Water! It’s the new issue facing the world to parallel, if not take over from, the oil wars. The average household, in America the number 2 consumer of water in the world, uses 188 gallons of water per person per day, much of it wasted during chores like washing one’s teeth or flushing the toilet after a quick urination, the average cistern being 20 litres capacity.
Most westernizing countries seem to implement the water fed sewerage systems that was created in during the Roman empire with it’s above ground aqueducts for transporting water and was henceforth refined to pipes underground which usually discharge their waste into waterways we rely on for our source of drinking water.
When I recently lived in Japan I found this to be true there, as well, but when I rented my own somewhat older building to live in I found that the only plumbing I had was cold water to a tap in the kitchen and the bathroom. The toilet being a concrete hole in the ground placed beneath a hole in the ‘toilet’ floor that was complete with a porcelain surround. The design being the same as many of the porcelain squat toilets found in most plumbed Japanese buildings.
Now although called a septic tank it was far from the enclosed system I have oft seen implemented in the rural areas of Australia. The concrete hole was not sealed from the environment and as such gave easy access to flies which could then travel to my, or another’s, kitchen table and food preparation areas. The openness of the design also allowed for easy air movement beneath my house such that during the summer I was availed of incredibly powerful odours at the far end of my house. Most noticeable when trying to go to sleep.
So I opted out. After one of the monthly emptyings of the toilet via the pump out, or ’honey’, truck I stopped using the hole. I placed a sheet of ply over the hole in the floor and cut down a large plastic bin so that it would fit under a commode toilet. I purchased sawdust at a local timber merchant's and used this liberally before and after toilet use.
When the bin was full I took it outside and placed the contents in a large garden composting bin, which allowed the liquids to escape the matter. Keeping a composting pile, of any description, from retaining too much moisture is a key strategy. When one bin was full I would leave it for over half a year and then lift of the bin. The matter was now saw dusty soil. Not a sign or odour of it’s previous manifestation. Ready for the garden and the growing of plants. Although if you wanted to play slightly paranoid one could simply cover the matter, after spreading it on a garden bed, with more soil and leave for some time before planting vegetables.
The slightest worry being that some not-killed-off pathogens might still get transferred, by flies, to food areas.
In one easy go I reduced my water usage, including the fee, the need for a very smelly pump out and again the fee, as well as, most importantly, the constant smell and risk of pathogenic contamination to me and my household guests. Even the neighbours stood a risk of getting sick from the possible vectoring of disease via flies.
The basic premise of composting faecal matter by letting it sit in a moisture controlled pile is a sound one, for those of you who may mistrust, and there’s a wealth of information on the subject. My favourite being Joseph Jenkins book The Humanure Handbook where one can find great advice on the building of their own indoor toilet.
