THE

HUMANURE

HANDBOOK

FOURTH EDITION

SHIT IN A NUTSHELL

by Joseph C. Jenkins

ISBN-13: 978-0-9644258-8-0

Library of Congress Control Number: 2019901069

Copyright 2019 by Joseph C. Jenkins

First Printing April 2019

All Rights Reserved.

Printed in the USA.

Portions of this book may be copied and distributed without permission if

(a) the information is not changed, (b) the publishing source is credited and

(c) the distribution is not for profit. If you are using a compost toilet and are

having a problem with any authority, we will donate, free of charge, a copy

of The Humanure Handbook, fourth edition, to any legitimate government

authority, no questions asked — just send us your request.

Published by Joseph Jenkins, Inc.

143 Forest Lane, Grove City, PA 16127 USA

Phone: 814-786-9085 • Web site at josephjenkins.com

Please address all retail and wholesale book orders to our distributor:

Chelsea Green Publishing,

PO Box 428, White River Junction, VT 05001

Toll free: 800-639-4099 or 802-295-6300

All reasonable precautions have been taken by the author, Joseph C. Jenkins, and by Joseph

Jenkins Inc. to verify the information contained in this publication. However, the published material

is being distributed without warranty of any kind, either expressed or implied. The responsibility for

the interpretation and use of the material lies with the reader. In no event shall Joseph C. Jenkins

or Joseph Jenkins Inc. be liable for damages arising from its use.

HumanureHandbook.com

Special thanks to the composters of the world, and especially to those who are

working worldwide to help people without toilets learn how to make compost. I’m

grateful to Samuel Souza and Alisa Keesey for having the fortitude, courage, and

strength to establish humanure compost projects on several continents that I was

able to review, document, and participate in. Thanks also to Patricia Arquette for

having the wisdom to create a foundation that helps people to learn about com

posting as a sanitation alternative.

Cover design by Kelsey Brown and Elena Reznikova, DTPerfect.com.

Proofreading: Eileen M. Clawson

Printed in the USA on 100% postconsumer FSC certified recycled paper.

Most of the cartoon artwork is by Tom Griffin, Mercer, Pennsylvania.

Photos are by the author unless otherwise indicated.

The Humanure Handbook - Fourth Edition

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Introduction......................................... 1

1 — Close Encounters of the Turd Kind.................. 5

2 — The Invisible Beings.............................. 9

3 — Microbes – Friend or Foe?......................... 15

4 — The War on Microbes............................. 21

5 — Thermophiles.................................... 27

6 — Deep Shit....................................... 31

7 — A Day in the Life of a Turd........................ 47

8 — Compost........................................ 69

9 — Compost Nuts and Bolts........................... 79

10 — Compost Miracles............................... 103

11 — Compost Myths................................ .125

12 — Compost Toilets and Dry Toilets.................. .139

13 — Worms and Disease............................. .169

14 — The Tao of Compost............................. .207

15 — Bum Rap...................................... .259

Temperature Conversions.......................... 273

Glossary......................................... 274

References....................................... 277

Index........................................... 295

Introduction

This book began as a graduate thesis at the Slippery Rock Univer

sity Master of Science in Sustainable Systems program in northwestern

Pennsylvania in the mid-1990s. I had been living “off the grid” for ten

years and had been using a compost toilet system of my own design for

fifteen years. Nothing fancy, very simple, but I wanted to research what

was going on with my system, so I chose my toilet as the subject of my

thesis.

I never turned the thesis in to my thesis committee, and I never

finished the master’s program. Instead, I converted the manuscript

into “popular” language (rather than “academic” language) and then

self-published it as an amateur book. I wanted to learn how to self-pub

lish. This was before the internet, even before personal computers, if

you can imagine. No cell phones either. I started writing with a pen

The Humanure Handbook ??— 4th Edition — Introduction 1

and paper and advanced to a manual typewriter, and then an electronic

typewriter when they became available. I assembled my first computer

on the floor of my office in 1995, the year the first edition of the Hu

manure Handbook was published.

Although I found the book’s subject matter fascinating, I didn’t

think anyone else would be interested, so I only printed six hundred

copies of the book and assumed I would be staring at them for the rest

of my life, collecting cobwebs stacked in my garage, passing a book out

here and there as time went by to whoever would take one. The book

could always be used for emergency toilet paper, I told them.

Well, I was wrong. The first edition sold ten thousand copies rather

quickly, so I wrote a second edition. It sold just as well, so I condensed

and redesigned it into a third edition. Now, with seventy thousand

copies in circulation, I’m doing a fourth edition. The second and third

editions were translated into numerous languages. The first translation

was published in South Korea, the second Israel, and then editions

came out in French, Norwegian, Portuguese, Finnish, and partial

translations in Cambodian, Chinese, Dutch, German, Hungarian, Ital

ian, Kenyan, Mongolian, Russian, Slovenian, Spanish, and Vietnamese.

Don’t misinterpret this as bragging. I freely gave the foreign rights on

request, and over all those years and all those translations I have never

made a penny from any foreign edition. Nor did I want to.

In the years the book circulated, I continued to make compost from

“humanure,” and I continued to refine and tweak my methodology as

my experience and knowledge grew. My first ever compost pile was in

1975. My first ever humanure compost pile was in 1976. Now, as I write

this forty-two years later, I have never not had a compost pile, or several,

and I have always used humanure as a feedstock for the compost. I have

also used all the finished compost to grow my food (some has gone to

houseplants), and I have raised a healthy family on my garden produce.

I now realize that we as a nation are shit illiterate. Any society that

grows up with water toilets, also called flush toilets, seems to have an

arrested development when it comes to the recycling of organic mate

rial, especially what comes from its own bodies.

2 The Humanure Handbook ??— 4th Edition — Introduction

My compost-related travels opened my eyes to a lot of things, espe

cially when traveling to those parts of the world where people don’t use

toilets because they don’t have them. Americans make up about 4 per

cent of the human population, meaning that 96 percent of all people

are not Americans, and they don’t think and act like Americans. About

two and a half billion of those people don’t have water toilets. They

never had flush toilets, their ancestors before them never had flush toi

lets going back to the beginning of time, and quite likely, their descen

dants after them will also never have flush toilets. The infrastructure,

water, and wealth required for flush toilets simply do not exist in much

of the world. There must be something else for them — a different way

to deal with shit. Most flush toilet people don’t care about any of this;

they can’t understand the acuteness and immensity of the global sani

tation problem, and they have little constructive advice to offer.

This improbable book has taken me to Mongolia three times. It

has taken me to Haiti four times, Finland four times, Morocco, Mo

zambique, Nicaragua, India, Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda, and from coast

to coast in the USA and into Canada. I have turned down many invi

tations to travel the world to help people, schools, or villages get com

post toilet systems started because there just aren’t enough days in the

year, and I have a garden to tend at home. I don’t know how many more

countries I will travel to before my life ends, but I suspect that my trav

eling is not over yet.

My challenge with the fourth edition of this book is to try to distill

down over forty years of experience into as few pages as possible. I also

need to update and correct some of the language I have used in previous

versions. I have learned so much, and it seems so important, that I be

lieve the effort is worth it. I must confess that there’s no way I can write

what I’ve learned in only one book, so my plan is to spin off a second

book, The Compost Toilet Handbook, and I hope to have it in print before

too long. Time will tell.

Joe Jenkins, January 2019

The Humanure Handbook ??— 4th Edition — Introduction 3

4 The Humanure Handbook ??— 4th Edition

Chapter One

Close Encounters of the Turd Kind

I was once accused of being abducted by aliens.

This may not be the wisest way to begin a book. Skeptics, myself

included, might consider this “starting off on the wrong foot.” But the

accusation is true, and it makes for an interesting story.

My well-meaning friend had had a couple of beers before she pre

sented her postulation. “Why else would anyone write a book like the

Humanure Handbook?” she asked.

She theorized that somehow, I was sucked up into an alien space

ship, without my knowledge, where the aliens inserted a chip some

where in my body, then dropped me back down to Earth with my mis

sion safely encoded inside the chip.

“Uranus!” she blurted out, laughing.

“What?”

“Uranus! That’s where they’re from!” Then she started laughing

like a hopeless inmate at an insane asylum.

I later decided to have some fun with my friend’s theory when I

was asked to speak about humanure at a national conference. I titled

my talk, “Close Encounters of the Turd Kind,” a title that caused some

consternation among the conference organizers, some of whom didn’t

want the word “turd” in their conference brochure. I prevailed, ho

wever, and ended up in front of a crowd one sunny afternoon in North

ern California. The place was filled to capacity, standing room only,

with a number of people standing in the back behind the seating area.

I started my talk with my friend’s theory about my abduction, and

I was intentionally serious about it. The audience clearly wasn’t sure

what to make of me. Anyone who talks about UFOs, aliens, or abduc

tions is immediately suspect in the eyes of many people, including a

lot of the people at this conference.

“Let’s assume my friend’s theory is correct,” I stated. “Let’s assume

an advanced civilization with an intelligence level we can’t begin to

The Humanure Handbook ??— 4th Edition — Chapter One 5

fathom, capable of traveling light years across solar systems or galaxies,

sucked me up one night into their space ship and sent me back down

to Earth with a chip embedded in my ass. What was the mission I was

being programmed to do? What did they want me to communicate to

the people of Earth?”

There was a lady in the front row squirming in her seat, frowning,

squinting at me with skepticism. I stood on the floor in front of her

with a microphone in my hand.

I stretched my free hand out in front of me with my fingers ex

tended and slowly swept it across the crowd. “Any ideas? Anyone?

What do you think the aliens want me to say? What is the message they

want me to deliver? What information do they want me to convey to

you humans?”

No one responded. You could hear a pin drop.

“Well, I know what they wanted me to tell you.” I hesitated a mo

ment for dramatic effect.

“They wanted me to tell you about the Invisible Beings. Who here

has seen the Invisible Beings?” At this point my sweeping outstretched

hand turned into a pointed finger as I slowly swept it across the crowd.

“Anyone? Anyone at all? Who has seen them, the Invisible Beings?”

Of course, the question was ridiculous, you can’t see something

that’s invisible. Nobody is going to say they saw an invisible anything.

That would make them look as nutty as I was looking at that moment.

The front row lady’s eyes were now wide open, and her jaw was hang

ing down to her neck. Flies could have flown in and out of her mouth;

it was open that far. It had apparently dawned on her that I was a raving

lunatic standing right in front of them. I was one of those people who

believed in aliens and invisible people. Shock was written all over her

face. The rest of the audience wasn’t far behind.

“Who here has seen the invisible beings!?” I asked again, louder, even

more seriously, starting to sound impatient, pointing to the crowd with

my arm outstretched before me, moving my finger from person to per

son, making everyone nervous, while people fidgeted in their seats.

“The aliens want me to tell you about the invisible beings! Has any-

6 The Humanure Handbook ??— 4th Edition — Chapter One

body here seen them?” Nobody moved. Nobody said a word. The au

dience froze. I stood motionless and silent in front of them, pointing.

Then a hand slowly rose up, way in the back of the crowd. A young

lady was standing there.

“YOU!” I yelled, pointing straight to her. “Where did you see the

invisible beings!?”

“In a microscope?” she squeaked, barely audible.

“What, I can’t hear you....

”

“IN A MICROSCOPE!”

“BINGO!”

My talk then segued directly into a discussion about microscopic

organisms, beings so tiny as to be invisible to the human eye without

magnification. But not before I lectured the crowd about making judg

ments based on ignorance. Granted, my alien angle was “over the top”

and was included simply for effect, but the mention of invisible beings

was perfectly rational, factual, and necessary to my discourse. I told

them that people have been historically condemned, imprisoned, tor

tured, and put to death for conveying information that was factual, but

misunderstood. People who could cure diseases using herbs and natural

procedures a couple of centuries ago, for example, were labeled witches

and executed by the church. Galileo is perhaps one of the most well

known scientists persecuted for presenting factual but misunderstood

scientific information. The idea that the Earth revolved around the

sun contradicted the teachings of the church at that time, so Galileo

was branded a heretic and was forced to spend the last decade of his

life under house arrest.

Just because we don’t understand what someone is saying doesn’t

mean it’s wrong. It’s important to keep an open mind and hear a person

out before jumping to conclusions.

That’s what I told them. Then I talked about the invisible beings.

The Humanure Handbook ??— 4th Edition — Chapter One 7

8 The Humanure Handbook ??— 4th Edition

Chapter Two

The Invisible Beings

Whoever said “The meek shall inherit the Earth” must have been

a microbiologist. Except that was thousands of years before microbiol

ogy even existed. In fact, microbes (microscopic organisms, or “invisi

ble beings”) already own the Earth, have always owned the Earth, and

are allowing humans to borrow it, briefly. Once we humans kill our

selves off through pollution, consumption, greed, hatred, warfare, dis

ease, and extinction, our brief time on this planet will end and

microbes will carry on as though nothing had happened, as they’ve al

ready done for billions of years.

