Toilet compost is a kind of toilet that handles human waste with a biological process called composting. This process leads to the decomposition of organic matter and turning human waste into compost. This is done by microorganisms (especially bacteria and fungi) under controlled aerobic conditions. Most composting toilets do not use water for watering and therefore become "dry toilets".
In some compost toilet designs, carbon additives such as sawdust, coconut husk, or peat moss are added after each use. This practice creates air bags in human waste to promote aerobic decomposition. It also increases the carbon-nitrogen ratio and reduces the odor potential. Most composting toilets rely on mesophilic composting. Longer retention times within the composting chamber also facilitate the death of pathogens. The final product can also be transferred to the secondary system - usually another composting step - to allow more time for mesophilic composting to reduce further pathogens.
Composting toilets, along with secondary composting steps, produce end products such as humus that can be used to enrich the soil if local regulations allow this. Some compost toilets have a urine transfer system in a toilet bowl to take urine separately and control excess moisture. "Toilet vermililter" is a compost toilet with water rinsing where earthworms are used to promote decomposition into compost.
Composting toilets do not require connection to septic tanks or sewer systems such as flush toilets. Common applications include national parks, remote vacation cottages, ecotourism resorts, out-of-network homes and rural areas in developing countries.
Video Composting toilet
Terminology
The term "composting toilet" is used quite loosely, and means it varies by country. For example, in Germany and the Scandinavian countries, composting always refers to the dominant aerobic process. This aerobic composting can occur with an increase in temperature due to microbial action, or without an increase in temperature in case of slow composting or cold composting. If earthworms are used (vermicomposting) then there is no increase in temperature.
Composting toilets differ from latrines and arborloos, which use less controlled decomposition and can not protect ground water from nutrient or pathogen contamination or provide optimal nutrient recycle. They also differ from urine-dry dry toilets (UDDTs) in which pathogen reduction is achieved by dehydration (also known as "drying" more precisely) and where stool collection is kept as frequently as possible. The composting toilet aims to have a certain moisture level inside the composting chamber.
Composting toilets can be used to apply ecological sanitation approaches to resource recovery, and some people call their compost toilet design "toilet ecosystem" for that reason. However, this is not recommended because the two terms (ie composting and ecosan) are not identical.
Composting toilets are also called "sawdust toilets", which can be appropriate if the amount of aerobic compost occurring in the toilet bowl is very limited. The "Clivus multrum" is a compost type toilet that has a large compost space under the toilet seat and also receives undigested organic material to increase the carbon to nitrogen ratio. An alternative to smaller composting chambers is called "independent composting toilets" because the composting chamber is part of the toilet unit itself.
Maps Composting toilet
Apps
Compostable toilets may be suitable in areas such as rural areas or parks with no proper water supply, sewer, and sewage treatment. They can also help improve the resilience of existing sanitation systems in the face of possible natural disasters such as climate change, earthquakes or tsunamis. Composting toilets may reduce or perhaps eliminate the need for a septic tank system to reduce environmental footprint (especially when used in conjunction with on-site greywater treatment systems).
This type of toilets can be used for the recovery of resources by reusing stools and sterilized urine as fertilizers and soil conditioners for gardening or ornamental activities.
Basics
Components and usage
The compost toilet consists of two elements: seating or squat and collection/composting units. The composting unit consists of four main parts:
- storage or compost space
- the ventilation unit to ensure that the degradation process in the toilets is largely aerobic and to vent the smell of gas
- leachate collection or urine transfer system to remove excess fluid
- access door for extracting compost
Many composting toilets collect urine in the same room as feces, so they do not divert urine. Adding a small amount of water used for rectal cleaning is not a problem for compost toilets to be handled.
Some composting toilets divert urine (and water used for washing the rectum) to prevent the creation of anaerobic conditions that can occur due to the saturation of the compost, which causes odors and vector problems. Offering waterless urinal next to the toilet can help keep the excess amount of urine out of the compost space.
Construction
The composting room can be built above or below ground level. It can be inside a structure or include a separate superstructure.
The drainage system eliminates leachate. Otherwise, excess moisture may cause anaerobic conditions and inhibit spoilage. Urine transfer may improve the quality of compost, since urine contains large amounts of ammonia that inhibits microbiological activity.
