Building a simple compost toilet - advice/tips please :)

[Samuel1988]

Afternoon,

I am going to build a compost toilet on my plot and I would like to know how I can do it simply - I did not have much success googling and most of what I saw seemed to be more 'permanent' and complicated designs.

I can get me hands on some nice thick square posts and planks of wood.

Also, any advice/tips from those who have built one on their plot would be most welcome

Thank you for your replies,

Samuel

[alldigging]

You need a shed.
A bucket, some sort of seat thing and some sawdust and some compost bins outside.

The compost bins are to be left alone for a couple of years but the shed and loo bit could be easily moved.

[Two_Sheds]

The very simplest way is to just poop into a couple sheets of newspaper. Wrap it up, chip shop style
and put in a separate dalek.
you should mix in the usual weeds, green trimmings etc, to attract a wide range of detritivores. I have 2 dog poo daleks 12ft from my kitchen door, and nobody knows what's in them ~ they don't smell and don't have flies.

Use the resulting compost only on ornamentals.

You really ought to read the Humanure Handbook so you understand the ins and outs, as it were

[Nicos]

Our daughter had one
Blokes are encouraged not to pee in it...but directly into a different bucket which is then diluted.
Otherwise it fills up too quickly with liquid.

They have a type of bench with a hole in it and a loo seat fixed onto it....and a blue waterbut type container underneath.
Loo paper is used sparingly and needs to be Eco, biodegradable.
They use chainsaw shavings to sprinkle on top

[Feral007]

You wouldn't be alllowed to have a compost toilet on the plot would you? They're very strict about loo's over this way.

[Nicos]

I think you'd need the OK from the site manager...but we're lucky enough not to have Dunny spiders!

[veggiechicken]

I remember the big green frog looking up at me from the pan in a Queensland Dunny. At that moment, I decided I didn't need to go after all

Samuel - do you have toilets on your allotment site? I thought gentlemen activated the compost heap when necessary

[teakdesk]

Well the first question I would ask is: Why?

As said above you need to devise two channels so wee goes one way and poop the other. Only poop is composted. Wee is good for normal compost heaps and just needs pouring on.

The trick with poop is to get it as dry as possible as quickly as possible by covering in something like dry peat, dry moss, dry wood dust or even dry fine wood chippings.

Lack of water kills bugs. After a good length of time the resulting mass can be composted as normal. In olden days it was just spread on fields.

I believe pumpkins love it. But you need a lot of poops.

[Feral007]

Dunny spiders? No, I don't like them! But having a dunny indoors doesn't mean we don't have that problem.
But then outdoor dunnies also have the snake problem.....sometimes a snake is in there when you go to go in.......worse still is one that comes in under the door after you're seated!

[bearded bloke]

Bet that ^^^^ speeds up the process Fez

[Feral007]

Or brings it to a complete halt

[Samuel1988]

Thanks for your replies

Yes - we are allowed to have compost toilets on site (some other person on the plot has one but I rarely see him) but we do not have toilets on our plot. I do already activate my compost but it is for a fellow female allotment companion mainly.

And as for why, why not? Its free fertiliser and its also convenient as I lose my fellow helper who has to go home for the loo lol

Samuel

[Samuel1988]

And I've done quite a bit of travelling/working abroad (Tanzania, Indonesia) so im comfortable with it - at least it makes such a human act a bit more interesting that your average household loo lol

[Alison]

Thanks for your replies

Yes - we are allowed to have compost toilets on site (some other person on the plot has one but I rarely see him) but we do not have toilets on our plot. I do already activate my compost but it is for a fellow female allotment companion mainly.

And as for why, why not? Its free fertiliser and its also convenient as I lose my fellow helper who has to go home for the loo lol

Samuel

I just pee in a bucket in the shed then tip it on the compost heap. No infrastructure needed although I do swill the bucket out with water butt water.

[alldigging]

Kampa Khazi Portable Toilet

£19.99 put it inside your existing shed, or a new one. Simples.