Eco-toilet in the country: step by step instructions and tips on how to build your own hands

An excellent solution to avoid the hassle of cesspools in the country and the need to constantly take out a bucket! Your attention is presented step by step instructions on how to build a composting toilet in the country with your own hands.

Toilet at the dacha

Where to start work on? The most correct thing is to study the sanitary standards governing such buildings. This approach will ensure that you do not have conflicts and litigation with neighbors.

Building codes for country bathrooms

The norms for the construction of yard latrines are prescribed in such documents as SP 42.13330.2011, SNiP 30-02-97 and SanPiN 42-128-4690-88.

Norms of remoteness of the country toilet from other buildings on the site

A brief excerpt from the listed standards reads as follows:

1. If there is no centralized sewerage on the site, it is permissible to use powder closets and dry closets. Toilets, assuming the presence of a cesspool, must first be agreed with the SES and the authorities responsible for the protection of groundwater.
2. Toilets that are not connected to a centralized sewer should be 25-50 m away from sources of drinking water (springs); from children's institutions (schools, kindergartens, playgrounds) - by 20-100 m, from buildings in a neighboring area - by 12 m.
3. Restrooms are removed from the walls of a residential building at a distance of 3 m, and from outbuildings - at 1 m.

Attention! If the dimensions of the plot do not allow compliance with the prescribed norms, the distance to the toilet, in accordance with regulatory enactments, can be set on a commission basis. The commission should include: a sanitary doctor, a district architect, a representative of the quarterly committee. Based on the results of the decision of the commission, an act is drawn up signed by all its members.

Types of country toilets

Now consider the actual types of yard latrines:

• dry closet. A familiar design that has proven itself well in the absence of sewerage. The essence of the dry closet is the processing of waste products with special bacteria, peat or chemicals. The downside of this solution is not the most reasonable price for such products. Also, chemicals for dry closets are harmful from an environmental point of view, as they contain formaldehyde. Such waste can be poured no closer than 50 m from water sources.

Bio toilet

• Powder closet. A toilet that involves a small compartment (bucket or tank) that collects waste. The highlight of such a restroom is in the "dusting" of waste with peat. Due to such manipulations, feces turn into compost and can be used as fertilizer. The main disadvantage of this structure is not the most pleasant cleaning process, which is carried out very often.

Scheme: powder closet device

• play closet. An interesting option with a lot of advantages. Firstly, the backlash closet is organized inside the house. That is, it is a modification of the usual, and most importantly, a warm urban toilet. Secondly, a standard flush toilet is used for the arrangement. Thirdly, cleaning the cesspool does not require manual labor. Now let's move on to the disadvantages. This is a laborious construction process - the cesspool must be completely airtight. And the constant need to use the services of a vacuum cleaner, which is quite expensive.

Scheme: backlash closet device

• outhouse. The painfully familiar birdhouse toilet is a lightweight structure built over a leaky cesspool. Pros: quick and simple construction, budgetary nature of the building. Cons: the ability to significantly harm the environment, an unpleasant smell on the site, uncomfortable use in the cold season.

Toilet-birdhouse above the cesspool

What is a continuous composting toilet?

A great option that will allow you to build the perfect toilet in the country with your own hands is a composting type of continuous action. The drawings of such a "miracle" are simple, although the construction of the building will have to be a little tricky.
The undeniable advantages of the proposed bathroom:

• there is no need to constantly add peat after each use;
• no need to mess with waste, pour out unpleasant masses;
• as a result of using the bathroom, ready-made, high-quality compost is produced - an indispensable fertilizer for plants;
• the environment is not polluted, there is no need to pump out the cesspool;
• for better decay, it is also recommended to add kitchen food waste.

Scheme: arrangement of a composting toilet

Attention! Do not pour too much water into the composting toilet! For the recycling process, there is enough liquid from feces and kitchen waste. It is strictly forbidden to drain water from a shower or sink into the chamber. Otherwise, the fermentation process will begin, which will destroy the composting microorganisms.

There are 2 types of composting toilet. The first involves installing a storage camera inside the basement of a residential building. This option allows you to create a toilet that is no different from a bathroom in a city apartment. At the same time, the restroom will be heated, which means that you can use it with comfort all year round.
The scheme of the second option requires digging a hole outside and building a cabin with a canopy on top. This type of bathroom is convenient in the absence or small size of the basement. But it will not be very convenient to use it in the cold season.

