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Toilet with rain water?
I want to reduce our metered mains water usage. So I'm
considering using rain water collected from the roof via a huge water butt outside for flushing the downstairs toilet. I've heard of others that have done this. I just wondered what issues I need to think about? Has anyone else here done this or know of any associated plumbing diagrams? Ideally if the butt runs dry then the supply needs to switch back to mains water (either manually or automatically). Presumably the rain water would need to be filtered to remove any small debris that could block the ballcock valve? The rain water must be plumbed in so there is no possibility of it feeding back into the mains supply. I need to check for any associated building laws (here in France). Advice or suggestions anyone on this project? -- David in Normandy |
Toilet with rain water?
|
Toilet with rain water?
David in Normandy wrote:
I want to reduce our metered mains water usage. So I'm considering using rain water collected from the roof via a huge water butt outside for flushing the downstairs toilet. I've heard of others that have done this. I just wondered what issues I need to think about? Has anyone else here done this or know of any associated plumbing diagrams? Ideally if the butt runs dry then the supply needs to switch back to mains water (either manually or automatically). Presumably the rain water would need to be filtered to remove any small debris that could block the ballcock valve? The rain water must be plumbed in so there is no possibility of it feeding back into the mains supply. I need to check for any associated building laws (here in France). Advice or suggestions anyone on this project? Unfortunately, I can't recall which part of Belgium was pushing the use of rainwater a few years ago. Planning regulations required capture of rainwater and its use prior to the use of mains water for certain uses. Woe betide you if you were caught washing your car with mains water whilst your rainwater tank was full! Might be worth trying some Belgian sites - I assume the French if OK? I.d struggle with the other! |
Toilet with rain water?
Clot wrote:
David in Normandy wrote: I want to reduce our metered mains water usage. So I'm considering using rain water collected from the roof via a huge water butt outside for flushing the downstairs toilet. I've heard of others that have done this. I just wondered what issues I need to think about? Has anyone else here done this or know of any associated plumbing diagrams? Ideally if the butt runs dry then the supply needs to switch back to mains water (either manually or automatically). Presumably the rain water would need to be filtered to remove any small debris that could block the ballcock valve? The rain water must be plumbed in so there is no possibility of it feeding back into the mains supply. I need to check for any associated building laws (here in France). Advice or suggestions anyone on this project? Unfortunately, I can't recall which part of Belgium was pushing the use of rainwater a few years ago. Planning regulations required capture of rainwater and its use prior to the use of mains water for certain uses. Woe betide you if you were caught washing your car with mains water whilst your rainwater tank was full! Might be worth trying some Belgian sites - I assume the French if OK? I.d struggle with the other! Someone I know who visited New Zealand recently told me that this was quite big out there, so that might be another avenue to explore - plus New-Zealandish is easier to understand than French... David |
Toilet with rain water?
In message , David in
Normandy writes I want to reduce our metered mains water usage. So I'm considering using rain water collected from the roof via a huge water butt outside for flushing the downstairs toilet. I've heard of others that have done this. I just wondered what issues I need to think about? Has anyone else here done this or know of any associated plumbing diagrams? Ideally if the butt runs dry then the supply needs to switch back to mains water (either manually or automatically). Presumably the rain water would need to be filtered to remove any small debris that could block the ballcock valve? The rain water must be plumbed in so there is no possibility of it feeding back into the mains supply. I need to check for any associated building laws (here in France). Advice or suggestions anyone on this project? Simpler, cheaper and more reliable, if you want to reduce your mains water usage why not build a composting loo and use none at all? The only water mine uses is when I rinse the collecting buckets each week after their contents are added to a compost heap at the end of the garden and for that I use rain water. See http://www.jenkinspublishing.com/garden_gallery.html. The system certainly works in this London suburb. We've been using it since March/April last year and I've had no complaints from neighbours. The only briefly malodorous part of the process is the weekly emptying. Out of consideration for the neighbours I try and ensure I empty early morning at the weekend. Once the heap is recovered (with organic material) there's no smell. The only organisational problem is needing a regular supply of fine organic plant matter to use as covering material but our garden is organised on a wildlife-friendly basis so there's plenty of that. I did ask tree surgeon who lives nearby whether he could supply me with fine wood chippings on a regular basis (saving him paying to dump them too) but after initial interest he refused. :( If you have any questions do ask... -- Si |
Toilet with rain water?
