In many cases, dacha owners make a choice in favor of a toilet that does not have a drain in the central sewer. Lack of (temporary or permanent) normal water supply or anything else that is not so significant. The main thing to do when making such a decision is to choose the type of a guidelines (also having a number of undeniable advantages over traditional).
Advantages of mobile toilets
These include:
tested many times and in cities (for example, in places of large accumulation of the people) mobility — t. e., In the case of cottages, installation in any place with the possibility of moving in the future;
use as a temporary option (when waiting for the supply of water supply, during the period of major repairs, etc. D.);
relatively low price, as well as ease of installation and maintenance.
Types of dry closets
By the type of technology used for the disposal of life waste, mobile toilets are divided into:
compost (using one or another type of adsorbing matter);
chemical (using chemically active liquids);
electric (which are a kind of association of previous types due to the use of compost, but with connection to the mains).
According to most experts, if not the most comfortable, then the peat toilet for a summer residence, which is one of the options for compost toilets, is exactly the simplest and comfortable as possible. And it is precisely its design features, principles of work, instructions for arranging and dignity specifically for summer cottages that we will be discussed in detail, accompanied by illustration of photos and videos in this article.
The principle of action
Being a compost -type dry closet, a peat toilet uses as a method of waste disposal the principle of converting them into compost, a biologically active substance for which pure peat or its mixture with wood sawdust acts. Free acids present in peat, bacterial colonies and some types of mushrooms play the role of processors of organic residues, and the porous structure (especially supplemented by wood fibers) perfectly adsorbites smells. At the same time, peat, as a filler for peat toilets, is a completely natural and environmentally friendly substance, unlike various chemical compositions of artificial origin. Which allows him not only to perform the recycling function, but also to use the resulting compost in the future as fertilizers.
Optimality for use in the country
Continuing and expanding the topic of the advantages of a peat toilet, you should dwell in more detail on what reasons it is the optimal choice specifically for summer cottages. These include:
independence from the availability of sewage and water supply;
environmental purity (and, therefore, complete safety for soils);
The ability to not only effectively dispose of waste, but also convert them into fertilizers;
The ability of 100%waste disposal from the previous paragraph (at the moment, manufacturers declare the presence of chemically harmless liquids for the corresponding type of toilets-but, in any case, at a high cost);
Hygienicity (related to peat mixtures to receive not softened and moist, but solid and dry substance at the output):
high adsorption (leading to the ability to unload the containers is rarely quite rare — on average about 1 time per month in recalculation per user);
low cost (the next of the need to acquire only significantly cheaper, in comparison with specialized chemicals, peat);
effective air exchange (completely eliminating unpleasant odor);
functionality and compact design;
resistance to temperature extremes and atmospheric phenomena;
full satisfaction of all sanitary standards.
As for the disadvantages, they can only be attributed to the need for ventilation and a simple additional stationary covering structure (in case of installation on the street).
Constructive features
The main elements of the design of the peat toilet are:
upper container (containing an adsorption mixture based on peat, equipped with a device for its uniform distribution);
lower container (representing a tank in which processing occurs); Its volume can fluctuate from about 20 liters — when using ordinary improvised means — up to the maximum 230 liters in industrial models, however, the most popular capacities of medium volumes, about 120 liters;
toilet (usually with a lid), installed on the lower container; Its quality depends only on the choice of the owner — on the «grandfather», with his own hands of a wooden box with a hole to any professional model;
ventilation pipe (mounted on the lower container and designed to remove liquid surpluses and smells); Its height can vary, but it is advisable not to go beyond the minimum allowable limit of 3.5 — 4 meters.
Important! Material for the lower capacity (in the case of using not a professional model, but any “improvised” tank) can only be plastic with a high level of resistance to chemically aggressive environments, and when used outside the heated rooms — also with good frost resistance.
Waste processing
As indicated above, the peat mixture for the toilet (or rather, the microorganisms located in it contributes to the processing of incoming waste for 3. A solid fraction (compost) is further used for unloading into compost pits and, if desired, as fertilizers. Liquid (moisture) in the form of water vapor is excreted through ventilation and partially enters the ground. Gases (mainly CO2 and methane) — are also displayed into the atmosphere through a ventilation pipe.
