Compost Toilet

Re: Compost Toilet

Rather than building something like that in your house, I would strongly suggest building an "outhouse", separate from your living quarters. Couple of neighbors where we had our camp installed compost toilets, and they made their house smell like an old fashioned outhouse. (horrible) The smell makes it's way throughout the house and surrounds the outside of the house depending on wind direction. The smell was NOT a pleasant welcome to visitors. However I suppose it could be argued that eventually those living in the house would get used to the smell and no longer notice it.
Another friend had a hi-tec electric unit that baked deposits to a sterile dust, but it was an energy hog and it seemed always in need of repair. They finally got rid of it.
Seriously, considering your situation, you might consider an old fashioned "outhouse", away from your living quarters.
Of course others may not agree, and that may not be what you want, but at least you will know what you'll be up against in advance if you do decide to install such a thing inside your home.

Re: Compost Toilet

In my experience, unless you live in a very warm climate, composting toilets need added heat to work very well, and th are not well suited for indoor applications. I installed a number of low water unites that work fairly well for part time cabins, but require 500 watts of heat to keep them active"

I would just go with an outhouse, or a well designed septic system. Marine type toilets use tiny amounts of water per flush, like 1 cup. Makes a pretty low water use impact on a drain field.

Icarus

Re: Compost Toilet

Well I have seen the opposite, I had a friend built a barge boat, actually his second, and put in a composting toilet in his camper and transferred it to the boat when the boat was finished, it had maybe a slight earthy smell if any. even in a tiny camper. I in humid areas, aren't you in Virginia?, they require heating and a steady exhaust fan. I had mine setup for a short while and didn't have smells, but I stead had the exhaust fan running or capped since I was expecting an inspection from the park.

If you are in the states, outhouses are generally not allowed, In Missouri, where I build and live in a shed with out inspection on anything, the only thing that is inspected is septic, you can do an outhouse if you have 10 or more acres, I think it was 5 when I was checking out Arkansas. East of the Mississippi, I think you would run into more regulations. There are a few composting toilets that carry National Sanitation Foundation (NSF) certification and would be hard for an inspector to flag but could be restricted by code, usually these are multi bin type. I have a Biolet (I think with out looking) I is a single bin and really only suitable for a cabin use since the 'finishing' requires 6-8 weeks with out new deposits, this can be done with a outside compost pile, but that puts the un treated waste in the environment.

If this is just for an SHTF situation, I'd look at a saw dust bucket, and store a bail of peat moss to add to the toilet. any bucket or barrel type that doesn't have incoming air and an agitator of some type will not compost. So a sawdust bucket and out side bin would be your best bet if you trying to do it on the cheap. Urine is not a environmental problem and men should be encouraged to take it out side, too much liquid also creates a problem in composting. Urines high nitrogen content can create a burn, but in some cultures it is collected and used, diluted to enrich gardens.

If you search Youtube for bucket toilet or off grid toilet, you will find some peoples designs.

Re: Compost Toilet

If you want something in your house I think separating the liquids and the solids is the way to go as it is the mixing that leads to the worst smells. Just build a wooden box (height to be determined by users) with a hinged top. Add one of these http://www.separett.ca/Torrdass-500-ca and either direct the liquids to an appropriate outdoor location or to a container that can be drained as required. Toss the lid that comes with it and use a conventional toilet seat. Put a pail/bucket inside lined with plastic bags for the solids. No need for sawdust or peet moss as a small muffin fan will easily remove any and all odours. A vertical stack with no bends should also work (with no fan) but for the small amount of power I would just go straight out the back with a muffin fan. Some screen over the exhaust to prevent and creepy crawlers from getting in. This is not a composting toilet but the contents can be removed and composted outside in an appropriate location. Might need a child seat for the little one so that everything goes where it should.

Re: Compost Toilet

Check out the humanure handbook. You can go to their site and buy it or look around and get a .pdf of it for free. The good folks up at Dancing Rabbit Eco Village use them and they work well. Also check out the Loveable Loo on the web and youtube. Lots of info out there that will work in many situations.

Good Luck!

Re: Compost Toilet

The humanure toilet
http://humanurehandbook.com/humanure_toilet.html

Yes, as suggested: Something that should be on your list is THIS: http://www.ecovita.net/privy.html

Re: Compost Toilet

And there is a new slow molder design - works like a 2 chamber pit outhouse, and you shovel humus out every year
http://www.sunnyjohn.com/toiletpapers2.htm

Re: Compost Toilet

The sawdust/peat moss 50/50 is a good start for the bucket systems. We built a "throne room" to enable us to use 30gal plastic drums from the self-carwash industry.

Re: Compost Toilet

Take the hose from your home made urinal out the wall and place it in a hole filled with gravel. It will act like a "dry well" and percolate away the liquids. Might not meet plumbing or building code, but nothing in this thread seems to so far.;) You might want to have a bend in the pipe (like a sink trap). If you're really motivated have a jug of water nearby, you can "flush" the urinal so only water is in the trap. The room won't smell strongly of horse pee, just what gets left in the box and pail of sawdust.

Ralph

Re: Compost Toilet

For what it's worth - I read a lot about separating out the liquids before we decided on the all in one method from the humanure handbook. They made the case for keeping it all together and it does make a lot more sense. It gives some great moisture for your compost, added nutrients, and makes cleanup of the buckets even easier I think.

We're glad we abandoned the idea of separating the two....

Re: Compost Toilet

I served in the first Gulf War, and had opportunity to visit a public park in Abu-Dhabi where they used human manure. The good side was that everything there was green. The bad side was that the entire park smelled like a fresh crap. As a 'visitor', I couldn't stomach the stench. The locals had no problem enjoying the fruits of their labor.

Re: Compost Toilet

When we moved rural, we looked around for a long time, at the electric assisted composting toilet setups. Some of those systems are very pricy.

We found that building permits in this region require that you must first have a conventional septic system and stone field leachbed, before you can use alternative treatment methods. So we went with the conventional system, at first.

While building our home, we began to meet locals and that was when we actually saw what off-grid / organic / sustainable families are using here. Most seem to use the simple bucket inside a throne, and empty it each day into a raised bed.

They can not use that raised bed for organic crops for market, until the third year. But it does not stop families from increasing their number of raised beds every year.

Currently we only use our bucket inside a throne, for when power is out.