On Jan 16, 9:46*pm, Skipweasel wrote:
In article , says... Ideally if the butt runs dry then the supply needs to switch back to mains water (either manually or automatically). I thought about doing that, but it was ridiculously hard to comply with the water regulations. If it were as simple as a double non-return valve I'd have done it, too. Does it need to comply with the water regs if it is not directly connected to the water supply? I mean, does connection to the sewer mean it has to comply? Suppose you fed the loos ONLY from the water butt and also had a ball valve in the water butt so if it got very low it was filled form the mains. Robert |
Toilet with rain water?
On Wed, 16 Jan 2008 20:14:32 +0100 someone who may be David in
Normandy wrote this:- I want to reduce our metered mains water usage. So I'm considering using rain water collected from the roof via a huge water butt outside for flushing the downstairs toilet. I've heard of others that have done this. I just wondered what issues I need to think about? Rainwater harvesting is the term for this and a search engine will pull up much on the subject. -- David Hansen, Edinburgh I will *always* explain revoked encryption keys, unless RIP prevents me http://www.opsi.gov.uk/acts/acts2000/00023--e.htm#54 |
Toilet with rain water?
"David in Normandy" wrote in message ... I want to reduce our metered mains water usage. So I'm considering using rain water collected from the roof via a huge water butt outside for flushing the downstairs toilet. I've heard of others that have done this. I just wondered what issues I need to think about? I don't know what French regs are but the Green Building Store sells specially designed rainwater/mains water WCs which are very efficient and switch automatically between the two water sources. They are expensive though ... http://www.greenbuildingstore.co.uk/ Mary |
Toilet with rain water?
Si says...
Simpler, cheaper and more reliable, if you want to reduce your mains water usage why not build a composting loo and use none at all? This would be a practical (and cheap) solution. We've got a large garden and plenty of vegetable waste that could be mixed with it. On the down side the Mrs would definitely not be keen on the idea. Some ideas I can "sell" to her, but not this one. Personally I've no problem dealing with the poo or smell - I was brought up on a farm and also worked on a couple of sewage farms during Summer breaks many years ago when I was a student at college, so I've shovelled more s**t than most people. -- David in Normandy |
Toilet with rain water?
David Hansen says...
Rainwater harvesting Thanks. Google comes up with 406,000 links! That should keep me busy for a bit. -- David in Normandy |
Toilet with rain water?
Mary Fisher says...
"David in Normandy" wrote in message ... I want to reduce our metered mains water usage. So I'm considering using rain water collected from the roof via a huge water butt outside for flushing the downstairs toilet. I've heard of others that have done this. I just wondered what issues I need to think about? I don't know what French regs are but the Green Building Store sells specially designed rainwater/mains water WCs which are very efficient and switch automatically between the two water sources. They are expensive though ... http://www.greenbuildingstore.co.uk/ Mary I had a browse through their site but couldn't find the auto switching toilets. It defeats the object if they are expensive though. I don't want to spend vastly more than could possibly be recouped through using less mains water. The downstairs loo just struck me as a fairly obvious, easy and cheap target for replacement with rain water, since the butt would be outside very near for connection. -- David in Normandy |
Toilet with rain water?
RobertL says...
On Jan 16, 9:46*pm, Skipweasel wrote: In article , says... Ideally if the butt runs dry then the supply needs to switch back to mains water (either manually or automatically). I thought about doing that, but it was ridiculously hard to comply with the water regulations. If it were as simple as a double non-return valve I'd have done it, too. Does it need to comply with the water regs if it is not directly connected to the water supply? I mean, does connection to the sewer mean it has to comply? Suppose you fed the loos ONLY from the water butt and also had a ball valve in the water butt so if it got very low it was filled form the mains. Robert I guess that would be perfectly legal. May be worth considering. -- David in Normandy |
Toilet with rain water?
