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Compost toilets

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fungus44

Bluelighter
Joined
May 7, 2004
Messages
1,436
Location
Toronto, Canada
Hi all,

Wasn't sure where to put this or even to put it on bL, but I've been getting amazing responses from people when I mention just getting one.

It's not an outhouse! It has a series of filtres and meshes which separate the solids from liquids. The liquid (aka urine and friends) drains off to an alternate location using simple plastic tubing. It can then be mixed down with water (one part urine to three parts water) to act as a plant fertilizer.

The solids get mixed with peat moss and compost accelerator and can be pulled out simply but very very carefully. By the time the compost has formed, it is safe to use. You just want to have some newspaper down to pick up any spillage and you don't wear your finest party dress or tuxedo.

And it isn't smelly! The peat moss, water, TP, and basic household stuff like vinegar or baking soda is all it takes to get the acid/base balance right. Vents take care of the rest.

To speed the process up a bit of electricity helps to cook the healthy lucre. Ours has a solar panel.

Anyways, just wanted to get the word out. Feel free to ask questions, add your experince, and I'll try to give updates on how it is working out. Pooping never felt so good! Just giving back to Mother Nature.

And it leads to the telling of terrible poop and pee jokes and you can feel environmentally responsible while you laugh instead of just immature.

Remember the no sources rule! The retailer/distributors were very helpful when things got a little tricky.
 
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Exactly! And we'll probably have a good yeaild in a year's time. The bunny grass, basil, clover and sunflowers will be well fed.
 
^^^ Ouch! About $2500 Canadian, which included a solar panel and battery. It was also a nicer model than the lowest run one.

Ours was for indoors near a social and sleeping area, so a stinky slowish toilet was not appealing. The TP comes in bulk and should be available at outdoorsy type shops -- it's the same stuff that RV users use.

In terms of other maintenance, it really only requires peat moss, a basic accelerator, and very inexpensive cleaning supplies. No harsh bleaches or other toilet cleaners!

So far it has been popular - a lot of people want to try it. It's also pretty bulky. It does need to hold a fair volume so that's not bad thing. The solar isn't working yet and oncce it's going the goodness will cook up quickly.

I guess its our version of a smart car. Hopefully if more people get them the prices will drop and be a lot more accessible financially and technologically.
 
peepee poopoo

Ok, the's the latest: Emptied the liquid tank, and it was about to overflow. The runoff was a dark chocolate super stinky fluid. Emptied it into a regular food/garden composter just for some extra safety, bacteria- and nitrogen- wise.

I'd highly recommend changing the liquid container a long time before it is full. While its volume wasn't bad, it was 20 L aka 50 pounds, pretty freaking heavy for a bottle you really don't don't don't want to spill, especially on yourself.

Haven't taken out the tray of liquid-solids, that seems a little trickier. Will report back then.
 
I have shat in a number of these fine devices over the years and they are very good - no smell, plus a feel good feeling that you haven't wasted any water. Apparently there are sometimes clashes with local council regulations about sewerage processing....
 
I saw a third-world prototype in the Philippines. It is certainly less expensive and looked fabricated very basically. But you have to climb stairs. It didn't smell bad at all, even after use.
 
So it survived a mild Canadian winter. A proper dainage of liquid hadn't really been done so there was concerned about freezing and cracking. We have had some concern about the fluid being block by solids but don't really want to explore too too much until more round about ways are exhausted.

Plus the good news! There was a good yield of compost. Due to some insecurity about how safe it was the solids and liquids were put into an outdoor composter. The plants arounds it are HUGE. And, no, you wouldn't want to smoke them, unless you get high off carrot vapours.
 
A long term project for me is improving efficiency of the methane digesting toilet. Anaerobic bacteria convert the poo to methane gas.

One unit has now been in operation for ~20 years. It produces enough gas to power a 4 element cooker and if needed, acts as a backup for hot water.

After it is removed and dried, the processed material from the digester is excellent for use in the garden .
 
i am confused, i always thought poo from meat eaters couldn't be used as fertilizer/compost. did i totally pull that out of my ass or is there something to that?
 
I have come across non-flushing toilets a few times.

One was in a very cold environment in high altitude Japan, so the stink factor was minimal. Basically the toilet seat was over a big pit, and everything just went in together. It was on a farm, so every two months or so, using a huge tractor powered vacuum machine, all the solids and liquid was sucked up, and sprayed as fertiliser on vacant plots of land. We had to add a lot of water to wash it all into the huge tank on the back of the tractor (some 2000 L from memory) and the machine mixed everything up, even toilet paper could not be identified, being totally minced.

Another was on a rural property in Australia, where after each use, a cup of lime was added. As it was a 3 person dwelling, the hole over which it sat did not fill for some 6 months before having to be filled in and moved. Again, minimal stink due to the lime, which apparently helped break it all down also. They had a drilling machine, again powered by a tractor to dig the initial pits.

One other is a septic tank-like system used often in India. All the crap just collects in a big tank, and the (I think) methane gas which forms as it decomposes is extracted. From memory a huge, heavy circular metal 'lid' sat on the septic tank, and the gas emitted by the waste would push it up gradually. Once under pressure, there was a pipe leading off, and the gas was used to power some lights in the electric generator house, or the staff quarters. I think there was a 'smell factor' but the kind of place it was, one was already used to all sorts of putrid odours.
 
i am confused, i always thought poo from meat eaters couldn't be used as fertilizer/compost. did i totally pull that out of my ass or is there something to that?
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I'm not aware of any prohibition around diet and composting. I'll make an uneducated guess and suppose that certain things we pass are more difficult to compost.
 
If you live in Illinois, USA, you can get a pretty big rebate for solar panels as part of a state sponsored energy reduction plan. I'm unsure if they're the first, so it's worth it to check to see if your government supports alternative energy.

This sounds great. I'll definately be considering it when I have the chance to implement it.

With my installation, it took approximately 6-9 months for one bin to be filled, after which the second bin was rotated into position. Thus, by the time no. 1 bin came round for use again, (a time lapse of about 18 months) its contents had matured into a non-smelly, friable compost in which none of the original excreta could be recognised as such. Within the toilet cubicle, smell was no problem at all, because a fan continuously draws air from the cubicle down through the system, and vented above the roofline.
Guests would remark that the toilet smelt less than a conventional flush toilet.
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8o It has survived another year of pretty extreme temperatures. Not a lot of use of it but the fan hasn't been working (my fault not the toilet's). Liquids continue to be run through a conventional composter and the plants around it get more and more lush as time goes by.
 
My cousin'¨s family has something like this at home... I think it's great, it has some kind of air conditioning too so it doesn't smell bad at all....
 
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