfort. Let’s see what your best choice would be in case of a caravan toilet and showers.

Toilets

source: wilderness.co.nz

Selection of the most suitable sanitation system largely depends on your budget, available space, and how much time you will spend far from the power supplies of the caravan parks. Having a good system ensures that your environment stays nice, clean and totally odourless during your travel on remote roads.

Portable

These are lightweight and fully independent systems which provide an extremely cost-effective and versatile option for smaller mobile units, campervans and tent trailers. This system comprises two parts connected firmly and includes a top water tank for flushing and a bottom sealed waste collection tank.

This portable unit is highly convenient for storing in a small cabinet or under a bench seat while driving along highways. It suits campers going on occasional weekend trips because you can easily remove the bottom part of the unit at any required dumping spot after finishing your trip.

For the portable option, you have to use some special biodegradable chemicals in the waste tank in order to digest the toilet paper and solids, neutralising any strong odours. They don’t need to have any permanent connection to the plumbing or electrical system, and thus are an excellent starting point for budget-minded travellers requiring minimal conveniences without altering the vehicle.

Cassette

This is the most common option and usually comes built into the modern hardtop caravans, campervans, and large motorhomes. The bowl is fixed permanently inside the bathroom cubicle in the floor, whereas there is a separate waste holding tank, which is removable from the exterior locker door of your vehicle.

Such an innovative design helps you avoid moving waste through your living room, bedroom, or kitchen areas when cleaning the tank. These tanks come equipped with a simple electrical or mechanical flush mechanism, level indicators that tell you when the tank is full, and tight rubber gaskets that prevent any foul odour from escaping the tank.

In modern cassette toilet systems, there are rotary bowls, and this makes it easy for you to set the toilet at a comfortable angle in small ensuite bathrooms. The emptying process is quick and easy due to the tank’s wheels, a pulling handle and directional pour spout.

Compost

The popularity of composting toilets is increasing rapidly amongst environmentally conscious travellers and modern off-the-grid people, who remain out of urban cities for months at a time. These toilets have an ingenious way of separating liquid wastes from solid wastes in two different bins, avoiding the awful smells produced due to the mixing of liquid and solid wastes in conventional tanks.

Without the need for strong chemicals and high amounts of water flushes, these composting toilets will use less water than any other toilet system, thus ensuring long off-the-grid trips for you. The solid wastes turn into organic matter through natural decomposition with the help of organic bulking materials such as coconut coir or peat moss.

Shower Components

An invigorating shower after a long day of exploration along dirt roads or lounging around in the dust of some beaches is the ultimate indulgence when travelling around in a mobile home. Knowing the key parts of your mobile shower system enables you to ensure a steady flow of water, prevent leaks, and solve plumbing problems when you hit the road.

The two water streams converge in a small mixer tap used for showers, where you have the chance of controlling the temperature. In your plumbing lines, it is important that you install non-return valves to prevent hot water from flowing back into your cold water lines in case of pressure loss.

The choice of an appropriate shower head plays a huge role in regulating how much water is used up by you each day, as well as your overall tank capacity. Low-flow shower heads are a must-have piece of equipment for saving water because they mix air in the water stream, producing a good spray while using less water than standard shower heads.

Underfoot, a tough shower tray drains the wastewater and directly transports it into specialised zed tank installed beneath the chassis of your vehicle. These trays have textured floor patterns that help prevent slipping due to soapy water as you sway in your vehicle.

Having additional sets of rubber washers, new thread seal tape, and pipe fittings will help you handle small leaks without causing expensive damage to your floor and timber cabinets.

With proper installation of caravan toilets and showers, you will have a very enjoyable and sanitary experience. Just ensure that you choose equipment that is easy to use, depending on the space available, pack washers in your tool kit, and you’re all set.