[Greenbuilding] ... device to purify human waste, make compost and generate electricity

[Sacie Lambertson]

Can't help but chime in here.  When we first bought our property we built a
wonderful cabin where we lived for three years while we built a bigger
house.  For those three years we used an outhouse all year round.  We had
proper indoor plumbing sans the toilet because the septic field already
built on the property was up over a hill thereby requiring a pump system
had we put in a toilet.  Our other water, essentially grey water was then
and still is, simply drained down the hill, through trees and other
vegetation behind the cabin.  Once we moved to the larger house, we did put
in a toilet in the cabin, pump and all.

But having had that three year real life experience with a nice outhouse,
there was never ever a lingering smell connected with it (we had a 5 gal
plastic bucket of sawdust next to the seat) and the dumps were entirely
composted each year.  The hole, three feet deep and four wide never
required cleaning out either, though I suppose given enough years of use,
it might have.  But then we likely would have simply moved it.  Except in
the winter, it was MUCH nicer using that outhouse than using a toilet in a
bathroom.

Moreover, three sided, it was lovely sitting on the toilet looking out over
woods. Could not do this easily in a city and not suitable even for the
suburbs, I feel fortunate to have experienced a good outhouse opportunity.
Sort of like riding a horse to a one room school house, which I also did
for less than a year many years ago.

Sacie

On Mon, Aug 20, 2012 at 8:45 AM, Corwyn <corwyn at midcoast.com> wrote:

>
> There are a number of problems with outhouses.  The first is that it needs
> to be outside.  Also, it requires digging a hole, and later digging out the
> waste.  It puts the waste below the top few inches of topsoil where most of
> the bio-activity is.  Generally, they are not aerobic, so it takes longer
> for the wastes to compost, and produces a nasty smell.  Since there is no
> thermophilic phase, it is harder to be assured that no pathogens remain.  A
> proper composting toilet and pile avoid all these problems.
>
>
>
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