If this is the wrong section, can someone move it?

How can we pee in the house without flushing the toilet? It seems like such a waste of water to flush after every use and I don't want to let it sit there either.

I've read about people peeing into sawdust buckets but don't know the best way to do this or how to dispose of it.

Looking for suggestions!

I used a lidded 10 litre (2 gallon) bucket then tip it on the compost heap every day or two.

Burra Maluca wrote:I used a lidded 10 litre (2 gallon) bucket then tip it on the compost heap every day or two.

Do you keep sawdust in it?

No I don't - if you do you just end up with stinky sawdust that needs burying to keep the smell at bay. If it's just liquid pee, then it will pour *into* the compost heap and the smell (and nitrogen) stays in the heap.

I also use it on mulch around plants to keep critters away, but I'd still rather pour it on rather than try to mulch with pissy sawdust.

On a related note, I did experiment with a 'pee-bale' when we had a male wwoofer. Never again - it was the most revolting job dealing with that quantity of wet stinky straw, and it was heavy, too. Give me a bucket any day!

Our pee bucket for years has been a five gallon bucket with a toilet seat balanced on top when necessary. We cycle through three or four buckets so there is no odor build up and also start with five or six inches of water in the bottom and no sawdust, etc.....we empty the bucket once a day onto compost or certain garden plants or just garden edges. These buckets are used for garden water hauling and rain water catching also but never mixed with the humanure buckets.

edited to add...we have a lot of garden areas, leaf piles, forty acres and no close neighbors. If we were on a small lot with limited space it would take more thought.

I use a jug with a good airtight lid for urine collection. I find that if I get lazy and go weeks without emptying it, and use the 'normal' facilities instead, there is no smell when I empty into the compost. My understanding is that you only get a strong odor when in the presence of oxygen.

I find urine to be such a valuable pick-me-up plant food that usually I'm using it either direct (pre-planting) or diluted 4-5 to 1 in water as a topdress. So, personally, I use a gallon jug and it goes out daily. My wife uses a geriatric seat with a bucket, which goes to a wood-shaving compost daily....because this urine may contain menstrual residue, it ends up cycling into our long-term humanure system, which uses a separate geriatric seat and 5 gallon bucket. Urine is my way of growing completely awesome corn and brassicas.....they just love that nitrogen!

I use a jug at night, and dispose it readily on top of herb pile in the morning.
It seems that a natural component of urine turns quickly nitrogen into ammonia...
i would like to share thoughts about this site: http://www.eautarcie.com/en/05a.html
The man is a scientist and has inquired for 20 years, so I thought it might be worthwhile seeing if we make so many mistakes as he says!

" in form of ammonia, nitrogen can only oxidize when it ends up in nature. Thus are formed toxic nitrous ions (NO2-), which oxidize into nitrates (NO3-). Stored urine becomes a concentrate ammonium nitrate solution (= chemical fertilizer) containing also nitrite ions. "

He does not say in how much time he considers that urine is stored. Just seem to be as fast as a few hours!

I find, that if I store urine for plants/garden, etc. that it works best in 1/2 liter bottles working up to gallon jugs to inhibit odor by suppressing the contact with ozygen. If you just start with a gallon jug it will smell before it's full, due to exposure. However, if urine does get to the point of offgassing ammonia, the addition of some LAB to it, stops it, because the LAB feeds on the ammonia and adds to the plant nutrient value when you use it, as such. This is also why it is so good to spray down your stalls, coops and deep litter for odor and pathogenic maintenance.

What is LAB please?

About the website I mention, I would like to know if those informations are now obsolete, thanks to new informations that might have been found...

Lactic Acid Bacteria as in probiotics, like you would make with milk or salt for a ferment and applied to meat, fruit or vegetables.

Can we make LAB ourselves? I do not see myself spoiling yogurt like this... I prefer not to make ammonia!
And I thought bacteria were feeding on sugars...

Xisca - Didn't you look at Bryan McGrath's, Prokashi.com site? He has a lot of good videos up on how do to all of it...

Thanks it looks great!
About eautarcie site I mentioned, he says we could be doing improper things without knowing it, if he is right.
And he was among the 1st do research about compost toilets,
he is a university scientist
and he researched 20 years.

BUT he might be obsolete too!
Worth sorting out...