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Background :
Situated 15 kilometres north-east of Port Douglas, the Low Isles comprise a four-acre coral cay surrounded by 55 acres of reef within the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Area. Low Isles is a popular tourist destination and attracts thousands of visitors per year. Existing facilities on the island included a composting toilet installed 20+ years ago which is not coping with the visitor numbers and needs upgrading. Low Isles is a highly sensitive site so any toilet system needed to have minimal impact to preserve the integrity of the environment. |
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The Challenge
Low Isles is in a tropical cyclone area (Category 3) and can experience wind gusts up to 224kph. There is no electricity or water on the island, so any new installation had to be stand-alone. The environmentally sensitive World Heritage site dictated the need for a toilet system with little or no environmental impact. Low lsles is a remote site so the building kit had to be lightweight, easily transportable and easily assembled on-site with minimal equipment. The Island is surrounded by saltwater and a highly corrosive environment, so the building, fixtures and fittings had to be non-corrosive and durable. The Solution
A four cubicle fibre reinforced plastic (FRP) kit building and two of our high capacity Clivus Multrum CM40 waterless compost toilet units with a design capacity of 80,000 visits per year. The building was delivered to the Island as complete ‘flat-pack’ kit, including ‘marine grade’ stainless steel fasteners and Colorbond ULTRA sheeting along with the Clivus systems and accessories. A local builder was commissioned for the installation. All structural components of the building are manufactured using highly durable, corrosion proof FRP material, and slip-resistant FRP grating was used for the verandah area and stair treads to increase safety and minimise sand buildup. The waterless Clivus Multrum composting systems require no water for flushing, and with no moving parts (other than a 12V fan) they are inherently reliable. The reliability and low maintenance requirements of the Clivus systems made them the obvious choice. A ‘Zero Discharge Unit’ was incorporated into the design to create a ‘closed-loop’ system. The Facility is fully automated and operates using the solar system supplied as part of the kit. A rainwater tank plumbed to a handbasin completes the package. |