Lobster says...
Might be worth trying some Belgian sites - I assume the French if OK? I.d struggle with the other! Someone I know who visited New Zealand recently told me that this was quite big out there, so that might be another avenue to explore - plus New-Zealandish is easier to understand than French... David Yes, New-Zealandish is definitely easier to understand than French. If you think the UK income self-assessment forms are bad you should see the ones in French!!! France has a passion for lots of complicated forms and paperwork. Nation of bureaucrats etc. -- David in Normandy |
Toilet with rain water?
In message , David in
Normandy writes Si says... Simpler, cheaper and more reliable, if you want to reduce your mains water usage why not build a composting loo and use none at all? This would be a practical (and cheap) solution. We've got a large garden and plenty of vegetable waste that could be mixed with it. On the down side the Mrs would definitely not be keen on the idea. Some ideas I can "sell" to her, but not this one. Personally I've no problem dealing with the poo or smell - I was brought up on a farm and also worked on a couple of sewage farms during Summer breaks many years ago when I was a student at college, so I've shovelled more s**t than most people. In use, composting toilet (in reality the part of it indoors is only a collector) makes no more offensive smells than a flushing loo - ie when a human is actually making their solid deposits. Whereas with a flushing loo the flushing process removes the solids to elsewhere (for others to deal with - not DIY at all :) with the composting toilet collector the solids stop emanating a smell once they're covered with shredded vegetable matter. In between use the toilet produces a gentle aroma of woodland and is not offensive at all. My better half was very sceptical initially and would only allow it on a trial basis but now she's very happy we have the extra toilet available. Joseph Jenkin's book (which is available for free download from the site I quoted but is also available to buy in the UK) has much detail about the possible human parasites/toxins in human faeces and how the composting process breaks them down and renders them safe. As a result, not only do we have an additional toilet we will also have (in another year or so) perfectly safe to handle organic humanure to use in our garden. No more need for chemical fertilisers either. :) Incidentally, commercially made composting toilets seem much less eco-friendly than the home-made one. They generally use electricity to run a fan to remove the offensive smell (and need a pipe running up through the roof) and dry the solids. They are also expensive to buy. -- Si |
Toilet with rain water?
Si says...
In message , David in Normandy writes Si says... Simpler, cheaper and more reliable, if you want to reduce your mains water usage why not build a composting loo and use none at all? This would be a practical (and cheap) solution. We've got a large garden and plenty of vegetable waste that could be mixed with it. On the down side the Mrs would definitely not be keen on the idea. Some ideas I can "sell" to her, but not this one. Personally I've no problem dealing with the poo or smell - I was brought up on a farm and also worked on a couple of sewage farms during Summer breaks many years ago when I was a student at college, so I've shovelled more s**t than most people. In use, composting toilet (in reality the part of it indoors is only a collector) makes no more offensive smells than a flushing loo - ie when a human is actually making their solid deposits. Whereas with a flushing loo the flushing process removes the solids to elsewhere (for others to deal with - not DIY at all :) with the composting toilet collector the solids stop emanating a smell once they're covered with shredded vegetable matter. In between use the toilet produces a gentle aroma of woodland and is not offensive at all. My better half was very sceptical initially and would only allow it on a trial basis but now she's very happy we have the extra toilet available. Joseph Jenkin's book (which is available for free download from the site I quoted but is also available to buy in the UK) has much detail about the possible human parasites/toxins in human faeces and how the composting process breaks them down and renders them safe. As a result, not only do we have an additional toilet we will also have (in another year or so) perfectly safe to handle organic humanure to use in our garden. No more need for chemical fertilisers either. :) Incidentally, commercially made composting toilets seem much less eco-friendly than the home-made one. They generally use electricity to run a fan to remove the offensive smell (and need a pipe running up through the roof) and dry the solids. They are also expensive to buy. Hmmm. You've got me thinking. During the Summer months we spend lots of time outside, usually working in the garden or just sitting in the evening. An outside loo would be of benefit. It can be irritating to remove muddy boots just to come indoors to the loo. Perhaps an outdoor prototype is in order, I doubt she'd object to that. We've certainly got the space and no near neighbours to worry about. -- David in Normandy |
Toilet with rain water?
