Using the toilet is an activity best kept behind closed doors. Only minutes are spent in there and there’s not much to talk about anyway. You go in, sit down, do your business and…flush. But this is the step people should be talking about.
A single person flushes a toilet an average of four times a day. According to a study done by the American Waterworks Association, toilets use 31 percent of the water in the average home—more than any other appliance.
The typical flush sends 1.6 gallons down the drain and into a maze that leads to a wastewater plant where the water is treated and disinfected.
In the 1950s, toilets used as much as 7 gallons per flush—by the 1980s this had been reduced to 3.6. In 1992, the National Energy Policy Act went into effect and the federal government began requiring that new toilets use no more than 1.6 gallons every flush.
But even with the strides that have been made over the past 50 years, flushing the toilet is literally flushing money and resources down the drain. However, in the last decade, three types of toilet technology have floated to the surface. These composting toilets, waterless urinals and dual-flush toilets could save households and businesses around the world a lot of water.
At least 36 states, including Washington, will experience water-shortages by 2013 because of increased water use and old, inefficient water management technology, the Environmental Protection Agency reported in 2008.
According to the U.S. Geological Survey, the U.S. used more than 148 trillion gallons of fresh water in 2000—that’s enough to drown Washington State with more than 10.5 feet of water.
IslandWood Environmental Learning Center on Bainbridge Island realized the reality of these statistics and decided to blaze a trail—using composting toilets, waterless urinals and dual-flush toilets in their facility. When the learning center was built in 2001, the staff made a commitment to preserving the environment, according to facilities manager Dave Newcomb. If nature calls, students use composting toilets along the learning center’s outdoor trails.
Composting toilets are waterless systems that churn human excrement into a muck called humus that can be used the same way as fertilizer.
There are a couple different styles of composting toilet systems. One consists of a standard toilet bowl that drains to a large compartment located beneath the building. The compost then builds up in the compartment and moisture, oxygen, earthworms and microorganisms help decompose the material.
Many parks and islands, such as some in the San Juans, don’t have sewer systems. This style of toilet is often selected in these cases and can be built without the help of a company.
Composting Toilet Systems, Inc. (CTS), a company based out of Newport, Wash., builds composting toilets for those who aren’t so handy.
Not a lot needs to be done to maintain a composting toilet, CTS manager John Hinchliff said. A bulking agent such as wood chips, coarse sawdust or bark is added to start the composting process. Other compostable materials such as banana peels, tea bags and egg shells can also be thrown into the mix. Every 50 to 100 uses, a gallon of bulking agent is added to the tank, and every 1,000 to 1,500 uses, the composting material should be mixed with a pitchfork, Hinchilff said.
Biolet, a company that distributes Swedish-made composting toilets, offers a second option.
The system is smaller, about the size of a standard toilet bowl, but uses electricity to break down the compost. After each fecal use, bulking material is added through the bowl instead of flushing. A compartment under the toilet holds the composted waste and is removed by the user when it is full.
Newcomb said there are four outdoor systems along the trails on IslandWood campus and two indoor systems that can handle two bowls each. This is more than enough accommodation for the 8,000 people that visit the learning center each year, he said. Only a quarter of human feces is comprised from solids—the rest is just water.
"After 7 years, we haven’t needed to harvest any compost from the containers. The toilets in the facility won’t be full for another 5 years and the ones along the trail won’t need to be emptied for another 20," Newcomb said.
But these systems raise some sanitation concerns. Human waste carries harmful bacteria, and owners of composting toilets are advised not to come in contact with the composting material for six months to a year.
The finished product of a composting toilet is classified as domestic septage, according to the Whatcom County Health Department’s Environmental Health Specialist Kyle Dodd. This classification allows humus to be applied to forest and agricultural land, but it cannot be deposited in areas where the public would have contact with the land—like a lawn or home garden.
Another downside is that they are expensive. At Home Depot, a Biolet toilet for a three-person household sells for nearly $2,000 and the price goes up from there.
But despite the cost, buildings around the Northwest have started to make the switch to composting toilets. The C.K. Choi Building for the Institute of Asian Research at the University of British Columbia opened in 1996 with 10 composting toilets.
For toilets that deal solely with liquid waste, going completely waterless is a viable option.
Waterless urinals look like standard urinals in most men’s rooms, but they have one piece missing—a way to flush.
Liquid waste travels through the drain where it reaches a cartridge, according to Sloan, a company that makes waterless urinals. Inside the cartridge is a floating layer of biodegradable solution that filters the urine. Because the solution is less dense than urine, it floats above the urine, creating a seal that keeps odors to a minimum, collects sediments and allows the urine to pass through to the drain. Each cartridge boasts about 7,000 uses – all without the use of water.
Chuckanut Brewery in downtown Bellingham uses this new technology in their men’s rooms, and manager Mari Kemper said she’s glad they chose to go waterless.
"It saves us a lot of money," Kemper said. "Water is expensive and we’re happy saving as much of it as we can."
This attitude of water-saving toilets is catching many in its swirl—including Western.
The Academic Instructional Center (AIC) opened to students in early 2009 featuring water-saving dual-flush toilets—complete with a handle treated to protect the user from germs.
The directions are simple—pull the handle up for liquid waste, push it down for solids.
Solid waste will flush with a federally regulated 1.6 gallons, but dual-flush toilets allow liquid waste to use half that amount.
Caroma Industries, an Australian-based company, created dual-flush toilets in 1980. Dual-flush toilets are capable of saving 68 percent of the water used by toilets, according to Caroma. Regular toilets use a siphon, a tube that allows liquid to drain from one chamber to a lower one, to flush waste. Dual-flush toilets use a larger diameter trap that allows the water to flow freely and quickly down the drain. When the liquid waste option is chosen, only half the trap opens and half the water is used in the process.
Steve Morrow, the plumbing shop supervisor at Western, said dual-flush toilets will makea measurable difference after Miller Hall is renovated, starting in the spring of 2009. Morrow said the plan is to replace all the old toilets with the dual-flush variety.
"We can take most toilets on campus and convert them to dual-flush," Morrow said. "There’s been some talk about a project like that but there hasn’t really been anything done about it because of the way the budget is now."
But dual-flush toilets are comparable in price to standard toilets. Prices range from about $260 to $1000 for a top-of-the-line system while standard toilets cost at about $200.
Online companies like SelectAFlush also sell kits to convert standard toilets to the dual-flush variety. This option is less expensive—kits range from $30 to $75— and can easily be installed by a homeowner.
So it’s time to start thinking about the step before you wash your hands. The direction you push the handle or the urinal you use could determine how much water your state has left by 2013. Using your toilet could even help feed farmland—and leave enough water to irrigate it.
Alexis Tahiri studies public relations and music. He has been published in The Western Front.