Composting Toilet & Reedbed Systems
In the driest state in the Worlds driest continent the average family sends more than 500 litres of water down the drain each day, half of it simply flushing the loo. Having exhausted the Murray we have still failed to adjust the way our homes run to effectively reduce the waste of our most precious resource.
However the extraordinarily simple modular domestic reedbed uses waste water from your shower, toilet, sink etc, which then flows through a septic tank, removing oils and heavy solids and then into a reedbed, a large waterproof bin set into the ground. The bin is filled with gravel and in it grow reeds which purify the water, leaving it ready to be used for irrigating fruit trees, a perennial ornamental garden or woodlot via a small submersible pump in a sump at the end of the reedbed.
A number of the systems have been installed around SA with full approval from the Environmental Health Branch and are working well.
Suppliers of Compost Toilets & Wastewater Systems
Info People
- Consultant: Glenn Marshall - Water Ways Asia Pacific, Alice Springs | Phone: (08) 8952 4942 | Email: aridlec@ozemail.com.au
- Builder designer and installer: Chas Martin - Sellicks Beach, South Australia | Phone: (08) 8557 4192
- Tony Farror - Dept of Health, South Australia | Phone: (08) 8226 7161
Books
- 'Creating an Oasis with Greywater' - Art Ludwig
- 'Goodbye to the Flush Toilet' - Carol Hupping Stoner, Rodale Press
- 'The Humanure Handbook' - JC Jenkins
- 'The Sustainable House' - Michael Mobbs, 1998, Choice Books
Book Shops
These organisations produce good catalogues (most sell the books listed above):
- Granny Smiths Book Shop - 208 Nicholson Rd, Subiaco, WA 6008
- Green Harvest - 52 Crystal Waters, QLD 4552 | Phone: (07) 5494 4676
- The Good Life Book Club - PO Box 2, Trentham, VIC 3458 | Phone: (03) 5424 1814
- Acres Australia - Phone: 1800 801 467
Websites
- Deptartment of Health - South Australia
- Deptartment of environment and heritage - good resource site
- Technology assessment for reedbed systems in the US - reedbeds & constructed wetlands
- Some basic composting information
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Reedbed under construction for Learning Centre at Food Forest |
Completed reedbed with 'loo with a view' |
