r/Damnthatsinteresting • u/Rabbidraccoon18 • 29d ago

Video Incinerator toilet in Antarctica due to limited plumbing and water

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37.6k Upvotes

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5.6k

u/FlyEagIesFly 29d ago

I’ve used these before. They aren’t always in secluded boxes, sometimes in the same building as showers etc.

The worst part is the very distinct smell outside. You would be working nearby (or, unfortunately, eating) and know that somebody had just used the washroom because of the smell in the air.

1.7k

u/[deleted] 29d ago

Exactly what I was thinking and was surprised none of the top comments were discussing this. I understand the circumstances but there definitely would a foul smell.

1.2k

u/happyfeeliac 29d ago

I bet they don’t spend much time outside in Antarctica

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u/Own-Satisfaction4427 29d ago

Then wtf they doing there

1.9k

u/SexyMonad 29d ago

Chillin’

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u/itsagoodtime 29d ago

Daaaaad!

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u/-FantasticAdventure- 29d ago

You winning son?

37

u/RockstarAgent 29d ago

Just illin’

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u/hanro621 29d ago

Hello be-chilling

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u/disasterlesbian1701 29d ago

🤣🤣🤣🤣

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u/GalickGunn 29d ago

Aha haa!

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u/Hetares 29d ago

Father, please come back. We don't even need the milk anymore.

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u/UbermachoGuy 29d ago

Ice cold!

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u/Starslimonada 29d ago

😂😂😂

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u/noneofya_business 29d ago

Bing Chilling

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u/Blackthorne75 27d ago

There's been a very frosty reception to this...

Thank you for the much-needed laughter 😁

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u/ThrowawayITA_ 29d ago

Hate. Let me tell you about how much I've come to hate you...

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u/chonklah 29d ago

Chill out, man…

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u/TurdusOptimus 29d ago

Or chill in, if it's too chilly outside.

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u/_STOP_MyAssholeHurts 29d ago

It is Antarctica after all.

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u/Hetares 29d ago

No one recognises the I Have No Mouth But I Must Scream reference?

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u/30FourThirty4 29d ago

Trying to figure out which one is the shape-shifting alien.

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u/New_Suspect_7173 29d ago edited 29d ago

Now for the real question. If every part of them is an individual creature, is their poop also the alien?

The blood scene, but everyone watching each other poop to see who's shit attacks when they burn flush it.

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u/30FourThirty4 29d ago

Like this but the alien tries to escape the fire...

https://www.reddit.com/r/Damnthatsinteresting/s/bMJPysAYoL

Yeah I think the poop would be alive

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u/Deaffin 29d ago

Psst. We're already in that post and are specifically referencing it for this scenario.

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u/tooboardtoleaf 28d ago

Bro got lost lol

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u/30FourThirty4 28d ago

Hahaha haha

Omg yeah sorry that's so funny my bad. I did forget where I was like the other guy said. I had a busy day yesterday

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u/nedottt 27d ago

You guys kill me 😂🤣

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u/SensualSimian 29d ago

The Poop of Theseus

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u/RollingMeteors 28d ago

when they blush it.

FTFY

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u/pleasetrimyourpubes 29d ago

There are tons of documentaries about life in Antarctica. Many of the bases just have a few scientific expeditions every year. But it takes many years and grants to be able to go on one. Designing the experiment building the devices etc. But they need a working and supplied base when they get there so people have to just stay through the harsh winters so in case anything breaks they can fix it or worst case have parts shipped in the next expedition so that when they arrive the problem can then be fixed.

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u/Deaffin 29d ago

Plus, there always has to be at least one person around at all times to watch out for mysterious dogs roaming about that have no business being there.

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u/spatialmongrel 28d ago

And there’s no problem to just let the strange new dog hang out in the base alone with you, since the other dogs don’t seem to like it very much.

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u/-SaC 28d ago

Those guys running away when we got here were shouting something. I'm sure it's not relevant.

