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One of the Clivus Multrum composting toilet system units, installed at the Bar-T Mountainside Summer Camp in Urbana. Staff photo by Graham Cullen
John Hanson explains how the Clivus Multrum composting toilet system works. This unit is located at the Bar-T Mountainside Summer Camp in Urbana. Staff photo by Graham Cullen
One of the Clivus Multrum composting toilet system units, installed at the Bar-T Mountainside Summer Camp in Urbana. Staff photo by Graham Cullen
John Hanson explains how the Clivus Multrum composting toilet system works. This unit is located at the Bar-T Mountainside Summer Camp in Urbana. Staff photo by Graham Cullen
As other sustainable technologies catch on for green homes and businesses, one has been under the radar for the past 30 years: composting toilets.
"This is not your typical outhouse," said former Maryland congressman Roscoe Bartlett, who had three composting toilets installed at his West Virginia retreat about 25 years ago.
The composting toilet system takes solid and liquid human waste and stores it in a tank at least one floor below the actual toilet. In the tank, waste is mixed with organic material and organisms and left to break down into compost.
The toilet does not flush, and odors are abated by an internal fan system. Composting toilets can be built indoors or in enclosed outdoor bathrooms.
"You can now build a house on an abandoned interstate and be completely self-contained," Bartlett said.
Jefferson resident John Hanson first started working with the technology when he installed a composting toilet in his home in 1980. The county health department did not approve.
“The first reaction from the health department, when I did it, was you must remove your noncompliant plumbing,” he said. “Then they said we’ll let you keep it as long as it doesn’t cause any problems.”
Residents or businesses that want to install composting toilets have been required to have a backup sewage system and a groundwater discharge permit from the state.
Hanson's business, Nutricycle Systems, installs and maintains a specific kind of composting toilet. The system is named the Clivus Multrum, or "inclined chamber," for the sloped bottom of the waste storage tank that separates liquid waste from solid waste.
Most of Hanson's work is system maintenance. He gets about one or two new projects per year. Business has been about that slow for 30 years, he said.
"A lot of people say, 'Ew, composting toilets? I'm not doing that,'" he said.
Bartlett believes one other factor has kept the environmentally-conscious technology from catching on: "Ignorance," he said.
For people who are interested in the systems for their homes or businesses, regulations are a major hurdle.
“It’s close to illegal right now, because of Best Available Technology rules,” Hanson said.
Because of concerns over nitrogen seeping out of septic systems into groundwater in the Chesapeake Bay watershed, the Maryland Department of the Environment now requires septic systems to use technology that is on their approved list. Septic systems that need to be replaced or newly installed systems must follow the the state’s criteria.
Composting toilets are not on the state’s list of “Best Available Technology,” but Hanson said he has been discussing the issue with the Department of the Environment. The state accepts applications and considers each new technology's pros and cons before deciding to add it to the list.
According to the Alice Ferguson Foundation, which is considering composting toilets for its Hard Bargain Farm Environmental Center in Accokeek, the composting toilet and gray water system remove "essentially" 100 percent of the total nitrogen at the site.
Fox Haven Organic Farm and Learning Center in Jefferson is considering installing composting toilets because it is a low-cost alternative to a septic system and it's also environmentally friendly.
"Because the Clivus toilet system mimics what happens on the forest floor, it is a tool to teach us to look to nature for lessons on minimizing human impact upon our precious natural resources," Fox Haven executive director Janice Wiles said in an email.
At Bar-T's Mountainside Summer Camp in Urbana, co-owner Joe Richardson had composting toilets installed but wants to add a few more.
"I'm gonna insist on using the Clivus," he said.
The camp is working to minimize its carbon footprint and teach students about environmental stewardship. Using a traditional sewer system would be "overkill" for the summer camp, he said. "We use, so far, less water than one residence."
Mountainside has a 4-acre field designated to dispense the compost, but Richardson said they've never had enough to cover the whole field at one time.
Since they started using the composting system a few years ago, the water tests they conduct at a nearby stream have come back with healthier results. Richardson believes the quality of the water has been improving because the composting toilets let them recycle their nutrients instead of wasting them.
"Going green has become a pretty nebulous term," Richardson said. "Understanding the impact we have on the environment is much more important."
Follow Sylvia Carignan on Twitter: @SylviaCarignan.
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