Table Of Content

UNSEWERED TOILETS Ministry Hon, George A. Kerr, Q.6. of the Minster Environment — bepuiy ntario. erty " CONTENTS FOREWORD | INTRODUCTION I. THE SEPTIC TANK SYSTEM A. What Doos It Do? B. How Does It Work? 1, The Tank 2. The Leaching Bed C. Disadvantages? HL PRIVIES AL Pit Privy 1, Construction 2. ProandCon B. Pail and Vault Privies V. CHEMICAL TOILETS A. The Basic Chemistry B. Pro and Con ©. Variations. 1. Bucket 2. Improvements: Splash Pan and Drep Pipe 3. Recirculating’ 4. Portable V._INCINERATING TOILETS: Vl, COMPOSTING TOILETS A. Int-oduction 1, What Composting Is 2. Low Temperature, Flies, and the Vegetsh e Garden 8. Large and Small Units 1. Large Units 2. Smal Units C. Summary: Composting May Be Right For You Vil. SOME OF THE OTHERS A. Septic Toilet B. Low-Volurne {Minimun-Flush) Tollets C. Portabie Low-Volume |oilets D. Continuous Aeration Systems APPENDIX! Regulation to Amend Ontario Regulation 229/74 TABLEL Unsewered Toilets: Ar Aid to Decision 10 14 16 25 28 34 FOREWORD There are about 300,000 cot- tages in Ontario, occupicd gener ally by well over 1.2 million people for part of the year. One of the main problems all cottagers have ir common is that of the disposal of hurnan waste. Where the toilet facilities can be connected ta a municipal sewage system, the soluton is obyi- ous. In che majority of cases, however, munic pal services are not provided, ane the alternative, 3 good septic tank system, is eithes expensive or, in many cases, not suitable becouse of the nature of the terrain Ontario regulations, especialy Regulation 229/74 under The En vironmental Protection Act, 1971 and its amendments, require the approval of all sewage disposal installations, with the exception of systems of Class {. These systems comprise various types of unsew. ered toilets, known as carth or pit privies, vaull privies, rernovable pail privies, chemical t incinerating toilets, and corr posting toilets, Toilets cf Class | are widely used because Of their simplicity and their fow cost of installation. If properly installed, used, and main- tained, they can give good service without damaging the environment, This booklet provides alt the information necessary for proper installation, use, and maintenance of Class toilet systems, It explains the limitations o* the various systems, their advantages and disadvantages, and their possible effect ‘on the environment if they are irisused or not properly main- tained, A separate chapter describes in detail the princip'e, the opera- tion, the advantages and disadvantages. the installation, the use, and the maintenance of the rew composting toilets. L INTRODUCTION The ideal <offet system must reli- ably dispose of human wastes in a way that neither spreads disease nor offends civilized sensibilities. The standard flush toilet, with its smooth, white surface. self- cleansing flush, water seal against odours, end access to sewers that are someone else's responsibility, is the best choice from the stand: pint of health and aesthetics, but it's not always available. Ittypically uns through three or four ga lons of water every tine itis flushed. It thus needs an ample supply of water, clostricity to run the water pump, and a place to dispose of a lot of wastewater. Where the standard toilet won't do, you must make other arrange: ments, As you cast about for alter: nat ves, you will discover human ingenu'ty at its most diverse: you" discover privies and chemical tailats, incinerating toilots, variations on the standard flush, indco compost toilets, and small activated-studge plants, in fas- cinating arofusion. Nong of these can be pointed out as the best: all have good points and bad. The “best” choice will depend upon the facilities at your site, the conveni- ence you want, aid the money you ate willing to spend, In Ontatio, it will also be influenced by The En- virenmental Protection Act. Sewage is potential'y dangerous, oven deadly. The microorganisms responsible for many grave diseases—choleva, typhoid fever, hepatitis, and polio, ta. mention only afow — swarm in the feces of the sick, these organisms reach the water supply, hundreds more may sicken. A major cancer in the design of any sewage disposal sys- tern must beto ensure thatthe pub- lic is at no time expased to the danger of sewage-borns diseuso, either indirectly, through their drinking water, oF directly, by way of rats, flies, or curious children For this reason, as well o5.to sofeguard the environment fam