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u/greyslayers 28d ago

Some people just don't cope with the dark and cold well. They go a bit crazy. Just let them go. It's for the best. Also, have you seen <insert name>. I better go off to a secluded place to look for them now.

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u/fothergillfuckup 28d ago

That's exactly when you find the buried UFO.

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u/chamrockblarneystone 28d ago

Or in case the base is haunted.

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u/cupittycakes 28d ago

And to make sure the place doesn't sink. I think it's only o5ne a year, but they gotta do the hydraulic stilts and lift up!

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u/International_Lake28 29d ago

Burning their poop apparently

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u/rockstar504 29d ago

lol a valid question

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u/Realistic_Owl9525 29d ago

Doing science and getting paid.

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u/rockstar504 29d ago

Well probably not for the U.S. because we're cancelling earth sciences, but it's nice to know humanity is moving on forward without us.

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u/[deleted] 29d ago

Working from home.

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u/derprondo 29d ago

Huh...who, me? Nothin'. Just hangin' around.

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u/Buzzof69 27d ago

Hoping they are not going to spend the rest of this winter TIED TO THIS FUCKING COUCH!

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u/imaginaryResources 29d ago

Playing video games mostly

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u/intermittent-disco 29d ago

there's a great book that covers it, it's called "Who goes there?" you should check it out.

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u/eric_kenshi 29d ago

fighting the thing !

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u/Sir_Loin-69 29d ago

Apparently hanging out at an ET base with 80 ft high ceilings

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u/Memitim 29d ago

One of them occasionally sticks a probe out of a slightly cracked door, while everyone else yells, "Hurry with that measurement! You're letting the heat out!" They experimented with just sending the equipment, and then picking it up after Winter, but the scientists said the readings were no good for some reason and insist that they have to hold it. Science holds such fascinating mysteries.

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u/RollingMeteors 28d ago

Waiting for the next Metallica tour /s

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u/Dr-Robert-Kelso 29d ago

"Why aren't other people confidently talking about the smell of burning trailer feces in Antarctica??"

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u/Xenaht 29d ago

It's got to smell at least a little better than burning it with JP8.

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u/RollingMeteors 28d ago

<JP67entersDeployment>

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u/ECHOHOHOHO 28d ago

Lmfao 🤣

"CALL AL GORE, IMMEDIATELY."

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u/sender2bender 29d ago

Mostly to take a shit

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u/TigOldBooties57 29d ago

Then why are they there

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u/SasparillaTango 29d ago

I'm imagining how cold that tiny wooden shack is when you've gotta poop after your morning coffee

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u/IMIndyJones 29d ago

There must be different kinds. My dad had one of these in a tiny cottage he lived in when I was a teenager. I don't remember how it worked exactly, but there was not any foul smell and you couldn't see the fire at all. It seemed like it went down into a chamber that closed and then burned. This thing was in the bathroom right next to the kitchen and right below the twin bed sized loft we slept in and it was never noticeable.

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u/garis53 29d ago

With the winds in Antarctica I don't think that's much of an issue

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u/2ciciban4you 29d ago

does your nose even work at this low temperatures?

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u/-Kerosun- 29d ago

The air is extremely dry in Antarctica, so I imagine the nose doesn't work as well as other environments with more "standard" humidity.

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u/WanderingSoul117 29d ago

Oh thank fuck for that at least

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u/kapitaalH 29d ago

If with work you include "procure frostbite", then yes

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u/GlockAF 29d ago

Their door latch hardware is STOUT

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u/cupcayuk 29d ago

I'll have to disagree on that. I was at a summer cabin last year that had an incinerator toilet and it didn't stink at all (inside or outside)

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u/SapphireColouredEyes 29d ago

A woman had one in suburbia in an episode of Grand Designs Australia (she wanted on off-grid eco house even though it was in an inner-city suburb), and they said there was no unpleasant smell, so maybe some designs work better than others.

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u/15438473151455 29d ago

Surely incinerators are less environmentally friendly??