On 17 Jan, 08:50, Si $3o&m wrote:
Simpler, cheaper and more reliable, if you want to reduce your mains water usage why not build a composting loo and use none at all? The only water mine uses is when I rinse the collecting buckets each week after their contents are added to a compost heap at the end of the garden and for that I use rain water. See http://www.jenkinspublishing.com/garden_gallery.html. Yuck, yuck, yuck! Maybe I'm irrationally immature about this, but the idea of ****ting into a large bucket, however nicely it's decorated, is something that keeps me away from music festivals, it's certainly not a practice I would wish to adopt in my own bathroom! And who in god's name invented the word humanure?? |
Toilet with rain water?
On 17 Jan, 12:45, David in Normandy wrote:
Si says... In message , David in Normandy writes Si says... Simpler, cheaper and more reliable, if you want to reduce your mains water usage why not build a composting loo and use none at all? This would be a practical (and cheap) solution. We've got a large garden and plenty of vegetable waste that could be mixed with it. On the down side the Mrs would definitely not be keen on the idea. Some ideas I can "sell" to her, but not this one. Personally I've no problem dealing with the poo or smell - I was brought up on a farm and also worked on a couple of sewage farms during Summer breaks many years ago when I was a student at college, so I've shovelled more s**t than most people. In use, composting toilet (in reality the part of it indoors is only a collector) makes no more offensive smells than a flushing loo - ie when a human is actually making their solid deposits. Whereas with a flushing loo the flushing process removes the solids to elsewhere (for others to deal with - not DIY at all :) with the composting toilet collector the solids stop emanating a smell once they're covered with shredded vegetable matter. In between use the toilet produces a gentle aroma of woodland and is not offensive at all. My better half was very sceptical initially and would only allow it on a trial basis but now she's very happy we have the extra toilet available. Joseph Jenkin's book (which is available for free download from the site I quoted but is also available to buy in the UK) has much detail about the possible human parasites/toxins in human faeces and how the composting process breaks them down and renders them safe. As a result, not only do we have an additional toilet we will also have (in another year or so) perfectly safe to handle organic humanure to use in our garden. No more need for chemical fertilisers either. :) Incidentally, commercially made composting toilets seem much less eco-friendly than the home-made one. They generally use electricity to run a fan to remove the offensive smell (and need a pipe running up through the roof) and dry the solids. They are also expensive to buy. Hmmm. You've got me thinking. During the Summer months we spend lots of time outside, usually working in the garden or just sitting in the evening. An outside loo would be of benefit. It can be irritating to remove muddy boots just to come indoors to the loo. Perhaps an outdoor prototype is in order, I doubt she'd object to that. We've certainly got the space and no near neighbours to worry about. -- David in Normandy Don't forget, if it's yellow, let it mellow. If it's brown, flush it down! We are not on a meter but do this to save water/energy etc. |
Toilet with rain water?
On Thu, 17 Jan 2008 13:03:39 +0100, David in Normandy wrote:
RobertL says... On Jan 16, 9:46Â*pm, Skipweasel wrote: In article , says... Ideally if the butt runs dry then the supply needs to switch back to mains water (either manually or automatically). I thought about doing that, but it was ridiculously hard to comply with the water regulations. If it were as simple as a double non-return valve I'd have done it, too. Does it need to comply with the water regs if it is not directly connected to the water supply? I mean, does connection to the sewer mean it has to comply? Suppose you fed the loos ONLY from the water butt and also had a ball valve in the water butt so if it got very low it was filled form the mains. Robert I guess that would be perfectly legal. May be worth considering. Especially if the ball valve was fed via a n/r valve or 2. With the ball valve near the bottom of the butt it would make a very nice automatic changeover system. -- Mick (Working in a M$-free zone!) Web: http://www.nascom.info http://mixpix.batcave.net |
Toilet with rain water?
