Burton Sparks

Yen, congratulations on the system working so well!  It would be great to see current pictures and details.  How cold and hot does it get where you're at?  Have you needed to add any bulk substrate like wood chips to your bin, or just periodic greens and vegetables?  Is your greywater system a pipe to daylight in a banana circle?  More info on that would be nice as well.

It should be very doable. Simple compost bins can be made from 4 pallets, a round of wire mesh fencing or cattle panels, cinder blocks, hay bales, a trench in the ground, etc.. To make sure we recommend solutions that work for your situation, can you clarify what you mean by the following?

Blake Lenoir wrote:free from critters... anytime throughout the year

To really dial in a solution, here are some questions that might help: What type of critters are you trying to protect from?  What type of things are you trying to compost (food scrapes, grass clippings, manure, smelly, etc.)? How cold does it get? Is it very windy, dry, or rainy?  Will you be adding to it weekly, or filling it all at once? How much do you have to compost? Do you want an easily removable wall for access? Are you trying to cook at temperatures high enough to kill pathogens? How nice does it need to look?

J.P. Glad you're finding this site helpful!

J.P. Waters wrote:default view that shows last reply first and also shows

Not exactly what you were after, but if you hit Reply in desktop view you'll see the posts listed in last reply first order below the editor box.

John C Daley wrote:What is the overall advantage of what you are doing?
Are you creating more work than necessary with this project?
Is water conservation a high priority?

John, sorry, I missed your message earlier.  The advantage I'm after is having a more useful output than what I have been able to achieve from composting toilets, ensure my family isn't without a toilet as my back has been giving me more trouble, and hopefully provide a closed loop nutrient waste management option that is easier for some people to adopt.  I've never been pleased with the toilet compost quality despite years of iterations, which is so frustrating after studying composting down to the microscope level.  The resulting compost becomes hydrophobic and doesn't grow anything.  I get better quality compost from leaving a pile of spent hay and manure in the winter animal yard for years, even if the animals play on it.

As far as more work, I'm assuming you're referring to the waste management solution.  I currently spend hours every week managing the toilet compost system, whether it is -27F or 100F outside, snowing, raining, etc..  I collect spent hay for pile cover material, hydrate animal manures in hopes of adding biodiversity to the toilet material and helping it reliably cook at pathogen killing temperatures, etc..  My hope is that going to the bathroom will "automatically" irrigate wind block trees, useful shrubs, and animal fodder... much different than a typical leach field.

Water conservation is a big priority.  While we were on a septic system, we were told we needed to flush a ton of water to keep the biology healthy.  The vermicomposting system does not require that, and there are ways to keep it happy for months without any water.  If I'm having to use water to help establish trees to moderate the climate, it might as well have added nutrients the plants will benefit from.

Good to know an upper bound. Thank you!!!

Bob Hutton wrote:no less than 1/4" per 12 feet to 1/2" per 12 feet absolute maximum.

Bob, the State permit says "minimum slope of 1⁄4 inch per foot (2%)", did you mean 1/4" per 12 inches to 1/2" per 12 inches?

In our home we built, I separated the toilet blackwater line from all other greywater, which is allowed by our local codes.  I've done humanure composting for years, and the goal is to build a Flush Vermicomposting Toilet this coming Spring.  Should I be concerned about a toilet-only pipe run in terms of whether the solids will make it that far?

I used 3in plumbing for the toilet (same size as the toilet outlet).  The line goes about 8ft, then has one 45degree turn, then a 70ft run so far.  I have yet to connect the rest.  I'm hoping to keep the run <100ft with no more turns to avoid needing a cleanout as I hear they can hinder flow in blackwater lines.  I opted for the smaller 3in line allowed by code (vs 4in) because it should keep the water around the solids better, leading to more pressure.  We've purchased a low flow flush toilet, and there are 8-10 full time residents.  The line is run maybe a little on the high side of a 1/4in drop per foot (quarter bubble).

When my in-laws had an advanced enviro-septic system installed to replace a failing leach field, they were told that septic tanks, and possibly leach fields, needed a lot of water to keep the biology happy.  Based on input on this thread I did some research to see if I could find a minimum.  To my surprise, I found no minimum indicated anywhere.  Even the manufacturer of the septic system confirmed there was no set minimum.  Obviously if you get too dry you could interfere with the anaerobic biology in the septic tank or dry out the biological mat in the leach field, but evidently the current push on the internet is to minimize water into the tank on my side of the world.

In researching the system we've designed for our new house, I had looked at reed beds and related treatments.  I love how natural they are, but it may be helpful to pass along a hesitancy I had: they need to be replaced or replenished on the order of every 10years or so, plus annual removal of dead plant debris.  One particular version that I thought might be fun to try though in our temperate climate was wastewater gardens.  Our current plan is a worm composting based flush toilet design with both warm-weather surface discharge and freezing weather subsurface discharge that should be able to handle roots of trees, shrubs, and other deep-rooted plants.

R. Scott and Rico Loma, I appreciate the comment about blackwater alone.  Do you have any more information on that?  Is that for the pipe run or the tank?  I've only heard that comment once before, I think related to an advertisement for a dipper device that helped extend the length a toilet-only pipe run could go.  We built our house with greywater plumbing separate from toilet-only blackwater plumbing, and purchased low-flow toilets.  I've wondered if the long pipe run out to our future treatment location could be an issue that might be helped with a higher volume flush toilet.  We hope to build the treatment system next Spring.

J.P. I noticed this comment from Lawren Richards here who mentioned having done mycoremediation.  You may be able to send Lawren a Purple Moosseage.

Carmen, welcome to the forum!  Can you provide an image of the general greenhouse structure?  Is it arched, or peaked?  What is the structure made of (e.g. PVC, metal, or wood)?  Is it a prefabricated greenhouse or homemade?  It sounds like you're using a plastic cover that is not fitted/seamed.

We've bent metal electrical conduit to make different shaped low tunnel greenhouses and arched cattle panels to make taller greenhouses.  I wonder if either of those could be shaped to match your roof.  Small diameter PVC pipes are also used as supports in some arched greenhouses.  Alternatively, could you stretch the cover material tighter?