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Our tech team has launched updates to The Nest today. As a result of these updates, members of the Nest Community will need to change their password in order to continue participating in the community. In addition, The Nest community member's avatars will be replaced with generic default avatars. If you wish to revert to your original avatar, you will need to re-upload it via The Nest.
If you have questions about this, please email help@theknot.com.
Thank you.
Note: This only affects The Nest's community members and will not affect members on The Bump or The Knot.
Composting Toilets?
This might be too green even for this board - XP on EFF - but I'll try and hope!
We have a very rustic summer cottage by a lake and it's seriously time to do away with the outhouse. We have a water pump but no "real" running water, and putting in a septic tank and a "real" well would cost well over 20K.
Have any of you heard of composting toilets? How do they work/where do you find one?
Re: Composting Toilets?
Yes! I don't know much, but this summer our campsite in Denver had one. (Bear Creek Lake - Morrison, CO)
No running water, basically a bucket w/ a toilet seat and WAY far down below was the waste. They said it turns to soil every three years. Not sure how they remove it and what they do (if anything) to process it.
I know there is one in Austin, TX that uses sawdust after each use.
I imagine there are a LOT of city/county regulations to approve this kind of project.
Good luck!
Definitely check local ordinances.
My dad has a hunting cabin in northern PA. He's allowed to have a functional outhouse as long as lime is scooped down the hole after each use.
He has an outhouse in his backyard at his house (he has plumbing, he likes to have an outhouse "just in case") in central PA and that one is allowed without any kind of treatments.
Just an example... same state, different county ordinances.
http://pandce.proboards.com/index.cgi#general
Following up - I've been playing around with Mighty Google and found this:
http://www.biolet.com/store/biolet-10-standard-c-4/biolet-10-standard-waterless-toilet-p-4
I'd be curious if anyone has experience with them. I don't think it would require any permits/permission.
We had a composting toilet at a vacation house we rented in Maine. It was pretty neat, no smell at all. The owner just stopped by once a day to put some peat moss in the drum. I liked it, much better than hiking to the outhouse at my grandparents cabin.
This FAQ is pretty good: http://www.composttoilets.net/faqs.htm
A couple of our state beach pavillions have them, and we recommend them to people who are trying to build summer cottages by the beach where they can't get a septic system approved. (I work for the state environmental agency, and permitting septic systems is part of our job) Incinerating toilets are another environmentally friendly option.
Both composting and incinerating toilets are definitely more environmentally friendly then regular septic systems, but they still need to be properly engineered, and there is some output from them, but it's in the form of a sludge/compost that you could even put on a flower garden if that's approved in your area (compost toilets), or just an ashy substance (incinerating). Check with whoever licenses septic systems in your area, whether it's the state or county or town, and they should be able to tell you more about being able to install one.
Sugar & Spice