Separett Villa Composting Toilet Review – Everything You Need to Know
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There are countless situations where a traditional flushing toilet would be impractical. Perhaps you permanently live off-grid and do not have access to a municipal water treatment system and your budget will not allow for the installation of a septic tank, or, maybe, you travel the open roads by camper van or RV. In either scenario, a flushing toilet would not only be impractical, but it would also be borderline impossible.
While deciding how you will deal with human waste is not the most glamorous of topics, it is certainly something that you will need to consider if you are planning to spend any significant period of time living somewhere that lacks plumbing and running water.
Fortunately, self-contained composting toilets have emerged as the ideal solution. Not only are they providing a more sanitary alternative to traditional outhouses, which are just glorified holes in the ground, but they have also helped to encourage the off-grid, no-flush movement!
How Can We Help?
If you are in a situation where you could benefit from the convenience of a composting toilet, we want to help you understand your options. That is why we are going to review one of the top brands in the composting toilet industry, Separett.
More specifically, we will be taking a closer look at their best-selling model, the Separett Villa Waterless Composting Toilet. Not only will we offer an in-depth product review, which will help you determine if the Separett Villa is right for you, but we will also offer some background on the Separett brand and assess its current reputation.
By taking a close look at the Separett brand, as well as their products, you can quickly decide if their composting toilets are right for you and your current living arrangement.
The Separett Brand
Before we get into our review of the Separett Villa Composting Toilet, we are going to introduce the Separett brand and quickly explore its background. This will help you understand why their products are so highly regarded amongst retailers and consumers.
Brand History:
Separett is a family-owned business that is based out of Sweden. The main focus of the company is its highly popular waterless toilets, which the brand has a long history of producing. In fact, Separett introduced its first waterless toilet in 1976!
When the company’s founder, Gerhard Billsund, realized he needed a suitable waste management system for his off-grid summer cabin in the south of Sweden, he began developing a toilet that would help satisfy this need.
The result was the Classic 300, which was a relatively simple evaporative toilet. While the original design was sold under the Husqvarna brand, the success of these waterless toilets would eventually lead to the formation of a distinct brand, which go on to become Separett. Between 1976 and 1996, they were able to sell 125,000 of their toilets throughout Scandinavia and beyond. This success led to the formation of Separett in 1996.
Another motivation for a distinct brand was the invention of the world’s first urine-diverting toilet in 1993. Like their original evaporating toilet, this unique off-grid toilet saw immediate success.
Separett Today:
Today, Separett’s innovative self-contained toilets continue to be in high demand; however, they have now expanded far beyond the bounds of the Scandinavian countries and their toilets can be found all over the world.
Thanks to dedicated retailers in the United States and Canada, their composting toilets, like the Separett Villa, have become incredibly popular amongst RV enthusiasts, tiny house owners, and thousands of other consumers that require an alternative to a conventional flushing toilet.
In fact, Separett toilets have been embraced so enthusiastically by North America’s tiny house movement, that Separett opened a dedicated subsidiary in Las Vegas, Nevada in January of 2020.
Sustainability Commitments & Non-Profit Endeavors:
While Separett is a first and foremost business, they have always been an environmentally-friendly organization that continuously seeks to help those in need achieve a higher quality of life.
Given that one in three people on Earth does not have access to modern plumbing and water treatment facilities, Separett felt it was its duty to help bring sanitary waste management solutions to areas that need them the most. By donating equipment, like their waterless toilets, as well as contributing to bringing sanitation education to remote, third-world communities, Separett continues to do its part to help end open defecation and bring access to sanitary waste disposal to impoverished regions.
To this day, Separett has donated thousands of their waterless toilets to rural and impoverished regions of countries like Bolivia, China, and Peru. The brand is also committed to sustainable and eco-friendly manufacturing practices.
The fact that they are such a forward-thinking company is only part of the reason why they have such an impressive reputation within and outside of the waterless toilet industry.
Our Review of the Separett Villa Waterless Composting Toilet
Now that you know a little bit more about the Separett brand and their reputation, we can get into our review of their most popular self-contained toilet – The Separett Villa.
What is the Separett Villa Composting Toilet?
As the name suggests, the Separett Villa is a composting toilet. Thanks to its unique urine-diverting design, the Separett Villa is able to keep odors, as well as the total volume of waste, to a minimum. This means the user will have empty the composting compartment less frequently, which is part of the reason why it is so popular.
Essentially, solid waste is stored within the toilet, where it begins to decompose. This means the resulting material can later be used as fertilizer or incinerated. Meanwhile, liquid waste is drained off to a small leaching bed, which is housed within a sealed-off holding tank.
The Separett also features a built-in ventilation fan, which helps expel any odors and fumes that are produced as a result of the decomposition process. Not only is the built-in fan effective and convenient, but it is also designed to operate silently, so you will not hear it while it is running.
Overall, it is an incredibly effective composting toilet that has become popular around the world due to its convenient design, outstanding reliability, and budget-friendly price.
Why Choose the Separett Villa Composting Toilet?