Composting toilets greatly reduce the volume of human waste through psychophilic, thermophilic or mesophilic composting. Keeping an isolated and warm composting room protects the composting process from slowing down due to low temperatures.
Gas smell
The following gases can be emitted during the composting process that occurs in compost toilets: hydrogen sulfide (H 2 S), ammonia, nitrous oxide (N 2 O) and volatile organic compounds (VOC ). These gases have the potential to cause complaints about odors. Some methane may be present, but odorless.
Pathogen Removal
Compost originating from the extracts recycles the nutrients of the feces, but can carry and propagate pathogens if the process of reuse of excreta is not done properly.
The degree of destruction of internal pathogens is usually low, especially worm eggs, such as Ascaris eggs. This carries the risk of spreading the disease if proper system management does not exist. Compost from human waste that is processed only with mesophilic conditions or taken directly from the compost space is not safe for food production. High temperatures or long composting times are required to kill worm eggs, the hardest of all pathogens. Worm infections are common in many developing countries.
In thermophilic compost bacteria that develop at temperatures of 40-60 ° C (104-140 ° F) oxidize (break down) the waste into its components, some of which are consumed in the process, reducing the volume and eliminating the potential pathogens. To destroy the pathogen, thermophilic composting should heat the compost pile sufficiently, or enough time (1-2 years) should pass since fresh ingredients are added that biological activity has the same pathogenic effect of removal.
One guideline claims that the pathogen level is reduced to safe levels by thermophilic composting at 55 ° C, for at least two weeks or at 60 ° C for one week. An alternative guide claims that complete pathogen destruction can be achieved if the entire compost pile reaches a temperature of 62 ° C (144 ° F) for one hour, 50 ° C (122 ° F) for one day, 46 days Ã, Â ° C (115Ã, Â ° F) for one week or 43Ã, Â ° C (109Ã, Â ° F) for one month, though others consider this as overly optimistic.
Design considerations
Environmental factors
Four major factors influence the decomposition process:
- Enough oxygen is needed for aerobic composting
- The content of water from 45 to 70 percent (heuristically, "compost will feel damp to the touch, with only one or two drops of water being removed as tightly squeezed in the hands".)
- Temperatures between 40 and 50Ã, Â ° C (achieved through proper space measurement and active mixing)
- Carbon-to-nitrogen ratio (C: N) of 25: 1
Additive and bulking materials
Human waste and food waste do not provide optimal conditions for composting. Usually the water and nitrogen levels are too high, especially when the urine is mixed with the dirt. Additives or bulking materials, such as wood chips, wood bits, sawdust, dried shredded leaves, ash and paper pieces can absorb moisture. Additives improve aeration of the heap and increase the carbon to nitrogen ratio. The bulking material also covers the stool and reduces the access of insects. Without sufficient bulking material, the material may become overcrowded and form an impermeable layer, which causes anaerobic and odorous conditions.
Leachate management
Leachate removal controls the level of moisture, which is necessary to ensure rapid aerobic composting. Some commercial units include a urine separator or a drainage system and/or sewer at the bottom of the composter for this purpose.
Aeration and mixing
Microbial action also requires oxygen, usually from the air. Commercial systems provide ventilation that transfers air from the bathroom, through waste containers, and out vertical pipes, vents on the roof. This air movement (through convection or forced fan) passes through carbon dioxide and odors.
Some units require manual methods for periodic aeration of solid masses such as rotating the composting chamber or drawing "aerator rake" through mass.
Type
Commercial units and build-it-yourself systems are also available. Variations include the amount of compost dome, removable vault, urine transfer and active/aeration mixing.
Slow composting toilets (or prints)
Most composting toilets use slow composting which is also called "cold composting". Compost piles are built step by step from time to time.
The final product produced from the "moldy toilet" or "moldering privies" in the US is generally not free of pathogens. The World Health Organization's guidelines of 2006 offer a framework for safe execution of re-use, using a dual-barrier approach.