Scientists believe the Earth to be about four and a half billion years

old, but for the first half billion years or so, they believe there was noth

ing on Earth that could be considered life as we know it today. Yet

somehow, complex molecules were created by natural forces (think

heat, pressure, maybe lightning, and meteorites). The molecules com

bined and coagulated to the extent that single-celled organisms even

tually evolved on this planet eons ago, as evidenced by

three-and-a-half-billion-year-old microbial remnants found in Aus

tralia and South Africa.1

I well remember the day I stood on a mountainside in remote Af

rica to conduct an outdoor presentation about compost toilets for the

local tribe. “Half of all life on Earth is invisible,” I told them. “Fur

thermore, if you scraped up all the microorganisms in and on your

body, single-celled organisms that are not you, the resulting mass would

weigh as much as your brain.” They stared at me as if what I had just

said didn’t register at all, and it probably didn’t (with you either). Allow

me to elaborate.

The number of individual microbes on our planet today is esti

mated to be as high as 1030 (a “nonillion”).2 Ten to the 9th power is a

billion, so ten to the 30th power is a number that’s impossible to grasp.

To put it in perspective, scientists estimate that there are 1024 stars in

The Humanure Handbook ??— 4th Edition — Chapter Two 9

the universe, roughly equal to the number of grains of sand on Earth

(i.e., much fewer than a nonillion). The number of microbes on Earth

eclipses the number of stars in the known universe by a factor of some

where between a million and 100 million, depending on whom you ask.

The number of single-celled organisms (“invisible beings”) on our

planet, with an estimated ten million to one billion species, is so im

mense that their collective mass is greater than that of all of Earth’s

visible plants and animals combined.3

A hundred million microbes can be found in only a liter (roughly

a quart) of pond or sea water, containing maybe thirty-five thousand

different kinds of bacteria. Incredibly, the number of different kinds

of microbes in soil can be much greater than in sea-water.4

Then there are viruses, the most abundant biological entities on

the planet.5 There can be ten million viruses in the form of bacterio

phages (a virus that kills bacteria) per milliliter of sea water, which

means ten billion in a quart of water, outnumbering bacteria by a hun

dred to one. Viruses are noncellular, parasitic, non-living critters (wrap

your brain around that) that must infect bacterial host cells to repro

duce.6 They appear to play crucial and beneficial roles on our planet.7

Humans evolved on a planet that was already teeming with life,

most of it microscopic. If you stretch out your arm and use it as a meas

ure of time since life began on Earth, humans would only represent

the edge of the farthest fingernail, or if life on Earth were compacted

into twenty-four hours, humans showed up two seconds ago.8

This means the microbes were already here and had been for bil

lions of years before humans arrived. It means humans did not evolve

independent of microbes; instead, we evolved in a soup of microorgan

isms; we coevolved with microbes, as did every other living thing. Mi

crobes are in us and they are on us and they belong there. The statistics

are astonishing. For example, scientists estimate that there are at least

ten times and maybe a hundred times more bacterial cells living on

our skin, in our mouth, and in our gastrointestinal tract (our digestive

system from mouth to anus and everything in between) than there are

human cells in our bodies. Did you get that? Ten to one hundred times

10 The Humanure Handbook ??— 4th Edition — Chapter Two

as many cells in and on us that are not our cells!

These might represent ten thousand nonhuman species or strains

of microbes9 housing themselves in and on you and me. That’s hun

dreds of trillions of bacterial cells in every person, whether we like it

or not.10 We should like it because the microbes play a critical role in

our immune and digestive systems and they help us to resist disease.11

We would find it difficult, if not impossible, to eat, breathe, and survive

on this planet without our resident microorganisms, but the Earth’s

microbes would carry on just fine without us. 12 What’s another billion

years to them? We humans are hoping climate change or nuclear war

doesn’t kill us off by the end of this century.

According to the dictionary, a “biome” is “a large naturally occur

ring community of plants and animals occupying a major habitat.” If

those “plants and animals” are microscopic, it’s called a “microbiome.”

This is a term that everyone should know and remember. That’s the

population of microorganisms we have in and on us, our microbiome,

and not only is it important, but we each have our own unique one, al

most like a personal fingerprint.13

Every human body is an ecosystem in itself. For example, in most

mammals (such as humans) studied to date, the most densely populated

areas of the gastrointestinal tract, or “gut,” can contain a hundred bil

lion single-celled organisms per gram, totaling 3.3 pounds in an aver

age human.14 For perspective, a quarter teaspoon of sugar weighs a

gram; add a hundred billion bacteria to that, and you get the idea of

what it’s like inside your body. So if your body contains 3 pounds of

microbes, you now have something new to think about every time you

get on the bathroom scale and look at your weight. You’re not just

weighing yourself; you’re weighing your resident microbes too, your

invisible neighbors.

The gut is not just inhabited by bacteria; it also contains resident

protozoa, yeast, and fungi,15 making it one of the most densely inhab

ited ecosystems on Earth. Even your mouth can contain over six hun

dred species of bacteria.16 In some parts of your body ten million

bacteria may be living on a square centimeter of your skin (a centimeter

The Humanure Handbook ??— 4th Edition — Chapter Two 11

12 The Humanure Handbook ??— 4th Edition — Chapter Two

is less than half an inch). On average, 150 different species of bacteria

can be living on the palm of your hand.17 Think about that the next

time you get your palm read or shake someone’s hand!

Of course, microbes coevolved with everything else on the planet,

too,18 and their relationships with other animals can be remarkable. In

fact, each animal species appears to contain its own gut microbiota.19

Termites digest wood because of the bacteria in their guts. Mammals

can’t digest plant cellulose20 without the microbes that coevolved with

them in their stomachs. Cows and other ruminants therefore digest

grass thanks to their gut bacteria,21 although their stomachs also con

tain viruses, fungi, and protozoa.22 Fish with light organs owe their

light to bioluminescent bacteria.23 The symbiotic relationship between

leaf cutter ants and fungi dates back fifty million years.24 The ants chew

leaves into pulp, add poop (antmanure?), then inoculate it with fungus,

which produces food for the ants. There are a half million bacteria in

side a single female aphid helping to digest the sap it eats, a symbiotic

relationship that goes back two hundred million years.25

Microbes make Earth a living entity; call it Mother Earth, Gaia, or

Mother Nature, but without it we’re toast. Earth’s delicate atmosphere,

a thin layer of gases blanketing the planet with all life huddled beneath

it, can be traced back to microbes. In fact, half of all photosynthesis,

which is what produces atmospheric oxygen, is attributed to microsco

pic phytoplankton in the oceans, the smallest and most abundant of

which (Prochlorococcus) was only discovered by humans in 1986.26 A

symbiotic relationship between viruses and phytoplankton in the

oceans seems to increase the ability of the phytoplankton to keep pho

tosynthesis going longer than would be possible otherwise. Since ten

million of these viruses can reside in a milliliter of seawater, a signifi

cant portion of the oxygen in the atmosphere may be attributable to

the influence of viruses on oxygen-producing bacteria.27

The relationship of microbes to ourselves, to our bodies, and to our

planet is incredibly complicated and largely unknown. Our primitive

attitudes tend to consider microbes to be dangerous — something to

be destroyed and eliminated. We couldn’t be more wrong.

The Humanure Handbook ??— 4th Edition — Chapter Two 13

14 The Humanure Handbook ??— 4th Edition — Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Microbes — Friend or Foe?

It doesn’t surprise me that the person who discovered microbes was

not a doctor or even a scientist. Antony van Leeuwenhoek, born in

1632, was chamberlain (a sort of superintendent) of the sheriff ’s

chambers in the city hall in Delft, Holland, back in the 1600s. He was

also a surveyor and a wine gauger (someone who measures the quantity

of wine in barrels), but it was likely his trade in draperies, a business

he began at age twenty-two, that earned him a place in history.1

Leeuwenhoek never published a scientific paper, never wrote a

book, nor did he invent the microscope, although he did refine it. By

1654 he needed to be able to closely examine the fibers in his draperies,

presumably to count the threads. Anyone in the trades today can imag

ine what was happening back then. In the 1600s, crude glass lenses

were available for magnification. People who used these lenses in their

trade were limited by their capabilities, which was undoubtedly frus

trating at times. An intelligent and resourceful tradesperson will try to

improve on the tools of his or her trade, if possible. That is what Leeu

wenhoek seems to have done.

He became so adept at crafting magnification lenses he was able to

see the finest details in his drapery threads. His curiosity took over and

he began to look elsewhere with his lenses, eventually turning to lake

water and rain water, where he saw his first microbes, fantastic crea

tures he called “animalcules” or little animals.2 He was about forty

years old by the time he sent his first letter to the Royal Society de

scribing his early observations with his microscopes. Of course, few

were going to believe him, especially the scientists of the time, unless

they saw for themselves through his proprietary lenses what he was

seeing in the invisible world.

Eventually, the scientific community admitted, perhaps begrudg

ingly, that a nonscientist had made one of the most important scientific

discoveries of all time. Although Leeuwenhoek didn’t contribute any

The Humanure Handbook ??— 4th Edition — Chapter Three 15

thing to science until he was forty,3 by the time he was forty-eight, he

was elected to the Royal Society of London, an award granted to indi

viduals who make a significant contribution to the improvement of

knowledge in mathematics, engineering science, and medical science.

Leeuwenhoek died at age ninety-one, in 1723,4 another remarkable

achievement, considering average life expectancy at that time was

about 35 years. When Leeuwenhoek died, he left 247 microscopes and

172 lenses, although he never showed anyone how to use them.5

It was nearly a century and a half later, in 1860, when the science

of microbiology was born, largely due to the work of Louis Pasteur.

Pasteur showed that fermentation was the result of microscopic crea

tures, some of which could be cultivated in a laboratory.6 He also real

ized that when fermentations went bad, such as in the beer industry,

undesirable microorganisms had contaminated the batch. The hunt

was now on for microbes, especially the bad ones!

Back in the early 1800s, doctors didn’t know what caused disease

when microorganisms were involved, since they didn’t know what mi

croscopic pathogens existed, and even when they heard about them,

some scoffed at such a preposterous idea as invisible beings (like the

lady in the front row). Doctors had their own ideas about how to heal

sickness, often draining a person’s blood and poisoning him or her with

mercury. Consider cholera, a disease we now know is caused by drink

ing water contaminated by Vibrio cholerae, a microscopic bacterium.

During the 1832 cholera epidemic in America, doctors attempted

to heal patients by draining their blood and administering the “grand

remedy, Mercury,” otherwise known as calomel, which was the most

widely used cholera remedy at that time. Other ways to treat patients,

or victims, depending on how you look at it, included tobacco smoke

enemas, electric shocks, injections of saline solutions into the veins,

strychnine, morphine, and immersion in ice water.7

Today calomel is used as a fungicide and insecticide and is consid

ered highly toxic to human beings. The average lethal dose of inorganic

mercury salts is about one gram. It causes burning of the mouth and

throat, stomach pain, vomiting, bloody diarrhea, rapid and weak pulse,

16 The Humanure Handbook ??— 4th Edition — Chapter Three

shallow breathing, paleness, exhaustion, tremors and collapse. Delayed

death may occur from renal failure. This makes one wonder how many

cholera deaths were actually caused by the bacteria and how many were

caused by the treatments.

In the 1800s, cholera was attributed to “green and unripe fruit,

especially gooseberries, apples, pears, and green corn.”8 Some doctors

attributed the cholera epidemics to “small winged insects not visible

to the naked eye.”9 Other physicians said that a deficiency of ozone in

the atmosphere caused cholera, which could be counteracted by sulfur,

after which sulfur remedies sold like hot cakes.10 Doctors argued that

cholera was not a contagious disease. Religious publications in 1832

attributed cholera to “Holy God” sweeping away wicked people in

heaps like masses of filth.11

In 1849, Dr. John Snow published the theory that cholera was a

contagious disease caused by poison in the bodies of its victims, spread

by excreta and vomiting, and by a contaminated water supply.12 He

even went so far as to convince a local council in London to disable a

well pump on Broad Street by removing its handle. His action is com

monly credited as ending the 1854 cholera outbreak on the street where

the contaminated water well had been used.13

In 1883, a doctor named Robert Koch had isolated the organism

that caused cholera, Vibrio comma (as it was called then), a curved,

comma shaped bacterium.14 Today Koch is considered the founder of

bacteriology, but back then he had his detractors, especially other doc

tors who thought his theory about bacteria causing cholera was nuts.

