Details
How the Wheelie Bin Compost Toilet works...?
Here at Freerange Designs, we've been scratching our heads for a while over how to design and make a compost toilet that fits in with peoples' lives, and is simple to use and maintain. Well, after quite a few cups of tea and some scribbling we came can up with a design that uses the ubiquitous wheelie bin in order to save and store human manure for composting.
The wheelie bin sits in the composting chamber beneath the toilet seat, collecting the precious manure until the day comes when it is full. Simply remove the side panel of the toilet structure, reach in and wheel out the bin with the lid shut. Replace with a fresh bin and leave the old one to sit for a while. We recommend sealing the lid shut with duct tape and sticking a sign on the bin. After a year of sitting, your compost should be ready to use on your garden or allotment.
This system uses two standard 200 litre household rubbish wheelie bins, one “live” bin for collecting humanure and the other for resting while the contents breakdown to form rich compost. Once a bin has been stored for about a year, all the pathogens have been destroyed and the compost inside is safe to handle.
The Gypsy Caravan Compost Toilet is sold without the bins, but they can be purchased separately at £60 each.
Urine Separator
Keeping urine separate is usually the key to a successful composting toilet. The Gypsy Compost Toilet comes with a wee separator, which diverts the urine into a separate container. This keeps the solids waste odour free and optimises the composting process.
For the composting process to work aerobically, moisture levels need to be controlled: too dry, and the mass decomposes slowly or not at all; too wet and anaerobic organisms thrive, creating undesirable smells. As urine is high in nitrogen, potassium and phosphorus, when it is collected separately it can be used as a fertiliser (on nonfood plants) when mixed about 1:10 in water.
Soak
A ‘soak’ is a source of carbon, like sawdust, straw, hay, shredded paper or earth. Addition of the right amount of soak is important for good decomposition because bacteria like to eat a balanced diet of carbon and nitrogen. Human waste contains a lot of nitrogen so a good amount of carboniferous material is needed to avoid the bacteria giving off excess nitrogen in the form of ammonia, which is what is smelly. As well as absorbing liquid, the soak also allows oxygen into the pile, so it can decompose aerobically, to produce nitrates, phosphates and sulphates – very useful. Without a soak, the pile will decompose anaerobically and produce methane, ammonia and hydrogen sulphide – all smelly and not very useful.
So you just need to keep a bucket of soak next to the loo and drop a handful into the toilet after each use.
The Beauty of the Compost Toilet
The perfect alternative to sewers and septic tanks: this beautiful bog is an ideal solution for people looking to reduce their impact on the environment and make lovely usable compost. The Gypsy Compost Toilet offers the following environmental benefits: it's chemical free; all wastes are dealt with aerobically on site, so there are no CO2 emissions from anaerobic decomposition or waste transportation; it saves precious (often drinking water standard) water; valuable organic matter can return to the soil where it belongs, improving soil structure and nutrition; no electricity is needed to run it.
Tips to Improve your Compost
Add a handful of worms at the bottom of your wheelie bin and again periodically as the bin fills up.
To stop a ‘peak’ developing, it may have to be knocked down every couple of months.
*Human pathogens don’t like conditions outside the human body, so almost all will be dead after a few hours. Only one type of roundworm egg can survive a year-long decomposition period, but even though it is a tiny risk, we recommend using the compost on fruit trees and bushes, not the vegetable garden.
Installation
We believe in the value of compost toilets and would like to see them everywhere. Our mission is to make the purchase and installation of a compost toilet as simple and inexpensive as possible. We have experience of building site-built composting toilets but have identified a need for a flat-pack version that we can send out to customers anywhere, which will not require site-specific design or professional installation, and therefore be much more affordable.
This compost toilet can be palleted and delivered in two separate sections that can be installed anywhere on your property.
Perfect composting toilets for campsites and compost toilets for allotments.
Delivery is included in the price for most parts of the UK.
Useful Links
www.wheeliebinwarehouse.com
http://www.lowimpact.org/factsheet_compost_toilets.htm
http://www.composttoilet.org.uk/
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1. Q. What is a composting toilet?
A. Composting toilets use rapid aerobic decomposition, like a well-turned garden compost pile, to break down human wastes.
2. Q. Why should I choose a compost toilet?
A. No water, no smell, no electricity, and beautifully useful compost in 1 year's time.
3. Q. Will a Freerange composting toilet smell?
A. No. We have never had any feedback from customers or guests about smelly toilets. Separating the urine from the solids, and adding sawdust with each poo, ensures there are no unpleasant smells.
4. Q. How is the toilet delivered?
A. Our toilets are designed to fit onto a single standard UK pallet. The toilet comes in three easy to assemble parts (base, toilet, roof). All that is needed on your side is a cordless screwdriver. Installation should take no longer than 30min (yes, just half an hour!).
