••••••••••••••• Page 18 RAIN June 1979 TAIING NO 10RI PIPI BY TOM BENDER • •• It's a real relief and joy, after eight years of helping work toward the acceptance of sewerless sanitation, to be finally making our own modest contributions to the fertility of our soil instead of to someone else's pollution problems. It's rewarding to see the progress that has occurred since those early days when we first began to speak to people about "unmentionables." Starting with Maine's pioneering revision of its plumbing codes in 1974, compost toilets and other alternative treatment systems have become legal in several states and are undergoing experimental application in others. Federal funding support has at least nominally been turned around from favoring expensive central sewers to emphasizing on-site treatment methods. Our knowledge of things ranging from life in a compost pile to soil adsorption of viruses to wastewater management district organization has expanded greatly, as has the availability of that information. Several thorough testing programs are currently underway, and user experience with various owner-built and commercial designs is developing useful feedback on design and operation of various units. Most importantly, people are thinking more deeply about the processes we set in motion, and developing a whole range of alternatives to fit people's varied attitudes and existing conditions. Since February of this year, California's Office of Appropriate Technology has been carrying out the second phase of its 'sewage alternatives research-a one-year monitoring program of numerous installed dry toilet and greywater systems around the state, including a strong representation of owner-built designs. When completed early next year, this should finally make evaluation of various low-cost owner-built systems available . The Small-Scale Waste Management Project at the University of Wisconsin continues to produce detailed technicai information on sewage and greywater composition and the effects of different treatment options from their continuing research program. Progress reports from Oregon's experimental on-site systems program, along with observations of staff of the OAT project and the Maine Division of Health Engineering correlate with previous reports from owners-the large units (Clivus, Toathrone) seem to generally operate satisfactorily after initial startup accumulations of liquids. In contrast, small units (such as Ecolet and Biu-Let) have met with severe operating prob· lems except in very light-use situations, and have a very high rate of owner removal. The main problems-encountered in some degree with most units- seem to be odor, flies, and liquid build-up. Most units that depend on ventilation or composting heat to evaporate liquids have found it necessary to install wind turbine ventilators or electric fans to assist the process. Odor problems from properly vented and installed units seem frequently to stem from air pressure conditions in the buildings-exhaust fans in bathrooms or fireplace operation sucking air in through the unit. In the large units fly, odor and moisture problems seem to be only startup problems before buildup of enough predators and compost mass. Early d ivus problems in New England stemming from lack of insulation have reportedly been corrected and are no longer a problem. Expectations of totally trouble-free operation from various compost toilets, and lack of troubleshooting experience, has caused a small number of dissatisfied users in addition to the installation of inadequately sized units, but the majority of owners seem pleased with their installations. Whether the units will become trouble free enough to gain wide consumer acceptance still remains to be seen . Another useful innovation, pioneered by the folks at ECOS in Boston, is the use of solar energy to assist urine evaporation - either in the form of a solar thermal chimney to augment ventilation, or the use of a solar air preheater for ventilation air to maintain composting temperatures, assist ven tilation and improve evaporation. . Experience with our own drum privy, in use now for 4 months, has so far been good. We still feel a bit cautious about it- not certain how much use and abuse it will really take. It rarely smells at all-and then mostly the box of straw for adding to the pile. It seems almost magic that what we've talked about for so long actually works. We're still holding our breath in disbelief/relief and wonder if it will last! Experience with greywater systems seems much less developed at this point. One of the simplest, at the Farallones Urban House, has been in satisfactory operation for 4 years now, but does not include sink wastewater (with high grease content), and is used only in the dry summer months for garden irrigation. It combines flow from a urine toilet with bathl shower water, settles it in a 55-gallon drum, then applies it direct to the garden through a hose with a cloth filter bag on the end, which needs weekly cleaning. The conditions that greywater systems must fulfill are much more varied than those of dry toilets. Three- or fourfold difference in water use occurs from family to family, and the use or absence of garbage grinders significan t1y affects treatment needs. Intended uses of greywater-for garden irrigation, household reuse, subsurface disposal or surface disposal into public waterways- all demand different treatment. Nitrogen or phosphorus in water discharged into public waterways are pollutants to be removed- for garden use they're welcome nutrients. Water quality needs to be better for sur
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