In message
, Martin Pentreath writes On 17 Jan, 08:50, Si $3o&m wrote: Simpler, cheaper and more reliable, if you want to reduce your mains water usage why not build a composting loo and use none at all? The only water mine uses is when I rinse the collecting buckets each week after their contents are added to a compost heap at the end of the garden and for that I use rain water. See http://www.jenkinspublishing.com/garden_gallery.html. Yuck, yuck, yuck! Maybe I'm irrationally immature about this, Faecophobia :) but the idea of ****ting into a large bucket, however nicely it's decorated, is something that keeps me away from music festivals, it's certainly not a practice I would wish to adopt in my own bathroom! As you can see from the photo gallery, for the end user a collecting toilet is the same experience as a flushing one. I've got a lacquered pine seat set on a varnished marine ply frame over a 5 gallon bucket. This creates a height which is almost the same as a flushing loo. The big big difference between this setup and festival loos is that at festivals the loos often end having a pyramid of smelly **** greeting you as you go to use them. With this method, anything which may be considered offensive is hidden (and the smell absorbed) by the plant covering material placed there by the previous user. And who in god's name invented the word humanure?? Probably JJ. It's an accurate description. :) -- Si |
Toilet with rain water?
"David in Normandy" wrote in message ... Mary Fisher says... http://www.greenbuildingstore.co.uk/ Mary I had a browse through their site but couldn't find the auto switching toilets. Sorry, I can't find it either. I definitely had printed information from them but I was obviously confused about their stock. They'll come up on the rainwater harvesting sites. Mary |
Toilet with rain water?
David in Normandy wrote:
I want to reduce our metered mains water usage. So I'm considering using rain water collected from the roof via a huge water butt outside for flushing the downstairs toilet. I've heard of others that have done this. I just wondered what issues I need to think about? Has anyone else here done this or know of any associated plumbing diagrams? Ideally if the butt runs dry then the supply needs to switch back to mains water (either manually or automatically). Presumably the rain water would need to be filtered to remove any small debris that could block the ballcock valve? The rain water must be plumbed in so there is no possibility of it feeding back into the mains supply. I need to check for any associated building laws (here in France). Advice or suggestions anyone on this project? Only one caveat. Algae growth. D not havbe an anwer for that other than a capful of bleach in the tank every week. |
Toilet with rain water?
David in Normandy wrote:
RobertL says... On Jan 16, 9:46�pm, Skipweasel wrote: In article , says... Ideally if the butt runs dry then the supply needs to switch back to mains water (either manually or automatically). I thought about doing that, but it was ridiculously hard to comply with the water regulations. If it were as simple as a double non-return valve I'd have done it, too. Does it need to comply with the water regs if it is not directly connected to the water supply? I mean, does connection to the sewer mean it has to comply? Suppose you fed the loos ONLY from the water butt and also had a ball valve in the water butt so if it got very low it was filled form the mains. Robert I guess that would be perfectly legal. May be worth considering. I assumed that was what was intended.. |
Toilet with rain water?
David in Normandy wrote:
RobertL says... On Jan 16, 9:46 pm, Skipweasel wrote: In article , says... Ideally if the butt runs dry then the supply needs to switch back to mains water (either manually or automatically). I thought about doing that, but it was ridiculously hard to comply with the water regulations. If it were as simple as a double non-return valve I'd have done it, too. Does it need to comply with the water regs if it is not directly connected to the water supply? I mean, does connection to the sewer mean it has to comply? Suppose you fed the loos ONLY from the water butt and also had a ball valve in the water butt so if it got very low it was filled form the mains. Robert I guess that would be perfectly legal. May be worth considering. Just a thought. Are you likely to run into problems when the ball valve gets covered in rainwater. They are not normally used in a mode where there is any alternative supply. I don't know if the regs would have anything to say about this. One solution might be to put the valve at the top of the water butt, opposite the overflow but engineer a long reach ball that floats at a much lower level. Andrew |
Toilet with rain water?
