Table Of ContentUNSEWERED
TOILETS
Ministry Hon, George A. Kerr, Q.6.
of the Minster
Environment — bepuiy
ntario. erty "
CONTENTS
FOREWORD
| INTRODUCTION
I. THE SEPTIC TANK SYSTEM
A. What Doos It Do?
B. How Does It Work?
1, The Tank
2. The Leaching Bed
C. Disadvantages?
HL PRIVIES
AL Pit Privy
1, Construction
2. ProandCon
B. Pail and Vault Privies
V. CHEMICAL TOILETS
A. The Basic Chemistry
B. Pro and Con
©. Variations.
1. Bucket
2. Improvements: Splash Pan and Drep Pipe
3. Recirculating’
4. Portable
V._INCINERATING TOILETS:
Vl, COMPOSTING TOILETS
A. Int-oduction
1, What Composting Is
2. Low Temperature, Flies, and the Vegetsh e Garden
8. Large and Small Units
1. Large Units
2. Smal Units
C. Summary: Composting May Be Right For You
Vil. SOME OF THE OTHERS
A. Septic Toilet
B. Low-Volurne {Minimun-Flush) Tollets
C. Portabie Low-Volume |oilets
D. Continuous Aeration Systems
APPENDIX!
Regulation to Amend Ontario Regulation 229/74
TABLEL Unsewered Toilets: Ar Aid to Decision
10
14
16
25
28
34
FOREWORD
There are about 300,000 cot-
tages in Ontario, occupicd gener
ally by well over 1.2 million people
for part of the year. One of the main
problems all cottagers have ir
common is that of the disposal of
hurnan waste.
Where the toilet facilities can
be connected ta a municipal sew-
age system, the soluton is obyi-
ous. In che majority of cases,
however, munic pal services are
not provided, ane the alternative, 3
good septic tank system, is eithes
expensive or, in many cases, not
suitable becouse of the nature of
the terrain
Ontario regulations, especialy
Regulation 229/74 under The En
vironmental Protection Act, 1971
and its amendments, require the
approval of all sewage disposal in-
stallations, with the exception of
systems of Class {. These systems
comprise various types of unsew.
ered toilets, known as carth or pit
privies, vaull privies, rernovable
pail privies, chemical t in-
cinerating toilets, and corr posting
toilets,
Toilets cf Class | are widely
used because Of their simplicity
and their fow cost of installation. If
properly installed, used, and main-
tained, they can give good service
without damaging the environ-
ment,
This booklet provides alt the
information necessary for proper
installation, use, and maintenance
of Class toilet systems, It explains
the limitations o* the various sys-
tems, their advantages and disad-
vantages, and their possible effect
‘on the environment if they are
irisused or not properly main-
tained,
A separate chapter describes
in detail the princip'e, the opera-
tion, the advantages and disadvan-
tages. the installation, the use, and
the maintenance of the rew com-
posting toilets.
L INTRODUCTION
The ideal <offet system must reli-
ably dispose of human wastes in a
way that neither spreads disease
nor offends civilized sensibilities.
The standard flush toilet, with its
smooth, white surface. self-
cleansing flush, water seal against
odours, end access to sewers that
are someone else's responsibility,
is the best choice from the stand:
pint of health and aesthetics, but
it's not always available. Ittypically
uns through three or four ga lons
of water every tine itis flushed. It
thus needs an ample supply of
water, clostricity to run the water
pump, and a place to dispose of a
lot of wastewater.
Where the standard toilet won't do,
you must make other arrange:
ments, As you cast about for alter:
nat ves, you will discover human
ingenu'ty at its most diverse: you"
discover privies and chemical
tailats, incinerating toilots, varia-
tions on the standard flush, indco
compost toilets, and small
activated-studge plants, in fas-
cinating arofusion. Nong of these
can be pointed out as the best: all
have good points and bad. The
“best” choice will depend upon the
facilities at your site, the conveni-
ence you want, aid the money you
ate willing to spend, In Ontatio, it
will also be influenced by The En-
virenmental Protection Act.
