Composting Toilets

Our local Nevada County Board of Supervisors has approved the use of Sun-Mar Composting Toilets in residential applications. Many other counties are considering doing the same. If in doubt, check with your local government.Sun Mar composting toilets use the natural processes of decomposition and evaporation to recycle human waste. By recycling toilet waste in this way, no septic tanks, no holding tanks and no chemicals are required. Sun Mar composting toilets do not break the cycle of nature, nor do they have the inconvenience of the old outhouse.Like the compost heap in the garden, Sun Mar composting toilets allow human waste, toilet paper, and organic material to break down through a natural process. Heat, oxygen, moisture, and organic material are needed for microbes to transform human waste into good fertilizing soil. Heat is generated by the compost and/or heating element. Oxygen is provided by the ventilation system. Organic material is introduced by adding peat moss. The waste entering the toilet is approximately 90% water content, which is evaporated and carried up the vent stack. The remaining material is transformed into an inoffensive earth-like substance.Because Sun-Mar makes its units out of fiberglass and high grade stainless steel, freezing temperatures will not damage the toilet. Composting action, however, decreases as the temperature drops, so extended winter use requires that the toilet be kept at a minimum temperature of about 60oF (15oC) and the vent pipe be well insulated. For periodic use in the winter, the toilet may be used as a "holding tank," until the compost warms up and the microbes emerge from dormancy.