permaculture

[Neil Bertrando <neilbertrando@gmail.com>]

I followed this train of thought through till we hit some financial
setbacks.  still on the drawing board for county approved toilets, although
we have some engineered plans we can share if you like....still need some
feedback on them too.

I have several documents I can send you off list if you like as well.

My thoughts on high levels of use are either large batch chambers or a
removable batch container (ie. wheelie bin, 55 gal. barrel, etc.) so you can
manage for various use levels that may be unpredictable during the design
phase.  In the latter case, you need to find a place to store these (an
passive solar, insulated cob closet???)  In either case the system could
have a large footprint.

I prefer to avoid the urine diversion systems and balance with good
ventilation, a significant carbon sponge, and behavioral systems (i.e. guys
pee in the bush when possible), then drainage if necessary.  for balancing
moisture look at the wet tropics compost toilet systems.

also "the composting toilet book". by david del porto is a very useful
reference.

for temperature, insulation is important, you could also consider some solar
thermal air heaters, flat plate or tube collectors can be fabricated with
mostly recycled materials. not sure how well they would work at your
latitude, but you could set up some louvres to manage the system...  here's
a website for more info and some designs.
http://www.knowledgepublications.com/heat/solar_air_heating_full_product.htm

RE: some resources here's the text from another email thread

best of luck,
neil

As per Request, here's the links I recieved, which demonstrate recent trends
around this issue in various states.  Good starting places for contacting
people who are dealing directly with the process.

http://greeninc.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/07/06/cities-contemplate-the-composting-toilet/
http://www.sonomacountygazette.com/blog/2009/12/sonoma-county-composting-toilet-project.html
http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1945764,00.html

"Call the Inyo County Planning Department at 760-878-0263.  Years ago a
strawbale house was put up in Independence, Ca that had the first permitted
composting toilet in California, I believe"

The Washington State Document was really helpful since they have best
management practices and codes as well as design criteria (although not
engineered specs).
the PDF link is
http://www.doh.wa.gov/ehp/ts/ww/Water_Conservation_8-29-07.pdf
also they have a whole array of documents listed alphabetically here:
http://www.doh.wa.gov/ehp/ts/ww/pubs-ww-all-bytitle.htm

learning process,
neil

On Wed, Feb 23, 2011 at 1:30 AM, Cory Brennan <cory8570@yahoo.com> wrote:

> Another one is the one done by Anna Edey of solviva.com, she says she can
> break down human waste into black potting soil in 2 months using worms and
> her particular design which doesn't entail handling the waste directly until
> it has completely broken down.
>
> --- On Tue, 2/22/11, Leslie Moyer <unschooler@lrec.org> wrote:
>
> From: Leslie Moyer <unschooler@lrec.org>
> Subject: Re: [permaculture] Composting toilet for Community Garden
> To: "permaculture" <permaculture@lists.ibiblio.org>
> Date: Tuesday, February 22, 2011, 8:37 PM
>
> You might look at a Sunny John mouldering toilet, too.  It has some of the
> features Ray mentioned, including a solar-assist ventilation system:
> http://www.sunnyjohn.com/
>
>
> On Feb 22, 2011, at 9:32 AM, Scott Vlaun wrote:
>
> > HI All,
> >
> > Our community garden in Norway Maine is looking for a "best practice"
> solution to compost human waste on site. (Not for use in the garden)
> >
> > Since the garden is in a neighborhood, we need to avoid any odor issues.
> I'm a long-time sawdust/bucket/bin humanure composter, but for a public site
> like this we need something that requires no handling of "live" waste and
> will be a good demonstration/model for the community.
> >
> > During the season we might have a dozen or more people using the toilet
> on a given day. Winter use would be very limited, but it would be great to
> have a system that works in the cold as well. The site is off-grid so high
> electric use is not an option.
> >
> > Any thoughts, links, or references to working systems would be much
> appreciated.
> >
> > Enjoy the strengthening sun!
>
> _______________________________________________
> permaculture mailing list
> permaculture@lists.ibiblio.org
> Subscribe, unsubscribe, change your user configuration or find out more
> about this list here:
> http://lists.ibiblio.org/mailman/listinfo/permaculture
> permaculture forums http://www.permies.com/permaculture-forums
> List contacts: permacultureforum@gmail.com and paul@richsoil.com
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> permaculture mailing list
> permaculture@lists.ibiblio.org
> Subscribe, unsubscribe, change your user configuration or find out more
> about this list here:
> http://lists.ibiblio.org/mailman/listinfo/permaculture
> permaculture forums http://www.permies.com/permaculture-forums
> List contacts: permacultureforum@gmail.com and paul@richsoil.com
>