Sure, this is what they're doing all over the world. The US is years behind.
You might ask why?
Well, I have a freind who is a civil engineer who is working with a "task force" in Kohala to put in a system very similar to the small unit in the video. They've been at this for months now, and by the time the various paperwork is filed and everyone gets their fees, and the thing actually gets built--the budget for the "certified and approved" unit in the US is now over 65,000 dollars. Here's why it isn't happening.
Imagine trying to put in a methane digester. I'm sure the cost would be over a 100000 dollars, if you could permit it at all, which is doubtful.
They had one of those for an ag research station on Oahu's North Shore. They do work, but require more effort than they're worth. And at taxpayers expense.
I suppose it'd work with animal poop, but human poop is so loaded with bacterium, it can't be taken lightly. Remember the China originated flue's we've had over the years, that's where it came from. and the fairly recent problems with Mexican greens, same thing but deposited directly in the fields. Today there is a requirment for portables onsight when crews are working.
A 12 foot hole is a lot of work, but it gets the dept of health off your ass, and ensures a clean living area. I belive an outhouse can be legally be built over the slab, which has a cleanout hole about 2x2' square in the center of the slab
.
A real community effort could buy a 100 CFM compressor and a good buster gun with 200' of hose. Include a drill, and there is a non explosive dynamite powder that expands, cracking the hardest rock which would break the blue rock. Expensive in small quantities, but cheaper in bulk. After you finish making one of these, you'll understand the price! You also get a hell of lot of good usable rock. And have the means to make gate post and fence holes. A rock drill truly rocks, and aren't so hard to use. Busters come in 2 sizes, 65 and 95. With the drill and powder, a 65 would work, but the 95 is the real workhorse.
I've also built these:
http://plant-materials.nrcs.usda.gov/pubs/etpmcbrconwet.pdf
As permitted projects in Washington State. The problem with septic systems or pit toilets in this area is that while they do provide a hygienic solution for you--the perk rate of the rock is so fast that all the effluent simply washes into the ground water more or less untreated. At some point this will begin to be a problem--and already is for any of those areas on well water. So while it's an "approved" solution, it's an "approved" solution that doesn't work, and eventually we'll need to move away from such systems to better tech.
All of the digesting bacteria are in the top foot of soil. It's too cold in a deep tank for anything to really work.
Yeah - I was once involved in planning and building an "artificial wetland" for treatment of industrial waste. This site was in a protected National Park - and our output had to exceed the purity of local water. Worked a treat.... all that was needed for success was a business owner willing to go for it and hire a person to keep an eye on the plants. This project was built probably 10 years ago and is still doing fine (actually gets better each time I have checked).
Aloha From N. Kohala!
New to this forum but not new to the movement. Recently there have been a steady stream of new wells dug up here for drinking water. The Kohala Ditch, although flowing again, is not yet being distributed to the farms needing it. Therefore owners of a lot of coastal properties are installing their own wells to secure water... for the time being. A recent report at http://pubs.usgs.gov/circ/1312/ is helpful.
Obviously our wastewater laws do little to actually protect the aquifer. There have also been efforts here recently to install composting toilets. The advantage of these systems is that the waste is basically contained. There is no environmental impact. For one project, the owners insisted on State Department of Health approval. We ended up purchasing the Phoenix PF 201 ($7000). This is a commercial unit sized to handle 100+ uses per day. Another owner has installed the cheaper, but not proven nor approved EnviroLoo. The DOH has been very helpful and provided a list of approved systems:
Biolet
Clivus Multrum
Phoenix
Envirolet
Sunmar
They are also open to new technologies including incinerating toilets but require a UH sponsered inspection and montitoting program.
Aloha i ka wai!
thanks for that nk...welcome topic, been meaning to find out the legal position of handmade sytems.
i've studied on a few designs, ready to make one soon.
The legal position on handmade systems will involve engineer stamps - possibly multiple engineer stamps and at least several inches of documents. IMHO it would be way simpler and cheaper to buy a pre-manufactured unit or put in an "approved" cesspool/septic system and then add in your handmade system later. However, it has been over a decade since I had a composting toilet conversation with the Building Department, they may have changed their opinions on such things.
How do you keep mosquitoes out of your artificial wetland? It looks like something that requires ongoing maintenance?
On the topic of composting toilets, I have read some complaints about flies and maggots. As a reality check, imagine a regular flush toilet that drains to a large tank under the commode. Think port-a-potty. They have their place but they are vile and if you tried to present them as a regular toilet for regular use people would think you are crazy, but that is exactly what the majority of composting toilets do. No wonder people say "Oh, one of those? Only an unwashed hippie tree-hugger would put up with one of those". The problem comes when you try to make the composting toilet work just like a regular flush toilet which by the way does its job very well as long as you have a sufficient supply of water to put in and an acceptable method of disposal of waste water. If you want the luxury of pushing a little lever and having the poop magically disappear you will pay for it one way or the other. The design challenges of a composting toilet are different from those of a regular flush toilet and in my opinion pushing a little lever or crank and walking away is just not in the cards. Trying to make a composting toilet work that way seems to have led to designs that require the waste to remain in the home with you, something that you would never tolerate otherwise. There is some tunnel vision going on here.
I say put in the cesspool to satisfy the bureaucrats, then build your own alternative system. As a kindness to said bureaucrats, don't burden them with knowlege of this alternative system. The Humanure Handbook style of sawdust toilet does everything you need it to do. The price of admission is that you must periodically empty the bucket and dig it into an active aerobic compost heap. You could if you chose empty the bucket after each use. Because of the short period that the waste is in the house flies and maggots are never a problem. There is a minimum level of competence and attention to detail required to make the system work and some people won't be up to it so that is another reason to have the flush toilet and cesspool in place.
