Wow it has been a year.

Sorry for anyone hoping to get more info on this composting toilet system. Guess if you really wanted more info you would have emailed. Anyway, it has been a year and it is still working. I have filled 3 barrels and emptied 2. Overall I am very happy with the system. One barrel which had sat in the basement the longest had composted quite well. I had mixed a blend of coconut fibers and wood shavings and added them occasionaly, without being really concerned on the amount. The other barrel had not composted as long, but since it was leaking (poor construction on my part) I wanted it out of there. Since the barrels were too heavy to haul out I hauled out the compost with 5 gallon buckets. Odor from the composted barrel was not bad, just the expected earthy smell. the leaky barrel, however did smell and I was glad my wife was gone for the weekend so that the house had time to air out.

My latest change was to eliminate holes on the bottom of the barrel completely. I put 6-8 inches of wood shavings on the bottom and a 4 inch pipe perforated near the bottom and screened over. This pipe runs from the bottom to the top of the barrel and allows me to place a hand pump so that I can crank out liquids if I need it. So far it I seem to be getting about 8-12 gallons of liquid that needs to be pumped or drained. That is after 3-5 months of daily use for an adult household of 4. The urine diversion of the toilet works quite well.

The biggest concern is that I am continually running a fan to remove the odor. This is heated air that I am just ventilating and it is wasteful. One thought is to run this air stream through an air source heat pump that I am trying to purchase for our water heater. Do you have any other ideas?