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| Wednesday, 24 March 2004 |
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Earthworm toilets by Abey Ekanayake Both pit latrines and septic tanks cause contamination of ground water. The majority of Sri Lankan toilets fall into these two categories. Despoliation of valuable water resources caused by poor human-waste management is causing much concern to environmental authorities in various countries and they have been experimenting with biological methods of human-waste disposal, which are beneficial to the environment.
The earthworm driven toilet illustrated below was developed by a research institute in India, and is eminently suitable for our rural areas and plantations, especially in areas where water is a problem. I constructed one in Pallekelle and it was free of any unpleasant odours and insect pests like files and cockroaches, unlike in the case of the orthodox pit latrines or the newer government recommended water sealed latrines. This is because of the aerobic conditions in the shallow pit as against anaerobic conditions in the normal deep latrine pits. The Indian toilet is simple and easy to construct. It is odourless and hygienically converts human waste into valuable earthworm castings, which can be used to manure plants. Initially a few earthworms should be introduced in to the pit to start the process. The worms derive their moisture from washing water, urine and faeces, and the volume reduction is about 90%. It needs to be emptied only once in about three or four years and even then it is worm castings that are removed. No Pollution and it is water saving too! - Area of the vermi-processing pit to be calculated at 0.2 sqm per person. - Pit to be located in well - drained area. |
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Produced by Lake House |
In the water-borne sewage system we add water to our waste and flush it
along a system of piping to a large and expensive septic tank, which in
turn pollutes the ground water in its vicinity. In the centralized
water-borne sewage systems much of the aqueous solution we call sewage is
invariably pumped out into the sea or some other body of water, further
aggravating the problem of pollution. The general public has developed a
"flush and forget" mentality.