DIY step-by-step instructions for building a composting toilet

A do-it-yourself toilet indoors is equipped as follows:

• Inside the basement we build a chamber with an inclined bottom, the dimensions of which are 2100 mm × 2100 mm. The bottom should have a slope of 23-30°. At the end of all work, the bottom is covered with a 10-cm layer of peat. 5 cm of fertile soil or turf is poured on top, and 5 cm of mowed grass or leaves. The gap leading from the chamber to the drive should be caulked with peat and earth. In the process of aerobic waste processing, the compost mass will push out the peat plug.

Blueprint: composting bathroom. View from above

• For the construction of the chamber, the bottom should be concreted, the front and side walls should be laid out of brick. At the same time, between the bricks of the side walls, put reinforcement (wire 4-8 mm thick), which will strengthen the back of the chamber. The surface of the brickwork is treated with 2 layers of bituminous mastic. The last layer is covered with sand. Mastic is made from bitumen, chalk (10%) and oil (5%).

Tip: used car oil is suitable for making mastic.

• To the front wall at a height of 900 mm, a stainless steel manifold primed with a bituminous compound is attached with dowels. Collector dimensions: height - 600 mm, depth - 200 mm, width equal to the width of the chamber.
• The back wall is made of a thick stainless steel sheet and steel angles 50 mm × 50 mm, welded horizontally. The wall is lined with brick during the laying process and tied with protruding reinforcement. Horizontal corners are sealed with wooden compensating strips upholstered with roofing material or polyethylene.
• The rear wall contains a mounting hatch 900×660 with a viewing window, behind which is a thermometer. The manhole is made of 20 mm boards coated with a bituminous primer (molten bitumen: gasoline = 1:3 by volume).

Blueprint: composting bathroom. Side view

• At a height of 300 mm from the floor, a gap is made in the back wall, through which the finished compost will be poured into the drive, with dimensions of 600 × 900 mm. The reservoir should be built with a thickness of ½ brick and covered with a wooden lid.
• The toilet bowl and the garbage chute for kitchen waste are installed end-to-end, a partition is mounted between them (it can be a wall of the house). Below, in the space of the chamber, a stainless steel screen is mounted, which prevents the passage of air between the openings of the toilet seat and the garbage chute. This ensures that there are no unpleasant odors in the toilet and kitchen.

• An exhaust pipe made of asbestos cement, or ceramic, with a diameter of 100-150 mm and a height of 6 meters, is installed behind the toilet bowl. At the bottom, a screen installed inside the camera enters its grooves by 50 mm. The pipe, based on the drawings, is more expedient to carry out next to the chimney and insulate its protruding part. This will improve traction and prevent the formation of kurzhak in winter. The main condition is that the walls of the pipe from the inside must be very smooth.

Schematic: composting toilet ventilation

• The openings of the toilet seat, pipes for exhaust and garbage chute are braided around with 3-4-layer polyethylene “skirts” using a nylon cord. At the same time, the ends of the garbage chute and the toilet seat should be 300 mm longer than the end of the exhaust pipe. The scheme prescribes a toilet seat and a garbage chute with a diameter of at least 400 mm to avoid clogging. The garbage chute can be built into the surface of the cutting table.

• A prerequisite for the functioning of this type of toilet is competent ventilation, which ensures the inflow and outflow of air. For its organization, polyethylene pipes with a diameter of 50-60 mm are used. Holes of 6-8 mm are drilled in them at an angle of 60 ° for ventilation. The number of holes is calculated using the formula 30 pcs/m. Pipes are attached to the collector and the rear wall of the chamber in 2 layers every 300 mm (staggered). From the collector to the exhaust pipe there is also a ventilation pipe that freely enters the exhaust pipe.

A ready-made dry closet of a composting type produces about 20-30 kg of humus per 1 person per year. But the ripening of compost will take from 2 to 4 years. Therefore, the instruction prescribes that the first unloading of the finished humus be carried out no earlier than 2 years after construction. It is noteworthy that in winter the toilet slows down its work, and with the onset of heat, it resumes.

Instructions for building a toilet in the country: video