Editor's note: This is based on an email from the author that was sent to a list of persons interested in large-scale humanure composting -- i.e. ecological sanitation.
This is a story and video about the success composting toilets at a music festival in California, where the toilets served 400-500 people over a ten-day period. You go in, you do your business, and you sprinkle some cover material on top of it. You don't smell anything, but bacteria in the receptacle below you are hard at work turning your poop into fertilizer.
I finally got someone to take temperature readings of the compost piles at the festival. Nearly two months later, the readings are showing an average of 145 degrees F (63 degrees C) in the main pile (the straw bale one). The older, wood-sided pile is showing an average of 116 F (about 46 C). The pile from the previous year is showing only ambient temperature readings.
The significance of these numbers lies in the pathogen destruction capability of this sort of system, as described in my book, The Humanure Handbook, 3rd edition. (See some of the data here.) These numbers show that the kind of toilets we used that music festival will effectively eliminate pathogens and thereby render human excrement hygienically safe -- at little cost, with minimal water, no electricity, no odors or flies, no need for urine separation, and no environmental pollution.
Take a look at this video to see the toilets at the festival and discover how a user can enjoy eco-friendly pooping without sacrificing any comfort or hygiene.
