We guess that the final straw for the last people who lived here was when the long drop toilet filled up. That meant that when we arrived there was no toilet.
This quickly became a priority in our lives, and I have learned that we live in the best possible climate to compost our own humanure. This is further reinforced because we collect our own water, making us conscious of this valuable resource and how we can save, and reuse it.
The average home mixes 30,000L of water with solid excrement a year. This creates sewerage! A disgusting unusable waste product that must be treated with chemicals and then dumped further down the line into the systems that provide habitat for marine creatures and eventually water again for us.
Dry composting of humanure is a safe, natural and healthy way to break down the organic solids, kill the bacteria and parasites that may be there and then return the nutrient rich humous back to the soil where it can be used by plants to grow. In an area like ours with very old soil that was farmed, this is a vital top soil layer that will make it possible for us to complete our loop and move closer to full sustainablity.
Our main considerations in choosing a site for the composting toilet were:
Convenient access; not to close, not to far. Pleasant walk, rain, hail and shine
Easy access for removal of compost
An open air aspect that can be private
A view
Flattish to minimise excavation work
The site we eventually chose was close enough to the house, without being too close. And more importantly, already pretty flat. The fallones type batch composting toilet chamber was our final design choice and is no small undertaking.
We chose the double chamber design for its durability and minimal maintenance. The batch design means the pile is left to compost where it falls for at least a year. No moving of half finished goods.
Recommendations from other owners/builders encouraged us in our decision.
Our projects so far, the road, the deck foundations and the toilet have consumed:
400kg of portland cement – $200
10 cu/m of crushed 10mm gravel – $300
5 cu/m of sand – $250
269 besa concrete bricks – $270
Steel Form mesh and Rebar – $400
Total: $1,420
All delivered by massive trucks. Most from a quarry somewhere I don’t know.
Here is part of the site, this had to be leveled with dirt from the deck and cut into the hill a bit:
Stevo is pictured, he is the guy from our community with 3 toilets experience and is co-ordinating construction from the plan.
November 27th, 2008 at 10:42 am
[...] three tier design after the scope of the project day was also expended to float the slab on the composting toilet. April [...]
November 27th, 2008 at 4:08 pm
[...] The composting toilet now has its slab floating. [...]
November 28th, 2008 at 9:47 am
How is the composting toilet? I would love to see some pictures of the finished crapper and the finished product. How have you been managing the daily deposits and what do you do when you fill it up?
Take care.
Brian
January 25th, 2009 at 12:01 am
[...] Humanure composting and Living Organic Soil production. [...]
April 27th, 2009 at 10:48 am
guy…
how you going brother?!
i am at a surf camp here that would seemingly like to live closer to its marketing name ‘eco resort’. they are on tank water collected only from just large structure. rainfall is limited and yet they have numerous flush toilets. i checked your site quickly but cant see any photos of the dual chamber composting toilet you’ve built, but would love them to see it. they desperately need some encouragement and direcion with limited rainfall and the everpresent threat of running out of water.
hope all is well mate. see you in a few weks when i return.
you coming to the dreaming festival this year?
i’m vollying again. all set. stunner of a festival mate, cant recommend it highly enough.
my love to kirra (and yourself)
n’k