now this is the way to do compost toilets

emordnilap · Post by **emordnilap** » 23 Sep 2011, 17:49

An inspiring video from post-earthquake Haiti.

Note the toilets provided by USAID.

Water is going to be like gold and oil in our lifetimes.

JohnB · Post by **JohnB** » 23 Sep 2011, 20:30

I love videos where you get to look down the hole

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I'm doing lots of woodwork at the moment, and collecting sawdust ready for when I build mine. My concern about using their system of composting is encouraging rats.

emordnilap · Post by **emordnilap** » 27 Sep 2011, 10:22

Yes, that went through my mind JohnB, particularly as they said they put food scraps in there.

Maybe the cats chose not to appear in the video.

Our humanure heap sides are constructed from 1" square mesh which allows rain in but keeps rats out (well, so far it has). Small mice have been seen around the heap; 1" is an open door to them but I don't really mind them. Besides, the cats are kept busy.

JohnB · Post by **JohnB** » 27 Sep 2011, 11:18

emordnilap wrote:Our humanure heap sides are constructed from 1" square mesh which allows rain in but keeps rats out (well, so far it has). Small mice have been seen around the heap; 1" is an open door to them but I don't really mind them. Besides, the cats are kept busy.

Have you got pictures (especially ones with new dog in them)? Once I've moved into my new bedsit there will be room for a compost loo next to the bathroom, as well as the one I'll make for me, so I can try to stop people using the flush loo. It would be good to have pics of compost heaps that work in cold wet places!

emordnilap · Post by **emordnilap** » 27 Sep 2011, 11:29

JohnB wrote:
emordnilap wrote:Our humanure heap sides are constructed from 1" square mesh which allows rain in but keeps rats out (well, so far it has). Small mice have been seen around the heap; 1" is an open door to them but I don't really mind them. Besides, the cats are kept busy.
Have you got pictures (especially ones with new dog in them)? Once I've moved into my new bedsit there will be room for a compost loo next to the bathroom, as well as the one I'll make for me, so I can try to stop people using the flush loo. It would be good to have pics of compost heaps that work in cold wet places!

I'll get some pics together.

For visitors, a sign on the flush loo should read, "out of order" and turn off the water to the cistern. For residents, someone is bound to try to fix it!

It's not really a wet place, JohnB. Damp maybe but not wet. I cycle and walk everyday and rarely do so in rain.

JohnB · Post by **JohnB** » 27 Sep 2011, 11:35

emordnilap wrote:For visitors, a sign on the flush loo should read, "out of order" and turn off the water to the cistern. For residents, someone is bound to try to fix it!

I was going to try using guilt about wasting drinking water and creating a pollution problem, when it could be used for good stuff, and say it's only ok to use it when caught short when using the bath/shower!

emordnilap wrote:It's not really a wet place, JohnB. Damp maybe but not wet. I cycle and walk everyday and rarely do so in rain.

Well a climate more like Wales than Haiti is

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emordnilap · Post by **emordnilap** » 18 Oct 2011, 12:40

JohnB wrote:Have you got pictures (especially ones with new dog in them)? Once I've moved into my new bedsit there will be room for a compost loo next to the bathroom, as well as the one I'll make for me, so I can try to stop people using the flush loo. It would be good to have pics of compost heaps that work in cold wet places!

The 'new' dog, Sonny:

The compost 'heap' with the lid up:

and down:

lurker · Post by **lurker** » 18 Oct 2011, 13:04

How long will that take to decompose, will you spread it on the vegtable garden? Does smell bad?

My grandad used to have the job of feeding the rhubarb with "Night soil" from an outdoor loo. Wasn't a composting toiliet just a tradtional outdoor loo with a bucket the type that everyone had bad then.

Recently had some composted food waste free from the council but i decided too not put it on the veg garden even though they recommended it in there leaflet. Mainly becuse the stuff stank really badly 7 had alot of plastic bits in it, so i just used it as tree mulch instead.

emordnilap · Post by **emordnilap** » 18 Oct 2011, 13:10

lurker wrote:How long will that take to decompose

Depending upon the heat attained, it could be ready in a year. Unlikely in this country, so what we did with the first heap was left it for two years, then mixed it with a new 'ordinary' heap of weeds, grass, nettles, clippings, straw, newspaper, to be left for another year at least. In other words, we're very - I think overly - cautious.

lurker wrote:will you spread it on the vegtable garden?

Yes.

lurker wrote:Does smell bad?

No. No smells at all except you get a whiff when you scrape back the top covering to add new material but the straw/nettles/weeds/peapods etc we use as covering masks it as it does its work.

The heap seethes with worms.

lurker wrote:so i just used it as tree mulch instead.

Ultra-safe.

JohnB · Post by **JohnB** » 18 Oct 2011, 13:38

That looks simple enough. I haven't started building the loo (or loos) yet, but hope to soon. I've created 3 buckets of sawdust from the current job so far

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Does Sonny's poo go into it?

emordnilap · Post by **emordnilap** » 18 Oct 2011, 13:52

JohnB wrote:Does Sonny's poo go into it?

He's not the sharpest knife in the drawer.

JohnB · Post by **JohnB** » 18 Oct 2011, 13:55

emordnilap wrote:
JohnB wrote:Does Sonny's poo go into it?
He's not the sharpest knife in the drawer.

I wasn't suggesting you train him to put it in himself

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emordnilap · Post by **emordnilap** » 18 Oct 2011, 14:22

JohnB wrote:
emordnilap wrote:
JohnB wrote:Does Sonny's poo go into it?
He's not the sharpest knife in the drawer.
I wasn't suggesting you train him to put it in himself .

Get away!

postie · Post by **postie** » 20 Oct 2011, 21:01

I'm looking into compost toilets at the moment...

ok.. that could be better phrased I guess

Where I work has no running water.. and no toilet... but it does have a bit of derelict land behind a derelict building, overgrown with elder and willow. I was thinking a compost toilet would be an ideal solution... at least for me.

It wont be used by anyone else, except maybe one other employee... and probably not even then every day. Quite likely not more than once a week. Not for solid stuff anyhows. Not having a toilet does tend to get your body-clock functions set for before you go to work so you don't need the loo.

Any recommendations of useful sites to look at?

JohnB · Post by **JohnB** » 20 Oct 2011, 21:29

postie wrote:I'm looking into compost toilets at the moment...

ok.. that could be better phrased I guess

I like looking into them

This is one of Kenneals.