# human waste compost



## omegabrock (Jun 16, 2014)

i havent seen too much on this. are there benefits to it or is it something that just has too many negatives to consider?

educate me


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## Slippy (Nov 14, 2013)

I don't know that I'll educate you but here is what I learned when we built our place;

Depends on your situation. If you have a camp house or a place that you use not very often, I would certainly consider a Compost style toilets. Or even an outhouse if you have the equipment to move it every 3 years or so. 

If you talking about a permanent home, I would go with the tried and true septic system. Ours is an aerobic engineered septic system that is similar to a water treatment plant.


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## pheniox17 (Dec 12, 2013)

wheres our clean waste lady  I miss her when it comes to poop


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## paraquack (Mar 1, 2013)

No matter how, chlorine treatment, composting, or aerobic digesting human waste has to be treated to kill bad and infectious bacteria in it. I remember a few of the guys in squadron bought vegetables from locals in Nam and came down with real bad case of "something". Turned out that the locals used fresh stuff from their honey pots to fertilize their crops. Bacteria was able to infect the guys who ate the raw vegies.


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## budgetprepp-n (Apr 7, 2013)

What about 5 gallon buckets with lids? Or if you have water won't toilets still flush if you have water?


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## sparkyprep (Jul 5, 2013)

budgetprepp-n said:


> What about 5 gallon buckets with lids? Or if you have water won't toilets still flush if you have water?


Depends if it has some place to go. If you have a well maintained septic system on site, then the answer is yes. If your toilets are connected to a municipal sewage system, and the power is out for longer than a day, not counting generators, then no, the sewage would just back up into your home.


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## budgetprepp-n (Apr 7, 2013)

sparkyprep said:


> Depends if it has some place to go. If you have a well maintained septic system on site, then the answer is yes. If your toilets are connected to a municipal sewage system, and the power is out for longer than a day, not counting generators, then no, the sewage would just back up into your home.


Ok are you saying that in the cites that if the grid goes down the sewer will back into the homes?


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## PaulS (Mar 11, 2013)

budgetprepp-n said:


> Ok are you saying that in the cites that if the grid goes down the sewer will back into the homes?


That is correct. The sewer system uses pumps to get the sewage from low lying areas to the processing plants. The same goes for storm water systems. If you live on the highest hill you would be in decent shape for about a week.


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## omegabrock (Jun 16, 2014)

i didnt necessarily mean to re-purpose it, but just a way to have a designated area for it to 'break down' without contaminating other areas for a back up situation where the toilets arent working. we can dig cat holes but idk the long term effects of doing that either haha.

slippy - a compost style toilet? is that something that like a make shift toilet or something that can be used long term if needed?


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## Kauboy (May 12, 2014)

budgetprepp-n said:


> What about 5 gallon buckets with lids? Or if you have water won't toilets still flush if you have water?


The porcelain toilet we all know and love today will still flush if you pour enough water into the bowl.
They work on a siphon principle, once you fill the bowl and trap enough to spill over in the trap, the water gets siphoned out of the bowl until the water seal is broken.
However, as explained, if the pipe it all falls into is full, it won't go anywhere.


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## budgetprepp-n (Apr 7, 2013)

Kauboy said:


> The porcelain toilet we all know and love today will still flush if you pour enough water into the bowl.
> They work on a siphon principle, once you fill the bowl and trap enough to spill over in the trap, the water gets siphoned out of the bowl until the water seal is broken.
> However, as explained, if the pipe it all falls into is full, it won't go anywhere.


 That takes us back to a bucket and lid. Or old school out house and some lie.


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## pharmer14 (Oct 27, 2012)

omegabrock said:


> i havent seen too much on this. are there benefits to it or is it something that just has too many negatives to consider?
> 
> educate me


I'm not sure where I heard this... quite possibly listening to "In the Garden" by Andre Viette while cruising AM radio on the weekends... but I heard that it's safe for fruit trees where the produce isn't directly in the dirt or potentially laying on top of it because it's on a shorter plant.

But I'm not yet as into gardening, etc as I'd like to be... so I definitely would do much more research than what I recall hearing...


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## pharmer14 (Oct 27, 2012)

http://humanurehandbook.com/downloads/Chapter_6.pdf

Whaddya know... a little... bathroom reading... (see what I did there???)


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## BagLady (Feb 3, 2014)

Usually an outhouse would be about 4' -5' deep. Some of the Amish install pipe from thier house gutter to thier outhouse, and trench a "run off" under thier outhouse to wash the waste away. We live out in the country, on 34 acres, and also have a "run off" sewer that's about 150' from the house. After that it is given back to the earth.
I would not use human waste for compost, nor would I use cat or dog manure. YUK!!! 
If you have an outhouse, you can buy Lyme to put in it to help with the smell and to speed up composition of waste.


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## ekim (Dec 28, 2012)

Oh crap, I thought this was a post about congress and the Federal government, never mind.........


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## omegabrock (Jun 16, 2014)

yeah, im thinking compost was ignorance on my part haha. i think im going to just go the septic route, but the student in me wants to learn more about the 'human manure handbook', so that's what im going to read for personal knowledge haha


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## pharmer14 (Oct 27, 2012)

I think another point to consider is volume... compared to a cow or horse, the average human isn't going to produce much waste anyways... 

You'd get much more "bang for your buck" if you also got livestock... or at least a source of manure... I'm sure if you walked up to the right person and said "Excuse me sir. I'd like your horse crap." they wouldn't put up much of a fight.


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## Slippy (Nov 14, 2013)

omegabrock said:


> i didnt necessarily mean to re-purpose it, but just a way to have a designated area for it to 'break down' without contaminating other areas for a back up situation where the toilets arent working. we can dig cat holes but idk the long term effects of doing that either haha.
> 
> slippy - a compost style toilet? is that something that like a make shift toilet or something that can be used long term if needed?


