Every year, flush toilet systems waste enormous amount of water resources, cause environmental harm and incur massive social expenditures (for more information, read “What is Wrong with a Flush Toilet?“). There are many important reasons to switch from a flush toilet system to an alternative toilet system, and in this article I will compare three popular alternative to flush toilets: Incinerating Toilets, Desiccating Toilets and Composting Toilets.
1) Incinerating Toilets. Incinerating toilets rely on electricity or gas to burn waste. Burn cycles typically take between five and thirty minutes, after which all human waste is turned into ash. These models do require quite a bit of electricity to run, and some consumers complain that they are quite noisy during the burn cycles. EcoJohn is currently one of the most popular manufacturers of incinerating toilets.
2) Desiccating Toilets. Desiccating toilets (also known as dehydrating toilets, solar toilets or drying toilets), are best suited to arid climates where dry ambient air can be circulated into the toilet chamber so that any moisture is eliminated. When this works properly, the end-result will be both dry and odorless. Solarsan is a popular manufacturer of dehydrating toilets.
Desiccating toilets must be designed as to divert urine from the chamber in which the feces will be drying in order for them to work properly (the urine can be used for fertilizing applications if so desired). The drying process usually take several months to complete, after which they can burned, composted or buried.
3) Composting Toilets. Composting toilets systems operate by encouraging aerobic decomposition. Most composting toilets can reduce organic waste to between 10 and 30 percent of original volume. The end-product of the composting process is a rich, soil-like material called humus, which can be used as a valuable soil additive. There are currently many competing manufacturers of composting toilets globally: Sun-Mar, Envirolet, and BioLet are some brand names you may come across when researching different models. (You can read reviews of some of these models here).
Each of these systems has its advantages and disadvantages. Desiccating toilets are possibly the best choice in dry areas, incinerating toilets work well for families that want quick disposal of waste without water, and composting toilets can help recycle not only human waste but also other organic waste produced by the household (such as vegetable scraps).
However, there is one prime benefit to composting toilets that neither the incinerating or desiccating toilet system provides: the valuable end-product of humus, a valuable soil additive. In this way composting toilets not only help eliminate the use of water from toilet systems, but also produce a valuable resource in the process.
If you are interested in reading more about the advantages and disadvantages of composting toilets, please visit the Toilet Composting Home Page where you will find numerous articles about composting toilet systems, including portable composting models suitable for camping and other outdoor applications.
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