The chickens have escaped!

Finally, our new camera has arrived, so I can now show you what I’ve been up to.

Many will remember the Saga of the Blocked Toilet, which has been a regular event here. And yes, the fosse septique blocked yet again – that’s four times in 2 years! Ian spent a day emptying it by hand and the following day recovering. Not only that, but every time we have to dig down to the tank we make a mess of the lawn just outside the B&B where it was strategically placed!

I had had enough!!! I’ve ripped out the toilet and installed a compost loo!

When I last posted about the compost loo debate, some people seemed a little confused as to what it entailed. I can recommend Redforkhippy’s comments as they were very clear, concise and to the point. But here are my thoughts, just for the record…

1. Using a compost toilet means we save an estimated 40 % of our water consumption (last year’s water bill was 350 euros). This is a major contribution to reducing our eco-footprint and spending less money!
2. The compost toilet is clean, totally without smell, 100% chemical free (no need for toilet cleaners), doesn’t have that disgusting-looking build-up of black gunk under “the rim”, doesn’t get limescale build-up, doesn’t have any running costs (the sawdust is free from a local sawmill).
3. The emptying of the bucket takes approx. two minutes every two days. The frequency would vary depending on how many people use the toilet and how large the bucket is. There are four of us, and I have used a smaller bucket (16 litres) because I’d rather empty it more often but more easily (it’s nice and light for lifting over the edge of my compost bin.
4. The toilet is emptied onto a DEDICATED compost heap. It will be left for a two year period to mature fully and the compost will then be used in our copse and for our willow coppice which we’re growing for firewood. It is not the case that I will be planting lettuces in near-raw sewage (which seems to be most people’s assumption when one mentions a compost loo!)
5. Compost loo heaps are a safe and efficient way to decompose humanure. Our current system (which doesn’t work!) of a fosse septique allows raw sewage to be leached out underground where noone can tell what damage it is doing. A well-managed compost loo keeps the manure in a contained area where it can be monitored and decompose thermophilically to produce a useful product. There is no risk of pathogen contamination because the heap gets nice and warm and kills off all the baddies. To find out all about compost loos, read The Humanure Handbook by Joseph Jenkins.
6. Although we have a constant flow of uninitiated visitors through our house and B&B, no-one has ever had an issue about using the compost loo and feedback has always been very positive.
7. The total cost of this new, post-modern bog was 20 euros (that’s for two pieces of 60cm by 200 cm prefabricated board (thickness 18mm), and one bucket for the sawdust. Everything else was already lying around here – some old bits of wood for the batons, a few screws, the last third of a tin of varnish, a bucket for the actual toilet-bit and the recently bought loo seat was taken off the defunct toilet. If I had had to buy everything, the cost might have been around 55 euros. If used carefully, this toilet should last for ever, with occasionally new buckets being bought when old ones crack and die.

It was very simple to build. Most of the time spent was waiting for the varnish to dry! First I sealed up the toilet pipe in a very hi-tech way (some tape), then put batons up as shown. I measured up so that the overall height of the top (not including the seat) would be 45cm. That’s a little higher than a conventional loo but is comfortable to sit on and not too high for kids.

I then cut my two boards to the correct size. In one I cut a hole the same shape as the inside of the toilet seat and another hole the size of the sawdust bucket. The other board could have been left as it was, but I decided to cut a couple of arches out at the bottom to allow air to circulate (the room is slightly damp) and for the skirting boards.

Once varnished, all I had to do was attach the seat, add the buckets and a bunch of flowers and hey presto! a compost loo/work of art!

Photos of how I made the first, stand-alone compost loo (the one in the B&B) can be found here.