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Green Building Bible, Fourth Edition
Green Building Bible, fourth edition (both books)
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  1.  
    Anyone on here succeeded in constructing one? We had wanted one for yonks - ever since we seen them at the Big Green Gathering and other fests but the years rolled by .........I even bought a book at a festival - 'Sanitation Without Water' by Swedish guys but finally the big push arrived to have one built when we saw Dick Strwabridge & fam on INEBG get theirs tog and that was it - if they can we can! Brill eh how good ideas spread. Ours has been up and running for over a year now, its a normal seating or squat down one which is much the best position for having a dump. It has 2 chambers - like the INEBG one. We have a large garden with lots trees so this will be a goodly bit of recycling when the time comes.
  2.  
    I don't think I could ever bring myself to use the stuff on the veg plot - but I wondered what the view is on using the 'end product' of compost bogs?
    •  
      CommentAuthoragu
    • CommentTimeMay 29th 2008
     
    I would love to have one of these but the girlfriend is having none of it unfortunately, so am looking to hook up a gravity feed rainwater tank to do the normal loo cistern
    • CommentAuthorjoe.e
    • CommentTimeMay 29th 2008
     
    Posted By: mrswhitecatI don't think I could ever bring myself to use the stuff on the veg plot - but I wondered what the view is on using the 'end product' of compost bogs?

    My mother out-law (we're not married) has a toilet that consists of a bucket ander a toilet seat, with a big tub of grass to throw handfuls of on afterwards. When the bucket is full, it goes on a compost heap, mixed in with lots of other organic matter, then when it's all rotted down (a year or two) it goes on the veg plot. The finished compost is no different to any other compost; actually, after a week or two outdoors and mixed in with the other organic waste - grass clippings, prunings, veg waste etc., the 'human waste' has lost all offensiveness. The outhouse has no smells because it has no door and a fine view of the mountains. All seems to work fine, although washing out the bucket wouldn't be to everyone's taste. But the stark simplicity and lack of waste is pleasing.
  3.  
    when using a compost bog it isnt good to have pee in with the poo - breaks down much better and quicker if dry so you have to sort that aspect of it all out which we have. When done properly you wouldnt know the difference between that and compost heap when left.

    I once saw a prog on the system they use at CAT and i was very impressed.
    • CommentAuthorludite
    • CommentTimeMay 30th 2008
     
    I've dealt with a lot of poo (vomit, spit, puss) in my time. I have no probs dealing with most of it, but I'm not sure I could empty a bucket load of stuff from strangers (visitors) on a regular basis. . . . . . but I am thinking about Joe.e's point a lot. . . . . am now considering the perfect home might be a polytunnel - with no commode at all, just hand the guests a trowel and direct them to the end farthest away from the living area. . . . . .

    I think the smell of it might come down to what people eat. Vegetarians who don't drink alcohol and caffine, might produce a more 'fragrant' deposit than meat eating raving alcoholics. . . . .but it is true about asparagus!

    Thriftyyorkshirelass - what method do you use to separate things?
    • CommentAuthorjoe.e
    • CommentTimeMay 31st 2008
     
    What I would say is that if the composting is taking place outdoors, mixed with large quantities of other vegetable matter, it takes very little time for it all to become quite inoffensive. But the system does rely on having plenty of land and not too many people (a good recipe anyway, to my mind...).
    The father out-law, who lives in an adjacent house, has a much more civilized system with a flushing loo and a surprisingly small reed-bed - very effective, no trouble at all, and nice for the frogs (and therefore the herons).
  4.  
    Ludite - this is our compost bog design in a nutshell, i think it is similar to the one on INEBG.

    Our compost bog has 2 chambers, it is a very robust construction. We dont have to empty buckets . Both chambers are underneath a large surface which we step onto and because of the nature of our bodies (basic stuff this) usually peeing after a poo we have in place for the males - because of their body design in such matters, a seperate run off which goes into a bucket at the front, for females i invented something very simple - namely a 2lt plastic bottle that has a cut out bit at one end which does the job, pee can be emptied on a compost heap.

