A dry toilet not only protects the environment by abdication of water flush but can also contribute to a richer soil by closing the nutrient cycle. self-composting of kitchen waste, sometimes with the support of worms is menwhile a widespread concept. You can do the same with shit! And particularly well. This is because our extrements are rich in nitrogen and phosphorus, which are particularly important for plant growth. Your “human output” is therefore also an ideal fertilizer There are just a few things to bear in mind when composting faeces.
quick overview
Two important rules
1. make sure that you do not come into direct contact with the material. Wear gloves when emptying and cleaning the bucket which are only used for this purpose.
2. composting requires time and patience. From the last bucket emptying to your composting plant it takes about two years before the fertilizer can be used in the garden
Your composting system
The three boxes are placed next to each other. One is used for filling, the second for maturing the mass and the third for storing structure-giving bedding such as leaves or straw.
The composting process produces leachates. This is the liquid in the compost (water and urine) that is not absorbed and therefore runs out again as surplus. It is important to know where the composting system is located:
- In a zone without health or environmental regulations: The small amount of excess liquid can be safely left to seep into the ground.
- In a zone without health or environmental regulations:it is necessary to build the system with a water-impermeable floor. The leachate water is then fed into the household wastewater via a drainage system.
You don’t know whether you are in a one with or without environmental regulations? Government websites give you information, mostly about the cantons.
Step by step to manure-ready compost
1. emptying the collection container of a dry toilet: Wear gloves when emptying the collection container and keep the container closed. Then clean and disinfect the container and pour the washing water (without soap!) into the filling box of the compost system.
2. work the new material into the existing material to a depth of about one arm’s length using a tool exclusievly used for this purpose.
3. cover the mixed material with a layer of shavings from the bedding box.
4. When the bedding box full, the contents can be trensferred to the second box for maturing and mixed again. Post-maturing takes at least 1.5 years. Only then can the compost be used in the garden.
5. once maturing is complete, pass the compost through a sieve with a mesh of 1-2cm. What is left behind belongs back in the filling box. The refined material can be used as fertilizer in the garden.
The fist test
Before and during the composting process, it is important to ensure that the material is in the right condition for composting. The easiest way to perform this is the fist test.
Which plants should I fertilize with it?
The material can be used to fertilize all kinds of plants. However, it is recommended to use it in the spring for plants that are highly nutritious, such as cucumbers, tomatoes, pumpkins, cabbages and potatoes.
If you add a lot of urine to your compost, you need to be careful with salt-sensitive plants. These include lettuce, radishes and apsaragus, but also flowers such as primroses an orchids.
The most frequently asked questions about home composting of human output
What am I allowed to compost?
Liquid materials and solids, (recycled) toilet paper, shavings: everything that ends up in the bin can be easily composted. As usual, menstrual products and waste in general do not belong in the toilet and therefore not for composting, but in a separate waste garbage can.
If the composting toilet is used by people taking strong medication and the urine is not separated, composting should be avoided.
Hygiene questions
On a simple compost heap, you should give your dry toilet compost two years – even if the compost looks mature beforehand. Feces contain germs that can cause diseases. In professional plants, they are rendered harmless with high temperatures. In the garden over the long standing time. Therefore, please be patient.
Two steps are required for safe composting and reuse of the material in question: wearing gloves and washing hands when handling the materials and perseverance in composting (>2 years).
The dose makes the poison – medicines are excreted in particular via the urine. If urine is separated in the toilet, medication is not a problem. If the materials are mixed, there is still no cause for concern: the residues present will be comparatively small in relation to the total amount of compost and therefore pose no danger. If you want to be on the safe side, do not use the composting toilets or compost them while taking strong and especially many medications.
Is there a special technique?
The composting process in particular requires a lot of patience. If you want to save time, buy a composting system. Due to the optimized thermal conditions, the whole process then proceeds more quickly.
A self-composting system can reach up to 75 degrees Celsius, whereby the warmer the better. The ideal moisture content for composting is when the material does not drip, but also does not form dry lumps. You can simply carry out the fist test: If the material feels like a squeezed but damp sponge, the moisture is in the right range.
Legal regulations
Basically, everything is allowed in private. If you compost the contents of your own dry toilet in your own garden and return the resulting humus to your own garden, you will not come into conflict with the law. However, commercial use of the substances in question is not currently sufficiently regulated in either Switzerland or Germany
Helpers with composting
You can download here a compact summary of the most important information here.
The info sheet forms the basis for the blog post and also contains the graphic for the fist test.
Text info sheet: Toilettes du Monde, Terhao und R.A.E
Translation into German: Nowato, Gartenfrosch, Ecotoiletten, Kompotoi and Netzwerk für Produktive Sanitärsysteme.
Layout and graphics info sheet: www.eliseauffray.com