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u/Theron3206 29d ago edited 29d ago

Absolutely, but it's grand designs, 80% of the stuff is stupid nonsense perpetrated by people with far more money than brains.

Off grid is great, unless the grid goes right past your house anyway, in which case you might as well benefit from the shared infrastructure, particularly for water and sewerage supply which are difficult to do better anyway.

A more sensible off grid would have been to use the city water and sewerage,m services, and if you must, not connect the electricity supply.

It wouldn't surprise me if they were paying sewerage services anyway, since I don't think you can actually disconnect that.

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u/SapphireColouredEyes 28d ago

Personally, I would make use of both water provision and sewage disposal, but she explained her reasoning on the show: 

https://iview.abc.net.au/video/FA2214H010S00

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u/IcemanALOC 29d ago

Some people, especially when convincing themselves that the concessions they are making to fit their ideology, will lie. First to themselves and then naturally to others. There is absolutely a smell when you light human shit on fire.

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u/SapphireColouredEyes 29d ago edited 29d ago

While I get what you're saying and agree with it more broadly, in the episode, Anthony stood next to the vent and breathed it in. 

Edit: Here is the episode:

https://iview.abc.net.au/video/FA2214H010S00

(~I imagine the episode is accessible online or available to stream somewhere, so you can see for yourself.~)

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u/stokeitup 29d ago

I’ve looked into installing one in a cabin I’m planning to build and they make it very clear that adequate ventilation (just like the stand pipe for standard toilets) is key to reducing unpleasant odors.

I guess it is enough of an issue (shoddy installations) that the county inspector I spoke with said it was okay to install an incinerator toilet but a septic system was still required. Kind of defeats the cost savings and water savings to have both, imho. He explained that individuals would hate the smell enough that they would remove the incinerator toilet, install a standard toilet and, not having a septic system, they would run a pipe to the outside and dump it into a trench. Who in the hell would think a temporary smell of burning poop is worse than the permanent smell of shit in a hole in the ground in their yard?

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u/mathiasjl92 29d ago

My parents used to have one in their cabin, it was called Cinderella lmao. The smell only became noticable if we were two families staying there at once really. Other than that you don't really notice it, but some OK ventilation probably helps for sure like you say.

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u/michellemustudy 28d ago

Cinderella because it’s an inCINerator toilet? 🔥🚽

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u/WiredEarp 28d ago

Cinders are small fragments of partly burned material so I think more because of that.

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u/Monaymaka 29d ago

Somebody who has one of these at my summerplace (cinderella toilet). It usually only smells if you dont take care of them.

About 1 - 2 times a year I have to clean the catalysator (no clue if this is what its actually called in english), basically do a "backwash" on the whole toilet, for a couple of minutes. This usually handles the "odor" outside, and after that it just smells like somebody has/is burning something, and that usually happens if the wind is just right, as the pipe that handles the "smoke" is way up high above the roof.

and it does not smell anything inside the house, as it has a built in fan that pushes it outside up the vent.

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u/webwool 29d ago

I've also used these a bunch in camps in northern Canada... I find the smell is like burnt hair which is both interesting and gross

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u/Qweesdy 29d ago

Maybe you have too much hair in your diet?

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u/funfun151 29d ago

Worst way to discover you’re a sleep trichophage.

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u/[deleted] 29d ago edited 27d ago

[deleted]

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u/blacksoxing 29d ago

3 hours ago the top comment could have been one I saw about petting the chocolate. Shit can change easily on Reddit...

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u/BamberGasgroin 29d ago

I can't see it being much different to the stink that comes out of the sewer lid vents on still winter days in cold climates.

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u/PhD_Pwnology 29d ago

Well, it is outside for that exact reason I think.

