Why Is My Toilet Smoking?

Incinerating Toilet Theory

• Incinerating toilets are completely waterless waste disposal units. They are designed to provide sanitary waste disposal in areas where plumbing access is difficult or impractical, but electricity or gas is accessible. These toilets are eco-friendly, conserving vast amounts of water each day. Even a single person using a high efficiency toilet will use 1,928 gallons of water each year.

How They Work

• Incinerating toilets are designed as a bowl that sits atop a holding chamber. When a user flushes, a door opens in the bowl and the waste is pulled into the chamber below. Incinerating toilets accept both liquid and solid waste, as well as paper products. After two to four uses, the holding chamber will be full. The push of a button initiates the incinerator, which heats the waste to between 970 and 1,400 F, turning the waste to ash.

Incomplete Flush

• A smoking incinerating toilet is not an uncommon problem. When the holding chamber starts to fill, sometimes the flap that separates the bowl from the chamber cannot close completely. In this case, smoke escapes when the waste is incinerated. The only solution to this problem is to incinerate waste more frequently and to remove ash on a regular schedule; both will allow more room for fresh disposals.

Pros and Cons

• Incinerating toilets are environmentally friendly and handy for a variety of applications, such as semi-permanent installations in remote locations or to replace the existing toilets in recreational vehicles. However, they do have their drawbacks. Ash must be removed frequently, making their daily care high. They still burn natural resources, both electric and gas models are guilty of using extra fossil fuels either directly or indirectly. Many models cannot be used while the incinerator is in process, meaning that extra incinerating toilets or water-flush models must be installed for emergencies. Perhaps the most prohibitive problem with these units is the cost. The EPA estimates cost for the toilet itself and installation to be around $4,000 for a four person unit.