Vermifilter toilet

Vermifilter toilet, also known as a Vermicomposting toilet, Vermidigester toilet or Tiger worm toilet, is a type of pour flush composting toilet that uses worms (typically Eisenia fetida) as a vermifilter to decompose human excreta.[1]

Description

Vermifilter toilets contain composting worms that digest faeces, thus reducing the accumulation rate, and significantly extending the frequency intervals for the removal of the solid waste. A worm colony can live inside the toilet indefinitely as long as the correct environmental conditions are maintained. In long-term refugee camps, this reduces the need to replace filled pit latrines, and is a more cost-effective solution.[2] Flushing water is required to dilute the ammonia produced from urine, a ventilated aerobic environment must be provided, and the flush water must be able to drain away.

Every 8 to 10 years, maintenance on the toilet must be performed, which consists of removing the accumulated worm castings. The worm castings are suitable as a soil conditioner, and may be used as fertilizer.[3] A typical pit latrine may need to be completely emptied or rebuilt after 2-3 years and often comes with smell and contamination issues.[2] A primary vermifilter provides primary treatment of the liquid effluent generated by humans and worms and decomposes the solids into humus. The filtered waste is not a safe or sanitized material[4] and is normally disposed of in an underground soakage trench or "soakaway".

Examples
  • Bear Valley Ventures has used the brand "Tiger Toilet" for marketing their product.[5][6]
  • Biofilcom, and GSAP Microflush toilet secured funding from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to develop vermifilter toilet technology in Africa.[7]
  • Oxfam also instructs construction of brandless vermifilter toilets.[8][9]

History

Anna Edley constructed a vermicomposting flush toilet in 1995, called the Solviva Biocarbon filter system.[10] Colin Bell from New Zealand began marketing his "wormorator" in the early 2000s, which was a twin-chamber vermifilter toilet.[11][12] Colin provided information on the construction of his "wormorator" to Claire Furlong of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, who had secured grant money from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to develop and field test the technology.[12]

See also

References
  1. Hill, Geoffrey B.; Baldwin, Susan A. (October 2012). "Vermicomposting toilets, an alternative to latrine style microbial composting toilets, prove far superior in mass reduction, pathogen destruction, compost quality, and operational cost". Waste Management. 32 (10): 1811–1820. doi:10.1016/j.wasman.2012.04.023. PMID 22658870.
  2. McBride, Angus; Muturi, Caroline; Githiri, David; Parker, Julian (2017). "Tiger Worm Toilets - Best Practice Guidelines for Refugee Camps" (PDF). humanitarianlibrary. Retrieved 16 December 2019.
  3. Brueck, Hillary (13 January 2019). "A $350 toilet powered by worms may be the ingenious future of sanitation that Bill Gates has been dreaming about". Business Insider. Retrieved 16 December 2019.
  4. Chrobak, Ula (14 August 2019). "These toilets use worms to compost your poop, and they are our future". Popsci. Retrieved 17 December 2019.
  5. Parsons, Jeff (15 January 2019). "The story of Bill Gates and the worm-powered toilet that could change the world". Metro. Retrieved 16 December 2019.
  6. "Tiger Toilet - Bear Valley Ventures". engineeringforchange.org. Retrieved 16 December 2019.
  7. "Vermifilters for blackwater treatment, "worm toilets", "Tiger worm toilet"". SuSanA.
  8. Furlong, Claire; Polson, Lucy (11 April 2019). "Are Communal Tiger Worm Toilets a sustainable option for camps?". Oxfam. Retrieved 16 December 2019.
  9. Guilbert, Kieran (8 March 2017). "Tiger worm toilets turn poo into fertilizer in crowded cities and refugee camps". Reuters. Retrieved 16 December 2019.
  10. "Vermicomposting Toilets - History". Retrieved 16 February 2020.
  11. Haines, Lester (18 December 2007). "Do composting toilet worms get the blues?".
  12. "History of vermifilter toilet and wikipedia article". SuSanA. Retrieved 16 February 2020.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.