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Toilet Talk

 Toilet Talk

 

Imagine your home with a toilet that requires no water.

Remember when rainwater tanks were considered inappropriate in urban areas?

It's interesting how attitudes change, isn't it?

It is also interesting that we use enormous volumes of clean drinking water to flush bathroom wastes away.

There are however other options. We could use recycled water or we could use waterless toilets.

Waterless toilets employ a dry, natural process that is really effective.

They have many benefits. They significantly reduce our water use, reduce our disposal of effluent into the waterways in which we swim, fish and gather our drinking water and provide healthy, nutrient compost for our gardens.

Another great benefit of waterless toilets is that you can also reduce your garbage bin waste by putting all your kitchen vegetable matter into the mix just like your garden compost. Avoid non compostable items such as plastics, chemicals and metals.

Traditionally, waterless toilets were better suited to homes that were raised up off the ground - another benefit of elevating houses.

However, waterless toilets now exist that can easily be installed into the common slab built home.

Most waterless toilets are also referred to as compost toilets, because they produce a final product that can be a quality material, hygienic enough to use on your garden.

Like water using toilets, waterless models come in a variety of materials. Pedestals can be plastic or ceramic while lids can also be timber.

There are two main types of composting toilets – continuous or batch.

In continuous models, the waste is collected in a single container. A rotating drum accelerates the aeration and decomposition process moving the waste through the chamber. These models are best suited to slab homes.

Batch models use more than one container. Containers with older material can be rotated and left to compost without the addition of fresh waste which drops into a second container. Batch models are great for homes with room under the floor.

Getting the right balance of air, moisture, temperature and nitrogen-carbon mix ensures quality compost and odour free bathrooms. Odours tell you that the system is slightly off balance. Tossing some carbon based materials such as dry leaves, sawdust or mulch into the system will help even things out.

Managing the liquid flows is also important. Systems designed under Australian Standards deliver liquids to approved absorption trenches for treatment.

Vent pipes can be used passively to put air into the mix. Most systems also come equipped with a fan that provides more air flow.

Some models also have an optional heating element to speed up the decomposition process.

Harvesting the product happens when it is fully decomposed. This will depend upon what system you use, the size and number of containers, conditions and so forth.

Check with Council about their current requirements. I'm sure like rainwater tank policies, those affecting waterless toilets will also change over time.

While waterless toilets involve us thinking differently they are neither hard nor time consuming and they can easily be a perfect addition to the average home without chemicals or odours.

Bronwyn Elliott is a sustainability consultant offering simple, creative and common sense approaches to doing every day things. Bronwyn's company Solutions-in-Store operates from Birkdale on 0407 678779 providing advice on sustainable building design as well as sustainable business and marketing strategies to consumers, companies and government.

Previous versions of Bronwyn's d'fine articles are available on www.solutionsinstore.com.au.