Does anyone have a composting toilet?

Question

If so, which brand, and how does it perform? As promised? What is the estimated expense for use? What about odor control? As promised? Thanks.

Answer 1

just answered a similar question ,i prefer a normal water toilet system that ends organically as mentioned below ,
in practice compost toilets confuse city people ,but i have used and build many,to control the oder put in a pipe painted black that sticks up above the toilet in the wind
the sun heats the pipe and the hot air rise sucking the air below with it .like a pump.also cover the excrement with leaves of sand after each visit.
here is my toilet answer
Human waste has been used for fertilizer all through history

in china it is put above the ground directly on the plants ,this is called night soil ,and it is not very good because the excrement does not go through a decomposition process and can transmit diseasesonto the products,
in thailand people build beautifull toilets with aromatic herbs and decoratively painted ,and invite passers by to make use of their toilets ,they add sand and the decomposed manure is used for their gardens ,this is very good

the Aztecs collected the material from the public toilets which where on the bridges going into the city and mixed it with the rich mud from the lake and organic waste(cuttings from plants)
this is very good and the agriculture of the chinampas is still functioning and is sustainable after 800 years ,

In portugal the old toilets were raised of the ground with a stairway going up and one deposited ones poopoo directly ino the pigs through
not such a good idea ,also because of diseases.

a lot of Environmental sewage systems have plant growth as the final destination
one has a normal water toilet system ,that goes into a concrete box about 2square meters next to another one connected with an opening at the bottom of the shared wall,the excrement floats and stays in the first box the seccond box has an outlet that goes into a ditch filled with rocks ,on top of this one plants trees and the sewage is directly incorperated into the fertilizing of the garden ,with out bad effects
another way is to have a worn cultulture that exchanges the excrementfor a rich worm compost ,
the best fertilizer in the world

Permaculture has a book called the designers manual ,it has many examples of sewage sytems as a well as a wealth of relevant information

Source(s):

Permaculture means permanent agriculture
a concept put forward by Bill Mollisson in the 60`s
His book is a complete hand book for environmental design.
for those who seek an ambiotic relationship with our planet
With practical solutions for energy systems ,infratructure ,housing,
animal shelter ,water systems and sustainable agricultural practises.
With the world and it`s history as it`s source
From the chinampas of Mexico to the teraced gardens of the Andes.
From the dessert whadis to the steppes of Russia.
Covering all climatic conditions temporal, dessert, humid and dry tropics.
with chapters on soil ,Water harvesting and land design,
Earth working ,Spirals in nature,Trees and water ,utilising energy flows,
Strategy for an alternative nation

this book also has many gardening tips,bio-gas,companion planting and ideas for structures ,how to cool down houses in hot climates ,how to warm up houses in cold climates with out using technology but rather by design.

always aiming at autosuficiency and sustainability .
this can all be found in the designers manual by Bill Mollisson,
[e-mail]

Collectively portraying an ancient and natural philosiphy
With the Laws of Nature as its base
coupled to the present day level of scientific knowledge.

Permaculture is well known and you can find many references on the web.
there is a University of Permaculture in Australia

and poverty is not the target but quality of life is
and since permaculture is extremly compact form of growing things.utilising all space and utilising all resource ,it is productive and economic.

some other writers that are on the internet are
david Holmgren
Larry Santoyo
Kirk Hanson

Masanobu Fukuaka has written ,
One-Straw Revolution
The Road Back to Nature
The Natural Way of Farming
http://www.context.org/iclib/ic14/fukuok...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/masanobu_fu...

Simon Henderson
and Bill Molisson.

a representitive of the concept in USA is
Dan Hemenway at [e-mail]
[e-mail]
http://barkingfrogspc.tripod.com/frames....
http://csf.colorado.edu/perma/ypc_catalo...

I am a permaculture consultant for the department of Ecology for the regional government of Guerrero in Mexico

i got a yahoo 360 which has some stuff in English as well as this spaces
http://spaces.msn.com/byderule

Answer 2

The Chesapeake Bay Foundation has its headquarters building in Annapolis Maryland, and they have nothing but composting toilets.

http://www.cbf.org/site/PageServer?pagename=about_merrillcenter_water_compostingtoilets

I've used it, and it worked just great, no odor problem at all.

Here is contact info:
Philip Merrill Environmental Center
6 Herndon Avenue
Annapolis, MD 21403
phone: [phone]

Their website - www.cbf.org - has a "Contact Us" page for emailing them for further questions.