Composting toilet

[nicknameian]

what is the name of the documentary?

[MrWirelesscaller]

How do you clean a composting toilet when people have "accidents"? Most chemicals are very anti-bacterial by nature and might affect the biomass negatively and might not be suitable for the compost pile. I don't seem to see any composting sites mention or show how to clean up after such accidents in an environmentally friendly way. Steam cleaners use too much electricity so aren't green, chemicals aren't green, so what other choices are there?

[MrAnthonyRizzo]

There is no reason why the depositing of the bulking material in a composting toilet couldn’t be automated. In much the same way that water is released from a holding tank in standard toilets bulking material could be released with the flick of a handle from a holding tank in a composting toilet. In large scale operations the holding tank could be centralized for all the toilets and gravity fed.

[thenerdal]

What is this documentary called?

[FutileFreak]

What about used toilet paper? does that go in the compost too?

I would think that the bleach, or other chemicals used in toilet paper would be harmful to the compost...

[Nanaknows60]

Never use human or meat-eating animal's feces for compost!

Only plant eaters like horses, cows, rabbits, chicken manure is safe for gardens and it has to be old or cool.



[mechanicalbu11]

The thing is how do we get toilet water from our home to the staving thirsty people in Africa if we make the change to the composting toilet? The fact is we have abundance of water in the USA and to say we have a "World water problem" indicates these Do-Goo0ders have a way to get my toilet water to needy poor nations.

[magua73]

@mechanicalbu11

It always baffles me when people choose to interpret the "World’s water problem" as a means of transport water around the globe. Did you really understand the documentary’s message in that way?

Well I can tell you that neither I nor anyone I know in my circle has this interpretation; we understand perfectly well that composting, here in Norway for example, won’t help directly with water shortages in a village in Africa.

[mechanicalbu11]

@magua73 @0:06 to 0:35 is implying that every flush we do not make will improve the quality of life for poor people in Africa. i was being sarcastic and pointing out the manipulative and deceptive language in this clip. Put i am sure when this manufacture has paid off our congress and senate we will be told to install them in our homes.

Though i see a use for this technology and maybe someday have one in my secluded cabin in Canada.

[AkiraBergman]

@magua73 He is a right wing extremist. They are all like that.

[katherinegonzales82]

@magua73 obviously mechanicalbu11 is speaking tongue in cheek... here in america, we under stand that if you can't afford to support your kids, then you don't have kids... pretty simple. seems selfish to keep having kids if you don't even have any water.

[MrAnthonyRizzo]

@mechanicalbu11 Conserving water in industrialized areas has an indirect effect on the usage of water in developing countries. Just look at YouTube videos about toilets in rural areas of India. The usage of contaminated water because of pollution due to human fecal waste is wide spread. Elegant, low cost, low tech solutions to keeping human waste out of the water supply in industrialized areas spreads quickly to developing areas when it can be easily duplicated.

[mechanicalbu11]

@MrAnthonyRizzo say we do what you want, then we will have a compost issue where organic compounds from the composted wast will enter our water supply and poison us,

how about this as a real issue, Radiation and radioactive compounds have found their way into our food supply, Fukushima, Chernobyl, Michigan: where oxidized tritium found its way into our lakes by the millions of gallons and radiation background levels up X8, but hay at least fertility will be reduced, right?

[BlueStrikeP]

@mechanicalbu11 @magua73 has the right of it... the issue is not "how we get water over there" but "what water?"

if you really want an actual example then here: use shipping containers, yes... shipping containers. because the US is a largely importing country most of the shipping containers go back empty. Full coming in empty going out. Fill them with water and drop them off where needed. A Swedish architecture firm did that for an exhibit in China.

[themoodyfamily1]

What brand of composting toilet is being used in this video?

[mechanicalbu11]

@themoodyfamily1 @4:33 The manufacture's name is engraved the instruction plate on the lavatory wall.

[themoodyfamily1]

Does anyone know what brand of composting toilet is being used in this documentary?

[jvradar]

The guy is right, people will not give up convenience for less convenience

[martiebaby]

I love the idea of a composting toilet for many reasons, but lets please not be deceptive here, in places where there is plenty of water for every use, using a composting toilet is NOT going to produce or transfer water to places where there is not enough, no matter how much water we flush, once it has passed through our septic systems and goes back into the soil, it eventually evaporates back into the water cycle and we use it again. It will NOT help those in low areas if WE don't use it.

[mathers3000]

Why not just divert the water from the sink and shower to flush the toilet?

