|
| Author |
Message |
borisvonf
|
# Posted: 29 Jun 2011 04:51pm
Reply
hey guys,
i have been using my compoting toilet for a year now and the compost bin is full. i have been using wood shavings instead of sawdust, but i started with peat moss to get things going. end result is odor free and mostly "dirt looking with some unprocessed shavings. i am in the hot south and have turned the compost 2 - 4 times a month for the last year.
what do i do now?
empty compost bin (commercial plastic barrel) and let sit another year in a pile?
let sit another year in bin with continued turnings?
spread compost now as fertilizer in food plots?
|
|
turkeyhunter
Member
|
# Posted: 29 Jun 2011 05:25pm - Edited by: turkeyhunter
Reply
Quoting: borisvonf spread compost now as fertilizer in food plots?
now that's your answer.............and killa big ole buck in it this fall.:-)
|
|
iwhitewater
Member
|
# Posted: 29 Jun 2011 08:54pm
Reply
Try using your compost to make a bed for blackberry or raspberry plants or even tomatoes. The compost will provide an environment hight in nutrients such as nitrogen
|
|
smitty
Member
|
# Posted: 29 Jun 2011 09:04pm
Reply
If you are using a self contained compost toilet, I would be really interested in how it is working for you.. Do you use it a lot or just weekends?
|
|
borisvonf
|
# Posted: 29 Jun 2011 10:56pm
Reply
it's not fancy.
a simple 5 gallon bucket with a snap on toilet seat for the toilet used inside shed when it is cold and on the front porch rest of the time.
the compost bin is a pre fab plastic model from tractor supply store. it sits in a plastic trough with rollers so it is easy to turn.
only used on weekends and when i get a day off.
has worked great for the last year.
i do plan to build a shower/toilet house in future.
|
|
Rob_O
|
# Posted: 30 Jun 2011 12:56am
Reply
My recommendation would be to purchase another compost bin and let the full one cook another year. Next Fall, spread the contents on your garden and start refilling.
I'm not a germophobe but I am kinda funny about food safety, seems every month there's another story about how hundreds of people got food poisoning because someone didn't wash their hands. Letting your compost cook another season will get rid of all those nasties that can turn a nice salad into a very bad week
|
|
smitty
Member
|
# Posted: 30 Jun 2011 01:18am
Reply
I wouldnt put it on my food, but I see nothing wrong with putting it on a tree. Even if it did have pathogens left over.. It's a tree.. Not much can happen, if you aint picking apples out of the poo.. Might as well be safe than sorry. Don't put it on your food. Put it on a tree..
|
|
PlicketyCat
Member
|
# Posted: 3 Jul 2011 08:28pm
Reply
Stick a thermometer in it and see if it gets up to 180F (thermal kill) for at least an hour. If so, using it for fertilizer now is ok; other wise 160F for a day or let it cook another season.
Official recommendations are to use composted humanure only on trees and ornamentals. Assuming that you wash your produce before eating or cooking, you're pretty safe using the heat treated compost on any plant where you eat a part that doesn't touch the soil (tomatoes, shrub berries, beans). Things like lettuce and carrots where you eat a part that has direct soil contact is more risky from a pathogen standpoint, so use your best judgment.
|
|
|
spee
Member
|
# Posted: 4 Jul 2011 11:16am
Reply
I thought about going this route but didn't make sense... So much easier with a porto/potty from Walmart and those Double/Doodies bags..once its full zip it up and throw it in the garbage ( that we take with us ) .. DONE
|
|
larryh
Member
|
# Posted: 10 Sep 2011 08:10am
Reply
I have been using a composting simple system since last fall, so just about a year now. I built a wood type seat common to the photos seen on the net. At first I used it in the house using wood chips for pets. However I found that they did not quite satisfy the nose test and after a while the area around the bathroom would have a mild odor. So I read my Humanure book and the author recommended not using the dried chips as they don't provide the environment for heating of the pile well. I switched to his suggestion of Peat Moss. Its a bit messy as to light dust but not much more than the wood chips. I am using it during the summer in my modified "sanitary Privy" which was designed from the start to use a bucket type container. I never liked that idea and until the sawdust potty experiment I used the standard pit privy I also have. But the addition of the peat moss has made the Sanitary Privy odor free and for the most part keeps bugs at a minimum.
I empty the contents of a small sized galvanized garbage pail about once every two weeks. It goes in to a compost bin I built this spring. Last winters contents from the house got added into a black plastic cheap garbage can I drilled holes in for air to enter the sides and top. So far it seems the wood chips have somewhat discouraged a high temperature in my bin, but I am hoping that by changing to the peat it will start to work. I add most of the food scraps, but not any meat. I also add lawn sweepings and flower and vegetable foliage and straw. I plan to leave it in the first bin and the add the second next spring leaving the first for a full year more. The humanure book mentions that turning is not necessary. Not sure about that but so far its how I am proceeding. It seems to be consistently dropping down in height so I am guessing its doing something. As to what to use it on, not sure there either. Some state literature does say that it can be used for food production, but only if its reached the correct temperatures for the length of time needed. Or that its been aged for several years. I think I would want some evidence that it had heated to the recommended point before I was willing to attempt to use it for the garden. Short of that I would either use it for flower beds here as we have very poor soil in places and the last choice would be to simply spread it on the alfalfa fields.
