Hey again folks!
I am going to have a chat with Paul et all in about 10 days about this subject/ situation. Here are some more details about my set up with a couple pics of my current bathroom that I would like to potentially turn into a dry toilet situation.
Background:::
My NE Portland home was built in 1924. It is (as are many houses from this era in this neighborhood) not connected to the city sewer; the waste goes to a cesspool that is below a concrete pad on the north side of our house.
While I was away from home about 6 weeks ago, the cesspool failed and we had blackwater and solid waste backup into our basement. Luckily my housemate was on hand to take care of the disaster. The plumbers that came out sent a scope down and noted that there was a large crack in the concrete pipe that conducts the sewage from the house to the cesspool. They said that the main cause of the clog was toilet paper, so we have been using water to wash and putting all toilet paper in the waste basket for now, but I know this is only a temporary solution.
It was always my plan to set up an outhouse and dry toilet system, and now I absolutely must get this plan into action as soon as possible.
The city of Portland charges about 22K just as a connection fee to hook up to the city sewer system, and this does not include the materials and labor for the connection process. I would rather invest in a dry toilet system and outhouse.
The biggest challenge (as with any system of this sort) from my perspective is to figure out how to streamline maintenance. We are a community of artists and musicians, with very full and busy lives. Then there is the added challenge of being a community hub. We host workshops, musical shows, movies, pizza parties and lots of community events. It is a great honor to hold space in this way, but, to be blunt, it does put stress on our systems and should be considered when designing the toilet//outhouse.
The parameters that we are looking at :::
~system design to either replace completely or augment existing flush toilet system on the cesspool (built in 1920s)
~in my estimation, we will absolutely need to build an outhouse (and we do have space on the property for one, site map to be sent soon)
~the system will be used frequently by up to 6 residents as well as an occasional influx of guests, ie we had about 80 people at our pizza party the other night, for example, which is not typical but does happen occasionally
For our consultation.......
~I hope to discuss whether you suggest we set up some type of dry toilet system in our more conventional house bathroom in addition to the outhouse.
~I hope to work out some type of dry toilet design that will be manageable for our community and an outhouse
~The bathroom is quite small: 60x54 (not including shower)
~I want to also include a site map and discuss a possible outhouse….. im trying to update our site map atm. Our property is a little over 1/4 acre. (Double lot in portland or).
