Chapter 26
Composting Toilet for Sustainable Water Management
Publication: Green Technologies for Sustainable Water Management
Abstract
This chapter describes several aspects on composting of human feces, which include characterization of feces, modeling of the aerobic biodegradation process, compost safety and criteria for the design of the composting toilet. Performance of the bio-toilet system, and more specifically biodegradation rates, is affected by several factors, including the substrate bioavailability that is mainly associated with the biodegradability of organic matter contained in feces. Knowledge of the amount and character of the compost produced during the aerobic biodegradation of feces allows proper design and operation of the bio-toilet system, as quantity of remaining residue is increasing with the time, and the composition of such residue determines the quality of the compost generated. Five important factors or aspects for the proper design and operation of the bio-toilet include degradation of organic matter, water balance, nutrients, pathogens inactivation, and fate of micropollutants.
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Green Technologies for Sustainable Water Management
Pages: 903 - 954
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© 2016 American Society of Civil Engineers.
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Published online: Jul 1, 2016
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