|
|
larryh
Member
|
# Posted: 10 Sep 2011 08:19am - Edited by: larryh
Reply
This is the set up from the design of the Sanitary Privy that the U.S. government put out in the 30's. I followed pretty much the plans for it including the interesting but challenging to build angled vent behind the seat that extends up to the copula on the top. Another feature of it I like is that I made it with a hinged seat so that the whole top can be lifted and hooked with a screen door type hook and then shovel some cover material over the contents without dropping it on the seat. The house also has a hinged rear wall panel that allows for access to the under the seat area from the rear. Its held firmly in place with screen door hooks on both sides.
Exterior Sanitary Pail Privy.
| 
Seat area hinged for easy access.
| 
Show open.
| 
Vent for odors.
|
|
|
PlicketyCat
Member
|
# Posted: 11 Sep 2011 12:45am
Reply
larryh I like it - two thumbs up!!
|
|
groingo
Member
|
# Posted: 11 Sep 2011 03:27pm
Reply
A standard rule of thumb I was always taught was if you are using human waste in an edible garden then sprinkle the waste on the soil, till it in and let se 30 to 45 days, then plant.
If the amount is small, just sprinkle onto natural vegatation or use it as a starter for a second compost pile.
|
|
PlicketyCat
Member
|
# Posted: 11 Sep 2011 04:27pm
Reply
Tilling in is time-honored tradition. Allowing your compost to get hot (naturally) is also an effective treatment method.
Thermal kill of fecal pathogens in compost:
130°F for 8-10 hours.
140°F for 4 hours.
150°F for 2 hours.
180°F for 1 hour.
If your compost reaches these temps for the proper amount of time, you should be reasonably safe using it for cultivating, regardless of what animal's manure you're using.
The problem with human/pet manure is the possibility of higher levels of parasites, not pathogens. Interestingly, these parasites are an elevated risk for any omnivore/carnivore, so chicken and pig manure should also be included in the warnings... but they aren't (which I find *odd*). However, most of the common parasites & their eggs are susceptible to the 180°F thermal treatment, or to the extreme cold (below -10°F for 30 days).
If you aren't confident that your compost can/will reach these temps for the required time, the best thing you can do is let your completed batch of compost rest 2-3 years before using it in the garden, to ensure that the parasite cycle has been broken. And then also till it in if you're really cautious.
In all cases, you must take precautions so that your completed/ treated batch of compost is not reinfected/contaminated with fresh materials.
CAUTION: If any member of your household - human or animal - has a known communicable illness or infestation, it is prudent not to use the feces for compost directly for food production. Similarly, if any member of your household is taking routine medication, you need to consider the cumulative chemical effects of any byproducts that could remain in the subsequent compost.
|
|
groingo
Member
|
# Posted: 12 Sep 2011 12:42am
Reply
The reason to letting it set for 30 to 45 days is not so much due to pathogens but medications people take and the residual effects.
|
|
Blossom
|
# Posted: 26 Nov 2011 11:49am
Reply
We have a large very professional system but after a while it just didn't do the trick and getting rid of all the compost is a pain. We invested in an electric toilet that burns everything to about a 1/2 cup of ashes. Much safer, cleaner, no smell. They are expensive but more than worth saving up for.
|
|
hakrjak
Member
|
# Posted: 28 Dec 2011 07:08pm - Edited by: hakrjak
Reply
Human waste, or the waste from any meat eater like Dogs, etc usually is not considered very good fertalizer. Save that stuff for the grass fed animals like cows, etc. I'd dump it in a hole each year and cover it up so you don't take a chance on breeding major illnesses in your garden. There's no way I'd ever put it near where you are growing food.
I also like Blossom's idea (Above) to burn the waste, like they did back in Vietnam ;)
|
|
Vince P
Member
|
# Posted: 28 Dec 2011 09:39pm
Reply
This looks like an old fermenting thread (no pun intended). At any rate if you haven't already, take a look at the Humanure Handbook available in the latest edition for free here: http://humanurehandbook.com/contents.html
|
|
PlicketyCat
Member
|
# Posted: 29 Dec 2011 12:20am
Reply
Quoting: hakrjak Human waste, or the waste from any meat eater like Dogs, etc usually is not considered very good fertalizer.
Less safe and slightly harder to work with maybe, but it's certainly as good a fertilizer as any other poo.
|
|
tnky03
Member
|
# Posted: 2 Jan 2012 12:39am
Reply
We plan to build a very small rustic cabin in the Spring and want to get off-grid. Currently live in self-contained RV on our property which is hooked to electric, no public water on site. I have read much on composting toilets, can't really afford the expensive models. Has anyone run into problems with county health dept.? We had to get a waiver for our RV in order to hook up electric. We, in hindsight wish we'd never had it installed but too late now. Any insight on this type problem.
|
|
|
