Permits

It can be so hard to build a house.

I understand why there are things like permits, it's to stop people building unsafe buildings, and things like that, but the laws are so far behind.

Case: I had heard it may be difficult to get permits for composting toilets and accompanying gray water treatment systems, but I hadn't realized how far behind some of the regulations were. The Alternate Systems Manual, which has to do with systems other than the standard septic systems, was last updated in 1993. What? I know this is Arkansas, but come on. Fortunately, there still his a half page section (out of like 100) that speaks of composting toilets, even though it has incinerating toilets classified in the same category. So, like many other states, I'll have to file something like a request for an "experimental" waste water treatment system, though they are far from experimental, or even new.

I can only hope that the guy stamping the approvals has either enough experience with composting toilets to stamp it, or is too stupid to know the difference, and stamp it anyway.

Stone Aged,
WiredForStereo

Be your own Waste Treatment Plant

Many or all of the problems related to human waste treatment could be eliminated at home. A very large proportion of our water usage (some estimate 40%) is nice clean water that we flush straight down the toilet.

This does us a disservice. All those nice nutrients that we've taken from the earth we are now going to flush down the crapper and it will end up most likely somewhere where it will do us no good. Most of our waste will end up as carbon dioxide, and the rest will be flushed down the river or sprayed out somewhere, or dried and landfilled.

So if we use composting toilets, we suddenly retain most of our nutrients for reuse and save 40% of our water usage. So what do we do with that extra 60% of water that gets used in the house? Well the first and best idea is to conserve it which can be done with standard low flow sink faucets and shower heads. But, since the water is not from toilets, it is much more free of harmful bacteria such as most fecal coliforms, it can be easily treated with plant and tree roots. This does not mean we just dump gray water out on the ground, this would cause mosquito and other pest problems as well as possible utrification. Do a couple of searches around, and you will easily find systems that treat gray water.

There are a couple of good ideas such as a reed bed system, or underground deposition similarly to a leech field, but much closer to the surface so that plants and trees can benefit from the water and nutrients. Most of these systems incorporate some type of holding tank that holds the water until there is a batch to be sent out, but not longer than a day to avoid the mix going south. The water then goes to a reed bed system, or to underground pipes that distribute it directly to root zones.

This type of system not only allows you to eliminate your water waste, but allows you to recycle it into your garden or lawn and water them too.

Water is one of the most important resources in the world, and just because it is easy come, it should not be easy go, because it may not always be that way.

WiredForStereo