Official publications in 1885 argued that neither commabacilli, bad water,

insanitary conditions, nor any other single causes have any relation to the

march of cholera over a country, and Koch has not satisfactorily proved any

causal connection between these bacilli and cholera. One went so far as to

say that Dr. Koch’s postulations were creating in the imagination of the

timid, countless swarms of invisible, death-diffusing atoms against which de

fense is impossible [which] is after all but the baseless fabric of a dream.15

This effort to prove Koch wrong may have been the impetus be

hind some researchers intentionally drinking water contaminated with

The Humanure Handbook ??— 4th Edition — Chapter Three 17

18 The Humanure Handbook ??— 4th Edition — Chapter Three

large numbers of cholera bacteria, after which they showed no cholera

disease. That was proof enough that Koch was wrong, as far as they

were concerned. Yet, we know now that the multiplication of a virulent

bacteria in the human body doesn’t have to express itself as a disease.

For example, when experimenters around 1900 ingested enormous

numbers of Vibrios cholerae in polluted water, some developed mild di

arrhea, but none developed cholera. Other experiments in which vol

unteers were intentionally infected with dysentery by oral ingestion

resulted in only a few people developing symptoms of dysentery, while

most remained unaffected.16 What they didn’t know at that time was

that we humans have a microbiome, and that it protects us from in

vading disease organisms. More on that later. Let’s get back to the

1800s when humanure was developing its bad reputation.

In 1865 living conditions in New York City were unsanitary and

crowded. Ninety people could live in a five-story house with pit latrines

only six feet from the building. Over a hundred people might be living

in a two-story house with only one outhouse available to everyone.17

One section of the Lower East Side had a thousand people living on

an area smaller than a football field.18 It’s no wonder that human ex

crement was polluting the drinking water supplies, and no wonder that

cholera epidemics ran rampant from time to time. Other disease epi

demics burned through the populations where crowding, unclean

water, polluted air, inadequate safe food supplies, and generally unsan

itary conditions prevailed. When bacteria from human excrements

were polluting drinking water and causing disease epidemics, the War

on Shit began. And the War on Shit morphed into the War on Microbes.

Ironically, human excrement can be rendered hygienically safe and

disease-free, useful, and valuable, simply by feeding it to those pesky

microbes through a process called composting. But few knew about this

phenomenon back in the days of mass epidemics, and when they fig

ured out that raw human excrement could be a “vector” in the trans

mission of disease, the reaction was to get rid of the excrement as soon

as possible, as completely as possible, and as far away as possible. It’s

the microbes. They’re the problem. At least that’s what people thought.

The Humanure Handbook ??— 4th Edition — Chapter Three 19

20 The Humanure Handbook ??— 4th Edition — Chapter Three

Chapter Four

The War on Microbes

It was British scientist Alexander Fleming who is credited with

discovering the first antibiotic, penicillin, in the late 1920s. His team of

scientists was able to produce a wonder drug just in time for World

War II, in the early 1940s. Fleming received the 1945 Nobel Prize in

Medicine for his work.1 Humans had discovered bacteria, figured out

they were causing diseases, and now had ammunition to battle them

— antibiotics!

Fast forward a few generations and humans start to look like drug

addicts on a binge they can’t stop or even slow down. We’re attacking

the microbes that reside in our bodies and we don’t really know what

we’re doing. Yes, some bacteria can cause disease, but most are benefi

cial and necessary to our health, but that’s not going to stop us from

trying to kill them all. Our mass slaughter of microbes is inadvertently

breeding antibiotic resistant bacteria, or superbugs, in the process.

Antibiotics have become big business, with worldwide production

now at more than two hundred million pounds annually2. Global an

tibiotic consumption increased by 65 percent just between 2000 and

2015.3 Thirty-eight million pounds of antibiotics are consumed in the

United States each year, 80 percent of which is consumed by animals

raised for meat production.4 Remember that no antibiotics were con

sumed on Earth before 1940, since the beginning of time.

In 2015, approximately 21.4 million pounds of antibiotics consid

ered important for human use were sold for use in animal agriculture.5

Animals dosed with antibiotics breed antibiotic-resistant bacteria.

These nasty bacteria end up in the meat, then access your body when

you handle the raw meat in your kitchen. Evidence now suggests that

forty thousand or more people each year in the US get urinary tract

and kidney infections from E. coli that originated in poultry.6

By 2010, 258 million courses of human antibiotics were prescribed

in the United States alone, amounting to 833 prescriptions for every

The Humanure Handbook ??— 4th Edition — Chapter Four 21

one thousand people, many of which were prescribed to babies. In fact,

babies in the US were getting 1,365 courses of antibiotics per one thou

sand bambinos. The average American child receives nearly three

courses of antibiotics just in the first two years of life, then an ad

ditional course every year for the next eight years; seventeen courses

on average by the time he or she is twenty-one and thirty courses by

the age of forty.7 Every course of antibiotics can have a profound effect

on the body’s microbiota, and that effect can last for years.

In 2014, outpatient providers in the US wrote over 266 million an

tibiotic prescriptions, or 835 antibiotic prescriptions for every one

thousand people.8 Yet, at least 30 percent of oral antibiotics prescribed

are unnecessary. Of the total excess prescriptions, nearly three-quarters

are for acute respiratory conditions, including asthma, allergies, colds,

and other infections not caused by bacteria, which therefore do not re

spond to antibiotics. On top of this, a third of patients given antibiotic

prescriptions for three common respiratory conditions were given the

wrong antibiotic anyway.9

Seventy percent of kids who walk into a pediatrician’s office walk

out with an antibiotic prescription, even when they have an upper res

piratory infection caused by a virus, on which an antibiotic has no ef

fect.10 About 40 percent of American women get antibiotics during

delivery, and virtually all hospital-born babies are given an antibiotic

immediately after birth.11 Our world has become so saturated with an

tibiotics that a child who now drinks two cups of cow’s milk a day will

consume about fifty micrograms of the antibiotic tetracycline every

day, residual in the cow’s milk from dairy management practices.12

So what? Isn’t the War on Microbes keeping us cleaner and safer?

The answer, in a word, is no. Overuse of antibiotics creates very serious

problems. It screws up our microbiome, the invisible beings that nat

urally populate our bodies. Some of those microbes, however, can adapt

to our antibiotic onslaught by developing antibiotic resistance — their

defense against our ammunition. The ones that survive the antibiotics

can be very nasty, and since our natural protective population of mi

crobes has been wiped out by the antibiotics, the bad bugs are free to

22 The Humanure Handbook ??— 4th Edition — Chapter Four

multiply like crazy, and maybe even kill us.

We humans discovered microbes; then eventually we figured out

how to destroy them. But now the littler buggers are outsmarting us.

Or in the words of scientists, The early hope that antibiotics would eradicate

infectious diseases has turned out to have been hopelessly naive and wrong.

We failed to realize that the use of antibiotics... would actually engage us in

a long-term war against the entire bacterial world.13

Considering that microbes have inhabited the Earth for almost four

billion years and are still the most abundant forms of life on the

planet,14 maybe we should be showing them some respect. Some bac

teria, E. coli, for example, can reproduce every twenty minutes. That

means that a single cell starting reproduction in the morning can be

come ten billion cells by the afternoon.15 That’s a lot of generations in

a short time, meaning lots of opportunity for evolution to occur — you

know, genetic mutation, that sort of thing. Speaking of which, bacteria

have an uncanny ability to exchange genes across different species;

they can also transfer antibiotic resistance to other bacteria by a process

known as horizontal gene transfer.16 And guess what? That’s exactly

what they’re doing. When we pump ourselves and our children full of

antibiotics, the microbes that develop resistance to the antibiotics are

the ones that continue living and multiplying. We’re creating antibiotic

resistant bacteria, a practice which may be looked back on historically

as a medical blunder similar to blood-letting. What were we thinking?

According to the World Health Organization, antimicrobial resist

ance is now one of the three greatest threats to human health and is

one of the biggest public health challenges of our time. In February of

2017, WHO published its first-ever list of antibiotic-resistant “priority

pathogens” — twelve families of bacteria that pose the greatest threat

to human health. These bacteria resist antibiotics and can transfer ge

netic material to other bacteria to make them also antibiotic resistant.17

Every year in the United States, at least two million people get an

antibiotic-resistant infection, and at least 23,000 die.18 A 2009 study in

several US cities even found antibiotic-resistant bacteria in all of the

tested tap water.19 Increasingly resistant bacterial strains are often

The Humanure Handbook ??— 4th Edition — Chapter Four 23

spread in the medical environment where rates of handwashing rarely

exceed 60 percent, with physicians, believe it or not, reported as having

the worst hand-washing record.20 This could be one reason a 2013

Johns Hopkins study claimed that more than 250,000 people in the US

die every year from medical errors, making it the third leading cause

of death behind heart disease and cancer. Other reports claim the

numbers to be as high as 440,000.21

Then there’s your personal microbiome. Your body’s resident mi

crobe population is important in the development of your immunity

as well as in protecting your body from specific pathogens. Those mi

croscopic critters protect your health and help you more efficiently uti

lize your food. Since some bacteria grow better in the presence of other

bacteria, destruction of specific bacterial strains by antibiotics may dis

rupt our microbiota in ways that we can’t imagine.22

The disruption of our resident microbes is linked to inflammatory

bowel disease and many other maladies. These include reflux disease,

asthma, obesity, diabetes, gluten intolerance, food allergies, celiac dis

ease, Crohn’s disease, lupus, osteoporosis, and autism, not to mention

direct infections, including infections from antibiotic resistant bacteria

such as Clostridium difficile (C. diff).23 A one-week course of antibiotics

can lead to the persistence of antibiotic resistant organisms in your

body for years.24

Some forms of autism and autism spectrum disorder can be related

to a dysfunctional gut microbiome. When researchers fed the probiotic

bacteria Bacteroides fragilis to mice with such disorders, the resultant

changes in their gut microbiome improved autism-related behaviors

and alleviated symptoms of autism spectrum disorder.25

Regarding infections, when mice were fed with the disease-causing

bacteria Salmonella enteritidis, a quantity of one hundred thousand bac

teria caused an infection in about half the mice. But if the mice were

first given a single oral dose of the antibiotic streptomycin several days

prior to being given the pathogen, it took only about three bacteria to

cause an infection! Other antibiotics, including penicillin, had the same

effect. This phenomenon was shown to occur in humans as well.26 In-

24 The Humanure Handbook ??— 4th Edition — Chapter Four

creased susceptibility to new infections is a side-effect of antibiotic use,

presumably because the microbes that live in you and naturally defend

you (you are their home, after all) are wiped out by the drugs.

The loss of friendly gut bacteria during early childhood can lead

to obesity,27 which is now an epidemic problem in the US. The Centers

for Disease Control and Prevention released a study in 2017 stating

that almost 40 percent of adult Americans and nearly 20 percent of ad

olescents are obese — the highest rates ever recorded for the US.28 Co

incidence? The overall diversity of microbiota is reduced in obese

persons.29 Sounds like antibiotics may be playing a role in this. The

fact that sugar is added to most store-bought foods doesn’t help. Some

bacteria have coevolved with the human species to the extent that their

secretions can theoretically stimulate their host person to eat certain

foods.30 Imagine single-celled bacteria driving their host like a giant

robot straight to the donut counter or the chocolate milk. There may

be a lot more to the obesity epidemic than we currently understand!

Antibiotic use in the first year of life is associated with a signifi

cantly greater chance of having asthma at the age of seven.31 One

wonders if the altered microbiome of a small child leads to long-term

health problems later down the road. How did kids get their microbial

roommates anyway? Theoretically, they have no bacteria in the womb,

but they become inoculated as they exit through the vagina.32 Passage

through the birth canal by means of natural birth provides us with our

first bacterial inoculation, primarily by lactobacillus, bacteria that nat

urally reside in the vagina and that help babies digest milk.33 The coe

volution of humans and bacteria should be obvious here. Babies born

by C-section miss this initial bacterial indoctrination into the world,

and C-sections in the US in 2011 were performed on one in three moth

ers!34 Most of our bacteria live in the colon, which is the lower part of

the large intestine, where a milliliter of stuff (one fifth of a teaspoon)

contains more bacteria than there are people on Earth.35 So when you’re

coming out the birth canal, chances are you’re getting some of those

bacteria too. Next time you get a chance, measure the distance between

a vagina and an anus. You’ll find it’s about an inch and a half, close

The Humanure Handbook ??— 4th Edition — Chapter Four 25

enough for bacterial transfer to a newborn baby.

If antibiotics are limited or avoided altogether, such as with a life

style consisting of organically grown or fermented foods, a microbiome

with a higher bacterial diversity can be expected.36 Organic dairy farms

have lower levels of multiple drug resistance than do conventional

farms,37 which could be attributed to the avoidance of antibiotics.

Some people may wonder how anyone can avoid antibiotics. You

need them, don’t you? There’s no way anyone can raise kids these days

without giving them antibiotics, is there? As I write this, at age sixty

six, I can honestly say that I never gave any of my kids antibiotics. My

thirty-three-year-old son has never had an antibiotic and presumably

has an intact natural microbiome, as do most of my offspring. That

makes his shit valuable in this day and age. Why? FMT, that’s why.

