Cob: Re: Re: Re: Blackwater systems, plus a humanure question

[William Lewis]

Good point on the graveyards. Bodies are buried too deep for the worms and I
would guess once the casket is breached (which could be a LONG time) the
remains can travel freely into the groundwater. That's a thought!

There's hardly a better gift of nature than good compost, but for anyone
considering this method, remember that "natural" doesn't necessarily mean
"innocuous". If one is going to treat one's own waste, one has to really
know what one is doing or one CAN endanger the health of others. People can
be asymptomatic carriers of many diseases which are easily transmitted to
others through their feces. (That's why it's the law that food service
workers wash their hands after using the toilet.) Parasitic eggs, viruses,
bacteria, and protozoa that are present in human waste can survive weeks,
months, even years in or on the ground (proper heat-composting solves this.
This is all according to The Humanure Handbook. . .) Think of all those
septic systems, which do little to treat waste, rather they only settle out
solids then it's straight into the ground. . .

>If people (officials) are soooo concerned about human waste in the ground,
they
>had better reconsider graveyards.  What about all these people we bury in
the
>ground that died of incurable deseases?  Is it not as bad or, I should say,
>worse than composted human or animal waste?  Human or animal waste has
been,
>and always will be 'natural'.