Errata for the FIRST EDITION of
The Composting Toilet System Book, published April, 1999
Author's Notes:
In hurrying this book to press, some typos and information glitches slipped
by us... The revision for the second edition have now been published as
of May, 2000 and features more references, products, end-user comments,
an index and product updates.
The concepts and opinions in the book are David Del Porto's, but the technical
materials are drawn from Del Porto's research over 28 years. Data presented
here are edited components of previous publications. Apologies to their
sources for lack of citations. We invite you to stand up and identify
yourselves as sources.
Note from Del Porto:
Also the novel theory of adding sugar to urine, may be the basis for a Ph.D dissertation on the nutrient requirements for gram-negative aerobic chemeoautrophic nitrifying bacteria of the Nitrobacteraceae family. While these organisms do need carbon for cellular protoplasm and the formation of the transforming enzymes, they seem to need little or none for energy production. So, all soil and aquaculture scientists who read the book are invited contact Del Porto by e-mail at: daviddelporto@ecological-engineering.com (he calls himself "a self-educated, arm-chair biologist") to critique his theory.(*=more important corrections!)
page 4: The farthest right and last box should read: "Disposal to Sewer to Wastewater Treatment Plant to Surface and Ground Waters"
page 9: Last paragraph should read: "Separate/Divert constituents at their sources"
page 10*: Last paragraph should read: "Most conventional systems offer only secondary treatment: reduction of suspended solids and BOD, with optional disinfection."
page 13: Third paragraph: "toxic and troublesome chemicals"
page 15: Second to last paragraph: "water vapor (the by-products of aerobic decomposition)"
page 20: Second to last paragraph: "The ambient temperature for acceptable biological decomposition is 68° to 112°F."
page 21: Fourth to last paragraph: "...low carbon (glucose) content of urine, human urine has a low - 0.8:1 - C:N ratio."
page 31: Second paragraph: Some states have approved systems based on their own research..."
page 42: First part: "Urine mixed with feces produces a malodorous compound-worse than each of its components..." should be attributed to (Wolgast, 1993)
page 44: " Or make a urine composter." See the appendix for a better explanation of how to do this.
page 61: In the boxed item, "Using Composted Human Excrement on Food Crops," the third bullet should read "Do not apply it to root or tuber crops."
page 122*: Third paragraph: Disregard last sentence; dual-flush toilets are not used for this purpose, as far as we know.
page 124: Second paragraph: "...ultraviolet light box, which irradiates the liquid..."
page 176: Caption should read: "...drains to a greenhouse, first through two ponds with a fountain and waterfall, then to irrigate plants."
page 182*: Third paragraph: last sentence is deleted (we're not 100% sure about all plant species!)
page 224*: In "Climate Adaptability," the first sentence should read: "Optimal conditions for microbial metabolic processes are a temperature between 59° to 168°F..."
Also, in the aerobic vs. anaerobic graphic at the bottom of the page, the NO2 should read "nitrates"
page 229*: In "· Nitrification and De-Nitrification" the first sentence should read: "The nitrogen in urine, primarily in the form of urea, is quickly transformed to NH3 and NH4." Ammonia should be "NH3"
Sources for products on pages 116-118:
SeaLand Micro-flush and Vacuum-flush toilets:
Available from most organizations that sell composting toilets, as well as:
SeaLand
P.O. Box 38, Fourth Street
Big Prairie, OH 44611
Tel.: 800-321-9886
Vera Waterless Toilet:
In Europe:
Vera Miljø A/S
Postboks 2036
N-3239
Sandefjord, Norway
www.vera.no
In the Americas:
EcoTech, Inc.
50 Beharrell Street
Concord, MA 01742
978-369-3951
The price delivered in the U.S. is about $1,299
Nepon Pearl Foam-Flush Toilet
Nepon, Inc.
1-4-2 Shibuya-Ku, Shibuya
Tokyo, Japan
In the U.S., try Clivus Multrum, Ecos and AlasCan
Evak Vacuum-Flush toilet system:
1260 Turret Drive
Rockford, IL 61111 USA
Tel.: 815-654-8300
Toll-free: 800-435-6951
page 175: Source for The Septic Protector:
Septic Protector
14622 268th Ave.
Zimmerman, MN 55398
Tel.: 612-856-3800