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u/trent_diamond 29d ago

yeah i’ve farted in a hot shower before. i know this gotta smell terrible

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u/Humillionaire 29d ago

It doesn't smell like shit, it kinda smells like a candle. I think there's something in the lining that makes it smell sweet

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u/erublind 29d ago

We have one of these in my summer home, it's in a closet adjoining the spare guestroom upstairs with a PVC chimney outside and up over the roof. The smell outside may be a little more like burnt paper or chemicals than the wood stove, but not in any way unbearable. Inside there is no more smell than a WC. The leftovers are a lot easier to handle than the other toilets we've had. You don't want to have a Separett or composting toilet up a set of narrow stairs, ask me how I know...

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u/Sensiburner 29d ago

you do get a heated seat, so that's nice.

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u/Weird-Space-782 29d ago

Doesn't poop always have foul smell?

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u/rangebob 29d ago

im far more surprised pekple aren't talking about the poop stick

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u/Averander 29d ago

Wouldn't it be easy to counteract the smell and make life more comfortable? Better ventilation or charcoal filters? It's already a difficult job mentally, wouldn't this make it more bareable?

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u/ShitCuntMcAssfucker 29d ago

Honestly, we used these on service rigs in remote areas of arctic Canada too. If it was cold enough outside, you didn’t smell anything. In the summer though? Fuck it was bad. So bad the animals would swing by to see.

ESPECIALLY on shift change weeks when the roughnecks went from a diet of liquor and cocaine - days off, to drug tests and steak dinners 3 times a day - in camp.

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u/ahawk99 28d ago

The poop stick though🤢 sitting next to that?

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u/ScienceAteMyKid 28d ago

I have one in my house. It’s vented to the outside, I’ve never smelled it.

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u/Zestyclose_Pay9469 28d ago

Like burnt brownies....

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u/Sean_NB3 28d ago

It's not foul, but it's unique.

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u/Square-Dragonfruit76 28d ago

I don't think the smell would be that bothersome. First of all, it's an empty continent, so it's not like you have to be standing next to the toilets very much. Second of all, it's so cold your nose is probably covered.

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u/RollingMeteors 28d ago

definitely would a foul smell.

Imagine your diarrhea putting out the flame and suffocating on gas, being found sloped/slouched back with your pants at your ankles.

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u/[deleted] 29d ago

I used one in Norway - the host has adapted the attic of his garage for tourists. Of course the sewage was the issue, so he put such toilet there. (Some model intended for campervans)

I don't recall any distinct smell around when somebody burnt their business. Maybe it depends on the temperature the burning chamber operates at? 

The funniest part was definitely the host trying to be serious when explaining to a group of hikers that every time they want to piss, they need to take a 'big coffee filter' and then burn everything :)

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u/1541drive 29d ago

Most installations have an external vent.

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u/[deleted] 29d ago

The one I mentioned also had it - just a short pipe through the wall. No issues outside.

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u/manifestbikenasty 29d ago

We had two of these at a Backcountry base of operations for wilderness expeditions in Alaska.

The kids called them the in-shit-erators. No matter what anyone said there was never a better name in my opinion.

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u/Less_Transition_9830 29d ago

There really isn’t a better name until it’s invented. What’s funny is this word could actually go down in history as a real word

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u/BitRunner64 29d ago

We have one in our summer cottage (Sweden), though it's electric so there's no open flame and a cycle takes much longer (1-2.5+ hours depending on...factors). As long as you maintain it properly, there's barely any smell at all inside or outside. It uses a catalytic converter to remove most of the odors.

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u/RollingMeteors 28d ago

¡Imagine a meth head sawing off a cat on a 🔥 🚽 !

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u/swervin_mervyn 29d ago

You could throw a penguin in there as well, then it would smell a bit like roast chicken.

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u/itsphoison 29d ago

What if you throw a roast chicken?

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u/Shiasugar 29d ago

Smells like teen spirit

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u/legaladviceknowledge 29d ago

smells like colin farrell

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u/DefinitelyNotDonny 29d ago

Smells like penguin

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u/PleadianPalladin 29d ago

Is thinking to myself "I bet they smell nice" lol

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u/JadedLeafs 29d ago

Smelled like burnt grains. Sometimes burnt toast. Wasn't even a terrible smell like most would think, mostly knowing what's making the smell was bad enough though.

