Smallhold Farming and Rural Living > Property, Buildings, Equipment and Alternative Energy

composting toilet

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plotholder:
We have several sites to manage and two of them have a lot of traffic - potentially around 300 tenants. They won't all be there at once and won't all use it, but it raises the question of volume. We have plenty of info on how to make a composting toilet but very little on the sort of use other sites make of them and what sort of 'turnover' they experience. Anyone have any information or sources on that?   

Paul

grinling:
This website might be able to help
http://www.waterlesstoilets.co.uk/content/allotment-toilets

When the site I was on looked into this..the first question was who would clean?

Dick Strawbridge created 1 at his home in Cornwall and had it on higher ground with a big drop. worth a google

TonyB.:
We have one on site and it is lottery funded - if it's not too late worth thinking about

salixer:

--- Quote from: grinling on November 10, 2015, 20:45 ---...

When the site I was on looked into this..the first question was who would clean?

...

--- End quote ---

New member coming late to the topic:   maybe not suitable for many allotment situations, but treebogs are pretty much maintenance free (or, at least, do not require the regular attention of other composting toilets).  Downside is that they need to be built on a raised platform over the "cage".  Also, they do need to be moved/rebuilt if rate of deposits exceeds the rate of the composting process.  However, thinking aloud, give over just one allotment plot to a treebog or, better still, to a couple of treebogs (giving each one time to do its magic if deposits building up too much) and encircle with some stout willow variety and other varieties - maybe including some branchier ones - to  a) take up the nutrients and  b) provide the allotments with bean and pea sticks etc depending on varieties and the chosen cycle of pruning or coppicing.  (Other nutrient-hungry plants could be substituted for willow.)

For my own bit of land (just me and a few visiting helpers now and again) I am trialling a camping toilet, for emergencies or over-night stays, dressed with large compostable starch bags for each use dosed with saw-dust which are then deposited into a "Green Johanna" compost bin dedicated to humanure production.  I have yet to get to the "leave it to mature" stage and then the 1st breaking-open of the bin, but it seems to break-down well enough.  Almost certainly not an option for a busy allotment, but I mention anyway for those with more modest toilet facility needs.

**Of course home-made humanure (by whatever system) not really for use on the veg beds - risky !**  Another reason perhaps why treebogs (left where they are to really rot down without intervention) might be a good option for allotment situations ???

Yorkie:
Interesting, but impractical for allotment sites I think.

One of the main arguments put forward for composting toilets on site is for either children or those with accessibility requirements; the need for a platform would prove difficult for individuals with mobility issues and thus you can't provide the facility for those who need it the most. 

The need for construction above ground also makes the build more complicated and expensive, particularly if it then needs to be moved.

Given the public nature of many allotments, you still have the issues around security and ensuring that inappropriate deposits aren't made into the drop zone (i.e. non-compostable stuff).

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