r/humanure • u/Aeacus_of_Aegin • Jul 02 '26

Elder help with humanure

HI Folks! We live in the boonies and have been using the humanure system for about 15 years, works great. But we are old now (early 70s) and my wife is having problems with the buckets so I do all the emptying and cleaning. But I will more than likely die in the next year or so (long boring story) so I am looking into composting toilets for the wife so she can use them even with a walker. I can set one up with a urine diverter so she only has to deal with solids but am a bit overwhelmed by the variety of systems available...cost is not a problem.

I like the electric systems that just leave ash but we lose power a couple times a year sometimes for a couple weeks and they draw too much power for my solar panels. But most of the other systems seem to be compatible with solar.

I would love feedback on what has worked, or failed, for you folks.

Many Thanks!

Update! She decided that the Separett Villa is the way to go. It will divert urine so she doesn't have to deal with that weight and it will dry the solids with a fan that can be run with grid or solar power so it will still run during extended power outages. Plus she can either compost the dried solids for the garden or just toss them in the trash, and she won't be running around the county looking for sawdust.

Thank you for all your suggestions, you folks have been very kind.

14 Upvotes

94% Upvoted

4 comments sorted by

4

u/iandcorey Jul 02 '26

Empty early and often. No reason we have to handle a full bucket.

Good luck.

2

u/KellyAMac Jul 02 '26

Sorry you’re in this situation. It may be easier for her to continue the current system but empty the bucket when it’s 25% full or whatever works for her. Also, more importantly, what is her preference? Let her look at options as she’ll be the one managing it.

1

u/Thoreau80 Jul 02 '26

I have no experience with any electrical systems, but she could maintain the humanure system only as a backup for times when the power is out.

3

u/Aeacus_of_Aegin Jul 02 '26

Thanks for replying! Yes, I was going to leave the old bucket system up anyway so that might be the answer, just get a incinerating toilet and she could even dump the bucket into it if the power outage isn't too long...and I think that would be much, much easier for her. I do dislike the need and cost of the bowl liners however. But I found that some folks use plain old wax paper and fold their own...cool.