[Tsuguayme]

You better remember to put the toilet seat down on that toilet before you use it. Or you'll be in for a LOOOOOOOOOOT of trouble.

[sergeantsailorman]

Composting is a viable solution to a large problem. Nature doesn't make new water, it just recycles what it has always had. In the Western United States, several states are fighting over water access, and water rights. Someday western cities may lose their rights to water to other states, then have none. You may be required to buy a 10,000 gallon water tank and attach it to your house and pay to have expensive water delivered each time it runs low. Say goodby to private backyard swimming pools.

[matchbox555]

you can flush this stupid idea

[magua73]

@matchbox555

So you disagree, well enough! But would you care to elaborate on your opinion so I could better understand why you think composting is such a bad idea.

[Maarttttt]

dumb music

[foundationCH]

Brilliant. The composting toilet is a model, domonstrating how technology and knowledge can be harnessed to meet a challenge without compromising comfort. We need to highlight and share examples like this - it may take some more public education to become a mainstream solution.

[ureadmymind]

Do the "water-less" composting toilets smell?

[Timothy2035]

oh my God...LOL! Well I am all for good resource management, but how does this equate to home use? I will have to research it more. Looks interesting though.

[Radicalinat2]

Thank you for posting this...Informative. I just wish it had a more in-depth look at home use rather than the business/public use and how it was actually much more labor than other toilets (as commented by some of the "talking heads" in the documentary anyway)...

[birdseye2285]

How about, in order to get more drinking water using desalinization that use the heat from power plants to create pure water. Water that is normally used to cool power plants is pushed in its pure steam form back into the atmosphere instead of releasing that pure moisture into the air, harness the steam and use it for pure water free of any bacteria virus and any other biological contamination. The Oceans contain an endless supply of water harness that resource, it's right in front of our faces.

[imperialcrypt]

lol sorry but this guy is stickign his hand in a pile of human turds! haha

[303Miles]

Along with composting toilets we should be taking advantage of those machines that make water from air to help those ppl dying from dehydration in Africa and else where.

[TprLong]

I've used a clivus and have taken part in maintaining a system. It takes some effort but hardy any. Maintaining one is not a big deal. Maybe the flushing toilet can be gradually phased out. Wouldn't it be nice if as a society we all could change for the better. But look all the trash on the roads. Stupid people will put trash into these toilets also. Education is a good thing.

[SeverEnergia]

Can you tell me some more about the clivus? Like, do you need to rake it once a month or something (and is this as nasty as it sounds?). Does it actually compost (I've heard horrible stories about the Enviolet and like systems)?

[TprLong]

The clivus that I used was always treated with a great deal of respect. There was never an overwhelming amount of turd going into it. That being said, servicing it wasn't a big deal. It worked fine. I suppose if the volume of turd going in exceeds capacity, there might be a problem. A friend of mine would grow with the compost.

[tomterahedrob]

look at the 10s of thousands it costs to install and run dirty sewers.This runs for free and si fer cleaner.Inthis ere of peak oil this tech wont be seen as "alternative" just necessary and NOT extremely stupid like sewers.

[Vigilante108]

What about kids falling down there? It appeared to be very deep? I love this toilet Idea, and I want to make something similar at home. I want to make sure though that I don't have to change it very frequently.

[magua73]

Well, I actually never though about it although I don't think that it is much of problem but I guess you could apply some safeguard againts kids falling down.

It can take years between changes if done properly, so no worries there.

[MrAnthonyRizzo]

@Vigilante108 The hole in that toilet does seem rather large but I’ve seen other composting toilets with much smaller holes that provide adequate enough room for the passage of human manure but that restrict the passage of anything larger than a softball.

[deannausernametaken]

I like the general idea, but there are still challenges. In places like Oregon, neither water or tress (for pine shavings) are scarce, so both the traditional toilet and ocmposting toilet are possible. However, in Africa, desert-dwelling people have neither.

[magua73]

I would say composting is even more important in places they have limited access to water as composting doesn't required it, and when it comes to bulking material, anything with carbon goes, but is not required as far as know, it only helps to speed up the composting proccess.

[shock80ey]

@deannausernametaken

The "desert-dwelling" people are not the problem as i'm sure they don't use gallons of water to flush.  I would assume they have a sustainable system already in place.

[jrewen]

here's an idea - mix this w/ rainwater recapture. 1) you have the water required to "clean" the toilet & retain our sense of "clean" and 2) you're not using drinking water - you're using rainwater that's stored in a giant barrel.