Yes, there’s a cure for a screwed-up microbiome, and you aren’t

gonna like it. It’s shit. Fecal microbiota transplantation (FMT), to be

precise — the deliberate transfer of feces from one person to another.

A person with an intact, fully diversified natural microbiome can trans

fer those microbes to someone suffering from what we might call anti

biotic poisoning, or the overuse of antibiotics to the extent that toxic

antibiotic resistant bacteria have taken over and are killing their host.

C. diff is one such dangerous antibiotic-resistant bacterium. Treating

C. diff with FMT in one trial had a 94 percent success rate in compar

ison to 31 percent using drugs,38 which is pretty incredible considering

how easy it is to obtain fecal material versus pharmaceuticals. This

shows how important the natural microbes are to our bodies and why

we should try to keep them intact. Although fecal transplantation from

the correct donor might cure an ailing recipient, don’t try this at home.

As you can see, humanure has some tricks up its sleeves. Or should

I say the residents of humanure have tricks up their trillions of sleeves.

Microbes have been on Earth for billions of years. We humans just got

here, and we have to learn how to live with our invisible neighbors. If

we do, we can employ them to do important work for us, like eating

our shit. When we feed humanure and other organic materials to mi

crobes, they turn it back into earth. It’s called composting.

26 The Humanure Handbook ??— 4th Edition — Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Thermophiles

Not all microbes are refined enough to relish a dinner of human

turds, but many do. Perhaps the most mysterious and the most impres

sive are the thermophiles, or heat lovers.

Bacteria are generally divided into three classes based on the tem

peratures at which they best thrive. The low-temperature bacteria are

the psychrophiles, whose optimum temperature is 59°F (15°C) or lower.1

The mesophiles live at medium temperatures between 68° and 113°F

(20° and 45°C). Thermophiles thrive above 113°F, and some live at, or

even above, the boiling point of water.2

Back in the 1930s, scientists found that thermophiles included the

streptococci, the lactobacilli, the colon group, anaerobic, and especially aerobic

spore-forming rods. It was those spore-forming rod bacteria that con

cerned scientists because they were found in pasteurized milk. The

heat of pasteurization wasn’t killing them; if anything, they thrived in

it. Scientists were finding thermophiles in milk, cow manure, soil, dust,

leaves of plants, and even the surface of any exposed material.3

If you want to do an experiment of your own, the next time you

have a tree ground up by a chipper-shredder machine, pile the tree par

ticles in a nice heap and stick a compost thermometer in it. You will

find that within about seventy-two hours, the internal temperature of

the ground-up tree will be 120°or 130°F (49° or 54°C), if the pile is big

enough. The heat is from the thermophilic bacteria. They like a hot

environment and will create one when given a chance. But why are

they there in the first place? Where do they come from?

A notable thermophile is the Geobacillus, formerly named Bacillus

stearothermophilus. It’s an aerobic, rod-shaped bacterium that forms

spores. Its temperature range for growth can be as low as 95° or as high

as 176°F (35° or 80°C), but temperatures between about 113° and 158°F

(45° and 70°C) are normal.4 Despite this very hot optimum temperature

range, these mysterious thermophiles can be found all over the Earth,

The Humanure Handbook ??— 4th Edition — Chapter Five 27

a planet with an average surface temperature between 44 and 50°F (7°

and 10°C).

Thermophilic bacteria have been found on all seven continents, in

the Pacific Ocean, in the Mediterranean Sea, in the Bolivian Andes at

an altitude of twelve thousand feet, and even in the upper troposphere

six miles high. They’ve been found in oil wells seven thousand feet

below the ground, in gold mines ten thousand feet underground, and

in the ocean over six miles below sea level.5

These are bacteria that love to eat human excrement, discarded or

ganic material, and dead animals, yet their favorite hangouts are hot

springs, geothermal soils, hot underground oilfields, natural gas wells,

and hydrothermal vents.6 And compost piles.

Thermophiles are not new to science. The term thermophilic was

probably first used by Miquel in 1879 to describe organisms that grow

in what should be fatally high temperatures.7 The first accounts de

scribing organisms that live at such high temperatures were published

by Pierre Sonnerat in 1774 when he reported on fish that lived in water

at a temperature of 156°F (69°C). Other researchers reported the growth

of algae in a hot spring at Karlsbad at 158°F (70°C) in 1837, in another

hot spring at a temperature of 208°F (98°C) in 1846, cyanobacteria in a

hot geyser at 181°F (83°C) in 1866, as well as many other reports.8

More recently, there have been numerous reports of large numbers

of thermophiles found even in cool soils and cold ocean sediments.

Thermophilic bacteria were found in Iceland soils where the average

temperature is 57°F (14°C), and in cool soils in Northern Ireland, the

Andes, and in the northern US. The local soils in Northern Ireland

never reached the bacteria’s minimum growth temperatures. Scientists

wonder how these thermophilic bacteria can exist in large numbers in

environments where they can’t grow, yet they speculate that the Earth’s

population of thermophiles is “enormous.” Thermophilic bacteria were

even found in Pacific Ocean basin cores in sediments dating back

nearly six thousand years.9

The answer seems to lie in the ability of thermophilic bacteria to

form spores. When they don’t have conditions favorable for growth

28 The Humanure Handbook ??— 4th Edition — Chapter Five

(i.e., high temperatures), they form “endospores,” a life cycle condition

that allows for their long-term survival10 — very long term. One scien

tist estimated that thermophilic endospores can survive for a staggering

1.9 billion years at a temperature of 109°F (43°C), and longer if the tem

peratures are lower.11 One theory suggests that the thermophiles were

among the first living things on this planet, developing and evolving

during the primordial birthing of the Earth when surface temperatures

were quite hot. They have thus been called the Universal Ancestor, esti

The Humanure Handbook ??— 4th Edition — Chapter Five 29

mated at 3.6 billion years old. Thermophiles could therefore be the

common ancestral organism of all life-forms on our planet.12

Thermophilic bacteria obviously have evolved to decompose or

ganic material, almost like the Earth’s janitors, or maybe Mother

Earth’s invisible helpers, cleaning things up as they have for eons. They

work in partnership with mesophilic bacteria, which must raise the

temperature of an organic mass high enough for thermophilic growth

to be sparked. This is like a microbial tag team — mesophiles begin

the decomposition of organic material; this raises the temperature

enough to waken the thermophilic spores; the work is then handed off

to the thermophiles, who take over and work themselves into a fever,

consuming the organic material, be what it may (turds, garbage, dead

animals), and converting it back into, well, Mother Earth. In the pro

cess, if there happen to be human pathogens lurking in the organic ma

terial (think shit), they’re no match for the thermophiles. A steaming

mass of organic material being eaten by thermophiles is hell on Earth

for human disease organisms. And that’s exactly where disease organ

isms should go to die, for die they will.

Mother Earth has some tricks up her sleeves, too. On every square

meter of her surface, she is releasing fifty to over two hundred bacteria

per second. These can be uplifted by the wind, where they can remain

aloft for two to fifteen days before settling back to Earth. That’s prob

ably why some thermophiles have been found way up in the tropo

sphere. Add massive wind events such as desert dust storms, which can

move a billion tons of soil a year, and bacteria can cross the entire At

lantic Ocean in just three to five days and the Pacific Ocean in a week

to ten days. Thermophilic spores are hardened to survive. They’re re

sistant to ultra-violet light, desiccation, and extreme temperatures, con

ditions that will kill most bacteria.13 So Mother Earth scatters them

around the globe as microscopic spores, a form that is unbelievably du

rable and long-lasting. They settle back to the Earth and wait patiently,

even a billion years if necessary, to be sparked back to life. They’re

Mother Nature’s servants, patiently waiting to serve us.

30 The Humanure Handbook ??— 4th Edition — Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Deep Shit

“Jesus may have turned water into wine, but we turn shit into food.” The Pope of Poop

Talking about microbiomes and bacteria will not make you the life

of the party. If you want to see someone change the subject real fast,

start talking about the six hundred species of bacteria that reside inside

your mouth. Mention that your poop is eaten by invisible beings that

are everywhere, and you can prove it, and you will see whomever you’re

talking to back away slowly, glancing sideways for a quick escape.

But funny things can happen on the way to the compost pile.

Shortly after I published the first edition of this book, a nun called me.

I had printed six hundred copies and had assumed they would decay

in a storage area for the rest of my life because no one would be inter

ested in the topic of “humanure.” But just days after the book came

out, the Associated Press published an article announcing that I had

written a book about crap. Then I got the phone call.

“Mr. Jenkins, we recently bought a copy of your book, Humanure,

and we would like to have you speak at our convent.”

“What do you want me to talk about?”

“About the topic of your book.”

“Composting?”

“Yes, but specifically, humanure composting.” At this point I was at

a loss for words. I didn’t understand why nuns would be interested in

composting turds, presumably their own. I was trying to imagine

standing in a room full of nuns, speaking about crap. But I kept the

stammering to a minimum and accepted the invitation.

It was Earth Day, 1995. The presentation went well. After I spoke,

the group showed slides of their gardens and compost piles; then we

toured their compost area and poked around in the worm bins. A de

lightful lunch followed, during which I asked them why they were in

terested in composting humanure.

“We are the Sisters of Humility,” they responded. “The words ‘hum

The Humanure Handbook ??— 4th Edition — Chapter Six 31

ble’ and ‘humus’ come from the same semantic root, which means

‘earth.’ We also think these words are related to the word ‘human.’

Therefore, as part of our vow of humility, we work with the earth. We

make compost. And now we want to learn how to make compost from

humanure. We’re thinking about buying a commercial compost toilet,

but we want to learn more about the overall concepts first. That’s why

we asked you to come.”

This was deep shit. Someone else is interested in harnessing the

power of microorganisms to recycle their turds too. Nuns, no less. A

light bulb went off in my head. Of course, composting is an act of hu

mility. The people who care enough about the Earth to recycle organic

material do so as an exercise in humility, whether they know it or not.

They’re not going to get rich and famous for it, but its a practice that

makes them better people and the Earth a better place. Humanure com

posters can stand under the stars at night gazing at the heavens, and

know that, when nature calls, their excretions will not foul the planet.

Instead, those excretions are humbly collected, fed to friendly microbes

and returned to the Earth as healing medicine for the soil.

Humanity, on the other hand, seems to have strayed far from a be

nign symbiotic relationship with our planet and has instead taken on

the visage, if not the behavior, of planetary pathogens. Yet human be

ings, like all other living things on this planet, are inextricably inter

twined with the elements of nature. We are threads in the tapestry of

life. We constantly inhale the atmosphere that envelopes the planet;

we drink the fluids that flow over and under the planet’s surface; we

eat the organisms that grow from the planet’s skin. From the moment

an egg and a sperm unite to spark our existence, each of us grows and

develops from the elements provided by the Earth and sun. In essence,

the soil, air, sun, and water combine within our mother’s womb to

mold another living creature. Nine months later, another human being

is born.

Humans can’t comprehend the full nature of their existence, so

they make up stories. Some myths assert that humans are the pinnacle

of life and the entire universe was created by one of our own species.

32 The Humanure Handbook ??— 4th Edition — Chapter Six

Today, more realistic perspectives are emerging regarding the nature

of human existence. The Earth itself is becoming recognized as a living

entity, a level of Being immensely greater than the human level. The

galaxy and universe are seen as even higher levels of Being, with mul

tiple universes theorized as existing at a higher level yet. All these

levels of Being are thought to be imbued with the energy of life, as well

as with a form of consciousness that we cannot even begin to compre

hend. As we humans expand the knowledge of ourselves and recognize

our true place in the vast scheme of things, we must defer to reality.

We must admit our absolute dependence on the ecosystem we call

Earth and try to balance our feelings of self-importance with our need

to live in harmony with the greater world around us. One way to har

monize with the planet is to recycle organic materials, thereby elimi

nating organic waste.

Asians recycled human excrement for thousands of years. The Chi

nese have used humanure agriculturally since the Shang Dynasty, three

to four thousand years ago. The Chinese, Koreans, the Japanese, and

others evolved to understand human excrement as a natural resource

rather than a waste material. Where Westerners had “human waste,”

they had “night soil.” We produced waste and pollution; they produced

soil nutrients and food. Asians have been developing sustainable agri

culture for four thousand years. For forty centuries these people

worked the same land with little or no chemical fertilizers and, in many

cases, had produced greater crop yields than Western farmers, who

were quickly destroying the soils of their own countries through de

pletion and erosion.

A fact largely ignored by people in western agriculture is that ag

ricultural land must produce a greater output over time. The human

population is constantly increasing; available agricultural land is not.

Therefore, our farming practices should leave us with land more fertile

with each passing year, not less fertile.

Back in 1938 the US Department of Agriculture came to the alarm

ing conclusion that a full 61 percent of the total area under crops in

the US at that time had already been completely or partly destroyed,

The Humanure Handbook ??— 4th Edition — Chapter Six 33

or had lost most of its fertility.1 Yet w e’re producing soil nutrients every

day in the form of discarded organic materials and throwing those nu

trients “away” by burying them in landfills or incinerating them.

