compost toilet - which system?

I hate using our rainwater to flush the toilet and I hate flushing fertilizer down the drain. However I do not looking forward to handle buckets full of poo or cleaning stinky compost chambers.
Which composting toilet system can you recommend? There are continuous systems and batch systems and I lean towards the batch system, because if you empty the chamber you will always have uncomposted poo mixed in. On the other hand there are some complicated looking batch systems and I only imagine if that fails you have to clean the whole thing out, certainly not a work anyone would put its hand up.
We would build a toilet/laundry connected to the house and it would have approx. 70 cm of clearing or a bit more if we build a step up.
What are your experiences?
BTW how do I clean a composting toilet? I usually use bicarb vinegar and some drops of eucalyptus oil. This would not be good as eucalypt does kill bugs. What do you think of sun-mar?

Hey Angelika,

I just saw a system today that FINALLY looks like something that will fit our situation up here in Western Montana. It's called the Santerra Green V Series Composting Toilet. It is a low water system and is a vacuum flush system, meaning we can actually put it on grade with the toilet rather than have to have the toilet on a second floor or dig a huge hole to put the composting system below. You can even get an additional composting tank for large, and I mean large (8-12 people) families! Not cheap at around $3500 but more than $6000 cheaper than the estimate we got for the septic out here. With that and a grey water system, we may be able to only have very minimal plumbing before it would be ready for use. And guess what - LOWE'S carries them!

I have sent an email to Lake County Eviro to see about what permits if any are required.

Nettie

Thanks! I think it s not available in Australia. But this system works without carrying yucky buckets around and cleaning them out.

I make users of the facilities change the bucket.

Reduce the smell.

I do daily- weekly small bucket changes and top up a compost pile just as you would handle an animal shelter.

I modify the smell with liberal use of Cypress Lelandii x conifer mulch.
The fine mulch excludes air and soaks up liquid and is acidic and breaks down quick and seems to break down the manure quickly.

It's a mix of urine in the bucket

This is the composting toilet that Watershed Management Group (Tucson, Arizona) is in the process of getting permitted through the Department of Environmental Quality so that it is available technology for all Arizonans. The cost to build is around $300 and the materials are readily available in almost all parts of the world. Can be used indoors or outdoors.

I used a couple of these while I was in Tucson last month and they were great!

Have you actually tried using compost systems first hand? We have used a sawdust/bucket system for many years and love it. There really is no smell or unpleasantness if done properly (ie using plenty of sawdust) and very minimal cleaning either.

Best of all you can get setup for under £50 - all you need is some plastic buckets of the same size, a toilet seat and some wood to make a stand. Sawdust we get fRee in cubic meter bags from a local chestnut sawmill. I recommend reading the Humanure Handbook and at least giving it a fair trial before discounting it.

We've had a composting toilet using the Humanure Handbook in our house for the last 2-3 years or maybe a bit longer. It works beautifully. We have two buckets that we swap in and out. We put a lid on the bucket to carry it across the yard to the compost pile. With sawdust (actually in our case usually planer shavings) sprinkled on top, the bucket is completely inoffensive for carrying. Dumping into the compost is quick, and then we rinse the bucket with a hose and pour the liquid onto the pile. We put a couple of inches of shavings on the bottom of the empty bucket.

We have had a couple of commercial composting toilet systems previously. This system is much easier. A bonus for us is that in the event of a power failure, absolutely nothing changes.