Toilets that use no water for flushing can have even lower environmental impacts than water efficient toilets and wastewater recycling systems. Waterless toilets or ‘dry sanitation’ systems do not use water to treat or transport human excreta. If appropriately designed, they conserve precious water resources and keep effluent and pollutants out of waterways and the general environment. They can also save money on your water bill
Why waterless toilets?
All water less toilets require a little management to ensure that they remain clean, hygienic and odor free. All need to have compost material removed at regular intervals. But these are minor inconveniences compared to the advantages of composting toilets.
All water less toilets require a little management to ensure that they remain clean, hygienic and odor free. All need to have compost material removed at regular intervals. But these are minor inconveniences compared to the advantages of composting toilets.
They protect groundwater, surface water and soil from sewage pollution, prevent the accumulation of hazardous pathogenic waste, and solve the problem of disposing sewage sludge to landfill. They save huge quantities of water in a world where water is an increasingly scarce resource, and require very little infrastructure. They are low-impact, low-maintenance and can also adapt to any situation, even in places where it is difficult or inappropriate to establish a mains toilet system such as on board boats, in vehicles, on hard rocky soils, high water tables, near springs or in an environmentally sensitive area.
They are also useful as temporary toilets on building sites or work sites, especially if they are then re-used in the final building.Composting toilets are an excellent example of sustainable design. They provide a safe and effective way to save resources and prevent pollution, whilst saving money and energy for the owner and the community. At the same time they produce a valuable end-product that can be used to fertilise the soil. Once these remarkable benefits are understood such toilets are likely to become even more popular.
In our next articles we are going to cover on water less toilets technologies available for you.