    Our compost bog is in an enclosed hut with roof, door etc and huge window at the front, big shelf at the back with magazines and plants , the chambers are enclosed, nothing can leak out, there is an air vent on both chambers covered with very fine fine mesh like material. It is situated under tress and is quite a peaceful spot with a stream nearby and birds singing.

    I find that the poo that pongs the most is from beer gluggers, meat , eggs and a junk food diet, vegan diets seem to be the least offensive. I remember Mae West commenting in her book once about a healthy digestive system should produce poo smelling of a veg stew (or words to that effect) This last bit could cause controversy!
    • CommentAuthorjoe.e
    • CommentTimeMay 31st 2008
     
    Posted By: ThriftyYorkshirelass
    Our compost bog is in an enclosed hut with roof, door etc and huge window at the front, big shelf at the back with magazines and plants , the chambers are enclosed, nothing can leak out, there is an air vent on both chambers covered with very fine fine mesh like material. It is situated under tress and is quite a peaceful spot with a stream nearby and birds singing.

    I find that the poo that pongs the most is from beer gluggers, meat , eggs and a junk food diet, vegan diets seem to be the least offensive. I remember Mae West commenting in her book once about a healthy digestive system should produce poo smelling of a veg stew (or words to that effect) This last bit could cause controversy!

    That sounds very organised and civilized. Not so sure about the smelly poo thing though - my children are both vegetarian teetotallers and sometimes theirs smells fairly bad...
  5.  
    I forgot to say and quite important - after you have done the biz you cover with a thin sprinkling layer of lime or wood ash, we have a big bucket of wood ash and a plastic spade, when we run out we use a handful of straw.

    And as for poo, yes, it comes in all poo-eyness of pongs.
    • CommentAuthorbob
    • CommentTimeJun 2nd 2008
     
    Hi all,

    I regularly comment on the compost toilet threads as a part of our business is the design and construction of bespoke urine seperating dry compost toilet systrems, particularly in woodlands.
    As far as we are concerned the only way to build a compost bog is to build a dry system with the urine being seperated at point of use, this method results in a more of less odour free loo with good useable compost ( for fruit trees or similar) after around 1 year of maturing. The main factors to include are the urine seperation, a sealable toilet seat and a ventilation pipe/chimney ( to remove any stubborn odours above head height) Also the best bulk to add to the mix following each use seems to almost allways be a handfull of sweet smelling coarse wood shavings. I can also see no negatives to using a compost bog, if it is built correctly they are clean hygenic and pleasant to use, i have been living with one myself for over a year now.
    Please feel free to contact me if you need anymore detailed info.
    Bob
    woodearthstone@hotmail.co.uk
    • CommentAuthorludite
    • CommentTimeJun 2nd 2008
     
    Yet another thread I've had to bookmark for the future!
  6.  
    No question of an en-suite then? All outside dunnies and a long walk?
  7.  
    Dyer know, its actually wonderful to get out of the house and go down to the shed bog, even used it through the winter with snow falls and freezing winds. Its only a few seconds trundle from the back door but is very secluded peaceful spot.

    Its also good to take responsibility for abit more of the waste that one produces
    • CommentAuthorludite
    • CommentTimeJun 3rd 2008
     
    Is it possible to have a compost bog inside? I love the idea so much, that's the only thing that's putting me off.
  8.  
    Ludite, our friend has had a compost bog in his house for yrs, i will check out his system but i think he has a large bucket type receptickle with seat and lid and wood ash or shavings. This obviously has to be emptied and i do hear him muttering about the squabbles he has with his 2 lads (ages 15 and 22) about who is going to do this emptying biz. I know he composts it but im not sure on the finer details about wether it a 'dry' system which is the one to have if you want to do it properly.
    • CommentAuthorstephendv
    • CommentTimeJun 4th 2008
     
    For an in-house dry system, the Separette looks neat. http://www.separett.com/
  9.  
    we need to buy one (a Separette - privy 55 to be exact!) TODAY but can't find how to buy one? the website doesn't have a buy one now option. will look at the woodearthstone link in the meantime. We are going to put a reed bed in but our plans are taking so long to come through we need an emergency compost loo for the builders/helpers
    I'm ok about the poo-compost - but what do you do with the separated wee.? i bet thats a bit stinky - do you just pour it onto your compost?
    • CommentAuthorstephendv
    • CommentTimeJun 7th 2008
     