To help explain why the Separett Villa is such a popular option, we are going to highlight some of the things we liked most about it. While the market is flooded with composting toilets, we believe the Separett Villa’s overall build quality and performance truly set it apart.
Silent and Odorless Operation:
Thanks to the effective urine separation mechanism, both the volume of waste and all odors are kept to a minimum. When most people imagine a self-contained composting toilet, they assume that it would produce unpleasant smells, but the Separett Villa actually releases next to no odors, even when it is installed in an enclosed, indoor space.
In fact, most people that own a Separett Villa say that the only smells they can detect are mild, soil-like odors, which are only present if they are standing directly beside the toilet with the lid in the upright position.
As mentioned, the built-in fan was designed to operate as quietly as possible. It also only runs when required. Other composting toilets that feature built-in ventilation fans often run continuously and need to be plugged in each time they run. They are also much louder, which can become a major annoyance, especially if you have installed the toilet in a tight space, like inside an RV, camper van, tiny house, or small off-grid cabin.
True Off-Grid Capabilities:
While you may assume that a composting toilet that features an electric ventilation fan could only function if you had access to an electrical grid, Separett designed the fan so that it could be powered by a 12V solar battery, which means you can easily meet its power requirements with a basic solar generator, such as the EcoFlow Delta 1800.
If you do have access to grid power, you can also operate the fan by plugging it into any AC wall outlet, as it includes a standard power cable, as well as a solar adaptor. Given that the fan only draws 2.5W, it consumes very little power and is completely suitable for any off-grid dwelling that relies upon solar or wind power to meet its electricity needs.
The toilet is also completely self-contained, which means you do not have to hook it up to any sort of running water or septic system. In other words, you simply place it on a flat and stable surface, run the ventilation pipe, plug the fan in, and then you are good to go!
High-Capacity Design:
Despite its compact design, the Separett Villa has a higher capacity rating than a standard composting toilet, which means it does not have to be emptied as often. In other words, it is suitable for those that are looking for a self-contained toilet they can use in a permanent dwelling.
While some of the lower capacity options only work in locations where they will be used occasionally, such as a camper van that is only used on weekends, or a hunting cabin that is never used for more than a couple of days at a time, the Separett Villa Composting Toilet is practical in both permanent and semi-permanent dwellings.
In fact, according to Separett, a family of five using one Separett Villa Composting Toilet could go between 4 and 6 weeks without having to empty the main composting tank. For comparison, a typical composting toilet needs to be emptied every 3 to 5 days, and that is just with two people using it!
Outstanding Reliability:
The Separett Villa was designed to be as convenient as possible, which means it takes up no more room than a traditional flushing toilet and it does not require much in the way of maintenance.
The toilet does pretty much everything on its own, so you only need to empty the soil-like substance from the main composting bin roughly once per month. It is also built to an incredible standard and it is made from the most durable materials available, so it should last for over a decade without needing any sort of repairs.
The fact that it comes backed with a 5-year warranty on the whole toilet and a 3-year warranty on the fan motor is a testament to the overall quality, as well as Separett’s faith in their product.
Separett Villa Composting Toilet Specifications
Capacity | Unlimited – Can be emptied an unlimited number of times and does not require specialized cartridges, like some self-contained toilets. |
Weight | 41.8 lbs |
Measurements | L – 24.4”, W – 17.9”, H – 21” |
Energy Consumption | 0.06kWh / 24h continuous operation |
Material | Recyclable high-gloss polypropylene |
Emptying interval with 4 users | Roughly every 4 – 6 weeks |
Power requirements | 12V/2.5W/210mA (Solar or AC) |
Warranty | 5-year + 3-year on fan motor |
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Our Overall Impression of the Separett Villa Composting Toilet
There is a lot to like about the Separett Villa Composting Toilet. The fact that it diverts urine away from the main waste compartment means that it does not smell nearly as bad as a typical composting toilet. We also really like that you have the option to empty the solid and liquid waste compartments separately, as it means far fewer trips to the incinerator, dump, or outdoor composter.
The built-in fan is also a nice touch, as is the fact that Separett includes a solar adapter. We also like how silently the fan runs, as it is quiet enough that it will not disrupt users throughout the day.
It can be installed in both heated and unheated locations, which is another plus, as you will not have to worry about damaging it if you choose to install it in a location where it will be exposed to outdoor temperatures for part of the year, such as a non-winterized cabin.
Not only does it function incredibly well, but it is also actually a fairly comfortable toilet, which is rarely the case with self-contained toilets. In fact, the toilet seat sits at roughly the same height as a standard flushing toilet, so you will hardly even realize that you are using a composting toilet while you are seated.
Overall, it is an outstanding waste management system that brings all the comforts of home to even the most remote, off-grid locations. After reviewing the Separett Villa, we can certainly see why it continues to be one of the most popular composting toilets on the market!
For More Information:
If you would like to learn more about the Separett Villa Composting Toilet works, we encourage you to watch this informative video:
Separett Villa Urine Diverting Composting Toilet – How it Works