the unpleasant effects of careless sewage disposal, Ontario law regu- lates sewage disposal closely, The disposal methods described in this book et are not equally accept- able everywhere in Ontario. Local bylaws as well as shallow soft ona steep [ct, for instance, may rule aut sore methods, and sandy so may favor a system that wouldn't work in clay, To find out which forms of sewage disposal are ap- proved ir your area, see the loca! representative of the Ontaric Ministry of the Environment. Not every toilet unit is a sewage disposal system. A good pit privy is, since the wastes de cornpuse where they fal and en righ their surroundings with no further disturbance, but a modern flush toilet is not. A flush toilet dogs na more than send the wastes upen their way. in the city, the way leads to the muricipal sewage troatment plant, a su3jcet in which we need take no further interest than pleasas us. In the country, the owner must choose the destina- tion, H. THE SEPTIC TANK SYSTEM A. What Does It Do? Where you can't hook ento the municipal sewers, your best choice in waste disposal is usually a septic tank system, which consists of a septic tank and an uncerground leaching bed. The big advantage of this system ‘over mast of the others is that it will accept all of the household wastewater: the bath water, the dishwater, and the laundry water, as we'l as what the toilet sends, Iftreated with reasonable consideration, itwill accept all of them without complaint for several years, until it is time to pump the accumulated sludge out o* the tank Most installations need ro machinery, no power, and, apart from pumping out the tank oc- casionally, no maintenance, B. How Dnes It Work? The ony way to got rid of sow age, as distinguished from mere.y sending it somewhere else, isto prepare a comfortable home for the microorganisms that cat it. Many strains perform this useful function. For simplicity, they can be divided into two groups: the aerobic ones, which need oxyrien, and the anaerobic ‘ones, which can’t abide it 4. The Tank: Anaerobic bacteria jive and work in the septic tank, which is just that: a tank W's usually big enough to hold several days' worth of sewage and shaped so that the flow is slow and reasonably uniform Sewage from the house enters, the tank, settles down, gets partly decomposed hy the anaerobic bacteria, and flows out of the tank. By this time, if the system is working well, the sewage is 4 clearish liquid that still stinks and may stil carry disease. It should not ¢o any- where but into the leaching bed 0° some equivalent treatment facility: by no means directly into a ditch or watercourse. 2. The Leaching Bed: A leaching bed consists of one or more rows of buried distriturtion pipe, each of which is ¢ scrics of “tiles” laid end-to-end in a bed of crushed stone in a trench, A “ile”. ivturn, is a length of pine, typically made of coramic or pastic. Ceramic files are spaced about '2 inch apart to atlow the sewage to flew into the crushed stone. The longer plastic tile is usually perforated by small holes along its length. The cushed stone acts as a reser voir, from which the sewaye iar seep slowly into the soil, The dimensions of the trench and the details af how it should be filled in, the characteristics of the soil, the required length of the distribution pipe, and other particulars of the burial are im portant and are specified under The Environmental Protection Act*, but they need not cancer us further here. Sewage leaving the septic tank flows down the rows of tiles, teaking rontinuously into the 201. by way of the heles or gaps. In the soil il encounters a floJrishing population of acrobic bactaria, who finish the goed work begun in the tank by their anaerobic cousins. The "See the Ministry of the Enviranment’s Bociklet Septie Tank Systeme fhiforma- on Services Beare, 1965. Clair Avenue Wast, Toranto}, whole subjectisdecent y hidden from view by a“resh, green lawn, which ravely needs fertilizer. isadvantages? Thete are few disadvantages to the septic tank system, apart from its cost - - and even that may not compare to0 bacly with the cost of other units, consider- ing thal the system handles all the household wastes. Its major drawback is simply that itcan‘t be used everywhere. An impermeable soil, sich as clay, won't let the liquid flow through it; a shallow soil hasn't the necessary capacity; and a very cold climate may not suit the indispensable bacteria. Con- sult your local Environment staf