flooding

Submitted by Pilgrim (not verified) on Mon, 19/10/2009 - 20:31

recently a group of community development staff from edf, a lao ngo, visited us. they have a question; 'what happens if a dct is flooded. will it still compost. what can be done with it. what about danger.'

Submitted by geoffrey on Mon, 13/08/2018 - 08:36

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Flooding is not good for dry composting toilets but it does happen and it can be coped with. There are 2 aspects to flooding: preventing the spread of disease and composting.

  • First, don't build a dry composting toilet in an area where flooding occurs such as adjacent to a low lying river. Second, make sure that even in an area where flooding does not occur, build the dry composting toilet slightly elevated and with an anti-capillary barrier to prevent ground moisture from being sucked up into the the composting feces.
  • When flooding does occur, care must be taken to provide for a clean water supply until the danger of contamination of the water supply has passed.  If possible, contain any fecal matter that has leaked out.
  • Finally, dry out the composting chamber. Open the access door and the deposit hole cap to provide good air flow. This may take a few weeks.