[Pil-pc-oceania] Human nutrients & Toilets & greywater systems

[Matthew Bond]

 Hi Colin,

>From what I've seen and heard about Biolytix I'm a great supporter however I
must say I was a little suspicious of it when I heard only people from
Biolytix could service it if there was a problem and something about an
alarm that can be activated which sends a fault report back to Biolytix via
the phone line (not too sure about that??)  I think it would be preferable
for the owner to learn how to maintain it.  Then again, I don't know
how viable it is to train someone to do the maintenance and there may be
other issues.  What are you thoughts on this?

Matthew.

From: Colin Endean <kunmanara at mpx.com.au>
> Subject: [Pil-pc-oceania] Human nutrients & Toilets & greywater
>        systems
>
> Hi Julie, Tim, Len and Steve and all,
> I suppose for the Pc Drylands Institute you're looking to the
> demonstration of functional systems that can be legally installed and
> hence the compost toilets.
> From the perspective of cycling the nutrients from humanure there
> are lots of much lower energy and lower tech solutions that can be
> safe, if you have a basic understanding of infection control
> principles and biological/microbiological systems.
> Worm farms have worked well for me for many years, and some simple
> 'hole in the ground' systems from my most recent desert gardening in
> Blackstone, WA.
> We've recently (9 mths ago) installed a Biolytix system, at home in
> Burra, which is essentially a giant worm farm, receiving both grey
> and black water, separating solids from liquids on entry into the
> tank (via gravity) and then utilising the filtered water for
> subsurface irrigation.
> Because from planning regulations we would have had to install a
> septic tank anyway and connect to the common effluent system of the
> town, the ability to capture the water and nutrients, and cycle them
> into our garden systems is delightful. It has been strange flushing
> the toilet again at home after so many years of not doing so and
> knowing the nutrient and water are going to a good use.
> It was rediculously expensive and are fair bit of burocratic delays
> and an insistence on a totally unrealistic infiltration field (for
> our climate and soils) of 200 sq metre.
> As a 'pioneer' I guess I was accepting the cost and believe these
> systems will come down in price considerably in the future. It cost
> about 2.5 times the septic tank option and less than installing the
> compost toilet which would have involved the building requirements as
> outlined by Tim.
> So for a retrofit of urban or rural household, where sufficient
> garden & orchard area potentially exists (200 sq m) then I would
> recommend considering the Biolytix which has no heating element, uses
> biological systems for filtration and decomposition, aerobically,
> with a submersible pump for irrigating and a small fan for
> circulating air.
>
> I know my sister (Kangaroo Valley, NSW) likes her Clivus multrum as
> do the Brookmans (Food Forest, SA) but both are in purpose built and
> designed installations as Tim outlined.
>
> Happy nutrient capture and cycling!
> Happy water capture and nutrient cycling!
>
> And then a few months later,
> Happy eating!
>
> Cheers
> Colin
>
>
>
>
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