What is Wrong with a Flush Toilet?
Flush toilets are a very modern invention, and for many countries, the development of a sewage system that can support the installation of flush toilets in nearly every household is one of the key criteria of being considered a fully developed and modernized nation. Flush toilets are associated with cleanliness and convenience in many parts of the world. So why would we want to consider switching to anything else?
There are several reasons why flush toilet systems are actually quite harmful to both the environment and society, and why switching to an alternative system based on composting toilet matter should be pursued. Below are three important reasons why flush toilet systems are the wrong choice:
1) Flush toilets waste enormous amounts of water each year. Clean, potable water is a rapidly diminishing global resource that flush toilet systems are quite literally flushing away. Besides the enormous waste of water flush toilet systems promote, there is also a massive financial burden as well associated with providing the water needed by these systems.
In order to keep the water flowing to flush toilets, expensive dams must be built, water must often be piped hundreds of miles, treated, and then after all of this expense and effort, over 40% of the water will be flushed away, and often sent to a sewage treatment plant which has its own expenses associated with building and upkeep. Particularly for struggling “developing” countries, flush toilets involve an enormous financial burden alongside the waste of a very valuable and important natural resources.
2) The effluent from flush toilet systems is causing enormous problems globally for human, animal and marine life. Sewage systems often fail due to broken pipes and or over burdened facilities. In many cases, this results in untreated effluent running into streams, rivers, lakes and oceans. This effluent is a leading cause of dangerous algae blooms, and it can also harm marine life and humans using these waterways.
3) Flush toilets prevent the recycling of human waste into a valuable soil additive. When human waste is instead dealt with using a toilet composting system, the end-product is valuable and nutrient rich compost that is suitable to use as a soil amendment around tree crops and other plants. Human waste is actually a valuable resource when recycled properly, but flush toilet systems instead treat it and dispose of it in an unproductive manner. Instead farmer turn to synthetic fertilizers which are often dangerous in their own right.
The present tendency to rely on flush toilet systems is a wasteful and expensive choice. Although at first glance flush toilets may appear to be a necessary and convenient “modern” technology. But in reality they create an enormous burden on both our communities and the environment.
If you are interested in reading more about the environmental benefits and the social advantages of switching from a flush toilet system to a composting toilet system, visit the Toilet Composting Home Page, where you will find numerous informative articles about compost toilets and reviews of different composting toilet systems.
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