Why didn’t we follow the Asian example of agronutrient recycling?

It’s certainly not for a lack of information. Dr. F. H. King wrote an in

teresting book, published in 1910 titled Farmers of Forty Centuries. 2 Dr.

King was a former chief of the Division of Soil Management of the US

Department of Agriculture who traveled through Japan, Korea, and

China in the early 1900s as an agricultural visitor. He was interested

in finding out how people could farm the same fields for millennia

without destroying their fertility. He wrote:

One of the most remarkable agricultural practices adopted by any civ

ilized people is the centuries long and well-nigh universal conservation and

utilization of all [humanure] in China, Korea and Japan, turning it to

marvelous account in the maintenance of soil fertility and in the production

of food. To understand this evolution, it must be recognized that mineral

fertilizers so extensively employed in modern Western agriculture have been

a physical impossibility to all people alike until within very recent years.

With this fact must be associated the very long unbroken life of these nations

and the vast numbers their farmers have been compelled to feed.

When we reflect on the depleted fertility of our own older farm lands,

comparatively few of which have seen a century’s service, and upon the

enormous quantity of mineral fertilizers which are being applied annually

to them in order to secure paying yields, it becomes evident that the time is

here when profound consideration should be given to the practices the

[Asian] race has maintained through many centuries, which permit it to

be said of China that one-sixth of an acre of good land is ample for the

maintenance of one person, and which are feeding an average of three

people per acre of farm land in the three southernmost islands of Japan.

[Western humanity] is the most extravagant accelerator of waste the

world has ever endured. His withering blight has fallen upon every living

thing within his reach, himself not excepted; and his besom of destruction

in the uncontrolled hands of a generation has swept into the sea soil fertility

34 The Humanure Handbook ??— 4th Edition — Chapter Six

which only centuries of life could accumulate, and yet this fertility is the

substratum of all that is living.3

According to King’s research, the average daily excreta of the adult

human weighs in at 40 ounces (2.5 pounds), or 825 million pounds of

humanure every day, day in and day out, produced and wasted in the

US alone. Other researchers estimate that humanure contains about 11

pounds per person per year of agricultural nutrients nitrogen, phos

phorus, and potassium (N, P, and K). Multiplied by 330 million, a

rough estimate of the US population in the early twenty-first century,

Americans each year produce 3.63 billion pounds of valuable agricul

tural nutrients4 just by relieving themselves in a toilet. Almost all of it

is discarded into the environment as a waste material or a pollutant, or

as Dr. King puts it, “poured into the seas, lakes or rivers and into the

underground waters.”

According to King, The International Concession of the city of Shang

hai, in 1908, sold to a Chinese contractor the privilege of entering residences

and public places early in the morning of each day and removing the night

soil, receiving therefore more than $31,000 gold, for 78,000 tons of [human

ure]. All of this we not only throw away but expend much larger sums in doing

so

.

5

In case you didn’t catch that, the contractor paid $31,000 gold for

the humanure, referred to as “night soil” and incorrectly as “waste” by

Dr. King. People don’t pay to buy waste; they pay money for things of

value. Furthermore, using Dr. King’s figures, the US population pro

duced over three hundred billion pounds of fecal material annually in

the early twenty-first century. That’s a lot of gross national product.

Admittedly, the spreading of raw human excrement on fields, as

may be done in Asia, will never become culturally acceptable in the

United States, and rightly so. The agricultural use of raw night soil

produces an assault on the sense of smell and provides a route of trans

mission for various human disease organisms. Americans who have

traveled abroad and witnessed the use of raw human excrement in ag

ricultural applications have largely been repulsed by the experience.

The Humanure Handbook ??— 4th Edition — Chapter Six 35

That repulsion has instilled in many older Americans an intransigent

bias against, and even a fear of, the use of humanure for soil enrich

ment. However, few Americans have witnessed the composting of hu

manure as a preliminary step in its recycling. Proper composting

converts humanure into a pleasant-smelling material devoid of human

pathogens.

Although the agricultural use of raw human excrement will never

become a common practice in the US, the use of composted human re

fuse, including humanure, food scraps, and other discarded organic

materials can and should become a widespread and culturally encour

aged practice.

How is it that Asian peoples developed an understanding of human

nutrient recycling centuries ago, and we didn’t? After all, we’re the ad

vanced, developed, scientific nation, aren’t we? Dr. King makes an in

teresting observation concerning Western scientists. He states:

It was not until 1888, and then after a prolonged war of more than thirty

years, generated by the best scientists of all Europe, that it was finally con

ceded as demonstrated that leguminous plants acting as hosts for lower or

ganisms living on their roots are largely responsible for the maintenance of

soil nitrogen, drawing it directly from the air to which it is returned through

the processes of decay. But centuries of practice had taught the Far East

farmers that the culture and use of these crops are essential to enduring fer

tility, and so in each of the three countries the growing of legumes in rotation

with other crops very extensively, for the express purpose of fertilizing the

soil, is one of their old fixed practices.6

It certainly seems odd that people who gain their knowledge in real

life through practice and experience are sometimes largely ignored or

trivialized by the academic world and associated government agencies.

Such agencies may only credit learning that has taken place within an

institutional framework. As such, it’s no wonder that Western human

ity’s crawl toward a sustainable existence on planet Earth seems so

slow.

36 The Humanure Handbook ??— 4th Edition — Chapter Six

Strange as it may seem, says King, there are not today [early 1900s] and

apparently never have been, even in the largest and oldest cities of Japan,

China, or Korea, anything corresponding to the hydraulic systems of sewage

disposal used now by Western nations. When I asked my interpreter if it was

not the custom of the city during the winter months to discharge its night soil

into the sea, as a quicker and cheaper mode of disposal [than recycling], his

reply came quick and sharp, “No, that would be waste. We throw nothing

away. It is worth too much money.” 7 The Chinaman, says King, wastes

nothing while the sacred duty of agriculture is uppermost in his mind.8

While the Asians were practicing sustainable agriculture and recy

cling their organic resources and doing so over millennia, what were

the people of the West doing? Why weren’t our European ancestors re

turning their manures to the soil, too? After all, it does make sense.

The Asians who recycled their manures not only utilized a resource

and reduced pollution, but by returning their excrement to the soil,

they succeeded in reducing threats to their health. There was no putrid

sewage collecting and breeding disease germs and attracting rats. In

stead, the humanure was, for the most part, undergoing a natural, non

chemical purification process in the soil. Even the returning of

humanure raw to the land succeeds in destroying many human

pathogens in the manure and returns nutrients to the soil.

What was happening in Europe regarding public hygiene from the

1300s on? Great pestilences swept through Europe throughout

recorded history. The Black Death killed more than half the population

of England in the fourteenth century. In 1552, sixty-seven thousand

patients died of the plague in Paris alone. Fleas from infected rats were

the carriers of this disease. Did the rats dine on piles of human waste

or festering garbage? Other pestilences included the sweating sickness

(attributed to uncleanliness), cholera (spread by food and water con

taminated by the excrement of infected persons), “jail fever” (caused

by a lack of sanitation in prisons), typhoid fever (spread by water con

taminated with infected feces), and numerous others.

Andrew White, cofounder of Cornell University, wrote, Nearly

twenty centuries since the rise of Christianity, and down to a period within

The Humanure Handbook ??— 4th Edition — Chapter Six 37

living memory, at the appearance of any pestilence, the Church authorities,

instead of devising sanitary measures, have very generally preached the neces

sity of immediate atonement for offenses against the Almighty. In the principal

towns of Europe, as well as in the country at large, down to a recent period,

the most ordinary sanitary precautions were neglected, and pestilences con

tinued to be attributed to the wrath of God or the malice of Satan.9

It’s now known that the main cause of such immense sacrifice of

life was a lack of proper hygienic practices. It’s argued that certain theo

logical reasoning at that time resisted the evolution of proper hygiene.

According to White, “For century after century the idea prevailed that

filthiness was akin to holiness.” Living in filth was regarded by holy

men as evidence of sanctity, according to White, who lists numerous

saints who never bathed parts or all of their bodies, such as St. Abra

ham, who washed neither his hands nor his feet for fifty years, or St.

Sylvia, who never washed any part of her body except her fingers.10

Interestingly, after the Black Death left its grim wake across Eu

rope, “an immensely increased proportion of the landed and personal

property of every European country was in the hands of the church.”11

Apparently, the church was reaping some benefit from the deaths of

huge numbers of people. Perhaps the church had a vested interest in

maintaining public ignorance about the sources of disease. This in

sinuation is almost too diabolical for serious consideration. Or is it?

Somehow, the idea developed around the 1400s that Jews and

witches were causing the pestilences. Jews were suspected because they

didn’t succumb to the pestilences as readily as the Christian population

did, presumably because they employed a unique sanitation system

more conducive to cleanliness, including the eating of kosher foods.

The Christian population nevertheless concluded that the Jews’ im

munity resulted from protection by “Satan.” As a result, attempts were

made in all parts of Europe to stop the plagues by torturing and mur

dering the Jews. Twelve thousand Jews were reportedly burned to death

in Bavaria alone during the time of the plague, and additionally thou

sands more were killed throughout Europe.12

In 1484 the “infallible” Pope Innocent VIII issued a proclamation

38 The Humanure Handbook ??— 4th Edition — Chapter Six

supporting the church’s opinion that witches were causes of disease,

storms, and a variety of ills affecting humanity. The feeling of the

church was summed up in one sentence: “Thou shalt not suffer a witch

to live.” From the middle of the sixteenth to the middle of the sev

enteenth centuries, both women and men were sent to torture and

death by the thousands by both Protestant and Catholic authorities.

It’s estimated that the number of victims sacrificed during that century

in Germany alone was over a hundred thousand.

The following case in Milan, Italy, summarizes the ideas of sanita

tion in Europe during the seventeenth century: The city was under the

control of Spain, and it had received notice from the Spanish govern

ment that witches were suspected to be en route to Milan to “anoint

the walls” (smear the walls with disease-causing ointments). The

church rang the alarm from the pulpit, putting the population on the

alert. One morning in 1630, an old woman looking out her window saw

a man who was walking along the street wipe his fingers on a wall. He

was promptly reported to the authorities. He claimed he was simply

wiping ink from his fingers that had rubbed off the ink-horn he carried

with him. Not satisfied with this explanation, the authorities threw the

man into prison and tortured him until he “confessed.” The torture

continued until the man gave the names of his “accomplices,” who

were subsequently rounded up and tortured. They in turn named their

“accomplices” and the process continued until members of the fore

most families were included in the charges. Finally, a large number of

innocent people were sentenced to their deaths.13

One loathsome disease of the 1500s through the 1700s was the “jail

fever.” The prisons of that period were filthy. People were confined in

dungeons connected to sewers with little ventilation or drainage. Pris

oners incubated the disease and spread it to the public, especially to

the police, lawyers, and judges. In 1750, for example, the disease killed

two judges, the lord mayor, various aldermen and many others in Lon

don, including of course, prisoners.14

The pestilences in the Protestant colonies in America were also at

tributed to divine wrath or satanic malice, but when the diseases af

The Humanure Handbook ??— 4th Edition — Chapter Six 39

flicted the Native Americans, they were considered beneficial. “The

pestilence among the Indians, before the arrival of the Plymouth Col

ony, was attributed in a notable work of that period to the Divine pur

pose of clearing New England for the heralds of the gospel.”15

Perhaps the reason the Asian countries have such large populations

in comparison to Western countries is that they escaped some of the

pestilences common to Europe, especially pestilences spread by the fai

lure to responsibly recycle human excrement. They plowed their ma

nure back into the land, while Westerners were busy burning witches

and Jews with the church’s wholehearted assistance.

Our ancestors did, eventually, come to understand that poor hy

giene was a causal factor in epidemic diseases. Nevertheless, it was not

until the late 1800s in England that improper sanitation and sewage

were suspected as causes. At that time, large numbers of people were

still dying from pestilences, especially cholera, which killed at least

130,000 people in England in 1848-49 alone. In 1849 Dr. Snow pub

lished his theory that cholera was spread by water contaminated with

sewage. Yet, even where sewage was being piped away from the pop

ulation, the sewers were still contaminating drinking water supplies.

The English government couldn’t be bothered with the fact that

hundreds of thousands of mostly poor citizens were perishing like flies

year after year. So it rejected a public health bill in 1847. A bill finally

became an act in 1848 in the face of the latest outbreak but wasn’t ter

ribly effective. However, it did bring poor sanitation to the attention

of the public, as the following statement from the General Board of

Health in 1849 implies: Householders of all classes should be warned that

their first means of safety lies in the removal of dung heaps and solid and liquid

filth of every description from beneath or about their houses and premises. This

makes one wonder if a compost pile would have been considered a

“dung heap” in those days, and therefore banned.

