How to Compost a Home Toilet
Composting human waste (called "humanure" by composters) is something that has occurred since the beginning of the human race. All it took was a hole in the ground to hold the waste and dirt to cover it up. Then outhouses were invented, and now we have the modern-day composting toilet. These toilets can be found in homes but are more likely to be found at cabins that do not have septic tanks. Composting toilets require that their users remove the waste to the compost bin, while the conventional toilet system removes waste with flushing water that moves it to a septic tank or along sewer pipes to a sewage treatment plant. Does this Spark an idea?
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Things You'll Need
- Lumber, 5 pieces
- Toilet lid
- Screws
- Hinges
- Bucket, 5 gallon
- Small bucket
- Plastic scoop
- Pastic bag
- Straw, hay, peat moss, sawdust, leaves, rice hulls
Instructions
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Composting "Humanure"
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An old-fashioned chamber pot is a simple composting toilet To compost human waste, one can buy a composting toilet or make one. A composting toilet is simply a box with a toilet seat and lid with a bucket on the inside to catch the waste. To build the box just screw 4 pieces of wood together in a box shape but make sure one side is easily removed for waste removal. Then make a hole in the top that is for the seat. Make sure that this hole is bigger than the toilet seat. Attach the seat to the wooden box and secure the toilet seat on top. Place the last piece of wood that is the toilet lid on top and secure with a hinges.
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A 5-gallon bucket is a must for human waste Place a 5-gallon bucket with a plastic liner bag into the moveable side of the composting toilet. Make sure the bucket and the hole in the lid line up.
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A small plastic bucket can hold organic material like straw. sawdust or rice hulls for your composting toilet. Place a small bucket of organic material such as straw, rice hulls, leaves, hay, peat moss and/or sawdust next to the composting toilet. Every time the toilet is used a scoop of this material needs to be placed on top of the waste. This keeps the waste nearly odor-free.
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A compost bin that uses humanure is the perfect recycler To have a place for the humanure to be recycled a compost bin must be near by but a simple one can be made of chicken wire. This chicken wire is shaped into a circle with the ends secured. But make sure that it is not near a water source.
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Dried leaves are a great source of organic material for your composting toilet. Once the 5-gallon bucket is full, remove the composting toilet from the moveable side of the composting box and empty it into the compost bin. Rinse out the bag and place the rinse water in the compost bin. Return the plastic bag to the 5-gallon bucket and return it to composting toilet.
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Tips & Warnings
To control odors, make sure that after each use a good layer of organic brown matter is used.
Do not worry about diseases from human waste; a properly maintained compost pile gets hot enough to kill any bacteria.
Check with the city you live in to see if they permit composting toilets.
Make sure the compost bin is not located near a water source. Water contamination from human waste can be a big problem can result in serious diseases.
References
Resources
- Photo Credit Design Pics/Valueline/Getty Images toilet image by kuhar from Fotolia.com pink bucket 3 image by Adkok from Fotolia.com Bucket and spade on tropical beach image by Sergey Kolesnikov from Fotolia.com recycle bin image by feisty from Fotolia.com Dried leaves 03 image by Paul Herbert from Fotolia.com
