Tired of having trips to the toilet contribute to the wastewater stream? Start composting your own waste into valuable humanure. Rob D. Casey/Workbook Stock/ Getty Images The sprawling tentacles that constitute the water infrastructure in the United States spill about 860 million gallons (3.3 billion liters) of untreated water -- along with all the raw waste that involves -- each year. If you add in all the clean water lost, that amount soars to about 6 billion gallons (22.7 billion liters)spilled each day [source: Gleick and Ellis-Lamkins]. But while the loss of clean water is a serious waste of a precious natural resource, it's the untreated water that's most troubling. That's because human fecal matter and urine, when not disposed of safely, can cause numerous environmental and health problems in the world's waterways. Some people, however, are proactive about preventing their personal waste from becoming part of this spewing stream of potential pollution, and treat their bathroom business as a natural process that can produce a beneficial result. That result? Humanure. The idea is to compost human urine and manure and turn it into a useful, reusable byproduct [source: Jenkins]. Whether that byproduct -- a natural fertilizer -- is used to make food-growing soil more fertile is a matter of personal preference. Some say go for it, while other practitioners caution against it, reserving the compost for ornamental planting purposes. But everyone in the pro-poop-composting-camp agrees that it's wasteful if not downright irresponsible to not take these matters seriously. Advertisement Advertisement In fact, those who don't appreciate the process are sometimes referred to as fecophobes by composting aficionados. Fear of, or at least distaste for, feces is a cultural norm in many parts of the world -- especially the Western Hemisphere -- no matter how often children are read "Everybody Poops" as a bedtime story. From the father of biodynamic agriculture, Rudolf Steiner, to the public outreach department of U.S. Department of Agriculture, the message has historically been consistent and adamant: Human waste is a dangerous and potentially deadly substance. But people who advocate composting human waste say otherwise. While in its raw and original state, yes, it can pose a serious public health risk. But after being composted, humanure devotees claim it's not only safe to use as fertilizer, it's the only way to go to keep the overall environment in a healthy and flourishing state. On the next couple of pages, we'll take a look at how people construct and maintain composting toilets in outhouses.

Building the Outhouse A regular outhouse, also known as a pit latrine, is not what you want if you're looking for an environmentally harmless and aromatically acceptable solution for human waste management. These setups involve simply digging a hole in the ground, then covering it over with dirt when it starts to get full. The droppings are free to harbor dangerous microbes, attract pestilent insects, and gradually contaminate groundwater. A composting outhouse is very similar structure but an entirely different setup. Simply put, the goal is to make human remains recoverable and recyclable. You can build a composting outhouse that requires less frequent large-scale upkeep, or one that needs regular small-scale maintenance. In order to properly compost in the former, you'll probably want to build an elevated outhouse on stilts with a few steps running up to it. This elevated plan provides easy access to the container in the composting portion of the facility. If you want to go the frequent-and-modest maintenance route, your outhouse probably doesn't need to be elevated -- it can just be a box-and-bucket setup. Advertisement Advertisement Once you've determined your size and upkeep preferences, the early stages of construction are similar to building any outhouse, sans digging a soon-to-be-smelly pit. The dimensions and building materials used for a conventional outhouse will work here as well. But with composting outhouses, as opposed to pit latrines, waste instead ends up in (typically mobile) catchment containers located below the toilet seat. We'll talk more about the details of composting and what goes into those containers later in the article. The last major consideration in your composting outhouse design is to plan a reliable ventilation system. A pipe installed like a chimney running from the collection area to the roof is a good way to accomplish this, but skilled DIYers can probably cook up other means to solve this part of the puzzle. The point is to make sure air can flow through the holding pen while it's waiting to be emptied. On the next page, we'll take a closer look at the toilet itself. Check Your Local Regs Before you head to the hardware store, make sure an outhouse -- especially one that you plan to use for composting -- is allowed in your area. You don't want to go to all this trouble, only to get in trouble with the law as a result. There may also be guidelines in place for how you're allowed to apply the finished compost to the earth. Arm yourself with that knowledge as well.

Building the Composting Toilet Composting toilets have several positive attributes. They save water, they use no energy, they recycle human fecal waste in a safe, sustainable and sanitary fashion while producing a useful byproduct, and they do all that without giving off an unpleasant odor. So once you have your outhouse constructed, it's time to talk toilets. There are lots of different setups you can build. Your composting toilet can be as simple as a plastic bucket or a clay urn under a seat. Another standard example is a larger two-chamber model. One chamber is used until it's full, then rested while the second chamber is used. How often a swap happens will depend on how big your buckets are and how many people are using your outhouse. Advertisement Advertisement Some composting toilet systems mix urine and feces, others separate them. Either route has pros and cons. The latter requires a little more effort during potty breaks but starts off as a drier mix; the former requires less thought when nature calls, but needs a little more help attaining ideal moisture levels. If you do decide to let everything mix, it can help to prep your bucket with a layer of moisture-absorbing plant matter like hay or straw before use. The whole idea is to make sure the mix is relatively dry -- and, by extension, relatively odorless -- as possible. When it comes to the seating setup, you can do everything from building a box with a hole cut in the lid and a plywood top, to attaching a toilet seat and cover. It's really just a matter of how much you care about the creature comforts of anyone who will be using it. Once you've built a composting toilet for your outhouse, you're ready to go. Literally. Find out how you should take care of your new outhouse setup on the next page. Commercially Sold Composting Toilets If you don't want to actually build the toilet itself, you can buy one instead. Commercial models come in a wide range of sizes and prices depending on the features. These add-ons can include insulated tanks, moisture probes, electronic controls, rotating tines, vacuum flushing systems and more.