Thetford iNDUS toilet system for motorhomes. A new way of RV water management.
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- Опубликовано: 2 июл 2024
- Thetford launched its iNDUS system in 2020 which the company then thought would revolutionise RV waste water infrastructure and indeed RV construction. After one year we see how this is going.
The company claims that iNDUS is not just a new product but a complete smart sanitation system, offering RV users more convenience, more hygiene and more freedom. It says that with iNDUS RV users can be off-grid for an average of 7 days. The system supports one-stop discharging in a very hygienic and flexible way. Additives are dosed automatically in exactly the amount needed. A great amount of fresh water is saved by an efficient toilet flush and by re-using grey water to flush the toilet. And all actions are supported by an app, giving RV users a complete real time overview.
Users discharge their tanks on average 5 times a week. Every 2 to 3 days the waste-holding tank is discharged and every 2 to 4 days the grey water tank. Thetford's research shows that people empty their tanks, both grey and black water in many cases because people think they are full, but in fact they don’t really know. Another reason to discharge is the fact that there is a discharge location nearby. An additional problem is that the smell of both black and grey water can be quite unpleasant, especially when additives are not used.
Thetford claims that iNDUS brings discharging from 5 times a week, down to an average of 1 allowing off grid use of at least one week. Furthermore the app informs when tanks are getting full, and powered by Campercontact, it will show over 25.000 possible discharge locations. And when you need to discharge, you can go one-stop-discharging of both grey water and black water with a hygienic and flexible iNDUS discharge device.
This can be done at most grey water discharge spots, as long as they are connected to the general sewage infrastructure. The iNDUS discharge device has a 2m hose which is placed onto the grid, you open the valve, push the button to activate the discharge process and the rest is done by the system. The iNDUS discharge device is compatible with the layout of most wastewater discharge spots.
RV users dose their additives manually on an average of every 2 to 3 days. It is not a heavy or dirty job, but in practice you can easily overdose and underdose. iNDUS provides a full automatic additive dosing module. It will dose exactly what is needed based on the use of the system and based on the temperature. After about 4 weeks, the empty cartridges have to be replaced. The iNDUS app provides real time information about the volume level of the cartridges and when they are empty and need to be replaced. The iNDUS system comes with 3 specially developed additives for Grey Water, Flush Water and Black Water. Together these additives will guarantee a hygienic use, will prevent bad smells and ensure trouble-free use of the system. The iNDUS additives are biodegradable, just like all Thetford waste-holding tank additives. Next to that, the active substances will be broken down according to the amount of waste that has been produced.
The new iNDUS toilet is a modern looking, intuitive toilet with a soft close seat and cover and a well-considered bowl design, to make sure it feels like home. And with at 7.5 kg it is a lightweight toilet as well. An outstanding aspect of the iNDUS system is the low water use. The system is re-using grey water to flush the toilet. This reduces the weight of the waste tanks and will leave you with more fresh water to use. By using a low noise macerator pump, with a two-step macerating process, the amount of flush water used is brought to a lower level, which is comparable to the Thetford cassette toilet. This indicates a low flush water use of 200ml for a small flush, or 500ml for a big flush.
Just to compare, at home we use 3 to 10 liters per flush. And by re-using grey water for toilet flushing, people save on average 112 liters of fresh water per four weeks and therefore also the same amount of waste water!” Because the hose package is compact and easy to install, the toilet can be placed freely. The toilet can be fixed to a wall when you have a toilet with a console. Otherwise you can place the toilet wherever you like. This leads to new lay-out possibilities for OEM’s. As the toilet can be placed freely, all the surfaces can be reached so it is also easy to clean.
Complete overview in 1 App
The iNDUS app supports a transition from guessing when and where to empty your tanks to knowing when and where. It is providing all relevant information in one simple dashboard on your mobile device. The level of your additive cartridges, the level of your tanks and for example, an automatic alert on the nearest discharge location because your tank is full, and much more. It all becomes available in real time via a secured Bluetooth low energy connection. 
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This makes life effortless.... as it should be with a lavatory! Great video. Thetford are leading the way!
Spacious.. comfortable too..love the bath😲👍
Love this system, helps to save water. Cleans your black tank with your grey water.
Much more convenient then our cassette now, less hasle, and finaly some evolution in this market.
Does it save much water? Cassettes don't use much water anyway...
@@G-ra-ha-m when I clean our cassette, I have to rinse it at least 5 times to get it completely clean. This cleans the black tank with the grey water. Love that, bigger capacity also tank than our 21 liter cassette, only pro's.
@@draventannoy At the campsites etc, in general there is an infinite supply of water: the only place I have a limited amount is in the van: so saving water on land is a bit pointless IMO.
