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Our Latest Project - The Toilet.
About The Toilet.
The First Toilet To Be Used For One Year.
Second Toilet To Be Used After One Year.
First Toilet Remains Composting For One Further Year Before Emptying.
Resulting Compost Material Can Be Used On Trees And Shrubs But Not On
Crops.
This Toilet Is Primed With Compost And Will Be Regularly Topped Up With
Compostable Material. (Wood Shavings)
If Used Correctly The Composting Process will Kill Human Pathogens And
The Finished. Compost Is Safe And Free From Odour.
Composting Toilet Rules.
Only Use Designated Toilet.
It Is Important To Try To Separate Urine From Excreta.
Men, Please Use Urinal If Possible.
Only Use The Provided Bamboo Toilet Tissue And Put Nothing Else In The
Toilet.
Please Wash Hands After Use.
Please Use Paper Hand Towels Provided And Put These In The Bin….. Not
The Toilet.
Please Leave The Toilet Clean And Tidy And Ensure You Switch Off Tap And
Light.
How It All Started.
Over the years that we have had the Allotments on the site, we have
tried to develop them and give them more functionality. One of the first
things that we did was to have the entrance way off the road Concreted
and the result was a lot safer than the loose hardcore that was on the
slope.
Another development was to create some communal Composting Bins. At
first, they were made from old wooden Pallets, but later, a more
substantial pair of Bins were made that could be dug out with the
Farmers Tractor. Indeed, our ever helpful Farmer actually constructed
them for us.
The next major development was the purpose built, concrete, Compost
Storage Area. Again, the Farmer helped with the project in a big way,
but funding was provided by our own Allotments.
The installation of Water Troughs with the taps to make watering easier
for Plot Holders was another project undertaken by some of the
Committee.
At several AGM’s the Committee, have in the past, asked Plot Holders
what other improvements they would like to see on the Site and one that
kept coming up was the provision of a Toilet and Communal Storage Shed.
After much deliberation, a plan was developed and a strategy made for
funding the joint project.
Initially, fundraising started with a number of events including Plant
Sales in the Spring and late Summer, as well as several Quiz’s. Along
the way we also had a few Cash donations that added to the funds and
more recently we have had a Lottery Grant.
There was much debate as to where the Toilet and proposed Storage Shed
were to go and after a lot of discussion a place was chosen. Rather than
use part of a Plot that had Rent paid on it, the opportunity to use a
bit of spare land came up so that area was chosen. It had been occupied
by an adjacent Plot Holder, but he agreed to vacate it in favour of the
proposed development.
Construction began last Autumn by starting to clear the site. One of the
first jobs was to dig out the Plot Holder’s Raspberries so that he could
re-plant them elsewhere on his Plot. This was done in late Autumn to
give the plants the best chance of surviving the move. As winter started
to fade, the site was Measured and marked out for the two bases, one for
the Toilet and one for the Storage Shed. Pegs and Boards were put in and
some of the Committee dug out the two bases. The adjacent Plot Holder
had said that he would like the soil saving and putting into his new
raised beds that he had constructed in an attempt to improve his Plot.
This made the whole job of digging out the foundations a lot easier as
the soil did not have to be barrowed away. Our ever-helpful Farmer then
provided us with the Shuttering and Hardcore which were put down after
Pete & Chris had carefully levelled up and measured everything. We had
to put down several tractor bucket-loads of Hardcore to do the Job and I
borrowed a petrol powered, Whacker Plate, (or vibrating Plate,) from
Work to tamp it down firmly.
The Toilet was ordered before the concrete went down to try and avoid a
substantial planned price increase. Obviously, it came in Kit form, on 2
Pallets, that had to be stored safely in the corner of the Car Park
until it was erected. There was some concern that a Plot Holder might
accidentally drive into it when reversing and thereby cause damage to
it. So, I brought some brightly coloured, Road Traffic Cones, from Work.
