Composting Toilet - Outhouse

How much fresh drinking water do you flush down the toilet every day? Ever consider the fossil fuel energy consumed to pump and deliver your drinking water and the additional energy used to treat the waste water?

We began to recognize the hidden costs of water when had to use a limited amount of electricity from our off-grid PV solar system to pump our water from our well to our holding tank. It then became clear to us that it was ludicrous to flush that water down the toilet.

While there are expensive and complicated commercial composting toilets on the market, much simpler hand-built systems are equally if not more effective, and fun to live with. The system shown in the photo uses three compost bins constructed from shipping pallets. The outhouse is designed to be movable (this one rolls on a track!) between the two outer bins. The center bin separates the active bin from the maturing bin and holds clean sawdust that is used to cover the deposits into the active bin. The cover material absorbs almost all odors. Human poop and urine combined with kitchen scraps, the sawdust cover material, occasional turning, and time lead to a perfectly viable compost material, free of harmful microorganisms.

Turn your waste into rich soil nutrients!