Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

You could probably use the shredded paper either way. It is a bit easier to handle cross cut at least for in the bucket. In the outdoor pile, long strings of paper would probably be great, kinda like straw.

I've found that paper alone doesn't really cover odor well enough in the bucket inside. Hence why we get the sawdust.

edit: That's the kind of experiential knowledge I was looking for!

Sawdust would require importing. I think maybe I'll try a crushed leaves and paper strip mix, and see how that goes.

I understand that leaves work well. If you have one of them leaf blower/sucker vacume things, they work well for getting nicely chopped up leaves.

When you say import, you do mean just having to drive out of the city right? I'm certain you do have some saw mills around in the mountains there.

But anyway, it is best to use what you can find around for cheap or free. Anything with a coarse dusty consistency that will break down well, makes a good sawdust substitute. (Avoid sawdust from pressure treated wood.) Some people have even used peat as cover material but it is very dusty to have in the house and not all that ecologically sound to use. I've also heard of people using finished compost as cover material in the buckets and I expect that it would filter odors very well.

Good luck to you
There is a message board on this link that is all about humanure composting and related issues.
http://www.jenkinspublishing.com/humanure.html

Yep, there are mills in the hills that will fill my car to the gills!

Cabinet shops are also a good source of sawdust.

Will the larger shavings work as well?

If you can't find shavings.....stop by a horse stable.....they will have a source of shavings.

My $00.02

Coarse sawdust is good but shavings might not be so great in a bucket toilet. That is if the shavings are like pet bedding (hampster bedding type stuff) doesn't filter smells very well, isn't as absorbent and requires more material to cover.

Now if one gets really hard pressed and needs something to use as cover material in a pinch. Sawdust pellets (like some people use as horse bedding or for pellet burning stoves) will turn back into sawdust with just a little moisture added.

I can not get saw dust, but I can get bags of raked leaves out on the curbs of our streets. I could get a leaf shredder to process them.

The whole concept makes sense to me. We have really sorry soil here and adding loads of compost would help improve the soil a lot and because I dont have a lot of time or money I could enrich my soil over the years one crap at a time for free. It would go great around the fruit trees too. I know most people really dislike the idea, but I think thats an american thing; "never look back to see the results of your living". Funny thing is that most cities here process their sewer and pump the rest into a lake then pump drinking water from the other end of the same lake, lol.

yep, most of America and the western world is still living as if the solution to pollutions is dilutions. Only now people are starting to realize that we are running low on the dilution.

The biggest problem with humanure is the idea. Many people are fecophobic. As if this substance that has just come out of your own body, suddenly becomes toxic the moment it hits air. And using water to transport it is really only for convenience.

In the big cities, trying to switch over to humanure composting on a large scale would take some major changes. Here in the burbs where we have some dirt on which to put a compost bin and our neighbor's bagged leaves, it is just way too easy not to do. Not only does it improve your soil for free, it also saves a huge amount of water per day and can save you money on fertilizers and pesticides in the future.

TCLynx,,,,I've been thinking a fair bit about this....... I agree washing poo into a sewer is a big waste,,,,but I'm a realist,,,,there is no way I could ever get my family to carry buckets of poo out to the backyard.
A normal looking toilet that flushed using very little water andthat waterused to help break down the poo. Found a link,,,

http://goodnewsindia.com/pointreturn/on ... r-tropics/

Your the compost/humanure expert, so opinion please

Chappo, thats what im thinking. I can use something line this, a 1 pint water flush. Not ideal, but having a water not flush 2 gallons down the toilet vs one of 4 using no water and the other 3 using 2 gallons per flush, is an improvement. These are used with composing systems commercially so Im sure they can work.

Wheres the stinking edit button

If one really must use water to flush, I expect this may be the way to go. I really don't know much about these composting toilet system. I expect that many of them use energy to evaporate off the excess fluid and they are more a mouldering system rather than a hot composting system. Therefore the finished compost may not be suitable for use around edible crops.

In some states, such toilet systems require special permitting and you have to hire a company to "properly" empty and dispose of the contents when it fills up. Other places only require that you bury the contents under a certain amount of earth.

I realize that many people might not be willing to deal with buckets. That said, I still say it is a good idea for those who are willing, to try the bucket method. If other's around you see that it isn't so bad, they may change their tune. And even if they don't, it will save a little bit while you are researching the higher tech way. A shop sawdust urnial is handy anyway and great for emergencies.

On the humanure site there are plans and links to owner built solar outhouses. Dual pit latrine set ups. Most of the stuff there is going to be using no water though.

Good luck

You are right they use a fan and small heat source (ac/dc/solar). I dont see why I could not take the waste from this system and then hot compost it with grass and leaves.

Hi TCL,
Are you getting rats or mice in your humanure compost bin? Does it matter?

I just noticed that the Jenkins system uses coarse mesh over the bin to keep out large animals, but it wouldn't keep out mice.

Cheers

It looks as though we had some rodents nesting in a corner of the bin (basically like nesting in a pile of leaves.) We currently don't have anything that would keep any determined animal out of the compost bin but this is the first time I've seen any animals bigger than bugs or lizards around the bin.

I'm not to worried about it at this point in time. If I find critters digging in the compost bin more, I'll think about adding some hardware cloth or something.