The composting toilets are slow using a passive approach. Common applications involve simple and often seasonal uses, such as remote trace networks. They are usually designed in such a way that the stored material can be isolated from the operational part. The toilet can also be closed to allow for further mesophilic composting. Slow composting toilets depend on long retention times for pathogen reduction and for excreta decomposition or on the combination of time and/or the addition of red wriggler worms for vermi composting. Worms can be introduced to accelerate composting. Some US jurisdictions consider this worm as an invasive species.
Active composter (standalone)
Compost toilet compost "standalone" in container inside toilet unit. They are slightly bigger than a flush toilet, but use around the same floor space. Some units use fans for aeration, and optionally, heating elements to maintain optimum temperatures to speed up the composting process and to evaporate urine and other moisture. Composting toilets usually add a bit of absorbent carbon material (such as unprocessed sawdust, coconut husk, peat moss) after each use to make air bags to encourage aerobic processing, to absorb fluids and to create odor barriers. This additive is sometimes referred to as a "bulking agent". Some owner-operators use cultured "starter" microbes to ensure the composting bacteria is in the process, although this is not critical.
Vermifilter toilet
"Toilet vermililter" is a compost toilet with water rinsing where earthworms are used to promote decomposition into compost. These can be connected to low or micro flush toilets that use about 500 milliliters (17Ã, USÃ, flÃ, oz) per use. The solid accumulates on the surface of the filter pad while the liquid flows through the filter medium and is removed from the reactor. Solids (feces and toilet paper) are aerobically digested by aerobic bacteria and compost earthworms into castings (humus), thereby significantly reducing the volume of organic matter.
More
Some units use roll-away containers equipped with an aerator, while others use sloped-bottom tanks.
Maintenance
Treatment is essential to ensure proper surgery, including odor prevention. Maintenance tasks include: cleaning, servicing technical components such as fans and compost removal, leachate and urine. Urinary removal is only required for composting toilets using urine diversion.
After composting is complete (or more often), compost must be removed from the unit. How often this happens is the function of container size, usage and composting conditions, such as temperature. Active and hot composting can last for months only while cold, cold composting may take years. A properly managed unit produces an output volume of about 10% of the input.
Compost usage
The ingredients of compost toilets are humus-like materials, which can be suitable as land amendments for agriculture. Compost from composting toilets housing can be used in domestic gardens, and this is the main use as such.
Enriching soil with compost adds substantial nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, carbon and calcium. In this case the compost is equivalent to the many fertilizers and fertilizers purchased in the garden store. Compost from compost toilets has a higher availability of nutrients than dried feces resulting from dry toilets that drain urine.
Urine is usually present, although some are lost through washing and evaporation. Urine can contain up to 90 percent of residual nitrogen, up to 50 percent of phosphorus, and up to 70 percent of potassium.
This toilet-based compost in principle has the same utility as compost from other organic waste products, such as mud waste or municipal organic waste. However, composting users derived from impurities should consider the risk of pathogens.
Pharmaceutical residue
Compost from extracts may contain prescribed medicines. Such residues also exist in conventional wastewater treatment of wastewater. It can contaminate groundwater. Among the drugs that have been found in ground water in recent years are antibiotics, antidepressants, blood thinners, ACE inhibitors, calcium-channel blockers, digoxin, estrogen, progesterone, testosterone, Ibuprofen, caffeine, carbamazepine, fibrates and cholesterol-lowering drugs. Between 30% and 95% of pharmaceutical drugs are excreted by the human body. Lipophilic drugs (dissolved in fat) are more likely to reach groundwater by leaching from faecal feces. The wastewater treatment plant eliminates an average of 60% of these drugs. The percentage of drugs degraded during composting of excreta has not been reported.
Comparison
Holes
Unlike the latrines, compost toilets turn feces into dry, odorless material, avoiding problems surrounding the management of liquid feces sludge (eg odors, insects and disposal). This toilet minimizes the risk of water contamination through the safe detention of faeces in the above ground safe, which allows the toilet to be located in locations where the pit-based system is not suitable.
However, composting toilets face higher capital costs (although life-cycle costs may be lower) and greater complexity (eg, adding cover and managing moisture content).
Flush toilet
Unlike flush toilets, compost toilets do not dilute the excreta and create a stream of wastewater that must be treated before disposal. On the other hand, wastewater treatment plants can centralize waste management for the whole community, with greater potential for efficiency.
