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 Inside View of
the Solar Toilet's Composting Bin -
Oh
come on now . . . I was not going to make this
disgusting! This is a view of the toilet's bin
just before we started to use it. I will try
and remember to update this page showing the various
stages of composting.
Basically, what you are looking at is about a
three inch layer of compost from one of our
finished piles intermixed with leaf mold and
worms from another. This will be the
"starter" for the composting bin. The trick will be to maintain the correct moisture
level.
September 18-22, 2006 - We had very cool and wet
weather this week. Some of the storms included
very hard downpours and winds. Through it all,
the inside of both the toilet room and composting
chamber remained dry - no leaks!
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 September
26, 2006 - The facility has been in
operation for a little over a week now but
receives low usage - myself and two of the
women.
So far, no odor and no insects. The
Tonight I even used it and got a chance to use
the solar electric light system. It was
plenty bright enough to not only see what I
was doing, but even to read by.
Today I created and posted the operation
instructions (the rules). Click on the
image for a larger view. |
December 29, 2006 - We had
a break in the winter weather and our son-in-law was
on a holiday break so he built a rock entry.
Now
we can walk up and use the facility without getting
muddy.
December 30, 2006 - The toilet has been getting
regular use since put into operation. Not too
heavy. It is doing very well. Even
through long periods of cloudy and wet weather and a
couple of weeks of freezing temperature. About
6 weeks ago, the pile under the hole was building up
so I spun the composting bin 180 and started working
on the other end of it. I also recently
purchased a second bin. The plan is to put it
into operation and provide time for the humanure in
the first bin to compost.
All in
all, it is working great. There is no smell,
no mess, and other than getting really cold during
freezing weather, it is comfortable.
February 16, 2007 - Moved the pile under the
hole around, stirred up the pile, recovered with
sawdust. Slight ammonia smell when I stirred
it up but not too bad considering it is getting no
heat or sun to dry or break things down.
Also
swept up, cleaned up a mess of spider webs in the
skylight, and cleared out a bunch of flying insects
that were in the skylight as well. All in all,
for being winter, it is operating pretty well.
March 19, 2007 - Put a new compost bin into
service today under the seat. Started with a
four inch layer of compost from a compost pile.
I also
covered the material in the first bin with a layer
of compost and worms from a compost pile and moved
it to the back of the composting chamber to finish
composting.
 May
19, 2007 - Since March, the only thing I have
had to do is to move around the pile from directly
under the seat and routine cleaning. That is,
disinfecting surfaces, sweeping up, replacing toilet
paper as it is used, etc.
We ran
out of sawdust (saved from last summer's building
projects) and so I bought a bale of peat moss at a
local store. We have been using that to
"flush" since about the beginning of March. It
works fine.
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Here is a close-up of the compost that at six
months of use was removed from service and has
been allowed to continue composting for two
months. The picture on the right is a
close-up after stirring. Observe the
nice, plump, healthy red worms at work? |
June 24, 2007 - The
biggest feature missing from the facility was the
ability to wash hands. We had a dispenser of Purell but needed a sink. Since the goal was
to remain self-contained and not hard plumb, I got
creative again using materials from the farm.
  I
had an old 15 gallon ABS water tank from my old
camper. We created a shelf for it on the east
facing (back) wall and mounted it.
On
the inside, I was able to use an old, porcelain on
cast iron wall mounted sink that I save from the
original bathroom in the house. The only
bummer was that I could not find where I put the
mounting bracket.
 I
sent John on a wild goose's chase into Molalla to
try and find one. No luck.
Then Dad started dialing everywhere that we could
think of while I went online to search for sources.
I
found a place that had a reproduction one but they
wanted $49.99!!! That was about more than I
have into the whole building.
 Dad
struck out and then I remembered an architectural
salvage place in Aurora about 20 minutes away.
Dad
looked them up, called and the girl said they had a
bucket full. So he took off while we worked on
the tank.
The
got back real fast and had a great, old, cast one. Not a stamped steel one. And instead of
$49.99, it was $7.50. I got it hung and then
ran out of time. I still need to drill a hole
in the wall and install the drain.
June 25, 2007 - Emptied out the first compost
bin (out of service since
March 19) this
afternoon. The original plan was to build an
outside compost pile and empty the bin into it. However, upon stirring, it was thoroughly composted. So we drove the bin on the trailer and put a
shovelful around
trees that John got
planted this past winter.
One
lesson learned is that the Rubbermaid bins I have
been using are not 100% waterproof. Additionally, the material is not "rubber" and
actually fairly thin and brittle. I had the
bin upside down and tapped it with the back on my
spade to loosen the last bit of compost and I
cracked it.
December 17, 2013
- In 2008, we moved our farm business operations to
a new building on the other side of the farm. The
composting toilet was therefore in the wrong place
to be convenient. With the help of my cousin and his
skidster, we moved it closer to the seedhouse and
the fields where we work in the summer. It also is
in a better, sunny location.
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Moving
from old site to the new one. |
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Getting
it oriented above
its new foundation |
Some
finessing into place. |
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This is what it looks like, in all
settled in. |
July, 27, 2016 - There is really not much to
report at this ten year anniversary point. Duties
are pretty much the same as with any restroom
facility - cleaning, keeping the toilet paper
stocked, and taking care of any repairs that might
come up.
Other than that, I monitor and keep the "flushing
material," the fine sawdust or peat, filled in the
bucket. Emptying the composted material is generally
a once per year task and is not an issue.
Today I did have my first "major" repair to take
care of . . . Replacing the toilet seat. :) Total
cost was $6.99!
Useful
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