Why cant we make compost from human poo for our veg?

Question

When ever I read about compost toilets it says we shouldn't put the compost on fruit and veg, why not ? we use cow poo I know they only eat grass etc and we eat meat (or at least some of us do) is that the reason ?- if so can vegetarians make there own compost for there veg ?

Answer 1

It's being done now.  Many sewage treatment operations around the world sell the sludge as fertilizer.

Answer 2

Lol haha EWWW =]

I think you faeces has alot of bacteria in it =P Mebe dat da reason butttt Id rather eat somethin thats been grown from animal stuff......

Answer 3

thats actually a good point....

and people like WTF is wrong with you???

if you WASH the veggies properly before you eat em

there is nothing wrong with the type of manure you use

cow poo is just as disgusting as human poo but you still dont complain about it!

i think its a great idea if thats what you want to do! dont listen to anyone who says mean stuff.!

im not a manure expert but thats what i think!

Answer 4

too many pathogens and bacteria that will sicken humans. however, in asia, particularily in korea, it was not uncommon for a farmer to go out and c**p in his fields and if he was visiting a friend and had to go, he would go out to his field and c**p and then, his friend owed him one too.

Answer 5

They call it "sludging". Our neighbors at the top of the hill use it. If you wanted to know why it's a BAD idea, just drive past their property in the middle of a hot summer day!

Answer 6

It will work, but don't forget to rinse my salad before you put on the dressing.

Answer 7

Some good answers here already but I just want to add that Human waste is the richest fertliser but it is mostly disregarded. I am annoyed the gentry benefit from slurry being spread on their fields (but the smell is completely disgusting).

I believe the world needs a much better way of dealing with sewage and that the way forward is to dry solid human waste using fans and heat powered by solar & wind (i.e. alternative)energy, so that this valuable resource can be made into non-smelly, safe, pleasant-to-use pellets, and these should be used as fertiliser, especially to help speed the growth of new TREES

(that would really help replace cut-down forests)

(and help to save our oceans as less raw sewage would be pumped into the sea).

Answer 8

I really don't like the idea of handling my own excrement, I just had a curry 2 hours ago.

Answer 9

it's the 'precautionary principle'. if all goes well with the composting process it should be fine, but they cant guarantee that something goes a bit wrong and some pathogens survive, thats why they say that, to cover their backs.

its also the 'ick' factor you can see in these replies, i have visited and read of several places that use 'humanure', but most do tend to use it for trees and other permacrops rather than veg.

i would be ok using it for, say, climbing beans, but would baulk at using it for a root crop.

Answer 10

I don't want to think about it. Disgusting

Answer 11

Up until the early 1900's and the advent of running water and sewer systems in American cities, human waste was an important part of the ecological and food cycle. The idea that it's "gross" is a purely cultural construct. Of course precautions have to be taken, pathogens and all that, but the same is even more true about the petroleum based fertilizers that we now use, and that run off into waterways and into aquifers.

Answer 12

I seem to remember a few years ago at the NEC a company promoting their compost made  with 'Night soil'. Strange name, not sure where that came from but basically it was human pooh. Never saw it again so I presume they did not find a market. Shame really as it would have meant an awful lot of cheap fertiliser.

It could be used on your veg patch once properly composted but in its raw state is much the same as dog pooh which I would not want on my veges either....Ewwww!!!

Answer 13

I suspect that if you added it to a compost pile time and the sun would sanitize it.  It's true, straight cow manure is very good fertilizer, but some time has to go by for the parasites to die off.

Answer 14

I did some research a few years ago on this because they use composted and raw human waste in other countries. If the waste has been completely composed and reached a temp of 40-50c (105-120f) and has cooled and has composed for at least a year then it is probably Ok to use.

I did a google search since this question came up this morning when I had my septic system pumped and I asked the guy where they dumped the poo.

I do know that if you buy a fertilizer called Milorganite it is actually created from the City of Milwaukee Wisconsin waste treatment plants and the only reason that they say not to use it on food crops is because of the high level of heavy metals from industrial waste.

