# Composting toilets



## simon.r (1 Dec 2015)

MrsR has had a 'home office' built at the bottom of the garden, which she intends to use to carry out counselling.

She'd like to install a toilet near the office, probably in a small, purpose built 'hut', but connecting it to a sewer would be very difficult. She's talking about composting toilets, but neither of us have any knowledge of these.

Has anyone got any experience / tips / recommended links etc etc?


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## slowmotion (1 Dec 2015)

I used one while staying in a remote cabin in Canada. It was really just a seat over a ten foot pit. After doing the needful,you sling in a bit of water and some vegetable matter. It didn't smell too bad, but it certainly wasn't fragrant. I spent as little time using it as physically possible. I had heard stories of cougars leaping up from below and (literally) biting you in the bum.


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## RichardB (1 Dec 2015)

slowmotion said:


> I had heard stories of cougars leaping up from below


I may be spending too much time on the internets, but that phrase means something completely different to me.

(Edit: damn, beaten to it.)


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## simon.r (1 Dec 2015)

[QUOTE 4034922, member: 76"]Not of the loo thing, but I have done quite a bit of counselling in the NHS and in private practice, all I can say is has she thought this through? Counselling in a shed at the end of the garden, and sending them to the bog in a shed 10 yards away with a long drop loo! Couldn't she get a room in a therapy centre?[/QUOTE]

Yes, it's been thought through. At great length, believe me! It's a bit more sophisticated than you suggest and for various reasons she doesn't want to rent a room. 

I'm not thinking long drop, more something like this: http://www.littlehouse.co/product-category/separett-compost-toilets/complete-units/


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## gaz71 (1 Dec 2015)

Wouldnt a bucket be cheaper and easier?


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## slowmotion (2 Dec 2015)

If I remember correctly, there was a brief bit in one of the Tom Sharpe Wilt novels when Wilt regrets his wife's enthusiasm for all matters ecological. He described the eco-toilet as a turd-encrusted drainpipe with a dustbin on the far end.


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## Fnaar (2 Dec 2015)

Have used them in Finland... they do it well, so no particular strong smell, used to bung sawdust on the shite, and bob's yer uncle.


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## slowmotion (2 Dec 2015)

Here's one for £1400 or so. It's a "two holer" so business need not be interrupted by comfort breaks.
https://dunsterhouse.co.uk/eco-composting-toilet?gclid=CJTEuIaRvMkCFYoBwwod5PINcw

I'm getting a bit uneasy about the Urine Diversion System and the rubber seal to reduce pongs.
I have no idea how far your wife's office is from the house, but could I suggest a less radical alternative, alas without the prospect of insatiable cougars? Just install a pipe for a water supply, a cable for some electricity, a Saniflo macerator, a pipe for the slurry, and conventional lavatory pan. You can pump the muck quite a distance, uphill and down dale, back to your house's soil system.

Here's some Saniflo stuff...
http://www.saniflo.co.uk/upload/pdf/040104-manual_domestic-range-brochure.pdf


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## pawl (2 Dec 2015)

simon.r said:


> MrsR has had a 'home office' built at the bottom of the garden, which she intends to use to carry out counselling.
> 
> She'd like to install a toilet near the office, probably in a small, purpose built 'hut', but connecting it to a sewer would be very difficult. She's talking about composting toilets, but neither of us have any knowledge of these.
> 
> Has anyone got any experience / tips / recommended links etc etc?


Tried to compost my old toilet but it wouldn't fit in the compost bin.


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## Fnaar (2 Dec 2015)

Haddaway and shite


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## raleighnut (2 Dec 2015)

slowmotion said:


> If I remember correctly, there was a brief bit in one of the Tom Sharpe Wilt novels when Wilt regrets his wife's enthusiasm for all matters ecological. He described the eco-toilet as a turd-encrusted drainpipe with a dustbin on the far end.


Which then later exploded and covered the terrorists (who had been holding his children and the old lady from next door hostage) in its contents.
The Wilt Alternative.


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## Dayvo (2 Dec 2015)

I've used them in Sweden and they are very affective. After the deed is done, wood and bark chips are thrown down on top, aiding in the breaking-down process.

IIRC, Jack Hargreaves said in one of his books, the depth needs to be 14' so as to prevent any smell rising to nose level.


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## Tim Hall (2 Dec 2015)

slowmotion said:


> Here's one for £1400 or so. It's a "two holer" so business need not be interrupted by comfort breaks.
> https://dunsterhouse.co.uk/eco-composting-toilet?gclid=CJTEuIaRvMkCFYoBwwod5PINcw
> 
> I'm getting a bit uneasy about the Urine Diversion System and the rubber seal to reduce pongs.
> ...


Friends don't recommend saniflo to friends.


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## Fnaar (2 Dec 2015)

In Finland, on the compost toilet at the place we stayed, there were two shitters side by side, literally, no partition of any sort. I have had a shite next to my brother in law. Good job we get on well and are both open minded. It has become the stuff of family legend.


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## raleighnut (2 Dec 2015)

Fnaar said:


> In Finland, on the compost toilet at the place we stayed, there were two shitters side by side, literally, no partition of any sort. I have had a shite next to my brother in law. Good job we get on well and are both open minded. It has become the stuff of family legend.


I'm pretty sure one is for liquids and the other for solids (they need different bacteria to break each down) not for use as communal crappers.


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## Fnaar (2 Dec 2015)

raleighnut said:


> I'm pretty sure one is for liquids and the other for solids (they need different bacteria to break each down) not for use as communal crappers.