The Natural Philosopher says...
I guess that would be perfectly legal. May be worth considering. I assumed that was what was intended.. There is legal and assumed legal. I could find out exactly what the legal building requirements are in France in this respect which frankly would be complicated as my grasp of French is not fluent yet. Or I could do as suggested which I would *guess* would not be illegal. :-) -- David in Normandy |
Toilet with rain water?
The Natural Philosopher says...
Only one caveat. Algae growth. D not havbe an anwer for that other than a capful of bleach in the tank every week. Possibly but not sure. The water in our other water butt is crystal clear all the time, presumably because it has a lid so no light gets in. However, I've noticed on television when eco-friendly houses are shown that the (rain-water) toilet bowls have a distinct brown stain around them. I don't know if that is down to the water or the owners not bleaching or otherwise using chemicals to clean the loo. -- David in Normandy |
Toilet with rain water?
On Jan 17, 12:45*pm, David in Normandy wrote:
Si says... In message , David in Normandy writes Si says... Simpler, cheaper and more reliable, if you want to reduce your mains water usage why not build a composting loo and use none at all? This would be a practical (and cheap) solution. We've got a large garden and plenty of vegetable waste that could be mixed with it. On the down side the Mrs would definitely not be keen on the idea. Some ideas I can "sell" to her, but not this one. Personally I've no problem dealing with the poo or smell - I was brought up on a farm and also worked on a couple of sewage farms during Summer breaks many years ago when I was a student at college, so I've shovelled more s**t than most people. In use, composting toilet (in reality the part of it indoors is only a collector) makes no more offensive smells than a flushing loo - ie when a human is actually making their solid deposits. Whereas with a flushing loo the flushing process removes the solids to elsewhere (for others to deal with - not DIY at all :) with the composting toilet collector the solids stop emanating a smell once they're covered with shredded vegetable matter. In between use the toilet produces a gentle aroma of woodland and is not offensive at all. My better half was very sceptical initially and would only allow it on a trial basis but now she's very happy we have the extra toilet available. Joseph Jenkin's book (which is available for free download from the site I quoted but is also available to buy in the UK) has much detail about the possible human parasites/toxins in human faeces and how the composting process breaks them down and renders them safe. As a result, not only do we have an additional toilet we will also have (in another year or so) perfectly safe to handle organic humanure to use in our garden. No more need for chemical fertilisers either. :) Incidentally, commercially made composting toilets seem much less eco-friendly than the home-made one. They generally use electricity to run a fan to remove the offensive smell (and need a pipe running up through the roof) and dry the solids. They are also expensive to buy. Hmmm. You've got me thinking. During the Summer months we spend lots of time outside, usually working in the garden or just sitting in the evening. An outside loo would be of benefit. It can be irritating to remove muddy boots just to come indoors to the loo. Perhaps an outdoor prototype is in order, I doubt she'd object to that. We've certainly got the space and no near neighbours to worry about. Number 1s can go direct on the compost heap, no need for a toilet. MBQ |
Toilet with rain water?
mick says...
On Thu, 17 Jan 2008 13:03:39 +0100, David in Normandy wrote: RobertL says... On Jan 16, 9:46*pm, Skipweasel wrote: In article , says... Ideally if the butt runs dry then the supply needs to switch back to mains water (either manually or automatically). I thought about doing that, but it was ridiculously hard to comply with the water regulations. If it were as simple as a double non-return valve I'd have done it, too. Does it need to comply with the water regs if it is not directly connected to the water supply? I mean, does connection to the sewer mean it has to comply? Suppose you fed the loos ONLY from the water butt and also had a ball valve in the water butt so if it got very low it was filled form the mains. Robert I guess that would be perfectly legal. May be worth considering. Especially if the ball valve was fed via a n/r valve or 2. With the ball valve near the bottom of the butt it would make a very nice automatic changeover system. Yes, I think I'd need to buy a quality UK ball cock & valve though, not one of those plastic / polystyrene French ones which seem to fail after six months. The thing is, most of the time the ball cock would be submerged under several feet of water, so there would be quite an up-force on it which could sprain or snap a cheap mechanism. -- David in Normandy |
Toilet with rain water?
