Vermitoilet issue after ~3 years

Hi Folks,

I built a vermitoilet using http://www.vermicompostingtoilets.net, main schema below



I've started using it (family of 6) early 2023, it has been good so far but 2 days ago, I found out all my worms were dead, the drainage is not working anymore, they were all drown. See picture below



I have 2 IBC tanks, the other one was never used yet. I had a lot of tree branches and large wood pieces for slow carbon release in the active tank, see picture below showing the other passive tank were I moved all the branches from active tank. Initially when I set up my tank, I added a lot of quick release carbon, wood chip, cardboard but it got depleted, and because all the branches, I couldn't mix it up.



I think my system failed as the tank was lacking fast release wood chip to mix up with the rest, without it / carbon, it becomes to thick an blocked the drainage. Slow release carbon is fine but my branches were too long, preventing to mix it with new coarse wood piece.

The interesting bit, is on the 1st of June 2025, so not long ago, I saved all my worms from drowning,  I had a blocked pipe, I fixed it and the water in the IBC tank flushed perfectly! I was really happy not having to dig into it more ... which I am doing now. So between 1st of June 2025 perfect drainage and now total failure, something happened. It was warmer than usual in Ireland, I guess it speed up the process of decomposition and led to this situation.

My plan is to:

1. Add more wood chip, the easiest to get in Ireland, to bring back the tank to a good consistency, good ratio carbon/poo & vermicast.
2. I will cut in small piece now my slow release carbon and may keep only one large for worms in case of, so I can mix the fast release carbon correctly. 
3. I will start using the 2 tanks, I will switch between the 2 tanks every 6 months, something like this.

What do you think?

What do you all think? Any experience?

Thanks a mill,
J

Looking at the diagram, my first reaction is that there appears to be a way for stagnant water to pool in the bottom of the container. The successful vermicompost (vermiseptic?) systems that I've seen don't have any liquid remaining in the worm bin...it all drains away to a reed bed, lagoon, or secondary settling tank.

If I were to design one of these, I'd use stainless steel mesh to support the wood chips well above the bottom and have a large-diameter drain at the point of lowest elevation. That way the water drains through the active worm area and anything smaller than the mesh opening falls through and is flushed out. The design you have is prone to blockage as the worm castings build up around the perforated pipe and eventually encroach on the holes.

Phil Stevens wrote:Looking at the diagram, my first reaction is that there appears to be a way for stagnant water to pool in the bottom of the container. The successful vermicompost (vermiseptic?) systems that I've seen don't have any liquid remaining in the worm bin...it all drains away to a reed bed, lagoon, or secondary settling tank.

If I were to design one of these, I'd use stainless steel mesh to support the wood chips well above the bottom and have a large-diameter drain at the point of lowest elevation. That way the water drains through the active worm area and anything smaller than the mesh opening falls through and is flushed out. The design you have is prone to blockage as the worm castings build up around the perforated pipe and eventually encroach on the holes.

I think that’s what the diagram is showing, though, no?

Can't really tell...I'm looking at the gravel layer at the bottom and imagining what happens as worm castings build up in the voids. I think the bigger issue is a combination of the outlet diameter plus the size of the holes in the vertical drain riser. As they plug up, the water level rises until it looks like what we see in the photo, which is what drowned the worms.

PS: My sheep love apple cores! I'm a little bit puzzled as to the provenance of this one, though.

I've looked in detail at the instructions on the website mentioned in the original post. I think this is a poor design and prone to the exact sort of failure that Julien experienced. As the high-carbon material breaks down and worm castings accumulate, the drain will block.

The Wormorator is how this can be done right.

https://www.waterflow.co.nz/products/wastewater-products/naturalflow-system/

Disclaimers: I don't know them, but I have seen one of their first-generation systems installed after several years of use and it was working perfectly. There was a clear space between the wood chips and the water outlet. Happy worms, no blockage, and an oasis of clear water at the foot of the food forest downslope.

M Ljin, thanks for sharing your experience!  Major factors affecting drainage include:

1) Media:  Must be fast draining.  Mixing sizes of media, or mixing media that breaks down at different rates (resulting in different size media over time) can run the risk of packing and preventing flow.  vermifilter.com recommends media that breaks down more slowly, like pine bark.  The Institute for Transformative Technologies is leaning toward non-organic media that won't break down.  The same principle applies with the gravel layer.

2) Surface Area: The surface area needed for a primary digester depends on the number of people, whether or not toilet paper is used, and if you're adding greywater (higher hydraulic loading rate).  If you're flushing toilet paper, vermicompostingtoilets.net recommends a maximum of 4 people per IBC tote.

3) Worm Population: Without enough worms to keep the media porous, it can clog.  Worms in general work faster at higher temperatures, but they can die if it is too hot.

4) Outlet Drainage: I believe some systems have failed because they require pumps at the output to lift the effluent.  If the pump fails or outlet backs up, the system can back up.

In the images you show, I wonder if the vertical perforated pipe (drainage assembly) is more likely to clog given how close it is to the inlet where fresh deposits are made.  Is there a way to move it in the corner, or perhaps all 4 corners?  I plan to use the "drainage assembly" design at vermifilter.com, where all 4 walls can drain, reducing the chance of killing the worms should something clog.  You could line the walls of the IBC tote with drainage cells to achieve a similar level of drainage assurance.

Thanks all for your answers, it's much appreciated!.

The design is solid, Wendy in the original website has been using this efficiently, I've asked for her opinion also, but her website forum is probably not actively monitored ...

Couple of answers regarding a few points raised
- Metal mesh will rust, that's why plastic is better
- No pump here, it drains to the green filter using gravity
- The perforated pipe can drain correctly, if I put water on the top, water is flowing, no problem, it proved the pipe position is good, no inlet get in. I have also a mesh covering the top, it has been destroyed.
Having multiple pipes will make the system more resilient, but I'm still not sure where the failure is exactly.
- I have proper drainage stone chipping covering the pipe, I have hole in the pipe under the chipping in case the other holes clogged up, then a plastic mesh, it should prevent this to clog.

The issue is either with
- The holes in the vertical drain riser that clogged up but the bottom one should had helped.
- The mesh itself to small.
And / or the current mix/soup of poo/vermitoilet due to the lack of fast carbon. I think it is the most likely issue to me, I've bought some wood chip, I will restore a better texture and see if the drainage improved. My point, even if with the best drainage, you have a mix that cannot drain because the texture, there is nothing you can do ...

On the 1st of June 2025, see the pic below, it was just after saving the worms as I had the pipe between the IBC tank and green filter clogged up, I fixed it quickly, and then water flushed away really quick, perfect drainage. I struggle to see how come I came from perfect to almost non-existent draining in not even 2 months. I know I repeat myself but I think it is important.



Thanks again!
Julien

just finishing off my version of the wendy howard  system , just bought a large bag of bark chippings  and wait for delivery , also in ireland , so it was a good read about your system ,i have been a longtime convert but only recently built up something---part of my slow progression to off grid and taking responsibility for my output and lessen the pollution of groundwater. Did you have to insulate your IBC  ---i have sourced the worms from an old dung heap out in the elements ---they dont seem to be effected by the colder ===although milder ----winters we have mostly ===,,and did your system recover and start up again ,cheers ,tony