This is a nifty idea, but I think has more commerical application in a commerical building - the amount of poop needed for viable compost is large - would take years and years for a family of 4, but a fraction of time for an office building.

[imperialcrypt]

Well anything like a large APT or office building. but a family houses nope your right and to not mention many houses would be absolutely incompatible to install such asystem. I know my house would not work. It doesn't even a basement. It would be much more damaging to the evniorment to tear down millionso f homes to make them "compatibility". Not to mention money, and human effort to get the materials and everything to put all together again. I'm afraid were stuck with the water tiolet.

[RSCompositions]

Not all systems require a basement.

[yawakoben]

their are plenty of self contained systems. What was shown in the video was an industrial size system.

[59Gretsch]

This is the stupidest thing I ever heard of.

Suggesting that by not flushing my toilet here will somehow mean more water in africa is.... well typical "emotional logic".

[magua73]

Well I guess that's a way to see it! But when it comes to the environment, direct causation and short strategies are never a good idea or you get interpretations like yours.

Rather look into the long term effects of composting and its indirect consequences.

Of course where I live there is no problem with water shortage, but still composting is far better environmental solution and not because of one reason but many.

[59Gretsch]

You know more about this compost toilet than, I tell me, how much would one of these systems cost to install in my home?

I am a big believer that: if something is expensive it requires me to go to work more which in it's self uses (wastes) resources that I would not other wise waste.

[Vigilante108]

How about something that is almost too cheap and you don't even have to move a finger to flush it. Like a bucket that looks like a toilet.

[Psylliumhead]

@59Gretsch Right. You don't "waste" water when you flush. It evaporates and comes back as, DRUM ROLL, WATER!!!

[Naviti7]

@Psylliumhead You most certainly do waste water when you flush. That water is not directly returned back to the ground water, but instead is sent to a sewage treatment facility where it must be purified using energy and unnatural chemicals. People have these common misconceptions, believing that they flush the toilet and the water pours out into some natural environment where the waste stays and the water evaporates into a cloud....

[Jkub101]

hybrids are the biggest failure in the world

[mcgregor93]

The toilet is a great idea...

but it needs to be mass marketed right now.

just like hybrid car things...

in 2000 they said they'd be on the road by now...

and they're not....

[ineedtothink]

using pine wood will still cause deforestation, we need a substittude for pine wood for this type of toilet but overall, it's a very good idea

[magua73]

You need some bulking material, to give the right texture for composting but also to increase the amount of carbon. You can get chips (Pine wood in my case)for free or almost for free from your local sawmill and that's a good way of recycling.

[ineedtothink]

that's good, i thought they were chopping trees directly from the forest for the bulking mat

[cimiox]

this is the future! lets help mother nature, composting our shit! our shit is also our energy - then, after composted goes to the earth and to the land, that we farm - so we eat our energy in a natural cicle - more green and positive!

[queenfan66]

I don't think these are the way of the future, they smell, they require that huge mulcher and that huge mulching thing in your house, I don't think these will catch on, at least not for a long time. But our toilet definatly won't stay for all that long, because of the water wasting, I think Compost toilets could catch on if a sewage treatment plant took all the waste thru tubes (Vacuums?) and they had a big mulching center. Then they would catch on and be great.

[magua73]

Interesting, do you have any links that you would recommend me to look for?

I know that the odor problem can be solve with a series of fans and good ventilation.

[IrishBadBoyCA]

i agree - the downfall here is asking the user to grab a handful of chips and put them in after. How hard could it be to incorporate a woodchip dispenser triggered by the 'flush' handle??? I'm building an 'earthship' and am looking into alternative methods for black water ....this is not bad, but needs a little more work.

[chinaboi41]

that's a good idea to flush wood chips instead of having to pick them up. The tanks must be massive though in order to hold that much waste over the course of a year.

[longtang1234]

instead of asking users to grab a hand ful of wood chips, you should let the flusher be a wood chip dispenser. So, the user flushes the toilet, using the flush handle, but there is no water--just wood chips.

[magua73]

For all those of you who find this video interesting and you wish to expand you knowledge about composting humanure, a good source for composting know-hows is the "The Humanure Handbook" it can be found for free at weblife *dot org webpage. Happy composting to ya all.

[TheMathGuy]

Eh, the modern toilet isn't really all that great. It clogs and then overflows, and won't start working again until it's been plungered. Or some part of the tank breaks and it won't shut off. Not to mention with every flush it creates a spray of water particles, spreading germs into the air. I'd consider a toilet that can never clog a step up in convenience.

[sancornorth]

Awesome to see National Geographic talking about this!