Dry toilets that drain urine
Composting toilets are more difficult to maintain than other types of dry toilets, such as dry toilets that drain urine (UDDT) that is often fooled. This is due to the need to maintain consistent and relatively high moisture content, as well as the relatively high complexity of toilet compost compared to UDDT. In addition, compost toilets are very similar to UDDT, sharing many of the same advantages and disadvantages.
History
Toilet dry earth
Before the flush toilets were accepted at the end of the 19th century in developed countries, some inventors, scientists and public health officials supported the use of "dry earth cabinets", a type of dry toil with similarities to compost toilets, but collection containers for human excreta were not designed for compost. The dry earth cabinet was created by the English priest Henry Moule, who devoted his life to improving public sanitation after witnessing the cholera epidemic of 1849 and 1854. Impressed by the inability of the homes, especially during the Great Odes in the summer of 1858, he discovered what he called ' dry'.
In partnership with James Bannehr, he patented his device (No. 1316, dated 28 May 1860). Among his works discussing it are Excess Dry Earth System (1868), Inability to cope: or Roofless, Safe and Economical Disposal of City and Country Rejection ( 1870), Dry Earth System (1871), Municipal Disposal, Drugs for Local Taxation (1872), and National Health and Wealth promoted by the general adoption of the Earth System Dry (1873).
The system was adopted in private homes, in rural areas, in military camps, in many hospitals, and extensively in British Raj. Ultimately, however, it fails to gain public support as attention turns to watered toilet water connected to a sewer system.
In Germany, dry toilets similar to peat dispensers were marketed until after the second World War (called "Metroclo" and produced by Gefinal, Berlin).
Society and culture
Rule
International International Organization for International Standard Organization (ISO)
The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) is currently preparing "management standards". By 2015 it is in state design as ISO 24521, under the heading "Activities related to drinking water and wastewater services - Guidelines for the management of basic onsite domestic wastewater services". This standard is intended to be used in conjunction with ISO 24511. It relates to toilets (including composting toilets) and toilet waste. These guidelines apply to basic wastewater systems and include complete domestic waste water cycles, such as planning, usability, operation and maintenance, disposal, reuse and health.
International Association of Piping and Mechanical Officers
The International Association of Plumbing and Mechanical Officials (IAPMO) is a plumbing and mechanical code structure adopted by many developed countries. Recently proposed an additional "Green Plumbing Mechanical Code Supplement" which, "... outlines performance criteria for locally built composting toilets with and without urine diversion and composting toilet preparation." If adopted, this compost and urine transfer codes (the first of its kind in the United States) will appear in the 2015 edition of the Green Supplement to the Uniform Plumbing Code.
United States
There is no performance standard for universally accepted composting toilets in the US. Seven jurisdictions in North America use American National Standard/International Standard NSF ANSI/NSF 41-1998: Saturated Saturated Care System . The latest version was published in 2011. The system may also be registered with the Canadian Standards Association, cETL-US, and other standard programs.
Regarding side by-product regulations, some US states allow the removal of solids from compost toilets (typically differences between different types of dry toilets not made) by burials, with varying or no minimum mandates of depth (as small as 6 inches). Example:
- Massachusetts: "Residues from composting toilets should be buried in place and covered with compacted soil at least six inches.Massachusetts requires that every liquid be produced, but," it is not recycled through the toilet [itself. either released via a greywater system on the property that includes a septic tank and soil absorption system, or disposed of by licensed septage hauler. "
- Oregon: "Humus from compost toilets can be used around ornamental shrubs, flowers, trees, or fruit trees and should be buried under at least twelve inches of ground cover."
- Rhode Island: "Solids produced by alternative toilets can be buried on site," while, "residues will not be applied to food crops."
- Virginia: "All materials removed from the composting site should be buried," and "compost materials should not be placed in vegetable gardens or on the ground."
- Vermont: "By-products can be removed through"... shallow burial in locations approved by the Agency that meet minimum site requirements [required for sanitary septic tank based systems]]. "
- Washington: modeled the broad rules for what are called "waterless toilets" in federal regulations governing mud waste.
