Thursday, 5 January 2012

composting toilet

A composting toilet is a dry toilet that using a predominantly aerobic processing system that treats excreta, typically with no water or small volumes of flush water, via composting or managed aerobic decomposition. Composting toilets may be used as an alternative to flush toilets in situations where there is no suitable water supply or waste treatment facility available or to capture nutrients in human excreta as humanure.


A composting toilet is the most economical, convenient and environmentally friendly way to process your toilet wastes when you can't connect to a sewer or septic system, or in areas of water shortage.
Self-contained Composting Toilets have the composting chamber under the toilet seat, so it's all one unit located in your bathroom.
One Pint Flush Central Composting Toilet Systems use a Sealand toilet in your bathroom with the composting chamber located below in a crawl space or basement or outside the building.
Waterless Central Composting Toilet Systems use a Sun-Mar dry toilet in your bathroom with the composting chamber located directly underneath in a crawl space or basement.
Mobile Composting Toilets are especially designed for installation in boats and RV's.


The human excrement is normally mixed with sawdust, coconut coir, peat moss to support aerobic processing, absorb liquids, and to reduce the odor. The decomposition process is generally faster than the anaerobic decomposition used in wet sewage treatment systems such as septic tanks.

Operating process
A urine-diverting-dehydration toilet. 1:Humus compartment, 2:Ventilation pipe, 3:Toilet seat, 4:Urinal, 5:Urine collection and dehydration
Although there are many designs, the process factors at work are the same. Rapid aerobic composting will be thermophilic decomposition in which bacteria that thrive at high temperatures (40-60 °C / 104-140 °F) oxidize (break down) the waste into its components, some of which are consumed in the process, reducing volume, and eliminating potential pathogens.

Drainage of excess liquid or leachate via a separate drain at the bottom of the composter is featured in some manufactured units, as the aerobic composting process requires moisture levels to be controlled (ideally 50% +/- 10): too dry, and the mass decomposes slowly or not at all; too wet and anaerobic organisms thrive, creating undesirable odors (cf. Anaerobic digestion). This separated liquid may be diverted to a blackwater system or collected for other uses. Some units include a urine-separator or urine-diverting system.

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