As our world, with all its beloved conveniences of indoor plumbing, spirals out of control, I find it difficult to believe that I even have to consider the need for knowing how to site a latrine. Well, ok, it’s something everyone should know in case of a massive natural disaster that renders indoor plumbing useless, but right now I’m looking at everything our government is doing to make sure we collapse into a third world hellhole. I guess I’m getting a little salty about it.
When things really fall apart here, when there is no water coming in and no sewage going out of the house, dread diseases will begin to rear their ugly heads in society. If we want to avoid these diseases within our own families, we’ve got to be prepared to take appropriate measures. Unless we’ve invested in a composting toilet, our next best option is probably digging a latrine. And while placing it as close to the house as possible sounds like a good idea in the middle of the night in a snowy winter, that’s one of the worst locations.
So where does the latrine go?
Keep the following in mind:
· Select a site at least 200 feet away from your water supply (and the neighbors’ water supplies as well, unless you really want to make enemies)
· Select a sunny location where the soil will heat up more quickly and hasten decomposition
· Avoid placing where rainwater runoff occurs
· Avoid placing near food preparation or eating areas[1]
Dr. Alton, in his Survival Medicine Handbook, presents one possible latrine idea. A trench latrine for a small group should be about 1.5 feet wide, at least 2 feet deep, and several feet long.[2] Two boards are placed along the length of the both sides of the trench for support. The dirt from the trench is mounded nearby, and a shovelful is scattered over the waste each time to deter flies. It looks rather uncomfortable to use. I imagine most women would not be happy with it, even if there is a privacy shield.
Where There Is No Doctor has some much better suggestions with detailed instructions. There is a quick one, you know, because SHTF just now happened, in addition to two other designs that will keep the flies out and the smells in. Basic tools and supplies for constructing the latrine (not the privacy shelter that goes with it) include:
· Shovel
· Hoe
· Cement, plus sand, gravel, and water to mix with it
· Wire mesh, about 1 meter square
· Two disposable buckets of different sizes
If you want to build the deluxe latrine that includes ventilation and a fly trap, you’ll also want a ventilation pipe (about 7 feet long in the diagram, but it seems like a shorter one would also work) and a wire fly screen.[3]
Regardless of the kind of latrine you build, you’ll want a bucket and small shovel or trowel—some kind of scoop—nearby. In the bucket, keep lime, wood ash, peat moss, or dirt, and sprinkle a scoop in the hole after each use to reduce flies and odor and speed decomposition.
[1] Joseph Alton, Survival Medicine Handbook, 2017, 167.
[2] Joseph Alton, Survival Medicine Handbook, 2017, 167.
[3] David Werner, Where There Is No Doctor, 1992, 137-39.
"...no water coming in and no sewage going..." Also keep this in mind. If you're on city sewer and not septic, know that the sewer system will not function properly... or at all... if there's no reliable power for the pumps involved with the movement of effluent. This means not only that sewage won't be going, it may actually be coming... right into your house!!! If there are houses uphill from you and they flush, as the lines back up, sewage will back up through your showers, floor drains, bathtubs, and even toilets. Your house becomes their septic tank! If you can get to your the main cleanout where the sewer line connects to your house, you should be able to stuff something down it to keep this from happening. Better to start thinking of this issue before it becomes immediately necessary! I'm no expert on the best way to do this, though if I was on city sewer and not septic I'd probably have an expansion plug handy, sized for the pipe in the cleanout, to put into place if a sewage shutdown became a reality. ...Just something to think about.
ReplyDeleteEeewww. I never even thought of that, and I don't think I've read it anywhere, either. Not that I'm doubting you in the least--it seems as if that will be the case. I am really grateful to have a well and septic tank!! Those with municipal sewer systems should check into this soon.
DeleteResults will vary, Jennifer. It all depends on how the municipal sewage system is set up. Most systems employ "lift stations;" pumps that ferry the sewage to the treatment plants. These get the sewage over the high points in the lines. They're electrically powered. Most have generators installed locally to keep the systems going during short-term outages, but when the fuel runs out that's that for them. Once the lift stations shut down things will back up quickly.
Deleteunfortunately those expansion plugs won't work alone when the hydraulic pressure gets to be too extreme - for example use a floor drain plug to ceiling 2 X 4 reinforcement - for toilets you need to be more extreme - need to dismount the stool and cover the floor flange with a gasketed blank plate .....