Sanitation in England was so bad in the mid-to-late 1800s that, in

1858, when the Queen and Prince Albert had attempted a short pleasure cruise

on the Thames, its malodorous waters drove them back to land within a few

minutes. That summer a prolonged wave of heat and drought exposed its

40 The Humanure Handbook ??— 4th Edition — Chapter Six

banks, rotten with the sewage of an overgrown, undrained city. Because of the

stench, Parliament had to rise early. Another story describes Queen Vic

toria gazing out over the river and asking aloud what the pieces of

paper were that so abundantly floated by. Her companion, not wanting

to admit that the Queen was looking at used toilet paper, replied, those,

Ma’am, are notices that bathing is forbidden.16

The Tories or “conservatives” of the English government still

thought that spending on social services was a waste of money and an

unacceptable infringement by the government on the private sector

(sound familiar?). A leading newspaper, the Times, maintained that the

risk of cholera was preferable to being bullied by the government into

providing sewage services. However, a major act was finally passed in

1866, the Public Health Act, with only grudging support from the

Tories. Once again, cholera was raging through the population, and it’s

probably for that reason that any act was passed at all. Finally, by the

end of the 1860s, a framework of public health policy was established

in England. Thankfully, the cholera epidemic of 1866 was the last and

the least disastrous.17

The powers of the church eventually diminished enough for scien

tists and physicians to have their much-delayed say about the origins

of disease. Our modern sanitation systems have finally yielded a life

safe for most of us, although not without shortcomings. The eventual

solution developed by the West was to collect human excrement in our

drinking water supplies, then discard the polluted water, perhaps first

attempting to remove the excrement — chemically treated, incinerated,

or dehydrated — then releasing the finished product into the seas, into

the atmosphere, onto the surface of the land, and into landfills.

Today, Asians are abandoning the harmonious agricultural tech

niques that Dr. King observed nearly a century ago. In Kyoto, Japan,

for example, “night soil is collected hygienically to the satisfaction of

users of the system, only to be diluted at a central collection point for

discharge to the sewer system and treatment at a conventional sewage

treatment plant.”18

A Humanure Handbook reader wrote an interesting account of Ja

The Humanure Handbook ??— 4th Edition — Chapter Six 41

panese toilets in a letter to the author, which is paraphrased here:

My only real [humanure] experience.... comes from living in

Japan from 1973-1983. As my experience is dated, things may have

changed (probably for the worse as toilets and life were becoming

“westernized” even toward the end of my stay in Japan).

My experience comes from living in small, rural towns as well

as in metropolitan areas (provincial capitals). Homes and businesses

had an “indoor outhouse.” The Vault: Nothing but urine/feces were

deposited into the large metal vault under the toilet (squat style,

slightly recessed in the floor and made of porcelain). No cover material

or carbonaceous stuff was used. It stunk!! Not just the bathroom, but

the whole house! There were many flies, even though the windows

were screened. Maggots were the main problem. They crawled up the

sides of the vault onto the toilet and floor and sometimes even made

it outside the bathroom into the hall. People constantly poured some

kind of toxic chemical into the vaults to control the smell and maggots.

It didn’t help — in fact, the maggots really poured out of the vault to

escape the chemicals. Occasionally a slipper (one put on special

“bathroom slippers” as opposed to “house slippers” when entering the

bathroom) fell into the disgusting maggot-filled vault. You couldn’t

even begin to think about getting it out! You couldn’t let little children

use the toilet without an adult suspending them over it. They might

fall in! Disposal: When the vault was full (about every three months),

you called a private vacuum truck which used a large hose placed in

an outside opening to suck out the liquid mass. You paid them for

their services. I’m not sure exactly what happened to the humanure

next but, in the agricultural areas near the fields were large (ten feet

in diameter) round, concrete, raised containers, similar in looks to an

above ground swimming pool. In the containers, I was told, was the

humanure from the “vacuum trucks.” It was a greenish-brown liquid

with algae growing on the surface. I was told this was spread onto

agricultural fields.

42 The Humanure Handbook ??— 4th Edition — Chapter Six

In 1952 about 70 percent of Chinese humanure was recycled. This

had increased to 90 percent by 1956 and constituted a third of all fer

tilizer used in the country.19 Lately, however, humanure recycling in

China is going down the drain. The use of synthetic fertilizers rose

over 600 percent between the mid-1960s and the mid-1980s. Between

1949 and 1983, agricultural nitrogen and phosphorous inputs increased

by a factor of ten, while agricultural yields only tripled.20 Chinese

farmers now use an average of 270 pounds of nitrogen per acre per year

— more than four times the global average. Asia’s fertilizer consump

tion has grown faster than that of any other part of the world.21

The high usage of nitrogen fertilizer in China is now contributing

to widespread environmental problems such as deteriorating water

quality, soil acidification, greenhouse gas emissions, and disruption of

the global nitrogen cycle. China’s first national pollution survey in

2010 identified agriculture as a major polluter.22

China was producing over 3.5 million tons of sewage waste per day

by 2008. It is estimated that six hundred million Chinese now drink

water contaminated by human or animal waste.23 Surface water mon

itored at over twelve thousand sites across China revealed that one out

of five water sources was not suitable for human contact, and 13 percent

were too polluted to be used for anything. In Shanghai, one of China’s

most modern cities, fifty-two out of sixty-five monitoring sites had

water not suitable for human contact, according to a 2017 report.24

Eighty-five percent of the water in Shanghai's rivers was undrinkable

by 2015, and over 56 percent was unfit for any purpose. In Beijing, al

most 40 percent of its water was so polluted that it couldn’t be used for

anything either. In Tianjin, a northern Chinese city of fifteen million

people, less than 5 percent of the water can be used for drinking. In

2015, 3.78 billion cubic meters of untreated wastewater were discharged

across China, including 1.98 million cubic meters in Beijing alone.

This is water that is not usable for agricultural, industrial, or even dec

orative purposes, dumped into rivers and lakes.25

It is estimated that nearly five hundred thousand tons of humanure

are dumped into the Huangpu River alone in a year. Half a million

The Humanure Handbook ??— 4th Edition — Chapter Six 43

cases of hepatitis A, spread by polluted water, occurred in Shanghai in

1988. “Increasingly, Chinese urban authorities are turning to incineration or

landfill as the ways of disposing of their solid wastes rather than recycling and

composting, which means that China, like the west, is putting the problem onto

the shoulders of future generations.”26

But let’s not pick on China. India also has massive water pollution

problems as do many other places around the world. India’s 855-mile

long Yamuna River, which flows through Delhi, is said to be a river of

“foul sludge,” polluted with industrial chemicals, floating plastic, and

“human waste” (actually all these things are “human waste”). In 2017

the river contained 22 million fecal coliforms of bacteria per 100 ml of

water (3.3 ounces). By comparison, in Vermont, if water has only 235

fecal coliforms in 100 ml it is considered too polluted for bathing.27

India generates close to two million tons of human shit every day,

and although 80 per cent of household wastewater leaves homes as sew

age, approximately 80 to 90 percent of it is untreated.28 Nearly ten bil

lion gallons of sewage flow into rivers in India every day,29 making

untreated sewage the leading source of water pollution and causing the

deaths of 350,000 Indian children every year due to diarrhea.30

And what about the US? Wastewater treatment facilities in the

United States process approximately thirty-four billion gallons of

wastewater every day.31 Still, 3.5 million Americans get sick every year

after swimming, boating, fishing, or even touching water polluted with

“human waste,” household chemicals, personal hygiene products,

pharmaceuticals, and whatever else is dumped down our drains.

Each year more than 860 billion gallons of polluted water escape

American sewers — enough to flood the entire state of Pennsylvania

up to your ankles.32 According to the EPA, twenty-three thousand to

seventy-five thousand sanitary-sewer overflows happen annually in

America, and three to ten billion gallons of untreated wastewater are

released into the environment.33

Do your kids ever get a stomach flu? It could be the rain. Research

ers have found an 11 percent increase in American kids going to a doc

tor with acute gastrointestinal illness four days after a heavy rainfall,

44 The Humanure Handbook ??— 4th Edition — Chapter Six

largely due to fecal contaminants such as bacteria, protozoa, and viruses

from sewage infiltrating water pipes and polluting local waterways.34

A 2012 paper about the value of humanure in the African nation

of Niger showed that the average excreta production per family per

year is equivalent to approximately two hundred pounds of chemical

fertilizer.35 They can’t afford to buy this amount of fertilizer, but they

produce it themselves by natural processes and don’t even realize it.

How does one convert shit back into food? What’s the process? Is it

safe? The answer, in a word, is composting. But first, let’s look at what

usually happens to Mr. Turdly on any given day in the US.

The Humanure Handbook ??— 4th Edition — Chapter Six 45

Every year, billions of gallons of polluted water escape American sewers —

enough to flood the entire state of Pennsylvania up to your ankles. We need

more than a road map to find our way out of this situation.

46 The Humanure Handbook ??— 4th Edition

Chapter Seven

A Day in the Life of a Turd

In my youth I listened to army veterans talking about their stints

in the Korean War. Usually after a beer or two, they’d turn their con

versation to the “outhouses” used by the Koreans. They were amazed,

even mystified about the fact that the Koreans tried to lure passersby

into their latrines by making the toilets especially attractive. The idea

of someone wanting someone else’s poop always brought out a hearty

laugh from the vets. This opinion sums up the attitude of almost

anyone raised with a flush toilet. Humanure is a waste product that we

must dispose of and only fools would think otherwise. One of the ef

fects of this attitude is that Americans don’t know and probably don’t

care where their “human waste” goes after it emerges from their back

ends as long as they don’t have to deal with it.

OPEN DEFECATION

Where it goes depends on the type of “waste disposal system” used.

Let’s start with the simplest: the Mexican biological digester, also

known as the stray dog. I spent a few months in southern Mexico in

the late 1970s in Quintana Roo on the Yucatan peninsula. There, toilets

were not available; people simply used the sand dunes along the coast.

No problem, though. One of the small, unkempt, and ubiquitous Mex

ican dogs would wait nearby with watering mouth until you did your

thing. Burying your excrement in that situation would have been an

act of disrespect to the dog. No one wants sand in their food. A good,

healthy, steaming turd at the crack of dawn on the Caribbean coast

never lasted more than sixty seconds before it became a hot meal for a

human’s best friend. Yum.

Today, roughly 892 million people still practice open defecation,

down from over 1.2 billion in 2000. Of those who still go outdoors, 90

percent live in Central and Southern Asia and in sub-Saharan Africa.1

The Humanure Handbook ??— 4th Edition — Chapter Seven 47

PIT LATRINES

Next up the ladder of sophistication is the old-fashioned outhouse,

also known as the pit latrine. Simply stated, one digs a hole in the

ground and then defecates in it and does so again and again until the

hole fills up; then it’s usually covered with dirt. It’s nice to have a small

building or “privy” over the hole to provide some privacy and shelter.

Today, pit latrines are used worldwide by the millions. In America, we

still bury our excrement in the form of sewage sludge, in landfill holes.

Pit latrines create health, environmental, and aesthetic problems.

The hole is accessible to flies and mosquitoes, which can transmit dis

eases. The pits leak pollutants even in dry soil. And the smell can be

punishing; kids in developing countries would rather open defecate

than use a stinky latrine. In dry soil, pit latrines can transmit pollution

ten feet underneath the hole and three feet sideways. In wet soils, they

can leak fifty feet sideways following the direction of groundwater flow.

48 The Humanure Handbook ??— 4th Edition — Chapter Seven

SEPTIC SYSTEMS

Another step up the sanitation ladder, one finds the septic tank, a

common method of human excrement and wastewater disposal in rural

and suburban areas of the United States. In this system the turds are

excreted into a bowl of what is typically drinkable water, then flushed

down a drain. The word “septic” comes from the Greek septikos, which

means “to make putrid.” Today it still means “causing putrefaction,”

which is “the decomposition of organic matter resulting in the forma

tion of foul-smelling products.”

In 1700 BC, almost four thousand years ago, King Minos of Crete

used water toilets flushed by rain. Over three thousand years later, in

1596, the modern flush toilet was invented. Almost three hundred

years after that, in 1872, Thomas Crapper invented an improved design

that is still in use today. In 1855, George Vanderbilt had the first bath

room with a bathtub, sink, and flush toilet inside an American home.2

Septic tanks, designed to collect the wastewater from flush toilets,

appeared in the late 1800s. It became common practice in the mid

The Humanure Handbook ??— 4th Edition — Chapter Seven 49

Underground pollution plume from a pit latrine in wet soil.

50 The Humanure Handbook ??— 4th Edition — Chapter Seven

Underground pollution plume from a pit latrine in dry soil.

