Can You Put A Regular Toilet In An RV?

The simple answer to this question is no, you cannot put a regular toilet into an RV.

The construction of a regular toilet is not designed to handle bumpy roads. RV toilets also use much more water than regular toilets which also causes problems with the black water storage tank, meaning you would have to empty the water storage much more frequently.

Aside from that, regular toilets will not actually fit into most RVs as they are generally larger than standard RV toilets.

Overall it’s really not a good idea and to put it bluntly, it’s a recipe for disaster. Here is an in-depth rundown on the 5 main reasons why you shouldn’t do it.

Reasons Why You Cannot Put A Regular Toilet In An RV

can you put a regular toilet in an RV

Here are the 5 main reasons why it’s a bad idea to try to fit a regular toilet into your RV.

1. Size

Although not always the case, most household toilets aren’t going to fit into an RV. They are generally a little larger and may not be able to physically fit into the bathroom in your RV.

However, this does depend on the size of the RV, as some may be large enough.

2. The Materials & Construction

One of the main reasons why it’s a bad idea to put a normal toilet into an RV is due to the construction of it. Normal toilets are generally always made out of porcelain. Although porcelain can be durable in some situations, it’s certainly not impact resistant. 

Driving down the road at breakneck speeds while hitting bumps is sure to break that toilet. It might be able to take a few bumps, but eventually that porcelain is going to crack and fracture. This will then cause water to spill into your RV bathroom. 

You might hit a big bump and end up breaking that toilet into several pieces. There is also the fact that normal toilets have tanks that are not secured to the wall. That toilet tank can therefore move around, and the lid may even fall off.

3. Water Consumption

Normal toilets use a whole lot more water. A normal home toilet, in today’s world, may use anywhere between one half a gallon and two gallons of water with every flush. 

Toilets for RVs on the other hand are designed to use a lot less water. This is mainly because in your RV you have a freshwater holding tank. 

Well, that tank is only so large. Therefore, the more water your toilet uses, the more often you will have to fill up that fresh water tank. RV fresh water holding tanks aren’t massive, so this is actually quite the issue.

4. The Toilet’s Holding Tank

Another issue here has to do with the holding tank of the toilet. If there are several liters of water in the tank of your toilet, along with an unsecured lid, when you hit bumps, that water is going to move around. 

Due to the fact that the lid is unsecured, the water can therefore slosh back and forth, and get out of the tank. In other words, in a sharp turn or if you hit a bump, the water in your toilet’s holding tank may get all over your bathroom. It’s going to spill out and make a huge mess.

5. The RV’s Holding Tank

The other issue, also having to do with water and capacity, is the fact that your black water holding tank in your RV is going to fill up too quickly. 

If you have a normal home toilet that can use up to two gallons of water per flush, that black water tank is going to fill up really quickly. 

This means that you will then have to empty that black water tank much more frequently. This is of course quite an unpleasant task.

Related: How to clean your RV toilet.

What About Stationary RV’s That Are Not Moving?

If you plan on having your RV stationary for several months, then it may be acceptable to install a regular home toilet. For one, your vehicle is not going to be moving.

Therefore, there is no risk of the toilet breaking due to hitting a bump. There is also no risk of water spilling out of the toilet’s holding tank and getting all over your bathroom.

There is also the fact that most RV campgrounds have water connections, so you don’t really have to walk worry about your fresh water supply. On that note, most RV parks also have sewer connections.

This means that you can directly connect the sewer connection through your RV, therefore mitigating the issue of having to clean out your black water tank far too often.

With all of that being said, there is of course the issue with actually getting to the RV park. Sure, being stationary might be fine with a normal toilet, but you will have to drive eventually.

What would you do, have a normal RV toilet, drive get to the RV park, and then switch it out for a regular home toilet? Honestly, it’s just really not feasible.

Can You Upgrade An RV Toilet?

What is pretty neat is that there are two different types of toilets that you can use to upgrade your RV bathroom with.

Let’s take a look at both options right now.

Ceramic Toilet

If you are looking for a really sturdy and durable type of toilet for your RV, a ceramic toilet is a good way to go. This is also one of the most common toilet upgrades for RV’s.

They function more or less exactly like normal RV toilets do, by using a bit of water and gravity to flush waste down into the holding tank

This RV toilet will usually sit right above the holding tank, so that everything can just fall down into it. You then have to access the black water tank through the outside of the RV for emptying. 

This type of gravity toilet is ideal for people with smaller holding tanks, as they don’t use as much water and don’t need to be emptied out very often.

Composting Toilet

The other option you have at your disposal here is a composting toilet. These are very convenient types of toilets to have in an RV as they don’t require any black water tank space at all. They also barely use any water. 

As the name of this toilet implies, it actually has a holding tank of its own that composts your waste. It has a special system that will separate solids from liquids and will put them into separate tanks. This separation of liquids and solids does help to keep sewer smells to a minimum. 

Moreover, the holding tank that stores the solid waste also features various composting agents and microbes that break the waste down and then turn it into compost. This is of course quite ecofriendly because it can then be used as fertilizer. 

Now, the holding tanks for it the liquid waste with these composting toilets aren’t huge, so they do need to be emptied fairly often. However, it is very easy to dispose of because regular black water tanks in RVs contain much more waste in general than these composting toilets do.

FAQ

Can You Put A Porcelain Toilet In A RV?

No, you cannot put a porcelain toilet into an RV. This type of toilet is far too fragile and will eventually break when you hit a few big bumps.

Do RV Toilets Hold Water?

To flush, RV toilets generally have a direct water line. This means that when you flush, water is taken directly from the fresh water tank and directed into the toilet. However, there is usually no water holding tank.

Can You Move A Toilet In A Camper?

Generally speaking, the toilet is going to be located directly above the black water holding tank. For this reason, it’s usually really not possible to move the toilet in the camper.


So, your options here are a regular RV pilot, a composting toilet, or a ceramic toilet. That said, you certainly cannot put a normal household porcelain toilet into an RV.

Madeline Cooper