By Cheri Sicard
Composting toilets vs. dry flush toilets—which is best? After almost a year with a Trelino® composting toilet, KimAnn Chessa tried the Modiwell dry-flush toilet for one full week. One toilet was staying, and one was going. She shares her results in the video at the end of this post.
Why the composting toilet started to wear on KimAnn
KimAnn liked the Trelino. She called it her best off-grid toilet solution up to that point, and she also had a good experience with the company. Still, three issues kept coming up.
First, separation was difficult. As a woman, keeping liquids and solids apart was not always easy, and when urine got into the compost side, the whole setup started to smell. Then she had to dump the bag, replace the medium, and start over.
Second, storage was messy. Full compost bags sometimes had to sit for up to two weeks before she could reach a trash can. Heat made that worse.
Third, dry-flush toilets had looked too expensive before, especially compared with full-time use.
Why the Modiwell dry flush toilet looked like a better fit
The big draw was the separate 2-liter pee container. That meant the flush bags were mostly for solid waste, usually once or twice a day, which dropped the supply cost a lot.
It also runs on a rechargeable battery with up to 100 flushes, so there was no need to wire it into the camper bathroom. The bags are compostable, too.
Composting toilet vs. dry flush toilet, one week later
KimAnn judged both toilets on four things: ease of use, monthly cost, upfront price, and smell. Smell mattered most because she lives in a small camper with two dogs.
The Modiwell won on odor. The sealed bags did not smell in the bathroom trash, and they also stayed odor-free when stored outside in a Pet Genie. By contrast, the Trelino only smelled when the solids side got wet.
Ease of use was split. The Modiwell made solid waste much easier because there was no separation, and toilet paper and wipes could go in the same bag. But the 2-liter urine container filled fast, sometimes twice a day. The Trelino handled urine better because its jugs lasted about three days.
Here is how her costs compared:
- Trelino composting toilet: Had an upfront cost of $475.00, and KimAnn spends about $25.50 a month for composting medium and bags.
- Modiwell dry flush toilet: Had an upfront cost of $730.00, and KimAnn spends about $20.39 a month for composting medium and bags.
She preferred the Modiwell black bags over the cheaper blue ones because they were not see-through. One downside remained: Modiwell refill bags have to be ordered from the company or through Modiwell on Amazon, while Trelino composting toilets use materials that can be found in more places.
Final thoughts
KimAnn kept the Modiwell, which she jokingly called her robot toilet. The reason was simple: no separation, no smell, and a cleaner daily routine. The Trelino still ranked second and stayed a solid option for people who have their composting setup dialed in. For KimAnn’s off-grid life, however, the dry-flush toilet fit better.
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RVDT2899
Interesting read, gave me food for thought.