    List of worldwide distributors: http://www.separett.eu/default.asp?id=2515
  10.  
    Put wee on compost heap, helps it break down quicker.:cool:
    • CommentAuthorjoe.e
    • CommentTimeJun 7th 2008 edited
     
    .
    • CommentAuthorJackyR
    • CommentTimeSep 1st 2008 edited
     
    I'm finding this thread slightly freaky, having lived in/visited plenty of places (rural China, Botswana, Zimbabwe, the Philippines) where pit latrines are a much-prized luxury and key feature of public-health programmes, rather than a downshifter's lifestyle choice.

    I'm sure you all know this, but because of parasites you shouldn't use human (and some animal) excreta on veggie plots unless you are very, very sure that it has been successfully treated. In the meantime, it must have no chance of being tracked around by animals and birds, and no chance of contaminating a water supply. [Aha, so _that's_ how you edit posts: log in!] Some parasite eggs can also be carried in urine (doubt species like schistosoma would survive in UK, but others might).

    Planting trees on old pits: fantastic. Piling dubiously heated poo compost around your green and leafies: not so clever.

    Happily, UK water companies are also getting into this game and reselling properly treated human sewage for agriculture. So even us townies get to scatter when someone's ploughed the fields...
    • CommentAuthorjoe.e
    • CommentTimeSep 1st 2008
     
    JackyR, do you know any more details about the types of parasite that might be carried in human excreta?
    • CommentAuthorJackyR
    • CommentTimeSep 1st 2008 edited
     
    Including non-UK ones (this forum seems fairly international), a quick glance at Wikipedia gives:
    assorted nematodes (hookworm, whipworm, Baylisascaris...)
    assorted flukes (liver flukes, schisto...)
    giardia
    for a start.

    I realise several of the above are impervious to heat, so I've removed my earlier comment about home heat-treated compost being OK.

    I'm willing to stand corrected, but faecal transmission is for many intestinal parasites the principal (only?) means of transmission - the life cycle relies on it. Mostly this is faeces-to-mouth (often via other surfaces), but Necator americanus and a few others will enter via the skin, typically soles of bare feet.

    So spreading inadequately treated human (or other compatible species) faeces, especially on food plants, more especially foods to be eaten raw, is madness. If you're storing faeces at home, bury it deep for trees.
  11.  
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vFUqXolS7Co

    watch this and you might not even wish to wee on your compost ...
    • CommentAuthorFred56
    • CommentTimeSep 3rd 2008
     
    Composting bogs - not in my house! I've been to Queensland where they are all over the places and the things hum. Anyway, If you going all green surely you should be looking at anaerobic digesting. Catch the methane and find a use for it, wonder if it would fire a hob. Paul for Montreal is sure to know.
    • CommentAuthorphiledge
    • CommentTimeSep 3rd 2008
     
    I read an article a few years ago on human pathogens in composted poo and the article suggested that if the poo is composted for two years then all but one very rare "worm" would be killed/eggs destroyed. Unless this worm was present then the compost would be as safe a normal soil after two years. I seem to recall that the worm was very rare in the UK but even that was killed after seven years.
    • CommentAuthorJackyR
    • CommentTimeSep 4th 2008
     
    Hence the classic two-pit latrine: fill one, close it and leave to cook for several years while filling the other, then dig it out and start again.

    This KEEPS IT UNDERGROUND during the dodgy period, so birds and beasts can't track it around. And prevents you accidentally adding fresh poo to the maturing pit.

    I think pit latrines are principally about safe excreta disposal where you don't have (or you want to save) mains water in and mains sewage out. The compost is just a bonus - if you get it right - and a damn nuisance if you don't. If your soil is seriously impoverished and you can't get enough animal manure, then using it on the surface makes sense. But not in the UK.
  12.  
    Here's a Youtube film of a compost toilet building project I was involved with a few years ago,hope folks enjoy it http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=8XVevov7m4M&feature=channel_page
  13.  
    Bit skimpy on the insulation (chilly on the nether end in winter) and I prefer JackyR's system where everything stays in situ rather than "bucket and chuck it" - don't fancy that job at all.
   
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