Welcome Dear Steemians!
We are documenting our build of a fast and affordable water flushing vermicomposting toilet in the forest of East Lombok, Indonesia
If you're new please check out our previous installments @
https://steemit.com/permaculture/@reville/evolving-the-tiger-toilet-part-1
https://steemit.com/permaculture/@reville/evolving-the-tiger-toilet-part-2
https://steemit.com/permaculture/@reville/evolving-the-tiger-toilet-part-3
https://steemit.com/permaculture/@reville/evolving-the-tiger-toilet-part-4
https://steemit.com/permaculture/@reville/evolving-the-tiger-toilet-part-6
Now the Ferro cement has set a little it's time to cut the door. Now if you wanted, you can set a door frame in Ferro cement, or cut it out before you apply the mortar, or while it's still wet. Ferro cement is flexible to your choices, we chose to try this method
First marking an archway
And the straight sides
Ferrocement is strong, we cut the door after two days while the mortar is still soft, even so, it takes a ceramic blade to cut through mortar and the wire. We borrowed a generator for the cutting task and use about 2 litres of fuel.
some pieces fell off but the wire is still in place and we will patch these next. Ferro cement is easy to patch and repair
I gave the team the choice of setting the pipe in the foundation or adding afterwards and they preferred to add it afterwards.
I don't disagree because in this system any extra height at the infall is beneficial to the later components, so we try it out. If there's a problem we can always modify it.
We use a 100mm / 4 inch PVC sewer pipe
We chip into the bottom to create a hole for the Toilet pipe
done. Once set we will patch up the hole
This Toilet block can also be used to shower off and the wastewater from this is to run to a separate grey water disposal trench
to install this we chip hole in the side of the tank, enough to fit some 50mm/ 2 inch PVC pipe
the floor will be built up so that all water drains quickly to this pipe and exits the building
While Lombok people prefer a squat toilet, this prototype toilet is to be a business for Amaq Agung to manage and we decided to install a low sit toilet because of the numbers of foreign visitors coming past every day. We have found that foreign guests usually prefer the sitting model.
Users will buy water, either a 5L container for 30 cents, or 10L for 50 cents, or multiples to use the toilet or take a shower. As we say , while the toilet is free, here in dry forest - Water isn't.
In paying for the water they will give Amaq Agung incentive to clean the toilet block and pay for "worm-friendly" soap, provide toilet paper and keeping the water tanks topped up. The wastewater will provide the irrigation for growing mulch and some Wastewater garden safe crops. The water that goes out will help irrigate fruit trees downhills
Once we complete this prototype we will be able to build a second unit with a squat toilet option at another strategic location for wastewater gardens
Sludge splitter or S*^er splitter, the SS box is to allow us to choose to diverts the incoming toilet water to one of two vermifiltration tanks. This is in case of the filling of a tank, which might happen if we were to hold an event at the site and 50 people used it all over a few days. It’s also in case there's a failure due to worm death, this might possibly happen if someone had just taken worming medicine and then used our toilet on their first pass. In case of failure we would change tanks, leaving the affected tank to rest for 30 days and the wormer medice to biodegrade with the compost microorganisms in the tank. After a month we would change back and flush a kilogram of worms down the toilet to restart the colony.
We don’t have the exact design yet, and it's highly likely that our first design will need a rebuild after testing.
• Simple and able to be built with local skills and materials from any hardware store
• Cheap, no fancy gadgets
• Robust
• No need to open the box (preferable) to shift the diverter
Ideally, a design could be made and perhaps 3D printed that will serve this function , but we are right at the beginning of this design process
It will be built with bricks and mortar, and the shifter will probably be a rigid plastic with a crescent slot in the top that allows it to be shifted from outside the box
This combination technology, using forms that are used to make 5000L and 1350L water tanks, to also build toilet blocks, with vermifiltration is very exciting to us
It's a double solution to the two greatest off-grid problems, and we are doing it with lightweight reusable forms
these forms are easily transported off-grid, into the forest, onto islands and up roads that can't carry heavy traffic
We build the thatch roof and install the Toilet, and figure out how to build the SS box
we will also start to prepare the plants for the wastewater garden
This build is funded by Ecoregions Indonesia, as part of their ongoing support for the people of Sekaroh forest, with a 9 million Indonesian rupiah research and build budget, along with the use of Ecoregions staff hours to make and test the prototype. After some months testing, we hope to also gather some Steem community support to continue prototype and business model development for job creation.
We hope you follow our progress towards a workable solution to these problems that is socially acceptable, economically sound and environmentally beneficial.
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