Sewage is potential'y dangerous,
oven deadly. The microorganisms
responsible for many grave
diseases—choleva, typhoid fever,
hepatitis, and polio, ta. mention
only afow — swarm in the feces of
the sick, these organisms reach
the water supply, hundreds more
may sicken. A major cancer in the
design of any sewage disposal sys-
tern must beto ensure thatthe pub-
lic is at no time expased to the
danger of sewage-borns diseuso,
either indirectly, through their
drinking water, oF directly, by way
of rats, flies, or curious children
For this reason, as well o5.to
sofeguard the environment fam
the unpleasant effects of careless
sewage disposal, Ontario law regu-
lates sewage disposal closely,
The disposal methods described in
this book et are not equally accept-
able everywhere in Ontario. Local
bylaws as well as shallow soft ona
steep [ct, for instance, may rule aut
sore methods, and sandy so
may favor a system that wouldn't
work in clay, To find out which
forms of sewage disposal are ap-
proved ir your area, see the loca!
representative of the Ontaric
Ministry of the Environment.
Not every toilet unit is a
sewage disposal system. A good
pit privy is, since the wastes de
cornpuse where they fal and en
righ their surroundings with no
further disturbance, but a modern
flush toilet is not. A flush toilet
dogs na more than send the wastes
upen their way. in the city, the way
leads to the muricipal sewage
troatment plant, a su3jcet in which
we need take no further interest
than pleasas us. In the country, the
owner must choose the destina-
tion,
H. THE SEPTIC TANK SYSTEM
A. What Does It Do?
Where you can't hook ento the
municipal sewers, your best
choice in waste disposal is usu-
ally a septic tank system, which
consists of a septic tank and an
uncerground leaching bed. The
big advantage of this system
‘over mast of the others is that it
will accept all of the household
wastewater: the bath water, the
dishwater, and the laundry
water, as we'l as what the toilet
sends, Iftreated with reasonable
consideration, itwill accept all of
them without complaint for sev-
eral years, until it is time to
pump the accumulated sludge
out o* the tank
Most installations need ro
machinery, no power, and, apart
from pumping out the tank oc-
casionally, no maintenance,
B. How Dnes It Work?
The ony way to got rid of sow
age, as distinguished from
mere.y sending it somewhere
else, isto prepare a comfortable
home for the microorganisms
that cat it. Many strains perform
this useful function. For simplic-
ity, they can be divided into two
groups: the aerobic ones, which
need oxyrien, and the anaerobic
‘ones, which can’t abide it
4. The Tank: Anaerobic bac-
teria jive and work in the septic
tank, which is just that: a tank
W's usually big enough to hold
several days' worth of sewage
and shaped so that the flow is
slow and reasonably uniform
Sewage from the house enters,
the tank, settles down, gets
partly decomposed hy the
anaerobic bacteria, and flows
out of the tank. By this time, if
the system is working well, the
sewage is 4 clearish liquid that
still stinks and may stil carry
disease. It should not ¢o any-
where but into the leaching bed
0° some equivalent treatment
facility: by no means directly
into a ditch or watercourse.
2. The Leaching Bed: A leach-
ing bed consists of one or more
rows of buried distriturtion pipe,
each of which is ¢ scrics of
“tiles” laid end-to-end in a bed
of crushed stone in a trench, A
“ile”. ivturn, is a length of pine,
typically made of coramic or
pastic. Ceramic files are spaced
about '2 inch apart to atlow the
sewage to flew into the crushed
stone. The longer plastic tile is
usually perforated by small
holes along its length. The
cushed stone acts as a reser
voir, from which the sewaye iar
seep slowly into the soil, The
dimensions of the trench and
the details af how it should be
filled in, the characteristics of
the soil, the required length of
the distribution pipe, and other
particulars of the burial are im
portant and are specified under
The Environmental Protection
Act*, but they need not cancer
us further here.
Sewage leaving the septic tank
flows down the rows of tiles,
teaking rontinuously into the
201. by way of the heles or gaps.
In the soil il encounters a
floJrishing population of
acrobic bactaria, who finish the
goed work begun in the tank by
their anaerobic cousins. The
"See the Ministry of the Enviranment’s
Bociklet Septie Tank Systeme fhiforma-
on Services Beare, 1965. Clair Avenue
Wast, Toranto},
whole subjectisdecent y hidden
from view by a“resh, green lawn,
which ravely needs fertilizer.
isadvantages?
Thete are few disadvantages to
the septic tank system, apart
from its cost - - and even that
may not compare to0 bacly with
the cost of other units, consider-
ing thal the system handles all
the household wastes.
Its major drawback is simply
that itcan‘t be used everywhere.
An impermeable soil, sich as
clay, won't let the liquid flow
through it; a shallow soil hasn't
the necessary capacity; and a
very cold climate may not suit
the indispensable bacteria. Con-
sult your local Environment
staf
