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I always felt more relieved in taking a piss or passing feces (ಮೂತ್ರ ಮತ್ತು ಮಲ ವಿಸರ್ಜನೆ) in nature.
I felt more comfortable in Indian toilets than Western toilets. It's our family's rule that during travels, we don't stay anywhere where there is no Indian Toilet. The Indian squatting way of passing feces is easy and complete. That's why we feel more relieved after using the Indian Toilet.
When we moved to our land, our home had no toilet. We explored going out in nature as all sides of our land are forested. There is a major problem with going out for a piss or dump in nature. Privacy is always an issue. We never know if someone is around. Especially because our land is in a valley and people on neighboring hillocks can see us clearly from some angles. There are other issues like thick grass during monsoons and winters, sudden wild animal encounters etc. To overcome this issue, myself and Savitri built an Indian toilet in our home last year.
We have been regularly scratching this topic of problems associated with the indoor toilets. There is a need for constant water supply, regular cleaning, need for various chemicals, huge expenses in building it, maintenance of the septic tank and many such issues. At the end we are left with a slurry that is full of toxic chemicals.
Does feces really need so much management? Animals dump and piss wherever they are. Villagers and tribals dump just beyond the limits of the village. And they never get into the task of shit management.
About 5 years ago I learnt about dry toilets. That's what we built yesterday.
A 4*4 feet wide and 2 feet deep pit was made. 4 Kadappa stone slabs were arranged as floor in such a way that a gap of 6 inches is left in the middle. This gap is where we will be shitting and pissing through. 5 poles were installed around this. A thick 10*20 feet banner was fixed with screws as a makeshift wall. End of the sheet was folded to make it heavier and screwed only at the top, making a curtain like a self-closing and stable door that doesn't need any latches. The banners are not transparent.
The banners are available in hardware stores. It costs about 350 rupees. The Kadapa slabs are 11 inches by 4 feet and cost about 300 rupees each. Plus some expenses for the screws. The total cost was approximately 1600.
After taking a dump, and washing the bum with about a liter of water, the feces is covered by throwing a few bowls of soil, sawdust or powdered leaves. We use soil as we have plenty of it. By covering it with soil, rats, dogs and other scavengers are not attracted to it. However, microbes, insects and earthworms from the soil immediately start converting the feces into compost. There is no flushing with water involved. There will be absolutely no odor as feces get dry quickly due to sunlight and air exposure. Infact, it smells good.
For our family, including our guest, our dry toilet completely fills in one year. Then we stop using it and build another dry toilet. Within a month, all the feces and soil are completely converted into rich compost by microbes & earthworms.
I clearly see many advantages of dry composting toilets :
Water conservation: Compared to indoor toilets, dry toilets require 99% less water as there is no flushing and cleaning involved.
Chemical-Free Operation : There are no chemicals like phenyle, freshener, cleaner, decloggers necessary for dry toilets.
Off-Grid Independence : Dry toilets don't need electricity to build and maintain. There is no need for an exhaust fan as these are open and don't smell.
Odor Control : The feces in the septic tank have no contact with soil, air and sunlight. This leads to rotting. Rotting creates foul smelling and toxic gasses. Similarly, the soil where villagers pass feces is saturated with feces and has less microbes, leading to rotting smell. In our dry toilet, the feces are constantly dried by the sunlight and air whereas microbes and earthworms from soil immediately start composting the feces. Compost smells heavenly. If you move around or enter our dry toilet, you will get the pleasant smell of the compost.
Low Maintenance : There is absolutely no maintenance involved in the dry toilets.
Cost Savings : Indoor toilets cost lakhs of rupees. Dry toilets can be built anywhere for a few thousands.
Adaptable: Dry toilets can be built indoor, outdoor or in van settings. Thousands of people living in apartments have also installed dry toilets. In homes, the design will be different. Search in Google for beautiful indoor dry toilets.
Earth Care : Dry toilets need no water, no chemicals, no money, no maintenance and give very rich compost. This is excellent for the environment (Including Bharat)
Suitable for Remote Locations : As dry toilets don't need any special tools and materials, these can be installed anywhere.
Legal Compliance : Dry toilets are not illegal.
Nutrient-Rich Compost : The soil and feces and urine mix is converted to rich compost within a month. This is called Humanure. After leaving it for another two months, we add it to our vegetable beds.
We get a heavenly kick of shitting & pissing on Mother Earth everyday. Nothing matches the pleasure of this.
Take Care
Dr. Madhukar Dama