Today I present an article on a little-known subject: dry baths . And what better to tell someone with experience in the matter. Jose Antonio Sánchez Colín, Self-Sufficient Bioconstructor , shares his experience here with all Ecosocial Water readers.
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DRY BATHROOMS
One of the purposes of Agua Ecosocial for this year is to bring external guests to share in the BLOG their experiences with practical ideas and relevant information that may be useful to all of us.
For this, the category "GUESTS" was recently inaugurated.
Today I bring you a special guest, Jose A. Sánchez Colín , who gives us an article loaded with practical information where he tells us his experience to build a dry toilet .
Jose Antonio Sánchez Colín, is a restless and multi-faceted self-sufficient bioconstructor, who does not conform to the theory and who feels comfortable taking action.
The best example is the facts and the best way to learn and improve is "doing" . Jose Antonio Sánchez is a living example of this affirmation.
I leave you with him and his post about dry toilets. Enjoy it!
After traveling through different countries and seeing how the health and life expectancy of a population determine the use and customs of water , it made me aware of the importance of water on the planet and specifically in our health and questioning how it affected me. that process and what I could do to improve it.
All this brought me closer to life in the countryside , self-sufficiency and permaculture . After a few years of travel, experiences, courses and conferences, I took the leap to experience it myself building my own house and my own installation and water treatment.
Therefore, I will tell you as much detail as possible, what is a dry toilet, how it can be built and what benefits it brings to our health and that of our planet.
Sketch of a two-chamber dry bath
A dry bath is a common bathroom like that of any house with the particularity that we separate the gray water from the fecal matter in order to avoid polluting the water and then having to invest time and money in purifying it ... Go ahead to the process to avoid then use energy in debug.
Basically, it has a toilet with two compartments, a part where the urine falls and a chamber where we dehydrate the feces.
For the construction of the dry toilet, it is important to provide the bathroom with a certain height so that it is more convenient to access the dehydration chamber, therefore we will start with the foundation as in any construction. In this case a ditch 30 cm deep with some stones and concrete will be sufficient for the structure that will support.
Foundation of the dry bath and the dehydration chamber
About 60 cm high are enough to build a good dehydration chamber . The dehydration chamber consists of a cubicle where faeces fall and that with the contribution of dry matter (ash, sand, crushed dried vegetable material, etc.) and a small updraft of air we manage not only to dry the feces with the destruction of its bacteria and parasites but also create a current of air that does not cause bad odors in the bathroom.
Therefore, we will build that cubicle where we will make a hole to place the cup and the separation of fecal waste, and we will place a door to isolate it from possible insects (although under my experience if it is used well and maintenance is not a big problem ).
Through that lid we will introduce and change the cube where the faeces will fall.
Next, we will puncture the cubicle at the top with a cut that is slightly smaller than that of the toilet lid.
Now comes the most artisanal part, which would be to build your separation of gray water and feces manually or buy a ready-made cup and install it in the cubicle
I encourage you to build it because all you have to do is split the hole in two parts, finishing with tile or some non-porous material the part of the urine so you can wash and pour water so you do not smell.
Dry bath hole: separation of urine and fecal matter
You can always attach a rubber tube with holes to a hose with a small tap that will perform the function of cleaning when urinating.
The only drawback, if that is how you can call it, (which for me is not so) is to sit down every time you have to urinate (unless you have a great aim!)
Dry baths: plaster and lid
Once the cubicle is finished, you have to make a hole the size of a chimney pipe at least 10 cm in diameter and place a black chimney pipe that will help suck the air out of the dehydration chamber when it warms up with the sun.
Mix of ash and sand for use in dry baths
The operation is very simple: one makes his needs sit down, the urine goes in front of the gray water (sinks, showers, etc.) and the faeces fall in a bucket placed in the dehydration chamber. Once finished, a bit of dry organic material is added with a shovel (I recommend a mixture of ash and sand ).
After 6 months of use, a new bucket is placed and the one that is full is allowed to compost further inside the chamber for at least another 6 months.
When a year has passed we can already take out the first bucket and use it as a good compost for the field .
It is very beneficial not to contaminate the waters of our environment with bacteria when mixing it with feces and the saving in water is very considerable .
Finished dry bath
Building a dry bathroom with your own hands opens doors and gives you enough self-confidence to undertake another, bigger, new project.
If you need more information or advice, you can contact us through Agua Ecosocial and we will help you with your project.