Pee / Wee Harvesting

I'd really like to make better use of urine in the garden, far too much of it flushed away ("far too much" as in: I'm the only one harvesting, and in the middle of the night I am not inclined towards strolling out to the bucket by the compost heap ...

Plus my pee-in-a-bucket method is not very suitable for the girls, and I don't suppose a SheWee is pleasant to use routinely.

There must be a way to solve this?

I am wondering about putting a urinal somewhere that the male-folk here (well, me and Odd Job when he is here) and something that the girls (Mrs K, the 2 girls when they are home, but also 3 weekday visitors) could use.

A urinal in a shed, piped to a storage vessel of some sort would do for the boys - I don't mind nipping out to the shed, but realistically no other visitors could be expected to do that.

But the girls aren't going to be up for that ...

Retrofit of a suitable loo (so called "urine diverting toilet") would be OK ... except getting the urine pipe all the way outside from an existing loo inside the house.

And then what? I'm a bit squeamish with things like that; me peeing into a bucket and chucking it on the plants is one thing, distributing everyone else's free Nitrogen fertiliser is a bit different.

A family of four can produce the equivalent of a 50kg bag of 10:1:4 NPK fertilizer from urine alone every year - that's the best part of a fair bit

Must be a way to solve this, without it being GROSS ... ideas on a postcard please?

Definitely makes a huge difference with my Nitrogen-lovers, from Bamboo in the Spring to Bananas, Ricinus and so on during the growing season. Winter-time them compost heap might be best, or just some straw ...

 

Conjoined male & female urinals by Alex Schweder

 

I've got a Porta Potti (from my old 'motorcaravan'). Just don't add the blue stuff. http://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_sacat=0&_nkw=porta potti&rt=nc&LH_Auction=1



At the plot there's a (rather cramped) timber 'thunderbox' (made from a giant packing case) with a bucket inside for shy female usage. A curtain arrangement is easier than a door.

For males there's always http://grist.org/list/this-straw-bale-urinal-turns-your-pee-into-compost/ (I suppose females can climb on top). Smaller versions can be made from small bales wrapped in chicken wire to stop them from disintegrating too quickly.

 

Be easy enough to use 10mm microbore tubing to get it thru the wall, then step that up to fit onto one of those leaky hosepipe thingers. Think they;re 15mm, so you can get a snap on fitting

 

Beware of internal 'urinal' fittings as unless regularly flushed (diluting the liquid gold) they will stink. It's because of this need for flushing that IR sensors costing a couple of hundred pounds are fitted in WCs to reduce the amount of water used to the minimum required by actual usage.

 

Plenty of "dry" urinals available, although I am not sure that they are intended for Collection, more just to reduce water usage (and that's my problem ... in composting toilets they are generally after solids; composting them, provided that they are not subjected to liquid too, is odour free (well, almost / usually) and dramatically reduce in volume of course. I think the Urine is just routed to a French drain, where (unless in prodigious volumes) it does not harm ... but isn't being put to good use either.

Within a family bugs are shared anyway, so unlikely to catch anything off each other that we don't catch naturally. Bit different in a larger community ... but I read of solutions (e.g. for African continent) where community collection is stored (neat) for a month, which sorts out pathogens. Urine from healthy individuals is sterile, and only starts to smell when mixed with water (or solids of course).

 

She wees are great, but need a bit of practice, Daughter brought one over on a visit and being from a family of all girls we all had a good laugh but on the practical side Motorway hold ups ,traveling in France ! Can be useful ,and more discreet than a bucket

 

I can assure you that when mixed with water, nettles, comfrey, seaweed and horse poo in a big tub in the heat of Summer, then poured over crops just the other side of a hedge from a road it will have footpath users gagging.

 

Can you help me with this then please?

Are they messy to then have to wash out etc. and then you have to store them somewhere, ready for next time, presumably still damp from being washed out? Seems a palaver to me - compared to a quick shake

I can see the convenience when the need arises though.

 

I've been trying to solve this issue in my garden for a long time. As Mr Jane wouldn't hand me his urine for the compost bin.

In the end I got fed up got my massive 3 gallon watering can and would squat over it in the workshop. As this can is quite large the hole at the top is also adequate for a female to pee in. I must admit that peeing while squatting is very uncomfortable though but the results on the compost bin made it much more worthwhile. I would say personally that it's better than comfrey and nettles as an activator.

Again I'm in desperate need of an activator on my allotment but don't feel comfortable doing this in a shed where the wind likes to blow the door open at will and doesn't have an internal lock yet. So I will be watching this thread closely.

 

This is what you need Kristen, the seat, which is very comfortable, just lifts off and then you have a large bucket.

 

I'm planning on a 'dry' loo near the veg plot. Had experience of one at a fruit-tree museum recently and it was incredibly pleasant to use. Just a small shed with a traditional loo but no cistern and a big dustbin of lovely-smelling pine sawdust.
That bucket of Val's looks just the job for indoors, though. One each?

 

Is this a serious topic or are you taking the pi55?
...


...

 

What about peeing onto sodium polyacrylate to keep everything nice and tidy, then having slow release urine for the garden?

 

I suppose that would work both ways though. I have a large amount of sawdust to dispose of (I have more wood shavings though) but wouldn't the sawdust rob the activators needed to get the compost bin going?