Buckets, batches and the collection cult

The digital environment opens endless opportunities to share and gather knowledge - some good, some bad - and to observe modern culture in evolution.

Conversations about compost toilets lately seem to be dominated by discussions about various batch style compost systems - many of them DIY. Everything from a bucket in a wooden box, to big wheelie bin systems you roll out into a paddock. They're all the same - they collect waste in a container, they have a fan-driven ventilation system and an excess fluid drain. They are not composting toilets - they are waste collection systems.

Conversations on the topic, particularly on social media platforms, have been hijacked lately by the 'cult of collection' - conversations based on the premise that compost toilet systems are only ever waste collection systems in various forms and degrees of sophistication. Wrong.

REAL composting toilets don't just collect waste, they process it. A continuous process composting system produces finished, innocuous, odourless compost that can be easily reintroduced to the landscape.

Batch systems certainly have a place, and they do serve a purpose in some circumstances. They're generally pretty cheap and 'good enough' for convenience or ocassional use - 'good enough' for the weekender. But in a permanent family household you'll soon get tired of moving, storing and emptying containers of waste.

The good news is, you don't have to!

A good compost toilet system introduces oxygen into the pile to create a healthy oxygen-rich aerobic environment in which aerobic bacteria thrives. When aerobic bacteria breaks the waste down it gives off water vapour and carbon dioxide - both odourless. A good 'continuous process' system can reduce waste to as little as 5% of its original volume, tranforming it into odourless, pathogen-free material that resembles rich dark soil. 

The first Clivus Multrum compost toilet system was built in 1939 by Rikard Lindstrom, but he didn't patent it until the 1960s. Rikard's beautifully simple design lives on in modern Clivus Multrum systems - it's hard to improve on perfect. A chamber full of loose organic matter (generally wood shavings) with vents & baffles designed to encourage air circulation and create the perfect aerobic environment for a highly efficient composting process.

Add some wood shavings regularly, rake the pile once a month. That's it. Job done.

VIROtech have been supplying Australians with Clivus Multrum composting toilet systems since 1987. Of the hundreds of Clivus Multrum owners across Australia, not one has ever contacted us with a problem. Not many products can claim a record like that.

https://www.virotech.com.au/clivus-multrum.html