5. Q. What do I need for assembly?
A. Two people and one cordless screwdriver.
6. Q. What foundations are required?
A. Our toilets are designed to be free standing and self-supporting, so should not need any slabbing for stability. We would however recommend using loose slabs to raise the wood off the ground to prolong the toilet’s life.
7. Q. Do the toilet buildings come supplied with a light?
A. No, but solar fairy lights are easy to install and work really well.
8. Q. Can a sink be plumbed in?
A. Yes, there is space for a sink to be plumbed in, if you can connect a water supply. We can supply a sink if you would like; please contact us for more details
9. Q. Do I need to add anything else?
A. Yes, a handful of sawdust must be added with every poo.
10. Q. Why separate the urine?
A. Separating the urine from the solids is the trick to having odourless compost, as a drier compost helps enure a successful aerobic composting process, which is also helped by adding a scoopful of sawdust with each poo. The urine is diverted into containers where it can then be diluted and used straight on the veg patch.
11. Q. How long will it take to fill a wheelie bin?
A. This depends on how many people are using the toilet and how often. As a rough guide line, it would take one person about 250 days to fill a single bin by themselves, or with five people it would take 50 days. We recommend having at least two wheelie bins: one for current use and the another full bin to allow the compost to stand for a few months before emptying it onto a separate compost pile. If you have a lot of people using your compost toilet you can simply add more wheelie bins.
12. Q. How long does it take before I can use the compost?
A. Like fine wine, the longer you leave compost the better the product. It is essential to leave human manure for at least one year and preferably two years before using it for growing vegetables. The harmful bacteria carried in poo will die within a year of being composted.
13. Q. Will I have a fly problem if I compost my poo?
A. Flies like poo, it's true. You're unlikely to never have a single fly in your poo compost, but they shouldn't be a problem. We have never had any complaints about flies with our composting toilets. Flies particularly like fresh poo, so leaving the poo in a wheelie bin for a few months before emptying it is important to minimise flies, as is keeping the poo dry with a urine separator and sawdust soak. Cleaning the urine separator system regularly will also help reduce the attractiveness of your toilet to flies. Due to their small size, some flies will manage to get in to your compost, but their larvae will largely be eaten by other small predators in the compost pile.
14. Q. What are the compost toilets made from?
A. All our toilets are made from locally sourced timber, either larch, douglas fir or cedar.
15. Q. Can the toilets be made accessible to wheelchair users?
A. Yes, we can design a ramp for the toilet that meets UK regulations. Please contact us for more details.
16. Q. Is there any legislation regarding composting toilets?
A. There have been no issues regarding legislation with any of our toilets, and the authorities are generally very positive about composting toilets. If you are installing a composting toilet on private land you will not encounter any problems. The Environment Agency is concerned with discharges into water streams and the management of waste materials. If you are processing the poo and urine on site then you will not encounter any problems. If your site is on local authority land, you could double check with them, or contact the Environment Agency directly with your location, and they can put you in touch with your local environment management team.
Environment Agency - http://www.environment-agency.gov.uk - 0870 850 6506
17. Q. What should I do with the compost in the wheelie bin?
A. The poo should be left in the wheelie bin for a good six months, after which time it can be transferred to a separate composting bin for a minimum further six months. The size of your compost pile will shrink dramatically over this time, and all the dangerous bacteria will have disappeared, leaving you will lovely rich compost to feed your plants.
If we haven’t answered your question here, you could try looking here:
http://humanurehandbook.com/contents.html
or give us a call to discuss any of your concerns.
Customers who have already ordered one of our compost toilets include:
1. Ros and Geoff Garrett, Racquetty Lodge, Hay-on-Wye, www.racquetyfarm.co.uk
'We love our Free Range Loo. In fact visitors are very attracted to it! They long to mount the steps and sit in splendid isolation contemplating their next move.... well the loo works really well and is a pleasure to have in the garden. A worthwhile investment.' Ros and Geoff
2. Andre and Alison Gallagher, Nannerth Country Holidays, Rhayader, www.nannerth.co.uk
3. Jason Bean, Holly Farm, Ilminster
4. Rebecca Cathcart, Slough Green Caravan Park, Taunton
5. Rob Brooks, Eden Rose Coppice Trust, Bures, www.withnature.org
6. Samantha Londergan, Crouch Valley Meadow, Chelmsford, www.crouchvalleymeadow.co.uk
7. Fiona Lockyer, Marshwood Farm, Salisbury, www.marshwoodfarm.co.uk
8. Jill Essam, Harehope Quarry Project, Bishop Auckland, www.harehopequarry.org.uk
You may also be interested in the following product(s)
240 Litre Wheelie Bin
£80.00
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Bog Standard Compost Toilet
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Tree-bog Compost Toilet
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