DeleteAlso remember that septic systems are sized for a certain number of adult users with the number of bedrooms your home has. With some over capacity for short term situations like parties and such.
ReplyDeleteI've had friends renting a home with septic discover to their horror that they had twice the number of adults living there than agreed and that was after they returned from a 1 year overseas military assignment.
Their septic system was so overloaded that an open cess pool was where the leech field used to be. Flies and fecal matter. Happily, their well was uphill and far enough to be safe (they tested it).
After they evicted them, they had to have the leech field redone, septic tank pumped and had the state monitoring their system for a year.
How many of us PLAN on having extra family members living with us when SHTF?
Have you pumped that septic tank recently? It's pretty easy for stupid people to jam it up with stuff not septic safe.
Good reminders for us all.
DeleteINDEED! Septic systems are set up for the number of people the structure was designed to accommodate. This means two people in the master, one in each of the other bedrooms. If you're housing extra people you need to really finesse the septic system! I'm fairly new to septic systems as a homeowner, though I grew up in houses using them. Over the last 7 years I've learned the following:
DeleteThe tank needs to be periodically pumped out. Yes, the system is basically a composting system, but some stuff won't compost. It'll sit at the bottom of the tank and pile up over time. The more of this there is, the less room there is in the tank. Pumping intervals vary with location because of soil conditions, local rainfall, and the like. Ask your local honey wagon master.
Aside from the MINIMUM amount of toilet paper needed to render you clean, the adage goes "Solids shouldn't be flushed into the septic tank unless they've been through you first." Don't dump kitchen scraps down the drain, garbage disposal or not. Wipe solids and grease off your dishes before washing them! I would rather pay good money for paper towels to do this than to need to redo the leach field again!
Chemicals KILLL the enzymes in the septic tank! DON'T use chemical drain openers for clogged drains! For clogs in sinks and showers, buy some "hair snares" at the hardware store. They'll know what these are. Most clogs in these locations are hair, and the hair is usually right there at the drain. If the kitchen drain line clogs I use a motorized snake. I also dump enzymatic drain cleaner down that line every week or so to keep grease residue from building up in the pipes. These drain cleaners won't hurt the septic system, as they're the same enzymes already at work in it.
If you can get away with it, run your washing machine drain to a grey water outfall instead of to the septic tank. Bleach and detergents aren't friends of the septic. Neither is the lint in the wash water. Most of that is synthetic now, and won't break down in the septic system. It's also so light that it probably won't settle to the bottom of the tank. Instead, it will move on to the leach field where it will do its best to clog it. Use that grey water on your lawn instead. Mine runs onto the gravel access road to the corral, where it either sinks in or evaporates. For the record, it doesn't stink. If you can't get away with an outfall, install a drain line filter on your washer drain line. This will at least catch most of the lint. Even if you use a grey water outfall this will keep lint and debris from ending up in your grass. Mine is made by Filtrol. Septic systems run at "98%," meaning they're 98% full all the time. Dump a gallon of water down the drain, and a gallon of water is displaced from the tank and sent to the leach field. The longer the tank sees no input the more composting of what's in the tank can take place. When the washer drains, 25-30 gallons of chemical and lint laden water hits the tank all at once, forcing that much water into the leach field whether it's ready or not. Any solids in that water will help clog the leach field.
Too many people in the house? Minimize water use wherever possible. In the bathroom, "If it's yellow let it mellow. If it's brown, flush it down... with a MINIMUM of toilet paper!" Don't run the water while brushing teeth and shaving. In the shower, shut off the water while soaping up. I also catch the warm-up water" in a bucket to water the plants outside. Minimize water use when washing dishes, and again, no grease or solids down the drain. If the dishwasher is still operating it will use less water than washing by hand.
God be with you all in the coming times...
i read a report on a city in europe, that lost power for a while. the same thing happened in high rise buildings. the report said the people filled up the toilet bowl. within hours they began going in the toilet tank. by day three they were going in the sinks, then the tubs. then all this feces began to leak down into apartments below. the building was uninhabitable in a week. when the water came back on, it blew all that crap everywhere. the building had to be condemned and demolished. get out now!
ReplyDelete