Answer 15

You can and a lot of people do. Not use straight up fresh, but make a compost of it just like any other poo. Straight up it tends to damage plants just like any other. On the pathogens question, all po contains pathogens. trouble is human poo in particular contains more of the pathogens that harm humans, so there is reason to be careful. After a good bio digestion process which reaches quite high temps it is pretty safe and the nutrients have been converted to a form plants love. Now using home collected poo is far safer than town waste as town waste has a broader range of pathogens, you already have those in your own poo, plus town waste is more likely to be contaminated with heavy metals etc

Answer 16

I guess because nobody really wants their poo smothered over something they're going to eat lol, not sure why cow manure makes a difference, maybe their poo is more nutritious! Ahh, its mixed with other things, thats why

Answer 17

idk but my cat is amish.

Answer 18

Pathogens and bacteria in human poo make it nasty. You don't use pure cow dung as compost; you add it to rotting vegetable matter which composts down.

Answer 19

Haha, I don't know. Isn't manure treated in some way? Anyway, it wouldn't be disgusting to look over your neighbours fence and see human excretement lying on their vegetable patch? I wouldn't be going to theirs for a salad any time soon.

Answer 20

It is possible but it takes longer to break down the dangerous pathogens. Mix it with other refuse and let it mature for about a year and it will be very good stuff.

Our very recent ancestors (up to about 1 week ago) do that already. Most of the waste from water treatment plants is matured and then dried and sold off to farmers for the land (in Europe any ways)

Answer 21

Human sewage can be processed into fertiliser pellets but the high temperatures involved kill all the pathogens present.  Composting does not remove these.

Answer 22

if the poo goes through a complete composting process,you can

I guess its the idea that puts most people off,

pathogens etc ,but composting kills them.

here is a bit more detail

HUMAN EXCREMENT

Is safe to use in many ways and certainly has been regarded as a valuable resource already thousands of years ago

as long as it has gone through a decomposition process

As a fertilizer IN THE PAST and today

PERU

Incas used it as manure mixed with other organic material on their terraced gardens ,a concept that has remained sustainable for at least a thousand years

MEXICO

the Aztecs collected the excrement from the public toilets on the bridges going into the city

and mixed it with the rich mud of the lake ,and used it on the Chinampas (a very sophisticated diverse farming concept employing the forces of the edge effect,utilizing both the water ,and land side of the water and land edge ,to the maximum.even breeding an edible algae,tomatoes and other vines with structures over the water, the droppings feeding fish ,shrimp ,frogs , )

They knew what they were doing and that included using human waste.

What is far less sophisticated is the Mexican coral of the Campesino of recent times.

this is a small fenced area with a flat floor .

one goes in and does IT any where on the floor .

which looks clean

but during the dumping one becomes aware of an eye intensely watching you through the fence

This is not a pervert ,but a pig patiently waiting until you leave ,who then shoots in and cleans the floor .

Also in Mexico is a beach where every bdy poops on a leaf ,

so that the beach dogs can eat the business with out getting sand in their teeth

THAILAND

the people here made beautiful out houses,nicely painted ,adorned with flowers and herbs ,on the side of the road ,

And invited passers by to use their toilets .

for them this was a precious gift ,and the composting toilets of today (see the Permaculture Designers Manual)are build in the same way

IN PORTUGAL( dating from the Moorish culture)

the out houses were build high up to be reached by a stair case and the hole of the toilet was directly over the feeding trough of the pigs

say no more

TODAY

There are many designs on the market for dry toilets that collect compost .

the basic design is a seat with a hole over a compartment that can be emptied at the back

after ones business is finished cover the fresh p**p with leaves or /and ash ,this helps decomposition and also is the start of a mix ,as well as killing the smell.

