The dry toilet is an installation that some people choose to have in their home since it is ecological. Also known as a dry toilet, this is a type of bathroom that has the characteristic of not using running water. Instead, it uses the capabilities of composting (aerobic fermentation) and dissection to break down feces or fecal matter.
There are two methods of degradation of organic matter and they will be possible depending on the design of the bathroom. In some cases it is done through fermentation, which acts in conjunction with urine and feces in the same container. In other cases, thanks to dissection: thanks to a system to store urine and feces separately.
The dry composting bath, in its most developed form, has a fermentation chamber under it, capable of containing faeces for a long time, and has a ventilation system to allow the drying and fermentation of organic matter. After a period of at least one semester, the faeces that have been composted in this way are harmless enough to be used as compost or dumped in nature without causing public health problems. However, the use of this type of composting to fertilize products that are going to be consumed by people is not recommended.
The main advantage is that water is not used for sanitation, which results in a very important saving of this resource, at the same time that it avoids its contamination by fecal matter. This would imply lower maintenance costs for the sewage treatment system, which allows it to be implemented in places where starting up this system would be very difficult. As it is a source of fertilizer, the nutrients that are inside the faeces continue their natural cycle without having to be diluted and after that, reconcentrated in the water treatment plants.
Perhaps one of its greatest disadvantages is the difficulty of implementing this type of system in certain contexts, particularly in overly dense urban environments. The generalization of this type of bathroom in urban areas without the necessary knowledge for its operation, can lead to undesirable or unsatisfactory results. Bad odors occur if the fermentation tank is not sufficiently ventilated. This could lead to anaerobic fermentation: which is why some of these baths are marketed with an integrated ventilation system.