1900s to discharge the overflow from these tanks into gravel-lined leach

fields.3 Turds travel through sewage pipes then plop into the large un

derground storage tanks made of concrete, fiberglass, or plastic. In

Pennsylvania, a nine-hundred-gallon tank is the minimum size al

lowed for a home with three or fewer bedrooms.4 The heavier solids

settle to the bottom of the tank, while the overflow liquids drain off

into a leach field, which consists of an array of perforated drain pipes

situated below the ground surface, allowing the liquid to seep into the

soil. The wastewater is expected to undergo anaerobic decomposition

while in the tank. When septic tanks fill up, they’re pumped out by

septage haulers, and the septage is supposed to be trucked to a sewage

treatment plant for disposal.

In poorly drained soil, either low lying or with a high clay content,

a standard leach field won’t work, especially when the ground is already

saturated with rainwater or snow melt. Wastewater won’t drain into

soil that’s already saturated with water. That’s when the sand mound

sewage disposal system is utilized. When the septic tank isn’t draining

properly, a pump will kick in and pump the overflow liquid into a pile

of sand and gravel above ground. Perforated pipes in the pile allow the

effluent to drain down through the mound. Sand mounds are usually

covered with soil and grass. In Pennsylvania, sand mounds must be at

least one hundred feet downslope from a well or spring, fifty feet from

a stream, and five feet from a property line.5 According to local exca

vating contractors, sand mounds cost $5,000 to $12,000 to construct in

the early twenty-first century. They must be built to exact government

specifications and aren’t usable until they pass an official inspection.

Although septic systems are widely used today and are considered

important and necessary waste disposal systems, they do have their

problems. At the end of the 20th century, there were 22 million septic

system sites in the United States, serving one-fourth to one-third of

the US population, many of which were leaching contaminants such

as bacteria, viruses, nitrates, phosphates, chlorides, and organic com

pounds such as trichloroethylene into the environment. An EPA study

of chemicals in septic tanks found toluene, methylene chloride, ben

The Humanure Handbook ??— 4th Edition — Chapter Seven 51

zene, chloroform, and other volatile

synthetic organic compounds related

to home chemical use, many of them

cancer-causing.6

Toxic chemicals are commonly

released into the environment from

septic systems because people dump

them down their drains. The chemi

cals are found in pesticides, paint,

toilet cleaners, drain cleaners, disin

fectants, laundry solvents, antifreeze,

rust proofers, septic tank and cesspool cleaners, and many other clean

ing solutions. In fact, over four hundred thousand gallons of septic

tank cleaner liquids containing synthetic organic chemicals were used

in one year by the residents of Long Island alone. Furthermore, some

toxic chemicals can corrode metal pipes, thereby causing heavy metals

to enter the septic systems as well.7

In 1960 fourteen million American homes had septic systems. The

number increased to seventeen million by 1970 and about twenty-six

million by 2005, producing about four billion gallons of wastewater

every day. Failure of septic systems, mostly due to poor maintenance,

is associated with the pollution of groundwater, lakes, and coastal

waters. A study of Chesapeake Bay found that the two million neigh

boring septic systems discharged about nine million pounds of ni

trogen into the bay every year. The Indian River Lagoon in Florida

receives about a million and a half pounds of nitrogen annually from

its forty-five thousand surrounding septic systems. Three fourths of

the nitrogen entering the Buttermilk Bay in Massachusetts comes from

septic systems. Systems were failing at a rate of 50 to 70 percent in Min

nesota, 60% in West Virginia, 50% in Louisiana, 40% in Nebraska, 30–

50 percent in Missouri, 25 to 30 percent in Ohio, and 25 percent in

Massachusetts. In Indiana one study reported that as many as 70 per

cent of the eight hundred thousand systems in that state were failing.

Meanwhile, according to the EPA, 168,000 viral and 34,000 bacterial

52 The Humanure Handbook ??— 4th Edition — Chapter Seven

The Humanure Handbook ??— 4th Edition — Chapter Seven 53

illnesses can be traced to badly maintained septic systems every year.8

Septic systems are not designed to eliminate human pathogens

that may enter the septic tank. Instead, septic systems are designed to

collect human wastewater, settle out the solids and anaerobically digest

them to some degree, then leach the effluent into the soil. Therefore,

septic systems can be highly pathogenic, allowing the transmission of

disease-causing bacteria, viruses, protozoa, and intestinal parasites

through the system. Too many septic systems in any given area will

overload the soil’s natural purification capabilities and allow large

amounts of wastewater to contaminate the underlying water table. A

density of more than forty household septic systems per square mile

will cause an area to become a likely target for subsurface contamina

tion, according to the EPA.9

In many cases, people who have septic tanks are forced to connect

to sewage lines when the lines become available. A US Supreme Court

case in 1992 reviewed a situation whereby town members in New

Hampshire had been forced to connect to a sewage line that simply dis

charged untreated, raw sewage into the Connecticut River, and had

done so for fifty-seven years. Despite the crude method of disposal, the

law required properties within one hundred feet of the town sewer sys

tem to connect to it. This barbaric sewage disposal system continued

to operate until 1989, when state and federal sewage treatment laws

forced a stop to the dumping of raw sewage into the river. The residents

sued the town for compensation when the sewage disposal system was

terminated — and they won!10

WASTEWATER TREATMENT PLANTS

There’s still another step up the ladder of wastewater treatment so

phistication: the wastewater treatment plant, or sewage plant. The

wastewater treatment plant is like a huge, very sophisticated septic tank

because it collects the waterborne excrement of large numbers of

people. Inevitably, when one defecates or urinates into water, one pol

lutes the water. To avoid environmental pollution, that “wastewater”

54 The Humanure Handbook ??— 4th Edition — Chapter Seven

must somehow be rendered fit to return to the environment. The

wastewater entering the treatment plant is 99 percent liquid because

all sink water, bath water, and everything else that goes down one’s

drain ends up at the plant, too. In some cases, storm water runoff also

enters wastewater treatment plants via combined sewers. Industries,

hospitals, gas stations, and any other place with a drain add to the con

taminant blend in the wastewater stream.

There are nearly fifteen thousand wastewater treatment plants in

the US that provide wastewater collection, treatment, and disposal

service to almost 240 million people.11 These sewer systems have a fifty

year life expectancy, but the equipment used in the treatment system

only lasts fifteen to twenty years. Of our six hundred thousand miles

of sewer lines, 44 percent are expected to become deteriorated by

2020.12 In 2012, expenses for updating America’s existing wastewater

treatment plants were estimated to be $102 billion. Add another $96

billion to repair or replace sewage pipes, and almost $50 billion to cor

rect combined sewer overflows,13 and it's obvious we need to start sav

ing our money. By comparison, that roughly $250 billion we need for

all of our wastewater infrastructure in the United States is spent by the

Department of “Defense” in about fourteen weeks. Yet due to the poor

condition of many of our wastewater systems, with aging pipes and in

adequate capacity, an estimated nine hundred billion gallons of un

treated sewage is discharged into our environment every year.14 While

we’re spending money on “defense,” how about we defend ourselves

The Humanure Handbook ??— 4th Edition — Chapter Seven 55

from environmental pollution and use some of that money to upgrade

our sewer systems? Instead, 53 percent of EPA assessed river and

stream miles, 71 percent of assessed lake acres, 79 percent of assessed

estuarine square miles, and 98 percent of assessed Great Lakes shore

line miles are classified as impaired due to pollution.15

Many modern wastewater plants use a process of activated sludge

treatment whereby oxygen is vigorously bubbled through the waste

water to activate the microbial digestion of the solids. The microbes

that digest the sludge consist of bacteria, fungi, protozoa, rotifers, and

nematodes.16 This aeration stage is combined with a settling stage that

allows the solids to settle out and be removed. The removed solids,

known as sewage sludge or euphemistically as “biosolids,” are either

used to reinoculate the incoming wastewater or dewatered to the con

sistency of a dry mud. Over 50 percent of all biosolids are now being

recycled to farmland for agricultural purposes according to the EPA,

although the biosolids are used on less than 1 percent of the nation's

agricultural land.17 Some of it is composted.

About 7.2 million dry tons of biosolids were beneficially used or

disposed of in the United States in 2004.18 New York City alone pro

duces twelve hundred tons of biosolids every day. They once dumped

the sludge in the ocean, but that was banned in 1988. New York’s bio

solids are now disposed of in landfills in Pennsylvania, Virginia, and

New York. Some of New York City’s biosolids are lime stabilized at fa

cilities in Pennsylvania or Colorado.19 The lime raises the pH, which

kills the bacteria. The lime stabilized sludge can then be composted

with other organic materials, or simply applied directly to land where

lime is needed in the soil.

The remaining wastewater is treated and discharged into a body of

water. Municipal wastewater effluent in the US in 2012 amounted to

thirty-two billion gallons per day, only 7 to 8 percent of which was

reused.20 In North America, according to a UN report, 18.7 trillion gal

lons of wastewater are produced annually; 13.4 trillion of these are

treated (some estimate this to be roughly equivalent to the annual flow

of Niagara Falls). Only 3.8 percent of the treated wastewater is reused.21

56 The Humanure Handbook ??— 4th Edition — Chapter Seven

The Humanure Handbook ??— 4th Edition — Chapter Seven 57

On a global scale, 80 percent of the wastewater humans create is

discharged into the Earth's waterways, creating not only health and en

vironmental problems, but also contributing significantly to green

house gas emissions in the form of nitrous oxide and methane.

Untreated sewage produces three times the emissions of treated waste

water, representing a significant percentage of the global greenhouse

gas emissions produced by cities around the world.22

Severe pathogen pollution affects about 25 percent of Latin Amer

ican rivers, 10 to 25 percent of African rivers, and up to 50 percent of

Asian rivers, largely due to sewer systems discharging untreated waste

water. The largest source of pathogen pollution in Latin America is

sewers; in Africa it is non-sewered domestic waste; and in Asia it is

sewers, followed closely by non-sewered domestic waste. By taking the

wastewater away from populated areas, sewers have reduced health

risks there, but by dumping the wastewater into surface waters, sewers

have simply moved the health risks from one place to another.

Severe organic pollution affects about 14 percent of all river

stretches in Latin America, Africa, and Asia, affecting poor rural

58 The Humanure Handbook ??— 4th Edition — Chapter Seven

people who rely on fish as a main source of protein in their diets. Or

ganic pollution is caused by the release of large quantities of organic

materials into surface waters. The breakdown of these materials in

water starves the fish of oxygen.23

Although wastewater treatment plants prevent raw sewage from

polluting the Earth’s waterways, they are obviously not used in many

places around the world. On the other hand, the effluent from waste

water treatment plants can contain bacteria, viruses, protozoa, and in

testinal worm pathogens (helminths). There can be significant

amounts of bacteria in treated wastewater even after sedimentation, sec

ondary clarification, coagulation, and flocculation (separation of the

solids from the liquids). Bacteria can be destroyed by using ultraviolet

radiation, chlorine, or ozone, although viruses are harder to eliminate

than bacteria due to their small size and resistance to chlorine. Proto

zoa and helminths can also be resistant to chlorine.24

Here’s a bit of trivia: in 2014 Americans used close to $10 billion

worth of toilet paper to flush all that poo down the toilet, with sales

expected to increase about 2 percent per year.25 By some estimates,

Americans each use about 50 pounds of toilet paper per year, or about

16.5 billion pounds annually, 50 percent more than Europeans use.

Each American’s annual amount of toilet paper would stretch 2.8 miles,

using 284 trees in a lifetime. Contemplate these facts while you’re

spending the average of three years of your life sitting on a toilet!26

The Humanure Handbook ??— 4th Edition — Chapter Seven 59

WASTE STABILIZATION PONDS

Perhaps one of the oldest wastewater treatment methods known

are waste stabilization ponds, also known as oxidation ponds or la

goons. They’re often found in rural areas where land is available and

cheap. Such ponds tend to be only three to four feet deep, but they vary

in size and can have a depth of ten or more feet.27 They rely on algae,

bacteria, and zooplankton to reduce the organic content of the waste

water. A “healthy” lagoon will appear green in color because of the

dense algae population. These lagoons require about one acre for every

two hundred people served. Mechanically aerated lagoons only need

one-third to one-tenth the land that unaerated stabilization ponds re

quire. It’s a good idea to have several smaller lagoons in series rather

than one big one; normally, a minimum of three “cells” are used.

