What is a river toilet?
In short, a river toilet is a leak-proof container that is capable of safely containing and transporting human waste out of the backcountry. We remove human waste from the backcountry instead of burying it when we recreate in areas where burying it is not effective.
In some areas with low user concentration and plentiful soil, it’s acceptable to bury your human waste in a “cat-hole”. If the soil conditions are just right, the human waste will break down eventually, and if the area is not heavily trafficked then there will not be a noticeable buildup of human waste. However, here on rivers in the desert southwest, burying waste is not an option.
River canyons concentrate all traffic into the same corridor, so their impacts compound and are much more noticeable. Also, here in the desert southwest there is not enough soil to break down buried human waste. Human waste doesn’t break down if you bury it in sand, it just sits and stinks.
A brief history of the groover
Up until the early 1960’s, river recreation in the American West was relatively rare, and the human impacts of that recreation were few and far between. As more people began recreating in the desert river canyons of the American Southwest in the 1960’s, it became apparent that burying human waste was not an acceptable long-term solution.
Enter – the groover. In the 1960’s most river runners got their gear at the army surplus store. 20mm ammo cans, affectionately referred to as “rocket boxes” were the first groovers. Sturdy metal boxes with a secure latching lid, they made great storage containers that could keep water and debris out, and human waste in. People sat right on the boxes to do their business, and the sharp edges of the box left grooves in the rear end of the user, grooves for which the box is still named today.
Since the 1960’s, our methods of containing and removing human waste from the backcountry have refined a bit, and today there are many options to choose from when it comes to a river toilet.
Different Types of Groovers
The modern commercial groover
The modern purpose-built river toilet comes in several shapes and forms, but all of them serve the same purpose – a leak-proof container for human waste that is easily cleaned, and is durable enough to stand up to the rigors of backcountry river travel. Several companies make several different iterations of the groover, from the aluminum Jon-ny Partner to the rotomolded plastic Selway River-Bank. These systems are rugged, dependable, and effective. They consist of a durable box with a high-quality seal, and a comfortable seat for the user to sit on. They also require access to a clean-out station, where the contents of the box are safely dumped into the municipal sewer system, and pressurized water is used to clean out the box.
The old-school groover
20mm rocket boxes can be used as a groover, but unless you have a safe way to clean out a raw ammo can full of human waste, it’s much better to invest in a tank insert like the eco-safe toilet insert. It fits into the 20mm rocket box, but the plastic is much more resilient than steel in the face of moisture and harsh cleaning chemicals. The insert makes the box much less prone to spills, leaks, and corrosion. These setups take up slightly more space than a modern commercial groover, and are better suited to rafts where space is less of a concern.
The wag-bag
Wag-bags are a lighter-weight toilet system that relies on plastic bags and chemical powders. Popular among backpackers, expedition kayakers, and anyone who simply cannot carry a full sized groover. They consist of a biodegradable garbage bag that contains a powder which congeals liquids and renders human waste safe for disposal into landfills.
With wag-bag systems, you go directly into the bag, then close the bag and store it in a sturdy leak-proof container to prevent the bag from punctures. This container can be a drybag, a PVC tube capped at both ends, or even a large plastic jar. There is no cleaning at the end of the trip, you simply throw the bags away.
Although the bags are designed to be thrown in the trash, the simple fact is that the bags are not a perfect system and there is such a thing as too much poop. In towns like Moab where many people are recreating outdoors and using wag-bags, the municipal waste system can become overwhelmed by too many bags. Here, it’s required to dispose of the bags separately from regular garbage in specific wag-bag receptacles.
Which System Should I Use?
If you have the space, bring a groover. The purpose-built systems really are the best ones. They’re the most comfortable, the most reliable, the least likely to leak or spill, and the most eco-friendly. If you are traveling in a boat that has enough space to bring a cooler of cold drinks, then you have space for a groover.
In smaller vessels like kayaks, packrafts, or paddleboards where space is at a premium, you should bring wag-bags, and a leak-proof container to store them in.
If you’re outfitting your trip with Tex’s Riverways, we rent commercial grade groovers as well as tubes to store wag-bags. All cleaning and disposal is handled by us, and is included in the flat-rate rental price. Groovers come in sizes small, medium and large. They hold 25, 50, and 75 uses respectively.
At the end of the day, it doesn’t really matter which system you choose. What’s important is that you’re removing your solid human waste from the backcountry, so that we can all continue to enjoy the beautiful outdoor spaces that we love so much.