The Environmental Protection Agency has no jurisdiction over the byproducts of dry toilets during excreta not referred to as "fertilizers" (but only in the form of discarded materials). Federal rule 503, known as "EPA Biosolids rule" or "EPA sediment rule" applies only to fertilizer . Thus, each state organizes compost toilets.
German
The regulations for compost toilets and other forms of dry toilets in Germany vary from one state to another and from one application to another (eg use in gardens or use in family homes and settlements). In different German states, it is "Landesbauordnung" (translated into "state civil engineering rule") of each country governing the use of such alternative toilets. Most of them set the use of flush toilets, but there are many exceptions, for example in the states of Hamburg, Lower Saxony, Bavaria, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Rhineland-Palatinate, Saxony-Anhalt and Thuringia. This generally makes exceptions for the use of composting toilets at home provided there is no concern for public health.
The regulations governing the use of compost and urine from compost toilets are less obvious in Germany but appear to be generally allowed as long as they are used on their own and are not sold to third parties.
Example
Finnish
Many villages that rarely settle in rural Finland are not connected to a network of water supply or municipal sewers, which requires homeowners to operate their own systems. Individual private wells, ie shallow wells or drill holes in bedrock, are often used for water supplies, and many homeowners choose composting toilets. In addition, these toilets are common in vacation homes, often located near sensitive water bodies. For this reason, many Finnish compost-based manufacturers are based in Finland, including Biolan, Ekolet, KekkilÃÆ'¤, PikkuvihreÃÆ'¤ and Raita Environment.
Estimates made by leading Finnish compost toil manufacturers and the Finnish Global Toilets Association provide the following 2014 figures for composting toilet use in Finland:
- About 4% single family homes that are not connected to the public sewer network are equipped with compost toilets.
- About 200,000 composted toilets produced are considered to serve holiday homes, matched with the number of other dry toilets. The simplest is placed in the outhouse.
Germany
Composting toilets have been installed at home with up to four floors. Estimates from 2008 mention the number of household compost toilets in Germany at 500. Most of these dwellings are also connected to sewer systems; composting toilets are not installed due to lack of sewer systems but for other reasons, especially because of the "ecological mindset" of their owners.
In Germany and Austria, compost toilets and other types of dry toilets have been installed in single and multi-family homes (eg Hamburg, Freiburg, Berlin), ecological settlements (eg Hamburg-AllemÃÆ'¶he, Hamburg-Braamwisch, Kiel-Hassee, Bielefeld-Waldquelle, Wien-GÃÆ'¤nserndorf) and in public buildings (eg ÃÆ'â € "Rostock kohaus, VHS-ÃÆ'-kostation Stuttgart-Wartberg, public toilets in recreational areas, restaurants and cottages in the Alps, kindergarten garden).
Ecological settlements in Hamburg-AllermÃÆ'¶he have had composting toilets since 1982. The settlement of 36 single-family homes with about 140 residents uses compost toilets, rainwater harvest and wetland buildings. The compost toilets save about 40 liters of water per capita per day compared to conventional flush toilets (10 liters per flush), which adds up to 2,044 mÃ,³ annual water savings for the entire settlement.
United States
Slow composting toilets have been installed by the Green Mountain Club in the Vermont forest. They use several safes (called boxes) and a moveable building. When one of the safes is filled, the building is moved over an empty vault. Full dome untouched for as long as possible (up to three years) before being emptied. Large surface area and exposure to air currents can cause the pile to dry out. To overcome this, signs instruct the user to urinate in the toilet. The club also uses a toilet and a simple bucket toilet with woodchips and external composting and directs users to urinate in the forest to prevent dangerous anaerobic conditions.
Worldwide
Composting toilets with large composting containers (of the Clivus Multrum type and derivation thereof) are popular in the US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Sweden. They can be purchased and installed as commercial products, as designs for self-builders or as "design derivatives" marketed under various names. It is estimated that about 10,000 such toilets may be used worldwide.
See also
- Sanitation
References
External links
- compost toilet description (Sanitation Sustainable and Water Management Toolbox)
- Composting system (document in the library of Sustainable Sanitation Alliance)
- More photos of compost toilets in the Flickr photo database of the Sustainable Sanitation Alliance
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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