Dry Compost Toilets

[Jake and Tommy]

Has anyone had experience installing a 'dry compost toilet', and also a grey water irrigation system? An alternative to a bog standard fosse septique perhaps!!!  Also, does anyone know if such a system is legal in France. We have great problems installing a fosse septique due to our house being built on the side of a granite hill.  The only land to the property is to the rear and is actually higher than the rooftop. All the other properties in the village allow their grey water to run down the street. But we have been told that we cant do that - and we dont want to do it anyway!. Being enviromentally friendly, we have discovered a brilliant system of 'dry compost toilets' and a very simple way of reusing grey water. All very hygenic, good for the gardens, and a great way to save on using valueable water resources. (Not forgetting the saving on water bills) Any knowledge on these matters will be greatly appreciated. Many thanks Jake and Tommy

[Ron Avery]

I am sure motorhad will give you details, but unless you are having mains drainage soon, you have to have a fosse,  You say that "All the other properties in the village allow their grey water to run down the street" but what happens to their toilet waste?

The new "all water" fosses take all water except rainwater.  However, if it does your plants no harm, I cannot see any problem with you collecting your grey water separately for garden watering purposes, as many people do, provided that the run off is not directly into a water source, but saying that I am not sure that all grey water will do your plants any good as ceratinly not as much good as collected rainwater from a butt.

[Motorhead]

I've looked into this myself. First problem is that the drainage authorities are run by engineers and quite frankly the biology is beyond them. I have seen composting toilets in France but they have all been in places like remote fishing lodges that didn't really need a toilet anyway as nobody was supposed to actually live in them.

Secondly there doesn't seem to be a French manufacturer of these things. Most of them come out of America or Sweden and they are very expensive in France. A couple of years ago Sun-Mar had an agent in the Creuse. Don't know if he's still around (his property sales site has been down for a while) but he was selling them at almost twice the American list price.

The technicien from the drainage authority is going to come and tell you what you have to do anyway. Their solution might not be the best possible but it will work and you'll get a fiche technique that describes exactly what will have to be done. Failure to comply with this and you won't get a certificate of conformity which you will need in order to get planning consent for any future works. I don't think they have a fiche for composting toilets.

What you'll probably be landed with (based in the info so far supplied) is a septic tank right next to the house or even in the cellar and a lift station to take the liquids up to the epandage. A lift station is basically a sump with a ballcock operated electric pump and an alarm to tell you  if it ever fails.

If you are wanting to recycle grey water try and get them to specify a separate grease trap which takes the grey water (200l for kitchen water and 500l for the bathroom as well) before it goes into the tank along with the blackwater.It should be easy to intercept and divert a fair amount of water from the grease trap. Unless you are washing very oily mechanics overalls frequently this water should be OK for watering the garden. However, this water is often very high in phosphates and if it can easily run off from the garden into a water course it's not going to be all that environmentally friendly.

Once the new bioengineering graduates have worked up through the system or if the summer droughts get worse things will probably change but until then it's really best to forget about a composting toilet as anything more than a secondary throne.

[Lorribee]

We have and are very happy with a Swedish compost loo ,called Separette villa made by Servator AB of Skinnebo sweden s33o10 the system is very eco friendly why we chose it, We were faced with the problem that the property we wanted had no existing Fosse and as we are surrounded by communal land we did not know what our chances of ever getting permission to do anything else were. We investigated all the options including willow beds, sand pits, drying systems etc and decided this was for us. The system is hands on so to speak in that the collection chamber requires manual emptying,a replacement chamber is supplied, this occurs roughly every two months in a house hold of two people, my husband has the job as a retired nurse I have emptied my last bedpan....Its apperance resembles a conventinal toilet with a bigger pan, it has a Negative pressure fan which partially dry the solids and excludes any odours, it vents out the roof as normal and the liquids join our grey water system which , when finished will be a sealed system watering underground, currently it is piped into our communal drain out side our neighbours house at their suggestion, we have an additional problem in that our land is behind the grange opposite which lies below the Water table, occasionally flooding,

[Motorhead]

This is amazing stuff Lorribee. Did you get a certificate of conformity for it? Also I'm a bit unsure about what you mean by "a sealed system watering underground, "

Not being bolshy just very interested.

[Lorribee]

Hi motorhead, Read with interest your informed advice to the original poster, we have as yet to receive the report from SATA I believe that is what the inspector called it,as to certificates etc, we have done what was necessary to accomadate our needs whilst we commence renovation on our houses. We are almost certainly going to have a Fosse as well to deal with blackwater the discussion seems to be whether or not, we can reuse as safely as possible the greywater, it grieves me to see France who traditionally dealt with waste in a sustainable way,i.e. letting nature dispose of it, buying into the myth that storing effluviant is the only acceptable way to go. The thinking is so short term in these times of climate change,natural disasters, rendering homes helpless and inhabitable without their life line to the increasingly expensive network of services . We are trying to do it differently but do not imagine it will be easy especially in a language being newly acquired. The sealed unit for watering is collection points on roof for rain and snow melt, joining greywater system collecting from shower and basin, into surge pump connected to outlet i.e. tap with perforated black hose in loops buried under raised bed, pump will go twice a day to prevent water standing more than 24hours, the bed will contain plants which will take up moisture and act as natural filters. recommend reading The Natural House Daniel D Chiras.