We had an ever-growing number of them scattered around the “Farm,” so
the Manager had asked me to get rid of some of them a week, or two
previously. We do use them to block off areas around the site from time
to time, but they had been multiplying like Rabbits! It is interesting
to note that the “Team Members,” collect them when out and about with
the Staff. The Team Members are Adults with Learning Disabilities, but
collecting “Traffic Cones,” is just the sort of thing that highly
intelligent and well educated, University Students do as well!
The Treasurers Husband calculated how much “Ready Mixed Concrete,” we
would need for the two bases and it was duly ordered. Pete, Chris, Simon
and myself, were involved in spreading it and tamping it down. Pete had
done such a great job on the calculation that, for the amount involved,
there was very little leftover Concrete. It is nigh on impossible to
order the exact amount that you need, so it is always a question of what
to do with the leftover Concrete when doing a job like that. We decided
to spread the few barrows that there were by the Compost Storage Area.
After that it was a case of leaving the Concrete to go off and properly
harden for a few days before removing the shuttering. Just to make
absolutely sure it was set, it was then left for another week, or so, to
harden enough to enable us to drill into it to anchor the toilet down.
We didn’t want the Toilet to blow away on a windy day, especially if
someone was in it! We have all seen the cartoons!
The next stage was to actually erect the Toilet. However, we had to
delay the erection for a short while because of some hiccups caused by
the Parish Council. When everything met with their approval, Simon,
Chris, Nigel and Pete started putting the Kit together one Thursday, and
almost had it finished the next day, except for the plumbing in and the
need to deal with a few little problems.
It was a week or two before Pete had finished most of the little bits
and then there were still more odd bits like a mirror, signs, maybe a
handrail outside by the step, a 5 gallon water can from which the wash
basin could operate, etc.
Also, the whole surrounding area that had been excavated will need more
hard-core to fill in and level it up. Again, we will need to borrow the
Whacker Plate from Work to firm it all down. The Proposed Pic-Nic area
and planned “Wild Flower Garden,” will also need to be Landscaped at a
later date. It is planned to use some of the Plants leftover from our
September, Plant Sale to plant it all up. There are a few larger
specimens that I have specially grown to go with them and provide more
of a show. It is intended to put up some Trellis, against the Toilet
with some sort of Climber, to help and break up its outline. The Pic-Nic
area will need some sort of Seating/Table that we are still having
thoughts about. For some time, one, or two Plot Holders have said that
they would like a Pic-nic area and Wild Flower Garden so this project
seemed to provide the ideal opportunity to make them.
Although the Toilet Cubicle has two toilet seats, it is not some sort of
unisex toilet for two people to use at once even if one of them is your
best friend! Nor is it a case of Men on the Left and Women on the Right!
I’m afraid only one side is used at a time until the Composting Bin
underneath is full and then the use is switched over as per the
instructions above.
It does not operate on a Cess Pit, but as with some of those, the excess
fluid is piped off. At least the Urine is piped off to drain away with
men using a separate urinal and the ladies using the specially adapted
toilet that has a small receptacle built in the front of the main toilet
to catch the Ladies urine. The Toilet itself does not flush because it
has no Bowl built into it and instead waste just drops into the
miniature Wheelie-bin underneath. There is a small Hand Basin to wash
your Hands in and that operates by using a small electric Pump in a 5
Gallon Water Can which is powered by a small Solar Panel on the roof.
The water from the Hand Basin flushes the Men’s Urinal before being
piped outside to drain away under the Hedge.
You can see the 2 Seats from the Photo and one of the compost bins
outside with the Toilet nearly complete including the external step.
Because of the Step it was thought that we ought to fit a handrail
outside.
I don’t know when the Toilet will be officially opened, but there will
be a Padlock fitted to stop unofficial use by anybody walking down the
road who might decide to pop in and use it! We’ve paid for it so we’re
going to keep it for ourselves and keep it nice!
 
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