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spiderqueen48
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# Posted: 1 Apr 2020 07:57am
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Well sort of.
We have a 1940s-1950s basic off-grid cottage at the top of a long slope, above a small lake.
We have an outhouse, all spiffy and nice, about 50' from the cottage, up a slope. Everyone except me uses it for all related purposes all the time.
I have very very limited mobility, more so all the time. There is an indoor toilet in the cottage, small capacity, which exhausts into the same pit as the greywater from the kitchen sink. I use that for urine when I'm at the cottage--I'm not there very often.
No-one in the family has the skill to get into waterless toilet installation and servicing
No-one has ever explained to me why the indoor toilet can't be used for the occasional #2, in the middle of the night, when getting to the outhouse is pretty much impossible for me.
Explanation and advice most welcome
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jhp
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# Posted: 1 Apr 2020 08:34am
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Laws and permits aside, functionally there are probably two reasons why you would not want to do that.
First the pit is probably very small. A few gallons of gray water going into the pit will drain down even in poor draining soil in a day or so, good draining soil in a matter of hours. Fecal matter is solid and won't drain through the soil, eventually it's physically going to fill the pit and need to be removed.
That's the concept behind a traditional septic system - there is a large tank everything goes into after it leaves the toilet. Eventually the solids settle to the bottom of that tank, and the liquids move on (via gravity or pumps) to a secondary system called a drain field where it can slowly be drained through the soil and return to groundwater. Depending on usage and size, that first tank needs to be pumped out every year or two as those solids (including TP) never break down.
Second, how close is the gray water pit to the well where your water source is? Sending some gray water through the soil would probably not affect the health of the water source below but human waste will.
My advice would be to probably go the sawdust toilet / "humanure" route. It is probably the simplest thing you can do and costs just a few bucks to get started.
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old243
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# Posted: 1 Apr 2020 09:15am
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We made an indoor toilet, with proper seat . The top hinges up to change bags, at our hunt camp. probably you could call it a human manure , setup. Plastic garbage can of proper size . line with 2 layers of plastic bags . I use planer shavings, to cover deposits. Don't urinate in it , if possible to keep contents fairly dry. I use a pee jug at night. If wood stove is going , put bag in stove and burn it, or tie off bag and take home with reg garbage. I am about the same , quite unsteady , navigating a trip to outhouse , at night. old243
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jhp
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# Posted: 1 Apr 2020 09:38am
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Yes, that's pretty much the concept. Build a box that holds a bucket, poop in the bucket, cover with sawdust or other organic material.
If you want to take it a step further, some people will collect in a single bucket until it's nearly full, then put a cap on it and let it sit for a couple years and switch to a new bucket. When they come back, it's black dirt.
Others choose to actually empty out the buckets into a compost pile and manage the waste that way.
https://humanurehandbook.com/
Here's a good YouTube channel to check out that talks about them a bit, but you can find a lot more out there:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PcYoJu8aYYM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rx_gId5l0A8
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spiderqueen48
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# Posted: 1 Apr 2020 10:11am
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Thanks to all for great and fast replies.
To jhp, your first response--I should have been more specific. When I said "off-grid", I should have said "off-everything". No electricity, no running water, no septic, no well. And as far as having to empty the privy--we've had the cottage for nearly 20 years, and it was well-used for years before that. We've never had to empty the pit...
And to both old243 and jhp's second--this looks like our best option--and thanks for the references!
What a great site!
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Aklogcabin
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# Posted: 1 Apr 2020 12:35pm
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If I were you I would enjoy your cabin as much as you can. You wrote emergency use. The biggest problem I would see is the paper. I would suggest using toilet paper that is made for campers. I know folks that have a separate container for non poo paper that is then burned.
For the sake of a smile, maybe you’re asking this question because you have an inner drive like the most of us to be at your cabin.
Enjoy life
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PA_Bound
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# Posted: 1 Apr 2020 02:37pm
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I know of someone with a similar situation as yours, spiderqueen.
His solution was to buy a Thetford portable camping toilet that he put in a small room inside the cabin (a room that was originally going to be a bathroom, but was never actually plumbed to complete that). The plan was for him to use that for his needs, where at the end of each visit (or more often during extended stays) someone would empty the small portable toilet holding tank in the outhouse. It turned out the idea worked so well (especially at night, and in cold weather  ) that now about everyone pretty much uses the portable toilet inside, and only uses the outhouse for dumping the tank.
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gnt530
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# Posted: 1 Apr 2020 06:21pm
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Quoting: PA_Bound It turned out the idea worked so well (especially at night, and in cold weather ) that now about everyone pretty much uses the portable toilet inside, and only uses the outhouse for dumping the tank.
Yup! That's exactly what we do.
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KinAlberta
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# Posted: 3 Apr 2020 03:24pm - Edited by: KinAlberta
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If you’re short on space inside for your ideal solution you might be able to just build another outhouse beside or very near the cabin - just add a short level walkway to it. Venting on modern outhouse designs can pipe odour a long ways away.
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LittleDummerBoy
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# Posted: 4 Apr 2020 10:26pm
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The walk got longer every year, so at age 65 I put my new outhouse a short, level walk from my cabin door as suggested above.The old outhouse is still in operation.
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bushbunkie
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# Posted: 5 Apr 2020 05:24pm
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Easiest solution ever....my wife had her hip replaced and wanted to recoup at cabin....we have an outhouse and no electricity. I went to the Restore and bought a foldable aluminum commode chair with built in toilet seat, arm rests and back for 20.00. Put a 5 gallon pail with 5†of peat moss under it and put in the bedroom closet...her very own en-suite😀....you can do either 1 or 2....peat moss absorbs and clings to it. Once you do your business just throw a scoop in overtop of it. My wife loved it....esp for it’s night time “sound dampening†qualities. Just dump in the forest in the morning if it gets used.
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Bret
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# Posted: 5 Apr 2020 07:12pm
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https://compostingtoiletsusa.com/product/urine-diverting-seat-privy-500/
This works! Separates pee from poo. Been in our cabin for 5 years. No smell.
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