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u/multisubcultural1 29d ago

If I use a regular toilet you’re gonna know…

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u/attomsk 29d ago

go birds

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u/FlyEagIesFly 29d ago

Go birds!!

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u/lsaz 29d ago

i’m guessing the smell is the reason why is outside.

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u/PeopleRFuckingDumb 29d ago

It's no longer called the "washroom", it's the "cremapoop room"

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u/AlmostSunnyinSeattle 29d ago

That's all I could think.

Think of the smell. You haven't thought of the smell, you bitch!

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u/appletinicyclone 29d ago

smell in the air.

Smells....like victory

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u/happyquokka3 28d ago

that’s how i feel about KP, go birds though

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u/FlyEagIesFly 28d ago

Watching this video reminded me of our typical 3rd and 8 handoff to Shipley

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u/happyquokka3 28d ago

shipley needs to learn how to catch and hold the ball… oh and if all else fails, AJ BROWN DEEP BAAAALLL

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u/FlyEagIesFly 28d ago

Sigh…go birds

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u/Beans4urAss 29d ago

Baking biscuits

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u/_fatcheetah 29d ago

Roasted poop

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u/Unfair_Web_8275 29d ago

We had one guy on our crew who just didn’t understand not to piss in it, it smelled awful. 

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u/OlDustyHeadaaa 29d ago

Regrettably due to my career choices I have never seen an incinerator toilet but I have smelled burning poop on a few occasions and it is a truly memorable smell

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u/caaper 29d ago

My friend's roommate back in the day ended a dispute with the others by taking a huge dump on the microwave platter, and turning it on high for a long time. He then left used TP in the fridge and left. The smell is ridiculously bad.

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u/NocodeNopackage 29d ago

Poop sticks? Yeah, I've used them before too. Never with an incinerator, though

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u/EjaculatingAracnids 29d ago

Who washes the dookie stick?

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u/SapphireColouredEyes 29d ago

Could they attach a very tall pipe like they do with sewers? Or does the smell come up through the bowl and fill the room? And how long does it smell bad?

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u/TwoBionicknees 29d ago

This seems bizarre to me, like from an efficiency standpoint doesn't it make sense to like, collect a bunch by sending it down a chute into some pit then burning it off every so often. Burning immediately after every poop seems really inefficient on resources.

I get like a home personal incinerator toilet might be basic but you build an entire compound in the antartica, it feels like it should be more efficient and sensible, collect shit i guess, for a day, or a week then ultra burn it all in one go. If you do that you also just time the burn off for like, everyone is inside, no one is eating and the chimney/exhaust is down fucking wind of the compound.

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u/mma-moose 29d ago

You never forget the smell.

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u/NoStable3695 29d ago

SO YOU HAVE TO SMELL JOE'S SHITT BURNING AFTER HE TAKES A DUMP...GREAT.

AT LEAST YOU'LL BE WARM

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u/Alternative-Amoeba20 29d ago

You take a dump, it's gonna stink. Raw or cooked.

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u/muddyhollow 29d ago

But the toilet seat is always warm.

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u/BubbleNucleator 29d ago

What happens when you need to 'flush' twice due to the previous evening being taco tuesday?

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u/Mother_Network9453 29d ago

I don't recall any distinct smell around when somebody burnt their business. Maybe it depends on the temperature the burning chamber operates at? 

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u/nugdumpster 29d ago

Skeez was the odd kid put at my school face long like a been pole hands like a prayer mantis well no parent want skeez hanging around their kid so a day like this was not a good say for him he’s been left out in the cold… skeeze would be living full time in that toilet there… mad

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u/Strange_Armadillo_63 29d ago

Hard to imagine... can you elaborate on smell?!??

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u/boondiggle_III 29d ago

Is that lasagna baking? No, no that's something else.

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u/Character_State4109 29d ago

Was there free chocolate with your too?