Another idea to take care of smell in these kind of toilets is a metal or plastic pipe that starts at the source of the smell and reaches well above the outhouse where the sun can touch the pipe

Paint that part of the pipe black

And the sun will heat up the pipe and the air inside which then rises pulling the other air behind it and so works as a pump that pumps out the smell.

there is a ceramic dry toilet bowel on the market that seperates the liquids from the heavy stuff which is especially made for compost toilets

One can either use them over a deep hole

and use as an ordinary out house ,when the hole is full (which takes years ,because the stuff decomposes and resolves to practically dust ,the tons of leaves in a forest that fall down each year ,only make a few millimeters if top soil )

OR

use them with a compartment that can be regularly emptied (about once every 6 months )

In Mexico today the Government supplies or sell cheaply these dry toilets for poor communities to relieve water shortage problems.

NOTE

CHINA

In China they put it directly on the plots ,this is not regarded as safe ,the place smells,and the raw manure,which they call NIGHT SOIL can transmit diseases.

SEWAGE

Black water or raw sewage needs to undergo a decomposition process or be filtered before is becomes safe for irrigation. that means you have to give it first to nature in some way and let the organic world play with it for a while .

(Grey water can go straight on)

THE BIG WAY

first a SEWAGE POND ,overflowing into a french drain leading into a pond ,with aquatic plants ,and fish ,and an over flow gutter with reeds and semi aquatic plants

what comes out at the end ,is almost potable

OR

FILTER(smaller system ,not to drink but good for irrigation)

a tank that receives the black water(with a wall in the middle and a connecting opening at the bottom so that the excrement stays in the first compartment ) ,with an over flow pipe leading into the bottom of another container,

the water forcing its way up through rocks ,gravel sand ,and have some papyrus or reeds on top ,what come out can be used for drip irrigation .

black water straight will block you drip irrigation system in no time ,far to much organic sh+t is included .

OR

if you want to put sewage straight into the ground ,

get a long cement drainage pipe ,and cut it in half

place it in a ditch at an angle ,and put some bricks,as islands for the worms to escape the water ,(this is basically a worm processing toilet

and can also be build in a square )

at the end of the pipe continue the ditch a bit more (french drain)and fill it with rocks (to act as an over flow /filter ,that absorbs )

Close the ditch and plant trees on the sides .

LEACHED SEWAGE

there are places where sewage goes in to tanks the tanks have over flows and the places below are saturated with stinky water ,

this water has already been filtered to some extent ,having gone through THE INITIAL FILTERING PROCESS BUT NOT DECOMPOSITION

and is safe for fruit trees and berry bushes ,but for vegetables where we eat the leaves ,it is recommended to have it a bit cleaner .

all depends on what you want it for don`t wash your lettuce in sh*t before you eat it

but you can irrigate your apples with that.

I was in a Mexican Pueblo which ate the vegetables grown on raw sewage water from Mexico city ,(these are huge farming operations ,and there are rivers of sewage from the main city that lead to these fields)

Half of the people in the pueblo were sick with stomach and skin complaints related to this contamination

Even though they washed their vegetable with detergent before cooking

a ridiculous idea

potatoes and other vegetables absorb water

BIO GAS

FINALLY one can build a bio digester which basically is a sealed cement cistern with a pipe leading from it and another back in (to stir the pulp with its own gas )

that can supply cooking gas (with out any smell ) which supplies enough gas to be able to cook for a large family providing they all go to the toilet at home

give them lots of beans so that you can fry a lot of pancakes

yummy

Answer 23

Human poo takes time to break down and in the mean time it can spread disease. Especially if it is used on vegetables which after fertilization have contact with the pathogens found in the fertilizer....this can lead to all kinds of deadly illness. In short the pathogens and bacteria in human poo require more time to break down, it has nothing to do with meat in the diet. Cow manure should not be put directly on vegtables either, it needs to have time to break down (compost as well). Most farmers activate the manure with amonia...but it is better to let mother nature have some time to break it down on her own.

Answer 24

they already use it in the uk, and have been for a while now and you would only know this if you lived near a stock pile which are normaly kept in very remote areas away from prying eyes, our government only tell you what they want you to know.

Answer 25

I hope you are freaking kidding!!!