What Are Composting Toilets?

Reader Contribution by Chris Mcclellan
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What are composting toilets? Are they really that much better for the environment? Are they gross?

A composting toilet is a miniature ecosystem designed to recycle human excrement safely by containing it while microorganisms convert it to humus. Returning that humus to the soil is one important ecological benefit. Another benefit of composting toilets is that they use little or no water. By comparison, a “normal” toilet adds up to 5 gallons of pure drinking water to an ounce or so of waste so it can be flushed into an expensive septic or sewer system, where it is treated. The American Water Works Association Research Foundation finds that over 30 percent of household water use is just for flushing toilets.  

Because composting toilets keep human excrement out of the household wastewater, the remaining greywater from the kitchen, shower and washing machine can also be used to water lawns and trees (see Art Ludwig’s book Create an Oasis with Greywater). Even if greywater recycling is impractical, a composting toilet can greatly prolong the life of your septic system and reduce pump-out and maintenance costs (usually $200 to $300 every other year) because most of the problematic solids are kept out of the system. Composting toilets also are used to reduce septic system flow-through in places where it creates problems, such as lake cabins and houses with older, low capacity systems, or places with bedrock, heavy clay soil or high water tables. For a more comprehensive look at septic and composting systems, see Lloyd Kahn’s Septic System Owner’s Manual.

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