CUSTOMER INSTALLATIONS

Most sales come from word of mouth customer recommendations,
so if you know a "SUN-MAR" user, we encourage you to check with them.
For those of you who do not, we visited some customers
who invited us out to their cottages when they saw us at a recent Trade Show.
We hope that the following installations will be helpful in choosing the right system for your needs.

"TROPIC" - Mr. & Mrs. G.K. Caldwell, Caldwell Island, Installed: 1979
Mr. & Mrs. Caldwell in front of their cottage located on an island in the St. Lawrence River between Canada and the USA. Mr. Caldwell is showing his tomato plants which are fed with fertilizer from their TROPIC toilet. Some compost is extracted from their toilet every spring. The Caldwells use their toilet continuously from early spring to late fall, "when I get frozen out" says Mrs. Caldwell. They are very pleased with their toilet's performance over all these years.

"EXCEL" (Formerly "Bowli-XL") - James Udrow, Healey Lake. Installed: 1988
The Udrows are retired, and live at their cottage continuously for six months from the end of April to the beginning of November when they leave for Florida. James finds that his EXCEL can handle their needs comfortably, and he only has to extract some compost once a year in the spring, when they return from Florida. At that time they find the "compost is very nice and dry", and they remove about a pailful, which they use in their beautiful garden. We would like to think "SUN-MAR" deserves some of the credit!

"EXCEL" - Mr. & Mrs. Bryn Rennie, Lake Baptiste Installed: 1983 Mr. & Mrs. Rennie in their cottage at Baptiste Lake, north of Bancroft. The "SUN-MAR" EXCEL was used year round for the first two years, and since then has been used from April to late fall each year. Mrs. Rennie and her husband are very pleased with their toilet which "has absolutely no smell". Mrs. Rennie throws all her kitchen green into the toilet, as well as peat moss. The system is used by 5-6 people throughout the summer.

"EXCEL N.E." - Kim & Steve Dubeau, Proudfoot Lake, Installed: 1991
This EXCEL N.E. (formerly the "SUN-MAR N.E.") is another of the many 'SUN-MAR" installations around Proudfoot Lake. As Kim Dubeau says, "we've been very happy with it, and we'll also put on into the new cottage we're building." Bob Clark, their neighbor, has a family of 4. He used his N.E. "every weekend from about May on, when the ice goes out". When asked what happens to the toilet paper, Clark said, "I just turn it before we leave, and when we come back everything is gone. I hope everyone buys one."
We do too!

"EXCEL N.E." - Mac Ogden, Pointe-au-Baril, Installed: 1982
Mr. Ogden has no electricity on his island. The cottage is rented out for 4-6 weeks every summer. He thinks the toilet is a wonder with high capacity and no smell. The toilet is heavily used throughout the summer. Mr Ogden is shown in front of his compost pile, which, to his surprise was filled with tomato plants. Once a year, in spring, compost is extracted from toilet. Mr. Odgen (in the background) and Mrs. Ogden (closest to the camera) with daughter and friends. Their son and girlfriend were also expected for the weekend.

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"WCM" - The Greenwoods, Healey Lake. Installed: 1991
The Greenwood's WCM, shown here installed with a handsome Sealand 910 in the bathroom, is one of the many "SUN-MAR" units installed on this lake. In a typical "word of mouth" sequence, the skeptical neighbors closely watched the first "SUN-MAR" (installed 1985) for several years before adopting it. One of these interested observers, Shirley Martin, finally had another WCM user (her neighbor) put in a unit for her. Shirley spends all summer at her cottage, and is typically enthusiastic about her "SUN-MAR". "I really love it", said Shirley, "it's so much better than the old outhouse, especially when I'm here alone".

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"WCM" - W. Fletcher Keating, Horseshoe Lake. Installed: 1983
Fletcher Keating unit which he purchased his "SUN-MAR" WCM after seeing how well his neighbor's worked. Mr Keating empties 2 or 3 drawers of compost every spring and does a minimum of maintenance. He just rotates the drum, adds peat moss and "absolutely nothing else", and is "not interested in knowing anything more". "I am a guy who wants to do a bare minimum" he said. The cottage is used throughout the summer by 2-3 people, and sometimes up to 12-15 people on weekends. Mr Keating appreciates the fact that there is positively no smell. The low flush toilet is located inside the cottage above the "SUN-MAR" WCM. Note: The vent pipe (black) is installed along the outside wall with the diffusor on tip.

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"WCM" - Frank Gauder, Lake Rosseau. Installed: 1980 Frank Gauder and his brothers and sister jointly won their cottage which they use all summer. The "SUN-MAR" WCM system is "very much appreciated by all members of the family who remember the old outhouse". The system has successfully handled parties for about 15 people. They have had no problems whatsoever. Peat Moss is added every weekend, and less than one drawer of compost is extracted once a year. Their low flush toilet is located straight above the WCM unit. When their own water supply is not working (shut off in the winter), they pour in water by hand to flush the toilet. It still works perfectly.

