Re: GBlist: toilets

Ron Sutcliffe (compost@concentric.net)
Tue, 11 Feb 1997 23:09:08 -0700

Sherry Ellesson writes;
> Living, as I currently do, in the state with the dubious distinction
> (last time I looked) of having 'largest number of still in use out-
> houses,' you can imagine that this caught my eye. Apart from the
> usual health issues (human waste)

Watch the water table. Pit privys can develop pathogenic pathways into
the groundwater. Also vectors can be a concern, however remember that
only about %8 of Americans have some form of pathogenic organism
available to be transmitted by any source. Probably the single most
common way that pathogens are transmitted between Americans is by the
handshake, ALWAYS WASH YOUR HANDS AFTER USING THE TOILET!

>I'm wondering, as a wildlife rehabi-
> litator too, whether or not low-temp composting could even approach
> the levels of thermal denaturing of pathogens necessary for such things
>
>

no!
hopefully you can get high temperature composting or better, solar
assisted composting.

cheers
Ron Sutcliffe

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