On many allotments there is only a small shed or cabin, with no mains water and no sewer connection. That makes the toilet an everyday problem: a bucket smells, a chemical toilet is heavy to carry and empty, and a sewer connection is often impossible or not allowed. Below is how to install a waterless urinal in an allotment shed so that it fits your plot and does not clash with your association’s rules.
First, read your own association’s rules
Rules differ between countries, associations and leases, so start with the documents that apply to your plot: the statutes, the house rules and your lease. For comparison only: in Germany the federal Bundeskleingartengesetz (BKleingG, § 3) allows a simple cabin of up to 24 m² including a covered seating area, and it must not be suitable for permanent living. Plots like this often have no sewer, so the toilet has to work without a water supply and without discharge to a sewer. A waterless urinal uses no water and needs no sewer connection. Whether and how you may collect and dispose of the liquid on your plot is set by your association’s rules.
Why dry, separate collection
A toilet smells worst when urine mixes with faeces: urea breaks down quickly, releasing ammonia, and the wet mass starts to rot. Separate collection keeps the solid fraction dry, so there is noticeably less odour. Urine in its own container also smells over time, so the canister is kept closed and emptied regularly. Trelino, BOXIO and Kildwick apply this principle in the form of a complete toilet. Pi-Pi is a wall-mounted urinal that can be added to them for standing use.
What you need for installation
The minimum set: a Pi-Pi urinal, screws for the shed wall, a collection tank or a 10–20 litre canister, and a 32 mm hose section for connecting to the stepped Ø24/32/40 mm outlet. No plumber is needed.
What to do with the collected urine
If your association’s rules and local regulations allow it, there are several options. First: dilute it 1:10 with water and apply it at the roots, not on leaves or fruit. Urine contains most of the nitrogen and a significant part of the phosphorus that the body excretes. Use only your own household’s urine, and stop feeding vegetables at least a month before harvest, especially those eaten raw, such as cucumbers and tomatoes. Second: mix it with dry carbon-rich material such as peat and add it to the compost heap. Third: an airtight closed canister that is emptied periodically. Which of these is allowed on your plot is decided by your association’s rules and local regulations (a tank buried in the ground often needs notification or consent), so check them before installing. Do not pour the contents into a ditch, stream, pond or storm drain.
Winter storage
An allotment shed is usually unheated. Pi-Pi, made of LLDPE, stays flexible and impact-resistant down to −40 °C, whereas polypropylene homopolymer becomes brittle at around 0 °C. Winter preparation comes down to one step: drain whatever is left in the hose and canister so that ice does not burst the container. The urinal itself does not need to be taken off the wall.
What to ask the board
Before installing, ask the board of your association whether a toilet or urinal may be used in the shed, how and where the collected urine may be stored and disposed of, and whether the board’s consent is needed.
What not to do
Do not connect water to the urinal – Pi-Pi works without water, which is an advantage, not a limitation, on an allotment. Do not run the hose into open ground or into water: how the collected liquid may be disposed of is set by your association’s rules and local regulations. Do not add chemical disinfectants to the canister – with separate collection they are unnecessary and they make disposal harder.
Conclusion
A waterless urinal can be a practical addition to an allotment, provided you plan in advance how the liquid will be collected and emptied and check your association’s rules and local requirements. Start by comparing all plastic waterless urinals, then choose the Standard with a closed top or the Standard Plus with a Ø70 mm top port for a planned ventilation connection. If you are connecting to an existing dry or separating toilet, always compare the drain and vent dimensions first.
