Compost Toilet Trial Report - Ministry of Civil Defence and ...

4.2.4 Flexibility
One of the advantages of the emergency compost toilet designed by Green Earth
Developments was its flexibility. Units were able to be adapted to suit the different
situations of the participants (Figure 4.8):
split units, allowing fit into smaller spaces;
lined units located in spare rooms,
located in laundries or outbuildings, where no internal space was available.
This flexibility would be important in an emergency, enabling users to adapt the
system to suit their needs.
Figure 4.8: The flexibility of the emergency compost toilet. Left: Part of ‘split’ toilet installed in
narrow space in a bathroom. Middle: Compost toilet located in an outside laundry
Right: A lined unit located in spare room of the house.
During the course trial, and at the debrief (Appendix 8) a number of possible
improvements were identified:
making the units higher (raising the 400 mm to the standard toilet height) 6
improving the finish of the units
providing the means to raise the buckets when used by young children
adding bracing to ensure plyboard frame lid sits better.
Green Earth Developments are incorporating this feedback into future designs of their
emergency compost toilets.
Different participants preferred different mulch types, some preferring the wood
shavings and others damp leaf mulch (see section 4.3 for further information). In an
emergency users may need to material that is readily available (e.g. garden supplies,
garden leaf litter), but should be encouraged to try different mulches to find one that
works best for them.
6 Making a higher version for the less abled was also proposed. The design could be modified to do this,
but also conventional means to modify toilets, such as toilet seat risers, will also fit the standard design
emergency compost toilet.
20