Greetings from Clivus Multrum!

This season’s Natural Solution News highlights the popularity of the Clivus Multrum M54 Trailhead with golf courses in the greater metro Philadelphia area. We also visit the site of a railroad museum that installed the M35 system with Foam-flush toilets, providing a much-needed restroom for visitors to the museum and local rail-trail.

For PA Golf Clubs, M54 Trailhead is a Hole-in-one

In the northwestern suburbs of Philadelphia, a number of golf clubs have selected the Clivus Multrum M54 Trailhead as a mid-course restroom solution. Each course chose the M54 Trailhead because it does not require water or sewer connections and can be customized to match the aesthetics of the individual locations.

M54 Exterior - Whitemarsh Valley Country Club*

The first club to install the M54 Trailhead in the area was the Philadelphia Cricket Club in 2013. Since then, superintendents from other local clubs including Whitemarsh Valley Country Club, Old York Road Country Club, and St Davids Golf Club visited the Philly Cricket Club site and were impressed by what they saw.

For Tony Gustaitis, Superintendent at Whitemarsh Valley Country Club in Wayne, PA, the M54 Trailhead solved a problem that he had been trying to resolve for over ten years. After years of searching tradeshows and trade magazines, he received a tip from a member to visit the M54 Trailhead at the Philly Cricket Club. After his visit, he reached out to Clivus for additional information, and soon proposed the M54 Trailhead to the club’s board, which voted to move forward with the purchase. They selected a custom cedar clapboard exterior finish along with customized solar, which provides power for operating the Foam-flush toilet and fan.

M54 Interior - Whitemarsh Valley*

With easy access to the 2nd, 12th and 16th holes, the M54 Trailhead provides the club’s 400 golfing members with a comfortable, clean restroom when they are away from the main building. Now in its second year of operation, Gustaitis says he’s received only positive feedback. “It’s clean and bright, and you never smell any kind of odor…We would not hesitate to install another M54 Trailhead if we need a restroom in an area with no potable water or septic.”

Just up the road in Ambler, PA, Peter Clearkin, Superintendent at Old York Road Country Club was facing similar issues. His 350 golfing members needed a mid-course restroom that did not require water and sewer, and the contracted portable toilet was not making the grade. Clearkin discovered the M54 Trailhead online and contacted Clivus, learning that other local clubs, including the Philly Cricket Club, had recently installed the M54 Trailhead. He visited a few local sites to ensure it would meet his club’s needs and was pleased to discover that they could customize the exterior finish to match the stone and red barn wood siding of the club’s other onsite buildings.

M54 - Old York Road Country Club**

Clearkin proposed the idea to the club’s board, which gave the OK. Coordinating with Clivus, Clearkin was able to watch the site prep and off-loading at nearby Whitemarsh Valley Country Club. Old York Road’s unit was placed in the area furthest from the clubhouse between the 13th hole and 14th tee. On the day it was delivered, Clivus personnel was on site to assist with the installation, which was completed in one day. Landscaping soon followed.

Clearkin says he hears no more complaints about the club’s lack of adequate mid-course restroom facilities: “And no news is good news.”

Over the past few years the great outdoors near the sixth hole at St Davids Golf Club, in Wayne, PA, fifteen miles southwest of Old York Road Country Club, had become an unofficial pit stop. Eager to find a solution to this problem, the club’s board acted quickly in making a decision when a member who had visited the Philly Cricket Club proposed the M54 Trailhead.

Joe Nattle, Superintendent, oversaw the purchase and Clivus personnel assisted him with installation of their M54 Trailhead. Installed at the 6th hole/7th tee area, the unit was finished with the standard pine board and batten along with a solar system to operate the Foam-flush toilet and fan. Landscaping was added and the unit was open for the 2016 golf season.

M54 - St Davids Golf Club***

According to Nattle, “so far, so good” and complaints about the lack of mid-course restroom facilities have stopped.

Each of the clubs handle the day-to-day maintenance including cleaning the interior of the restroom building and replacing hand sanitizer and foam for the Foam-flush toilet, as required. Clivus takes care of the rest! 

*Image courtesy Tony Gustaitis, Whitemarsh Valley Country Club

**Image courtesy Peter Clearkin, Old York Road Country Club

***Image courtesy of Clivus Multrum, Inc.

Hopewell Depot Adds a Clivus

Hopewell Depot switching tower © RiverRailPhoto, Marc Glucksman

Built in 1873, the Hopewell Depot train station of Hopewell Junction, NY, fell into disrepair in the early 1980’s. With great care and enthusiasm, a group of volunteers rebuilt the train station and switching tower. Inside the tower is a Clivus Multrum M35 composting toilet system fitted with Foam-flush toilets. The switching tower opened in May 2016 and serves the visitors of the train station museum as well as people using the adjacent William R. Steinhaus Dutchess Rail Trail.

Originally established 1.5 miles from the train station, the village of Hopewell Junction slowly moved from its primary location to build up around the station as the railway served as a source of communication, food and other goods. The train station was also an important nexus of commerce. Coal was transported by train from Pennsylvania, crossed the Hudson River by ferry, and continued by rail through New York to factories in New England. In Hopewell Junction, an additional engine was added to the train in order to provide power for the journey over nearby Stormville Mountain. After cresting the peak, the extra engine then returned to Hopewell Depot to await the arrival of the next train.

While Hopewell Junction no longer relies upon the railroad to support the lives of its residents, the train station continues to be an historical reference point and serves as a local tourist attraction for approximately 1500 visitors per year. Through the work of its dedicated volunteers, the non-profit Hopewell Depot Restoration Corporation reconstructed and preserves the Hopewell Depot train station. The station serves as a museum, documenting the history of the railroad and the formation of the village of Hopewell Junction. Because the site is far from water and sewer connections, there were no restroom facilities, which limited its potential for hosting educational groups. The adjacent rail trail was served by a couple of portapotties during the summer months only, so a restroom solution was very much needed.

A few of the volunteers were familiar with the Clivus systems at the nearby Beacon Institute, and they began exploring the Clivus system as a possibility for restroom facilities in the switching tower. According to Joe Sullivan, President of the Hopewell Depot Restoration Corp, "the Clivus system was chosen because of its strong reputation and because it has the largest capacity of any composting system we could find." The volunteer group worked with the Dutchess County health commissioner and commissioner of public works to gain approval for the project.

Restroom with Foam-flush toilet.*

Since the completion of the switching tower in May, the Hopewell Depot train station can now host larger educational groups and is expanding their programming this year with local 4th grade field trips. According to President Joe Sullivan, the feedback about the restrooms has been “all very positive with no complaints.” He says that visitors appreciate having access to a nice, clean restroom rather than the rail trail portapotty. Says Sullivan, “visitors are getting positive view of composting toilets with our very nice, clean restroom.”

Volunteers from the organization currently handle the day-to-day maintenance of the building and restroom. Maintenance of the compost process is done by Clivus—another reason the Restoration Corporation can be confident of long-term success of its fine project.

*Image courtesy of Joe Sullivan, Hopewell Depot Restoration Corp.

Contact Clivus Multrum to see if a Clivus composting toilet system is right for your next project.