Dear Chris,

Thanks so much for your comments. I can improve the next version of this. Regarding detention time, for the single-vault it is 6 months more. Please see B, page 13, waste collection and storage..and page 26, photo of the organic product...The mechanism to cover the material, I will send in separate posting. The polypropylene sacks we use also on top of the black polybag. The black polybag is biodegradable, according to the manufacturer...

Dear Elmer and Elisabeth,

Thanks, Elisabeth, for sending the document as an attachment. That way, I am able to see it as a Google Quickview, instead of having to download it.

Elmer, congratulations on the important work you are doing.

I also found very useful the document you cite within this document, which I do not remember seeing before.
(www.ecosanres.org/pdf_files/SayreEVWithOurOwnHandsSept2010.pdf)

I would like to offer a few comments:

1) It would be good to be clearer on the detention times (and/or other sanitation controls) that you apply, or did I miss this? It seems that sometimes you put relatively fresh humanure in the bottoms of holes where trees are being planted. I agree that this may be a good idea, as long as the tree-planter's health is being protected, since the material gets encapsulated into the soil. Nonetheless, it may be recommendable to store the material for at least 2 months to eliminate the concern for microbial disease and essentially only have the remaining risk of Helminth eggs (Esrey, et al. 1998. Ecological Sanitation). The tree planters will get their hands dirty in general and we can trust that they will wash their hands properly before eating.

2) If possible, I would like to see more detail on the mechanism you mention for adding cover material that avoids the need for the user to manually scoop and throw it.

3) It seems that your system has a constant flow of plastic bags going into the garbage, or do they somehow get reused? Maybe this is a small environmental cost for achieving a greater environmental good.

4) Have you seen our video about using the common, woven, polypropylene sacks ()? If so, what do you think?
We really never have liquids oozing out and one could add more dry material in the bottom before starting to use them. If one is really worried, the pile of sacks could also be sprinkled with wood ash. These sacks are very strong and can usually be used time and time again (as they are not exposed to the UV rays of the sun that would destroy them).
You may also find interesting this 2-part interview about sanitation and UDDTs, which also includes more info on this use of sacks:
www.chekhovskalashnikov.com/water-sanitation/
www.chekhovskalashnikov.com/human-waste-disposal/

5) You may find useful this even lower-cost, largely recycled ArborLoo design that we did in Ecuador:
inodoroseco.blogspot.com/2012/08/scroll-...nglish-en-abril.html

Good luck with everything and please continue to keep us informed of your news.

Best wishes,
Chris Canaday

Dear Chris,
I think it is your internet, because it worked fine for me (both links). But the file is indeed 6 MB large. I will check with Elmer if he can produce a lower resolution version.
Meanwhile, I will send it to you by e-mail.

Regards,
Elisabeth

P.S. Here is the lower resolution version (2.2 MB)

Hi Elmer and everyone,

I look forward to seeing your publication, but I could not download it by either of the two links that were given. (Maybe my internet connection here in Ecuador is too slow, but I did give it lots of time.)

Keep up the good work.

Best wishes,
Chris

Hello Friend, Greetings.. May we introduce our new write-up describing our experience using humanure from the dry toilets into tree growing activities with small farmers as partners in the endeavor. The problems of biodiversity loss, poverty and deterioration of soils in the rural areas is a vicious cycle which if left unchecked would lead to a downward spiral of poverty and pauperism. Meanwhile tree planting activities suffer from lack of fertilizer thereby mortality of trees is high and growth stunted. Why not use human waste in tree growing activities? This publication demonstrates the various dry toilet systems we are using, waste collection and fertilizer production techniques, seedling nursery development, tree growing and field management activities. This is our contribution to the dearth in literature on the use of human waste in agriculture. Although this publication describes humanure-based fertilizer for medium-scale agro-reforestation initiative, the techniques can well be used in small tree planting schemes and household-level tree planting activities.

Read on friends...


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Note by moderator (EvM): As of today, this publication is also in the SuSanA library here, it is the 5th document in the list of Elmer's documents:
www.susana.org/lang-en/library?view=ccbktypeitem&type=2&id=1785

Below also the lower resolution version (2 MB)