Man at B&Q says...
On Jan 17, 12:45*pm, David in Normandy wrote: Si says... In message , David in Normandy writes Si says... Simpler, cheaper and more reliable, if you want to reduce your mains water usage why not build a composting loo and use none at all? This would be a practical (and cheap) solution. We've got a large garden and plenty of vegetable waste that could be mixed with it. On the down side the Mrs would definitely not be keen on the idea. Some ideas I can "sell" to her, but not this one. Personally I've no problem dealing with the poo or smell - I was brought up on a farm and also worked on a couple of sewage farms during Summer breaks many years ago when I was a student at college, so I've shovelled more s**t than most people. In use, composting toilet (in reality the part of it indoors is only a collector) makes no more offensive smells than a flushing loo - ie when a human is actually making their solid deposits. Whereas with a flushing loo the flushing process removes the solids to elsewhere (for others to deal with - not DIY at all :) with the composting toilet collector the solids stop emanating a smell once they're covered with shredded vegetable matter. In between use the toilet produces a gentle aroma of woodland and is not offensive at all. My better half was very sceptical initially and would only allow it on a trial basis but now she's very happy we have the extra toilet available. Joseph Jenkin's book (which is available for free download from the site I quoted but is also available to buy in the UK) has much detail about the possible human parasites/toxins in human faeces and how the composting process breaks them down and renders them safe. As a result, not only do we have an additional toilet we will also have (in another year or so) perfectly safe to handle organic humanure to use in our garden. No more need for chemical fertilisers either. :) Incidentally, commercially made composting toilets seem much less eco-friendly than the home-made one. They generally use electricity to run a fan to remove the offensive smell (and need a pipe running up through the roof) and dry the solids. They are also expensive to buy. Hmmm. You've got me thinking. During the Summer months we spend lots of time outside, usually working in the garden or just sitting in the evening. An outside loo would be of benefit. It can be irritating to remove muddy boots just to come indoors to the loo. Perhaps an outdoor prototype is in order, I doubt she'd object to that. We've certainly got the space and no near neighbours to worry about. Number 1s can go direct on the compost heap, no need for a toilet. MBQ They do already! Urine makes excellent compost accelerator. -- David in Normandy |
Toilet with rain water?
On 17 Jan, 15:08, "Man at B&Q" wrote:
Number 1s can go direct on the compost heap, no need for a toilet. Personally this sounds more attractive to me for "number 2s" as well, rather than keeping a bucket of **** in the bathroom! Just keep an umbrella down the garden. |
Toilet with rain water?
In article fac75a71-5868-4d47-a207-c1a14915f491
@e23g2000prf.googlegroups.com, says... Number 1s can go direct on the compost heap, no need for a toilet. Only if you're an acrobat in our case, since there's a lilac tree in the way. I offer it a jugful of morning best from time to time though - when it's looking dry. -- Skipweasel. Never knowingly understood. |
Toilet with rain water?
On Jan 18, 1:09 am, David in Normandy wrote:
Lobster says... Might be worth trying some Belgian sites - I assume the French if OK? I.d struggle with the other! Someone I know who visited New Zealand recently told me that this was quite big out there, so that might be another avenue to explore - plus New-Zealandish is easier to understand than French... David Yes, New-Zealandish is definitely easier to understand than French. If you think the UK income self-assessment forms are bad you should see the ones in French!!! France has a passion for lots of complicated forms and paperwork. Nation of bureaucrats etc. Here in New Zealand, I can tell you that NZ's largest water supply company (and sewage treatment plant) takes a dim view of you putting water that they have not supplied down their sewer system. Rainwater is fine for washing cars and watering the lawn and garden as long as it doesn't go down the sewer. So if you wish to use rainwater for flushing the toilet, I suggest a hidden pipe is best. :) And the rainwater tank would seldom be empty. It's easier and much cheaper to walk around and turn taps on or off a few times a year rather than have an automatic changeover system which may go wrong. |
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