GORV - Digital Magazine Issue #42 | Page 55

RV FEATURE Whether you use your cassette for ones, twos or a combination of both, toilet mishaps are bound to happen as you find your groove with caravan life. For our family of five, our 19L toilet cassette capacity generally lasts two to three days of proper toilet usage (yes, that means both functions!) before it’s full and requires emptying. It might last longer obviously if we decide to use outside amenities or the boys are able to ‘go bush’ for number ones. With our full-time residence being our caravan, let’s just say we’ve had more than our fair share of interesting toilet experiences. COULD HAVE GOTTEN “THINGS REALLY MESSY! TOILET MISHAPS ” In previous years, we’ve had portable toilets as none of our older campers or vans had toilets inside. So on moving into our current van, managing the cassette was one of those things that had to be learned through trial and error. By ‘error’ I mean learning that the green ‘quick release button’ on the cassette should not be pressed before the cassette is held in the proper vertical emptying position, unless you want its entire contents to spill over your legs and feet! Or learning that accidentally leaving the flap closed when doing your business means the next person who goes to use the toilet and opens the flap will cop a little spray as the pressure releases. Another thing we learned was that if you shake the cassette too vigorously when rinsing it out, you risk breaking the float inside, which is responsible for telling the toilet when to light-up the ‘halfway’ and ‘full’ alert lights near the flusher. Hmmm… any guesses what happened afterwards? Yep, thank goodness for the built in overflow tube; otherwise, things could have gotten really messy! / 55