thunder box/ compost toilet question/s

[Annpan]

I know this isn't strictly a green building issue but... I am in an emergency stylee situation here.

Our septic tank has become quite seriously blocked, in a very bad way. Over the last 5 evenings that both OH and I a have donned our s**t covered clothes to poke around in the mysterious pipe work we have found 3 sanitary pads,2 tampons, a big clump of stuff which looked like soap.. Now, we have lived here for 2.5 years and we didn't put down any pads or tampons so who knows who they even belong too??? Each night we think we have cracked it only to have it overflow again in the morning.

This morning was the worst so I had a bash myself before E was up, I didn't get very far, despite poking and prodding for an hour through the various pipes that our waste water runs down.

So today I have had to use a bucket for my toileting needs (1s and 2s) - yet to figure out how to dispose of waste contained therein

I might take this opportunity to create a compost toilet at the back of the garden but for a few questions....

1. Can I just dig a hole? (movable shed over said hole kind of idea...)
2. Can the resulting humanure be used beside a fruit tree?
3. Why can't I put loo roll down it? (I use very thin recycled stuff)
4. Why can't I pee in the same place I poo?

Thoughts and advice quick as you can please

[ina]

Not proper answers, I suppose - but all during winter, I just had a bucket loo, the contents of which (including loo paper) I just disposed of in a hole that I'd dug in the field... OK, not too close to any veg production or so. But quite honestly, I can't see why you shouldn't do it -provided you don't suffer from anything dangerous, that might be spread!

Also - are you sure it's just you connected to the septic tank? I know that on the farm where I lived, new occupants of one of the cottages caused a lot of grief by throwing all sorts down the loo, which was then dug up by the guy who lived three houses down the line... Urgh.

[Annpan]

Thanks Ina. That sounds like common sense to me.

looking at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tree_bog currently... might be an option.

Basically just looking to avoid the emptying of the bucket and it this weather the walk to the back of the garden isn't such a big deal.

[Annpan]

Thing is.... you shouldn't be flushing that stuff down any loo, not just septic tank loos

I don't even think it is visitors, it has been several months since we had a lady visitor of the appropriate age come to visit, and use the loo, and I don't think the ones who did would flush anything down. They must have been down there for years.

Yes we are making an appointment to get our pumped. But they have several 'tiers' of service price, so we have to wait a bit to get the £130 one instead of the £340 emergency call out.

[Annpan]

Follow on question, can anyone tell me where to get some willow whips from? I wanted some anyways.

[ina]

Know where any willow grows locally? Just cut a few sticks - they tend to grow whatever you do to them...

[caithnesscrofter]

hmm... I'd skip the hole in the ground. If it is just temporary build a small box above ground with slats between the boards so it gets aeration. Fill the box half full loosely with grass clippings and then dump the contents in there... Covering each deposit from your bucket. You could plant willow round it if you want or you could just let it sit a year or two then use as you would 'regular' compost. Nevermind this business of seperating 1 & 2. You could compost anything else in this box too. On ebay you can buy a luggable loo.... They are simple but, comfy and genuis. If you start off with some grass cuttings in the bottom then cover the deposits with a little sawdust you only empty it every few days then.

[Annpan]

I just dug a hole... we got the septic tank unblocked a few days later but I will go to work on a thunder box/ tee bog at some point for sure... the only thing that really puts me off is building a meter high structure that can support the weight if someone walking on it... I'm a bit unsure of than....

[jim]

Dear Annpan,

If you are worried about structures taking the weight of people using them ......

The formula for joists is:-
* to measure the distance spanned in feet.
*half it.
*add two and call the answer inches.

This gets the the depth of joist required. So, for a span of 14ft, halving it gets you seven. Add 2 gets nine. So your joist has to be 9ins. deep. Therefore to span 14 feet you'd need 9 by 2 or 2 and a half inch joists about 15 feet long. (I realize that the sh 1t-pit you envisage will be a lot smaller than that!) I got the formula from the local building inspector when converting a loft some years ago and have used it to build decking four feet above the back garden of our present house - we're on one hell of a slope and need it - and had no problems. The greatest number of peole on it at any one time has been 10. The span there was 7 feet so I made sure that the joists were 6 inches thick, don't do things by halves. The joists should be about 15 to 18 inches apart and the floor boarding about an inch thick. If you're building outside tanelized timber resists rot but a lot of people dislike it because of the nasty chemical soup used in the tanelizing process.

Hope it's useful,

Love and Peace
Jim (No, I'm not converting it to metric for you.)

[John Headstrong]

Follow on question, can anyone tell me where to get some willow whips from? I wanted some anyways.

I'll bring some over

I have loads

[Annpan]

Great stuff John, I had been looking for a while, seems they are very pricey for things that grow so fast.

Thanks :D

[caithnesscrofter]

treebog

Treebog.jpg (37.89 KiB) Viewed 6846 times

this is our treebog. You can just build a platform that takes the weight of one person sitting on it. Fit a normal toilet seat on the platform and have a step up to the platform. Ours is posh... Lol has a wood fired shower too. On the otherside of the building i attached a tool hut and woodstore too.

[Annpan]

Oh yeah, you can come and give me a hand building mine anytime... that is nicer than my house!!!!.... and has hot running water... better than my house too.

[caithnesscrofter]

believe it or not my husband still uses his bucket albeit in the treebog shed and carries it 30 meters to the compost bin every few days... He prefers it he says... Talk about set in his ways! Lol however, whenever it is we get a house built we will just use the bucket system.. Easy to maintain and don't really see the need for a toilet in the house. Maybe i'm getting set in my ways too?! Lol

[pumpy]

Another big culprit for blocking pipe-work is the humble cotton-bud stick. These little buggers can get stuck in 90degree bends, so causing a log-jam (is that a pun?)