wastewater treatment

[Eric D. Hart]

At 09:13 AM 12/7/96 -0600, Paul Valerio wrote:
>Pat,
>
>Concerning your new cob octagon "house" and  septic system, why not go
>with a rainwater collection system, greywater disposal system (
>evapo-transpiration seems to be the common recommendation ) and a 
>composting toilet which requires no plumbing?  I am far from being any
>kind of authority on this stuff, but I have personally latched on to the
>idea of all this stuff because of the environmental benefits and the
>lower cost if you are comparing it to a septic system and a water well.
        These are good options, especially in a mild climate like Georgia.
One warning is that many counties that don't have building codes do require
a septic permit.  Groundwater pollution is a problem from waste disposal
systems so many localities and states have been forced to require 'approved'
waste treatment systems (mostly septic systems).  Most states are pretty
narrow on what they will approve for a waste treatment system.  Wisconsin is
the one exception I know of.  The most straight forward way to deal with
greywater might be to make a constructed wetland.  I have heard that these
systems are similar in price to septic systems and can handle all of your
waste water.  Composting toilets are expensive ($750-1000) and do use some
electricity.  A constructed wetland might very well be the most cost
effective alternative.  I know there are several companies that build
constructed wetlands but I don't have the information handy at the moment.  

>Check out > http://www.oldgrowth.org/compost/toilets.html  for a list of
>compost toilet possibilities.  Sun-Mar is apparently a good company, (
>but don't ask me! ).  I think under their "other info" or "misc info" or
>something they have a document about greywater disposal that was written
>for Florida.
        Sun-Mar is the least expensive and most widely available composting
toilet.  There aren't too many more companies besides Sun-Mar.  I have heard
of a system called the "allis can" (I'm not sure on the spelling) which
treats all your waste and you end up with compost and water which is clean
enough for irrigation or release into a drain field.  I believe the whole
system costs about $7,000.



Eric D. Hart			
Community Eco-design Network	  
Minneapolis, MN  USA		
(612) 305-2899 
erichart at mtn.org			
http://www.tc.umn.edu/nlhome/m037/kurtdand/cen