A compost toilet uses aerobic activity to breakdown waste. Many State and National Parks have composting toilet systems. They do work but they have a smell that I'll probably never get used to.
FAQ - Composting Toilet World


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## omegabrock (Jun 16, 2014)

thanks for the link. reading it after i finish catching up here


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## Slippy (Nov 14, 2013)

Please don't misunderstand the use of the word "compost" in this situation. It's not that the human waste is being used as soil conditioner or fertilizer in the traditional way that we think of it. The "compost" toilets basically are breaking down the human waste for easier disposal back to the earth but not for growing plants/vegetables etc.

Cow manure, Yes. Chicken and Rabbit manure, Yes. People shit, NOT ON MY WATCH thank you very much.


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## 7052 (Jul 1, 2014)

Ok, I'll ask this question seeking clarification to resolve my ignorance.

I live on the outskirts of an urban area (150K residents). I'm on high-ground overall (we never flood even in the worst rains). If the power grid goes done long enough, even if we do NOT use/flush the toilets, are you saying that they will still backup given enough time?


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## Slippy (Nov 14, 2013)

Egyas said:


> Ok, I'll ask this question seeking clarification to resolve my ignorance.
> 
> I live on the outskirts of an urban area (150K residents). I'm on high-ground overall (we never flood even in the worst rains). If the power grid goes done long enough, even if we do NOT use/flush the toilets, are you saying that they will still backup given enough time?


Great question Egyas,

Depends on if the sewer processing location is on higher ground than you...or if the pump relay stations are higher than your location. If the pumps go out, then the sewage will back up to the point of level. Think about it terms of a garden hose and water.


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## paraquack (Mar 1, 2013)

I'd hate to be the house at the bottom of the hill. Water seeks its own level.


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## omegabrock (Jun 16, 2014)

Slippy said:


> Please don't misunderstand the use of the word "compost" in this situation. It's not that the human waste is being used as soil conditioner or fertilizer in the traditional way that we think of it. The "compost" toilets basically are breaking down the human waste for easier disposal back to the earth but not for growing plants/vegetables etc.
> 
> Cow manure, Yes. Chicken and Rabbit manure, Yes. People shit, NOT ON MY WATCH thank you very much.


and that is essentially what i was looking for


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## Inor (Mar 22, 2013)

Come on guys! I'm gone for a week and the place turns to shit!!! :lol:


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## PaulS (Mar 11, 2013)

It didn't turn until you got back though....


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## C.L.Ripley (Jul 6, 2014)

What a crappy subject 

But seriously, I know it's good to have redundancy in everything including this. So would this be an option, it's intended use is for dogs, but...


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## big paul (Jul 14, 2014)

old English countryfolk knew "night waste" was a resource not to be wasted, solids can be composted separately to your normal green composting material, there are various books on the subject under the heading human manure or something similar, you just have to compost it a bit longer than your usual garden waste. urine is full of nitrogen and can be mixed 5 parts of water to 1 part urine and watered onto the base of your plants. just pouring water down your toilet bowl does not work, you have to fill the cistern for it to work properly.


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## RNprepper (Apr 5, 2014)

We have a septic tank and I have wondered about building an outhouse toilet over the inlet if we ever lost our indoor toilets. Would this work without additional water or would it just create a pile inside the septic tank that would eventually plug it all up?


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## big paul (Jul 14, 2014)

Slippy said:


> Cow manure, Yes. Chicken and Rabbit manure, Yes. People shit, NOT ON MY WATCH thank you very much.


that is a typical "straights" comment, flush it away and forget about it, fine but what happens post SHTF when the sewers don't work? i'll tell you what, most of the population will be dumping it in the fields,and the rivers, and anywhere else they can. isn't it better to compost it and reuse it?? even if you don't use it as compost it can be used as a general mul.ch on paths and around trees and bushes as a water retaining mulch.


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## Witchygirl3 (Sep 2, 2014)

What about middens? Isn't that what was used before proper lavatories.


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## Jeep (Aug 5, 2014)

Bodies make great fertilizer so shit can't be that bad


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## 3forus (Sep 8, 2014)

budgetprepp-n said:


> Ok are you saying that in the cites that if the grid goes down the sewer will back into the homes?


yes you will be unable to flush, It will not back up per say if your in a single dewling but you will have a hard time getting it down.


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## 3forus (Sep 8, 2014)

if you are going to bug in the best thing is a medical chair pot, you can line it with plastic shopping bags for a BM then carry it out, if you need to urinate use a bucket or bottle, then dump in a hole away from your well to dispose of it. look up sawdust composting toilets these work well.


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## CWOLDOJAX (Sep 5, 2013)

Composting toilets are making a comeback. outside the city, that is.

On my grandparents property, east of Des Moines, the grass was always greener near the septic tank. 

I've heard that Italian and French vineyards use human waste on their vines.

Home Depot carries the toilets : Search Results for composting toilets at The Home Depot

When I moved here to Jacksonville, there was a very popular gardener on AM radio every Saturday morning prescribing urine as part of a recipes t fix their lawns.

There are blogs encouraging folks to use urine to fertilize their blueberry bushes.

Just pitching in.

Who knows - After ISIS/Ebola/Econo-collapse we may need to do that 'cuz we ain't got no livestock.


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## CWOLDOJAX (Sep 5, 2013)

3forus said:


> yes you will be unable to flush, It will not back up per say if your in a single dewling but you will have a hard time getting it down.


My sister-in-law was in he flood of `93 in Iowa and said the West Des Moines water treatment plant was flooded and damaged. The city asked residents to avoid using toilets and boil water until repairs could be made.


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