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CompostThe community comes into contact with environmental action most frequently through initiatives at local community and government levels to reduce waste through recycling.Recycling is the last stand in the waste stream minimisation practices which start with:- Compost is the corrolary within the the site to the off-site waste removal within material categories such as glass/metals/papers/ and recyclable plastics. Compost on-site deals predominantly with biological materials.
Within buildings, effective recycling including compost depends on
conveniently positioned internal recepticles for segregated wastes and
a clear destination for on-site compost.
Waste treatmentIn waste treatment terms, compost also has a role. While non-septic wastes can be dealt with in biological systems (refer section on waste waters); septic wastes can either be disposed below ground in conventional septic, sand filter or aerobic systems treatment and discharges (refer Health Commission standards); or can be treated for re-use through compost toilets.
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CompostToilets |
Commercial systems are available, technical details are provided by the manufacturers, such as Clivus Multrum, Dowmus, Roto-loo, Natureloo, as so on. On-site constructed systems can also be developed.
The purpose of compost toilets is to retain septic wastes and
treat these in-situ in the chamber with microbe action to
convert the solids to garden fertilisers. Some commercial systems feature single chamber with throughflow of wastes from toilet to fertiliser removal hatch; others rotate a number of drums where active waste is separate from chamber open to fertiliser removal hatch. Compost toilets normally have a sizeable height difference between toilet floor level and external lower fertiliser removal level. The small volume Biolet is the exception. Larger systems therefore are either suited to sloping site locations, or where the toilet floor is raised above outside ground level.
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