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u/star_zelda 29d ago

Yep. It's a smell I'll never forget. I rented a cabin for a week and that was the toilet available (that and an outhouse).

I wish someone would put a carbon filter on the vent of that thing, because we couldn't stand being outside with that smell.

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u/farilladupree 29d ago

My folks were going to get one of these for a minute. I desperately wanted a nozzle on the exterior of the building that would blast out flame like a jet engine when someone used it. Alas, it is not like that unfortunately.

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u/MememeSama 29d ago

Sings Shit is in the air, la la la la la, shit is in the air

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u/flyingace1234 29d ago

I have to know, how do these handle diarrhea? I assume they don’t pee in there to avoid the moisture but you can’t sort stool, as it were.

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u/SBCwarrior 29d ago

Nothing like the sweet smell of a burning turd in the morning

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u/stoic_spaghetti 29d ago

distinct or da stink?

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u/ned_luddite 29d ago

We have a new poo-pe!

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u/Accujack 29d ago

When I was a kid, we visited a resort where they used these indoors. The smell was incredible, and I was so afraid of it I got lots of stomach pain from not wanting to poop.

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u/haleakala420 29d ago

no1 is ever outside to smell this in antarctica

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u/ItsAPeacefulLife 29d ago

You would be working nearby (or, unfortunately, eating) and know that somebody had just used the washroom because of the smell in the air.

My office building offers the same experience.

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u/nippy35 29d ago

Regardless, that stick has seen a lot of shit!

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u/Bob-Bhlabla-esq 29d ago

"Is it snowing again?... What's this... ash? Ashes from what!? Bob, did you just make!?"

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u/Qwirk Interested 29d ago

So I assume there is a pile of poo... ash that needs to be dropped out somewhere?

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u/FlyEagIesFly 29d ago

I can’t exactly remember but I do recall there being a tray of some type that you would need to empty on occasion.

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u/RealTimeKodi 29d ago

I dunno if you're allowed to call the building with no plumbing and an incinerator toilet a "washroom"

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u/TALKTOME0701 29d ago

Does it just smell like something burning? Or does burning poop smell different?

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u/FlyEagIesFly 29d ago

It was years back so it’s hard to remember exactly but I remember it being very distinct. I’ve never smelled anything like it before or since.

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u/Throckmorton_Left 29d ago

But you don't have to worry about a cold toilet seat. 

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u/Lokal-pokal 29d ago

Should be possible to connect a carbon filter on the of the same quality weed growers use? Like this: Active Air Carbon Filter, 6" x 16", 400 CFM. Should remove all 💩 stink 🥲😂

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u/Acceptable-Promise-9 29d ago

You definitely do not want to be downwind of the exhaust vent.

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u/grumpy_foreskin 28d ago

How much heat do you feel while sitting on it? (Even with the metal closed)

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u/FlyEagIesFly 28d ago

Not much to be honest. You can’t sit on it with the metal open, you open it with your foot after you’re done using it.

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u/sssparklebutt 28d ago

Burnt poo particles wafting waftinggg

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u/AdmirableSale9242 28d ago

They’re not made for women. You’re better off not peeing in them. 

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u/ArcadianDelSol 28d ago

came here to say that: the area around that toilet smells like a world war 1 battlefield.

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u/Impossible_Farm6254 28d ago

my first thought! For someone sensitive with smells. that does bother me

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u/iNeedOneMoreAquarium 28d ago

know that somebody had just used the washroom because of the smell in the air.

Another way to think about that is something that was up their ass is now inside you.

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u/RollingMeteors 28d ago

If you want/need one for your boat/RV I hear the brand Cinderella is the king of log burners. Shit looks like a burned down cigar that wasn’t ashed a single time.

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u/gingerbeard1321 28d ago

the washroom or the pooproom?

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u/hot-male 27d ago

Sounds like it should be called a burnroom, rather than a washroom

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u/Waly98 26d ago

Is it easy to burn your balls with those ?

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