Sanitation

[Adjee]

I am just planning one of our Autumn/Winter projects.

I will be moving our main cesspit and sinking a larger one outside the property boundary along with changing the grey water pit we sunk when we arrived here. The aim is to have a separate grey water pit for the bathroom/shower and for the kitchen rather than the current combined one. It will also give me the chance to move and enlarge them. Again they will be placed outside the property boundary. These will be dual purpose as they will also be "adapted" to provide an element for our perimeter defence if required.

This is all easily done without any issues living in a totally out of the way location but it did make me wonder how people living in an urban area would cope when society breaks down and the sanitation/sewerage system no longer works. So how would you cope and avoid the health hazards the situation would bring?

I understand the two bucket system as we have previously used that here when we first moved in but it is not really viable for the long term.

So what would you do and how would you cope?

[pseudonym]

I'm on a "linked" system with my neighbours so any remedial work I attempt would be negated by them continuing to use the main systems in place.

Short term:

pee holes/tubes

double bagged solids.

Whilst building/digging an outhouse

[Frnc]

I have a folding portable toilet and a couple of extra large rolls of heavy duty bin bags. You could probably use bin bags on a normal toilet though. You should pee separately. I also have some wood based kitty litter to put on top. I'd have to bury them somewhere, preferably not in my garden or near a water source. I have a spade, but couldn't carry it on my bike. I have a metal trowel I could carry. Also I have a plastic trowel in my bugout bag. You might need or choose to do an number 2 off site anyway. My BOB has a toilet kit, with paper, hand sanitizer, sanitizer wipes, coin towels, soap leaves etc. This is separate from my wash kit. Coin towels are stronger than wet wipes, weigh less, and never expire.

[mcprepper]

We’re on a private septic tank here so ‘should’ be ok (assuming we still had water available to flush toilets). I like the idea of your potential ‘adaptation’ Adjee!

[GillyBee]

We are urban but do have a modest garden. We might join forces with next door (elderly but with a garden that is almost all grass) to dig a suitable waste pit(s) and put a compost loo above. The challenge will be digging the pit as we are already struggling with health issues here so this might need to be a 4 households effort to get enough physical capacity for a simple compost loo to cover about 12 people. (There are 4 maisonettes in each block with adjoining gardens)

[Yorkshire Andy]

We are urban but do have a modest garden. We might join forces with next door (elderly but with a garden that is almost all grass) to dig a suitable waste pit(s) and put a compost loo above. The challenge will be digging the pit as we are already struggling with health issues here so this might need to be a 4 households effort to get enough physical capacity for a simple compost loo to cover about 12 people. (There are 4 maisonettes in each block with adjoining gardens)

Look up Newcastle drainage spade makes digging deep holes a bit easier

[GillyBee]

Thanks Andy

You do know you are an enabler for anyone with shopping addiction on this site?

[GillyBee]

I just found this link which might be of use for city dwellers with short term sewage outages.

https://www.theorganicprepper.com/kitty-litter-toilet/

[Medusa]

Short term we have a camping toilet, biodegradable toilet bags and porta johns or bin liners and cat litter. Longer term I would just dig a cat hole or we have access to the sewer via a manhole in the garden until that started to back up. As a child we used to caravan with "bucket and chuck it toilets" which would be emptied into a communal hole (elsan pit) dug into the field where we camped or a shared cat hole which you would use to toilet in and cover with a spade full of soil after use. As a basic camper, flushing toilets are a luxury and digging a hole to use as a latrine is not a hardship. It just needs to be kept away from water sources and living areas. Likely not as easy if there are many people and in emergency situations.

[diamond lil]

There are plenty composting toilets available.