les toilettes seches

Compost Toilets

Water is a precious resource. So why are we flushing it down the toilet? 

At home, we often use our pee to help our plants [pee-pee ponics].

As I showed in my 'precedent' blog post, I have seen quite nice compost toilets that exist & I believe trump misconceptions about dirtiness or smell or lack of beauty.

Pee pee + add a little bit of hose-water = happy plants

Often highly-regarded reference book on compost toilets

Building Codes

I plan to look into California & local codes for having compost toilets:
http://www.composting-toilet-store.com/Building_Codes_Regulations_s/107.htm

Alternatives

Human waste + Anaerobic digestion = Biogas + Fertilizer

Anaerobic digestion (AD) is a biological process in which organic waste is consumed by micro-organisms in oxygen-free environments. It is used for industrial or domestic purposes to manage waste and to release energy. As it decomposes, the waste releases biogas.

Biogas is composed of methane (CH4, 65%), carbon dioxide (CO2, 33%) and other trace gases (2%). For comparison, the natural gas supplied to ordinary gas stoves and boilers is about 80% methane. When biogas is burned, the methane converts back to CO2 and water vapor, so the gas is clean burning.

Fertilizer is the other by product of AD. The microbial process homogenizes the nutrients making them easier for plants to access. The output is a semi-liquid manure that is easily separated into liquid plant food and fiber-rich manure that’s perfect for digging in under newly planted crops.

(Sourced from) http://www.loowatt.com/digestion/

For a video that explains how to make your own bio-digester:
http://theurbanfarmingguys.com/methane-biodigester-how-to