Love watching your videos mate. 1 day with all going well & hard work I’ll meet you one day & buy one myself
It's good to see Thetford stepping in to make some improvement in the tedious cassette discharge method but what we have chiefly seen is the commercial side of it: new toilet, new additive distribution system, new discharge system... all areas where Thetford wasn't almost rising a cent before except for the usual blue stuff that did go in the cassette itself, at which point they have plenty of valid competition that undercut them in price and I believe some in smell as well.
Don't get me wrong I think this new system is a welcome addition but I don't see the grey water going anywhere except the grey tank in any of my RVs EVER. It's a dumb idea that I flush my toilet with... my shavings ? my toothpaste spit ? my facial scrub? ...are they gonna include the kitchen sink so I'll get to see again my tuna fish can oil drain splattered across the toilet bowl with some tuna flakes accompanying it? That's RIDICULOUS ! I mean... not only a normal screen filter couldn't make it decently clean, you'd also need an oil and particle separator and very expensive maintenance to keep it running.
What's good is that except the grey water reusal it's an interesting system, providing it is integrated with a decent sized black tank, which in my book means AT LEAST double or triple the usual cassette capacity of 18 Liters.
But... we'll see. I believe the system to be too complicated and probably too costly to ever find a significant commercial application. The upper range of RVs will continue to use domestic sized toilets with dedicated black tanks, the bottom range they'll probably stick with cassettes forever. In the midrange they used to integrate the cassette with a macerator and dedicated black tank and I believe that's the zone where this new system might bite. Still... I reckon it was probably some 0.something% of the market. Good luck with that!
Ah was I forgetting: no cassette, no more household toilet dumps. Probably the single feature selling most cassettes.
It looks good, however in the UK, there are designated disposable points, I can’t see many sites allowing you to discharge toilet waste into the grey water grills, or could I be missing something ?
When the C200 and C220 cassettes are inserted, the 'automatic vent' is pressed open, with a little float valve that shuts it if it's full.
This means there is a permanent open vent between the inside, and the outside of the cassette, all the time it's in.
What would be useful, instead of redesigning everything, is to make a valve that only opens when there's too much pressure, and/or has a 10mm pipe nipple, so the vent can be directed to the outside of the vehicle.
It's possible to buy part 2378874 and modify it with a drill and a glue gun: but one has to question why the DIYer is the guy correcting Thetford's errors...
The big questions of course is how much more does it cost compared to standard cassette system and how much do the chemicals cost.
I am only a tent camper but where I camp vans just leave their grey valves open so it runs onto the grass field and there is a cassette emptying point for black waste with Portaloos for us tent campers and those van users who cannot be bothered with cassettes.
I like my 30 gallon American black tank. You guys need to go with American style dump stations
From Canada: you are exactly making the point: your 30 or 45 gallon black tank has to be emptied in a specific dump station, an euro style cassette can be dumped in any toilet in addition to dump stations.
@@charlevoix418 Except I can go for 3 weeks not 3 days. I'm not tied to public toilets
Hi ...I don't understand.
Saludos de México.
Hi Alan. This is interesting. But possibly I don’t understand. Do you dispose the black water into a gray water disposal or do you really dispose gray water into a black water disposal? John USA
All into a black disposal
Note that Thetford sells a toilet with a built-in macerating pump that can pump to a black tank that is not directly below the toilet. It can even pump uphill. This is something we in the states can use because indus isn’t available here yet.
Just wonder how the black water is pumped down a small pipe? Is it macerated first and what about hair and toilet paper? Will the system cope?
It is yes.
Does the black water “tank” hold more with this new system? That would be a huge plus!
Of course, but it´s a totally different system. The indus system is based on a "real" black water tank (whose size you can determine yourself / RV manufacturer).
Hi Elaine, thanks for feedback. Some reflexion from Thetford. The volume of iNDUS tanks vary per Oem, depending on the chassis the use. Examples I've experienced contained a black water tank of 50 liters, being about 2,5 times as big as most cassettes, so yes a huge plus here. Thanks again. Regs, Norbert
@@norbertvannoesel Thank you so much for taking the time to reply. Is this system available to purchase for those of us who are planning a van conversion? Or is it only available to large Motorhome manufacturers?
I’m not thick, no seriously, I’m not. I just don’t get it. This would surely need extra plumbing from the shower and the kitchen sink and some sort of filter on the grey water. It would make more sense bringing down the cost of incinerator toilets. No one would do that because they won’t make any money on additives or indeed on smartphone apps.
Looks like Thetford creating additional income from adding uneccasary technology for the phone addicted generation
But the massive potential for it to break down in impressive.
In general, cassettes don't need much improvement: they now seem to be solving a problem that doesn't exist. This is a vanity project.