No, they were communal crappers. He is of Finnish origin, spent most of his childhood summers at the place we stayed, and both emptied into the very same pit.


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## nickyboy (2 Dec 2015)

Drop toilets are common in Chinese factories I visit. In the summer it can be 40 degrees C and the "drop" distance is nothing like the 14 feet recommended above

Enough to make your eyes water, and not from the straining


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## Over The Hill (2 Dec 2015)

raleighnut said:


> I'm pretty sure one is for liquids and the other for solids (they need different bacteria to break each down) not for use as communal crappers.



I was thinking that the two were for rotating them. I saw a program on sanitation in Africa and a scheme to adopt these - apparently lots of places have nothing and you just go anywhere outside. They had it that you use the first one. After some time you leave that and move to the second. When you are ready to change again the first one has been left and decomposed to a point where it more like peat than sh** and so fine to shovel out and use as fertiliser. Basically this is what Monty Don does with compost heaps.

I don't even go in front of my wife!


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## Over The Hill (2 Dec 2015)

nickyboy said:


> Drop toilets are common in Chinese factories I visit. In the summer it can be 40 degrees C and the "drop" distance is nothing like the 14 feet recommended above
> 
> Enough to make your eyes water, and not from the straining



Anyone remember the loo scene in Slumdog Millionaire?


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## slowmotion (2 Dec 2015)

Tim Hall said:


> Friends don't recommend saniflo to friends.


Friends don't recommend composting toilets to friends either.
I don't have a Saniflo macerator but I know people who do. You have to be mighty careful what non-human waste you ask them to gobble. There's a short clip on Youtube about servicing a blocked one. Probably best viewed after mealtime rather than before.


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## Dayvo (2 Dec 2015)

Over The Hill said:


> Anyone remember the loo scene in Slumdog Millionaire?



You obviously haven't seen *THE* scene in Jo Nesbo's _Headhunters_!


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## RichardB (2 Dec 2015)

Dayvo said:


> IIRC, Jack Hargreaves said in one of his books, the depth needs to be 14' so as to prevent any smell rising to nose level.


Fourteen foot? That's a hazard all by itself! Several people have died from falling into those 'onion' septic tanks which have been buried and then left unattended. I'd be looking at some serious fall protection - steel barriers minimum, possibly harnesses and fall arrestors, and a rescue team on speed dial.


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## RichardB (2 Dec 2015)

[QUOTE 4036513, member: 76"]That is very important. If you fell urine a lot of trouble.......[/QUOTE]
Agreed; a lot of people poo-poo it, but it happens.


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## simon.r (2 Dec 2015)

I should have realised it's impossible for us Brits to have a conversation even vaguely related to bodily functions without it descending into poo jokes


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## RichardB (2 Dec 2015)

Pee, po, belly, bum, drawers.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flanders_and_Swann


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## slowmotion (2 Dec 2015)

RichardB said:


> Fourteen foot? That's a hazard all by itself! Several people have died from falling into those 'onion' septic tanks which have been buried and then left unattended. I'd be looking at some serious fall protection - steel barriers minimum, possibly harnesses and fall arrestors, and a rescue team on speed dial.


Ye Gods! Do I have to do a full scale HSE Risk Assessment every time I want to take a slash?


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## RichardB (3 Dec 2015)

slowmotion said:


> Ye Gods! Do I have to do a full scale HSE Risk Assessment every time I want to take a slash?


Short answer, yes. Longer answer, yesssssssssssssss. Will no-one think of the children?


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## simon.r (13 Aug 2017)

I've been meaning to update this thread for ages. The "Eco-Loo" has been in use for about 18 months:










For the purpose we want it for it's absolutely fine. It gets used about 4 or 5 times a week by MrsR's clients. She's had no negative feedback (although to be fair I don't suppose anyone would be critical to her face) and quite a few positive comments. One client even wanted details of where it came from as she wanted to install one herself. 

It's not at all sophisticated, basically it's a large bucket! The urine is diverted to a soakaway, the solids remain in the bucket and are covered in sawdust. When it's full the bucket is replaced with another one and the waste in the first bucket is left to rot for a year or so, then buried in the garden. 

I wouldn't recommend it as the sole toilet facility for a family of four, but for occasional use it's just the job


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## slowmotion (13 Aug 2017)

It looks great!


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## dave r (13 Aug 2017)

RichardB said:


> I may be spending too much time on the internets, but that phrase means something completely different to me.
> 
> (Edit: damn, beaten to it.)



And me


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## simon.r (14 Aug 2017)

I should add that the lorry driver who delivered it thought it was hilarious (cue gags in the yard about "being alright if you're caught short") and @User76 MrsR'S counselling business is doing really well - a tiny percentage of clients have stopped counselling after one or two sessions (maybe because of the toilet facilities?), but she has had numerous clients come for 6 sessions (via https://www.pam-assist.com/ ) and has a number of longer term private clients.


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## twentysix by twentyfive (14 Aug 2017)

simon.r said:


> but for occasional use it's just the jobbie



FTFY


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## simon.r (28 May 2020)

simon.r said:


> I've been meaning to update this thread for ages. The "Eco-Loo" has been in use for about 18 months:
> 
> View attachment 367842
> View attachment 367843
> ...



This has’t been used for the last few months, for obvious reasons, but may come into its own under the latest lockdown rules.

6 people in the garden, but not allowed inside? We have the solution!


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