Spoiled? By Living Off-Grid?

[Submariner]

When we had grid-only power, we became accustomed to using a composting toilet. Our well is needed for flushing water, and we also have a septic pump that is required to pump effluent out to our leech field.

Now that we are on solar-power, we feel that we have much more reliable power, to run both of these pumps. So we have only been using the flushing toilet.

[jetgraphics]

FYI - instead of an anaerobic digester "outhouse" consider an aerobic digester (dry composting). You can have multiple "bucket loos" in the house, so you don't have to freeze valuable body parts when nature calls.

Details here:
The Humanure Handbook - Center of the Humanure Composting Universe

[Nor'Eastah]

Originally Posted by jetgraphics

FYI - instead of an anaerobic digester "outhouse" consider an aerobic digester (dry composting). You can have multiple "bucket loos" in the house, so you don't have to freeze valuable body parts when nature calls.

Details here:
The Humanure Handbook - Center of the Humanure Composting Universe

This is an excellent idea, and is becoming more commonly used.

Our off-grid home has a septic system and a flush toilet. But my BIL lives farther back on our acreage, and did not have the funds to install a septic when he was renovating a used mobile home to move into. So he set up an indoor composting toilet, as you describe. (Unlike me, he has no wife to please. )

He just uses sawdust, which you can have for the hauling up here in Maine. I have seen him dump his buckets, and I couldn't see or smell anything.... the contents just slipped out like damp sawdust.

Last year I dug an outhouse privy in one corner of our woodshed. I'm thinking of filling it up and replacing it with a bucket system. Sure beats shoveling out the backhouse, and within a year I'd have some good compost for the wife's rose bushes...but don't tell her!