Features of the operation of peat toilet
1. Peat for peat toilets (or its mixture) is poured into the upper container by about 2/3 of its volume. Excess of this amount is undesirable, since it may end with a breakdown of the supply mechanism — and peat will have to be added to the lower container manually.
2. The supply adjuster handle should rotate without unnecessary effort-otherwise the mixture will not be embraced evenly.
3. It is advisable to make a ventilation pipe straight (in extreme cases — with a minimum number of bends). Its height is too low, and the complete absence is unacceptable.
4. The toilet cover is required not only to mount — but also to close!
5. With a large number of users (from 4-5 or more), it is necessary to additionally bring the drain hose to the lower container-to withdraw the excessive volume of the incoming fluid into the drainage system. For the same reason, the replacement of natural ventilation with forced (which will require the supply of electricity) is also desirable.
6. Despite the relatively slow occupancy of the lower capacity, it is not recommended to wait for its maximum filling — if only because the full tank is quite heavy, and with a volume of more than 100 liters, even the presence of special wheels and handles makes its removal and emptying extremely uncomfortable.
Important! Before choosing a toilet model, it is necessary to think in advance in advance the place where it will be installed (especially if you need to arrange not only ventilation, but also liquid system).
Installation, maintenance and conservation
“From scratch” to build a peat toilet with your own hands, in principle, is possible, but not recommended. First of all, because of not so significant saving funds (in comparison with inexpensive industrial domestic options). In addition, an uncomfortable and possibly not too high -quality lower tank, as well as the absence of a mechanism for feeding peat from the upper tank can cause many unpleasant problems. Another thing is that when installing such a toilet on the street, you will have to take care of the arrangement around it at least a minimum comfortable room. In this case, at least a box of 4 boards fastened with self-tapping screws (to install the lower capacity and toilet inside it), as well as a large “booth” or stationary brick room, will be required. True, in the latter case, the toilet will lose one of its advantages — mobility. In other options, installation as such is practically not required, and when installing, complexity is possible only when summing up the drain hose.
The maintenance consists in the usual periodic filling with the peat of the upper tank and the undergrowth of the lower, as well as the process of disinfecting the latter combined with this.
Important! If you want to increase the effectiveness of the toilet, it makes sense to acquire not a regular, but a granular peat mixture. It is not much more expensive, and the adsorption coefficient is 4 times higher!
Compost pits
Asserting the possibility (and even desirability) of the use of compost as fertilizers, specialists are absolutely right. But it should be borne in mind that the contents of the lower tank of the peat toilet are not yet a full compost! And to convert this substance into organic fertilizer, it will be necessary to withstand it-within 6-12 months-in a compost pit (or garden compost container). In the first case, it is recommended to cover the waste with a black geotextile (to form the highest temperature and in order to avoid the invasion of flies). In the second case, you should purchase a container with a lid. There is another tool to accelerate the obtaining compost and improve its quality — the so -called technology of vermicompost (and simply — launching into the waste substance of worms).
But in any of the three cases, subject to the rules for withstanding compost at the output, it really forms a completely safe, natural and very high -quality fertilizer.
Criteria for choosing a peat toilet
All professional peat toilets are good enough, but when choosing you should be guided by some important criteria.
1. The size of the toilet should be selected taking into account the future place of its location, and the height of the toilet — amenities for potential users.
2. The volume of the lower tank should also be selected for the average number of regular users.
3. It is possible to purchase such a useful option as the filling indicator.
4. The selection of material for the «chair» should provide for the maximum permissible load. In other words, if you have the users of the owner of the weight far beyond the centner, the thin plastic is not suitable.
As for manufacturers, the Swedish and Finnish firms are most popular in the Russian market, although domestic peat toilets are inferior to them in quality, in principle, slightly.
The scatter of cost ranges within the boundaries:
$ 150 (for the most unpretentious models);
$ 2500 (elite electrical options).