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"WCM" - The Wagners, Blackstone Lake. Installed: 1989
The Wagners use their cottage pretty well every weekend for four months over the summer, and rent it out for a two week period. When "SUN-MAR" visited we met the tenant, who was using the WCM for his second summer. "We have no problem operating it. We just put in two handfuls of peat moss per person every day", he said. The Wagners and their next door neighbors, the Healey's, (another WCM user) are vitally interested in preserving their Lake. They feel that all lots should be required to put in "SUN-MAR" units. We certainly like that idea!

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"WCM N.E." - The McCreadys, Proudfoot Lake. Installed: 1992 Mr. McCready's cottage is one of about 30 on this remote lake where there is no electricity. "There are at least 4, and maybe up to 8, "SUN-MAR" toilet systems installed here", her said. "The more the merrier as far as we're concerned." Mr McCready installed his unit himself with the help of a friend from the Ministry of the Environment. The WCM-N.E., (now the CENTREX N.E.) is used by 5 people, and with guests, sometimes up to 9 or 10. "It was fine, just fine," enthused Mr. McCready, "If you follow the directions that come with it, it does exactly what it says it will do." The photo shows the excellent compost extracted during our visit. Mr. McCready feels his system is "quite fine". "We're very pleased with it".

6 People and an N.E.

Bruce Fehring's N.E. is not typical. In fact, the warmth, draft, moisture, and excellent top soil he gets in his Hawaii location are ideal. What really intrigued us was that under these perfect conditions, and with a smaller (pre-1994) Bio-drum, the EXCEL N.E. could handle the year round needs of his family of 6 people. Double our maximum rating of 3! We hope you find this Composting Times (C.T.) interview with Bruce Fehring (B.F.) to be of interest. The interview was conducted in January 1994.

C.T.: When did you buy your unit?
B.F.: I bought the unit in January (1993). That was our first
unit. I personally use an N.E. because I'm
not connected to the power grid.
C.T.: Tell me about the installation.
B.F.: Well, we have the unit in a side building that's accessible; real easily from everywhere in the house. We've got the; stack in a place where it never misses any wind, and we've; got a little bit of an angle to it because we find that an; angled pipe seems to draw better than a straight pipe.
C.T.: Did you put a 12 Volt fan in the stack?
B.F.: We have installed a 12 Volt fan in the stack, yes, but we; find that one of the things that really works in our favor; is the tremendous amount of wind at our site, and we got a; lot of draw from the stack even without the fan.
C.T.: So you find you don't need a fan or ...
B.F.: Well, we use a fan at times when the wind drops off, but; for the most part the draw is very substantial when the wind; is blowing O.K.
C.T.: How many people are using your N.E. year round?
B.F.: Well, the whole family with the exception of our littlest; guy who actually just came along in September, so there's my; wife, myself, and four children. The eldest is 12, then we; have a 10 year old, a 7 year old, and a 3 year old.
C.T.: That's way beyond the maximum residential rating of 3!
B.F.: Right. Well, a number of our kids are very young and I find; that because I'm using this really good soil and the fact; pretty quick.
C.T.: How did you start off the unit?
B.F.: We started off by putting the peat moss into the unit, and; then I've got a friend who has been doing a lot of organic; farming here, and he's got about the richest soil around.; Really good kind of stuff, but clean you know, no chemicals; or anything like that; so I actually borrowed some soil from; him and have been doing that on a regular basis; putting; some of his soil in with the mix.
C.T.: Do you add peat moss on a regular basis?
B.F.: Oh yes! We give it plenty of peat moss. In fact I tell the; children just about every time they go I'd like them to; throw half a cup or a cup or peat moss in, to keep it going.
C.T.: How often do you rotate the drum?
B.F.: I turn the unit every other day instead of the twice a week; like you recommend, and so I keep things moving in there; because I find it really helps a lot to do that. You know; it's got the moistness, and it's got the warmth and it needs; a little more air, so every other day I give it a good turn,; and it doesn't seem to upset the balance too much, it gets; right to work again as soon as I stop.; (Editor's Note: We feel twice a week is the correct; frequency for "normal" installations. The difference must; be due to Bruce's terrific composting speed!)
C.T.: I presume with a compost like yours you never had any problems with odor?
B.F.: No. No smell problems whatsoever. Never even at the very beginning.
C.T.: What about the compost in the finishing drawer?
B.F.: Well, it's pretty well composted. You know I can run my; fingers through it and not feel too much difference in; consistency and it feels pretty good.
C.T.: Would you describe it as loam or topsoil? How does it look?
B.F.: I would call it loam. You know the peat moss gives it a; kind of sponginess that you don't get in top soil. It's; got a little more air in it as it were. But it's not; offensive in any way, shape, or form. The fruit trees love it!
C.T.: What about liquid. Have you got the drains connected?
B.F.: Yes, but there has been very little drainage of liquid.
C.T.: Do yo know how much, a pint a day or...?
B.F.: Gosh, if it were a cup, more like a big table spoon a day,; that would be...you rarely see it. In fact you rarely see; any overflow whatsoever. It seems like we've just got a; pretty good balance, between our waste and what we can; actually do with the unit. It seems like we're pretty much; optimizing the whole thing.

Mountain Lion Trading Co.
2404 North Columbus Street
Spokane, WA 99207-2126
509-487-0765 (Voice or Fax)