Sludge collects in the bottom and may have to be removed every five

or ten years, then disposed of in an approved manner.28

CHLORINE

Wastewater leaving treatment plants is often treated with chlorine

before being released into the environment. Used since the early 1900s,

chlorine is one of the most widely produced industrial chemicals. More

than 10 million metric tons are manufactured in the US each year —

$72 billion worth.29 Annually, approximately 5 percent, or 1.2 billion

pounds, of the chlorine manufactured is used for wastewater treatment

and drinking water “purification.” The lethal liquid or green gas is

mixed with the wastewater from sewage treatment plants to kill dis

ease-causing microorganisms before the water is discharged into

streams, lakes, rivers, and seas. It is also added to household drinking

water via water treatment systems. Chlorine kills microorganisms by

damaging their cell membranes.30

Chlorine (Cl2) doesn’t exist in nature. It’s a potent poison that re

acts with water to produce a strongly oxidizing solution that can dam

age the moist tissue lining of the human respiratory tract. Ten to twenty

60 The Humanure Handbook ??— 4th Edition — Chapter Seven

parts per million (ppm) of chlorine gas in air rapidly irritates the res

piratory tract; even brief exposure at levels of one thousand ppm (one

part in a thousand) can be fatal.31

In 1976, the US EPA reported that chlorine not only poisoned fish,

but could also cause the formation of cancer-causing compounds such

as chloroform. Some known effects of chlorine-based pollutants on ani

mal life include memory problems; stunted growth and cancer in hu

mans; reproductive problems in minks and otters; reproductive

problems, hatching problems and death in lake trout; and embryo ab

normalities and death in snapping turtles.32

In a national study of 6,400 municipal wastewater treatment plants,

the EPA estimated that two thirds of them used too much chlorine, ex

erting lethal effects at all levels of the aquatic food chain. Chlorine

damages the gills of fish, inhibiting their ability to absorb oxygen. It

also can cause behavioral changes in fish, thereby affecting migration

and reproduction. Chlorine in streams can create chemical “dams” that

prevent the free movement of some migratory fish. Fortunately, since

1984, there has been a 98 percent reduction in the use of chlorine by

sewage treatment plants, although chlorine use continues to be a wide

spread problem because a lot of wastewater plants are still discharging

it into small receiving waters33

Another controversy associated with chlorine use involves “dio

xin,” which is a common term for a large number of chlorinated chem

icals that are classified as possible human carcinogens by the EPA. It’s

known that dioxins cause cancer in laboratory animals, but their effects

on humans are still being debated. Dioxins, byproducts of the chemical

manufacturing industry, are concentrated up through the food chain

where they’re deposited in human fat tissues. A key ingredient in the

formation of dioxin is chlorine, and indications are that an increase in

the use of chlorine results in a corresponding increase in the amount

of dioxin in the environment, even in areas where the only dioxin

source is the atmosphere.34

In the upper atmosphere, chlorine molecules from air pollution

gobble up ozone; in the lower atmosphere, they bond with carbon to

The Humanure Handbook ??— 4th Edition — Chapter Seven 61

form organochlorines. Some of the eleven thousand commercially used

organochlorines include hazardous compounds such as DDT, PCBs,

chloroform, and carbon tetrachloride. Organochlorines rarely occur in

nature, and living things have little defense against them. They’ve been

linked not only to cancer, but also to neurological damage, immune

suppression, and reproductive and developmental effects. When chlo

rine products are washed down the drain into a septic tank, they’re

producing organochlorines. Although beneficial microorganisms can

degrade and make harmless many toxic chemicals, highly chlorinated

compounds are disturbingly resistant to such biodegradation.35

It’s estimated that 79 percent of the US population is exposed to

chlorine, and we’re not talking about table salt (sodium chloride).36

Over 98 percent of US water supply systems that disinfect drinking

water use chlorine. The EPA requires treated tap water to have a detect

able level of chlorine (up to four parts per million), which, according

to the EPA, poses “no known or expected health risk [including] an

adequate margin of safety.” Yet one study suggested that at least forty

two hundred cases of bladder cancer and sixty-five hundred cases of

rectal cancer each year in the US are associated with consumption of

chlorinated drinking water.37 This association is strongest in people

who have been drinking chlorinated water for more than fifteen years.38

The US Public Health Service reported that pregnant women who rou

tinely drink or bathe in chlorinated tap water are at a greater risk of

bearing premature or small babies, or babies with congenital defects.39

According to the chlorine industry, 87 percent of water systems in

the US use free chlorines while 11 percent use chloramines, a combi

nation of chlorine and ammonia. The chloramine treatment is becom

ing more widespread because of the health concerns over chlorine.40

CONSTRUCTED WETLANDS

New systems are being developed to purify wastewater. One such

system is the constructed, or artificial wetlands system, which diverts

wastewater through an aquatic environment consisting of plants such

62 The Humanure Handbook ??— 4th Edition — Chapter Seven

as water hyacinths, bulrushes, duckweed, lilies, and cattails. The plants

act as marsh filters, and the microbes that thrive on their roots break

down nitrogen and phosphorus compounds as well as toxic chemicals.

The plants also absorb heavy metals; they can then be harvested later

for incineration or sent to a landfill.41

According to the EPA, the emergence of constructed wetlands tech

nology shows great potential as a cost-effective alternative to waste

water treatment. The wetlands method is said to be relatively

affordable, energy-efficient, practical, and effective. The treatment ef

ficiency of properly constructed wetlands is said to compare well with

conventional treatment systems.42

Another system uses solar-powered, greenhouse-like technology to

treat wastewater. This system uses hundreds of species of bacteria,

fungi, protozoa, snails, plants, and fish, among other things, to produce

advanced levels of wastewater purification. These “solar aquatics” sys

tems are experimental, but hopeful.43

The Humanure Handbook ??— 4th Edition — Chapter Seven 63

AGRICULTURAL USE OF SEWAGE SLUDGE

When I asked the supervisor of my local wastewater plant if the

one million gallons of sludge the plant produces each year, from a pop

ulation of eight thousand people, were being applied to agricultural

land, he said, “It takes six months and $5,000 to get a permit for a land

application. Another problem is that due to regulations, the sludge

can’t lie on the surface after it’s applied, so it has to be plowed under

shortly after application. When farmers get the right conditions to plow

their fields, they plow them. They can’t wait around for us, and we can’t

have sludge ready to go at plowing time.” So it goes to a landfill.

It may be just as well. Problems associated with the agricultural

use of sewage sludge include groundwater, soil, and crop contamination

with pathogens, heavy metals, nitrates, and toxic and carcinogenic or

ganic compounds.44 Sewage sludge is a lot more than organic material.

It can contain DDT, PCBs, and mercury and other heavy metals.45 One

scientist alleges that more than twenty million gallons of used motor

oil are dumped into sewers every year in the United States.46

America’s largest industrial facilities released over 550 million

pounds of toxic pollutants into US sewers in 1989 alone, according to

the US Public Interest Research Group. Between 1990 and 1994, an ad

ditional 450 million pounds of toxic chemicals were dumped into sew

age treatment systems, although the actual levels of toxic discharges

are said to be much higher than these.47

Studies have shown that heavy metals accumulate in the vegetable

tissue of the plant to a much greater extent than in the fruits, roots, or

tubers. Therefore, if one must grow food crops on soil fertilized with

sewage sludge contaminated with heavy metals, one might be wise to

produce carrots or potatoes instead of lettuce.48 Guinea pigs experimen

tally fed with Swiss chard grown on soil fertilized with sewage sludge

showed no observable toxicological effects. However, their adrenals

showed elevated levels of antimony, their kidneys had elevated levels

of cadmium, the livers had elevated manganese, and other tissues had

elevated tin.49

64 The Humanure Handbook ??— 4th Edition — Chapter Seven

Ironically, when sludge is composted, it may help to keep heavy

metals out of the food chain. According to one research study, com

posted sludge lowered the uptake of lead in lettuce that had been de

liberately planted in lead-contaminated soil. The lettuce grown in the

contaminated soil that was amended with composted sludge had a 64

percent lower uptake of lead than lettuce planted in the same soil but

without the compost. The composted soil also lowered lead uptake in

spinach, beets, and carrots by more than 50 percent.50

Composted sewage sludge that is microbiologically active can also

be used to detoxify areas contaminated with nuclear radiation, or oil

spills, according to researchers. Clearly, the composting of sewage

sludge is a grossly underutilized alternative to landfill application, and

it should be strongly promoted.51

Heavy metal concentrations in compost made with sludge seem to

be low enough that they are not considered to be a problem largely be

cause metal-contaminated sludge is greatly diluted by other clean or

ganic materials when composted.52

On the other hand, sewage

sludge is estimated to contain ten

billion microorganisms per gram

and may contain many human

pathogens.53 For example, over 140

enteric viruses are known to poten

tially enter into domestic sewage and

sludge, some with an infectious dose

as low as ten viral particles.54 Numer

ous investigations in different parts

of the world have confirmed the

presence of intestinal pathogenic

bacteria and animal parasites in sew

age and sludge.55

Because of their size and density,

parasitic worm eggs settle into and

concentrate in sewage sludge at

The Humanure Handbook ??— 4th Edition — Chapter Seven 65

wastewater treatment facilities. One

study indicated that microscopic

roundworm eggs could be recovered

from sludge at all stages of the waste

water treatment process, and that

two-thirds of the samples examined

had viable eggs.56 Agricultural use of

the sludge can therefore infect soil

with six thousand to twelve thou

sand viable parasitic worm eggs per

square meter per year. These eggs,

which are quickly killed if com

posted, can persist in some soils for

five years or more.57 Furthermore,

Salmonellae bacteria in sewage

sludge can remain viable on grass

land for several weeks, making it

necessary to restrict grazing on pas

tureland after a sludge application.

Beef tapeworm (Taenia saginata),

which uses cattle as its intermediate

host and humans as its final host,

can also infect cattle that graze on

pastureland fertilized with sludge.

The tapeworm eggs can survive on

sludged pasture for a year.58

Bacteria surviving in sewage

sludge show a high level of resist

ance to antibiotics, especially pen

icillin. Any bacterium capable of

genetic transfer can spread antibiotic

resistance genes to other bacteria. As

antibiotics are now a major contam

inant in sewage sludge, mutations

66 The Humanure Handbook ??— 4th Edition — Chapter Seven

MINIMIZE WASTEWATER

• Never connect stormwater

drains to the sewerage system

or sewerage drains to storm

water. Stormwater drains take

large amounts of water from

roofs, buildings, land, and paved

areas after rain. Connecting toi

lets and other domestic waste

drains to stormwater drains could

result in wastewater flowing

down open gutters. This is harm

ful to the environment and a se

rious heath hazard.

• Compost your kitchen

scraps. Disposing of kitchen

scraps via an in-sink style gar

bage disposal units can place

additional loads on sewage treat

ment systems and add nitrogen

and phosphorus into our water

ways. Try composting at home to

convert your kitchen scraps and

garden clippings into compost.

• Conserve water. Turn off the

tap when brushing your teeth.

Take shorter showers. Fix leak

ing faucets. Use the washing

machine only when you have a

full load. Install a dual-flush toilet

and water-saving shower nozzle.

• Never put harmful sub

stances down sinks, toilets or

stormwater drains. Gasoline,

grease, oil, pesticides, herbi

cides, and solvents such as paint

strippers should not be poured

down sinks, toilets or stormwater

drains.

• Use biodegradable and

phosphate-free detergents or

soap. Detergents that are phos

phate free add fewer nutrients to

the sewerage system.

[https://environment.des.qld.gov.au/water/mon

itoring/wastewater.html]

may spread to organisms in the sludge and to natural microbes.59

Researchers at Cornell have suggested that sewage sludge can be

disposed of by surface applications in forests, and that brief and inter

mittent applications of sludge to forestlands won’t adversely affect

wildlife. They point out that the need to get rid of sludge is com

pounded by the fact that many landfills are expected to close, and ocean

dumping is banned. Under the Cornell model, one dry ton of sludge

could be applied to an acre of forest each year.60 New York State alone

produces 370,000 tons of dry sludge per year, which would require

370,000 acres of forest annually for sludge disposal. Forty-nine other

states produce 7 million dry tons of sludge. Then there’s figuring out

how to get the sludge into the forests and how to spread it around.

Let’s assume that the whole world adopted the sewage philosophy

we have in the United States: defecate into drinkable water and then

try to purify the polluted water. What would that scenario be like? Well,

for one thing it can’t happen. It takes between 1,000 and 2,000 tons of

water at various stages in the process to flush 1 ton of humanure. In a

world of just six billion people producing a conservative estimate of

1.3 million tons of human excrement daily, the amount of water re

quired to flush it is not obtainable.61 Considering the increasing landfill

space that would be needed to dispose of the increasing amounts of

sewage sludge, and the tons of toxic chemicals required to “sterilize”

the wastewater, one can realize that this system of human waste dis

posal is far from sustainable and cannot serve the needs of humanity

in the long term.

According to Barbara Ward, president of the International Institute

for Environment and Development, “Conventional ‘Western’ methods

of waterborne sewerage are simply beyond the reach of most [of the

world’s] communities. They are far too expensive. And they often de

mand a level of water use that local water resources cannot supply.”

According to Lattee Fahm in his book The Waste of Nations — The

Economic Utilization of Human Waste in Agriculture, “In today’s world

[1980], some 4.5 billion people produce excretal matters at about 5.5

million metric tons every twenty-four hours, close to two billion metric

The Humanure Handbook ??— 4th Edition — Chapter Seven 67

tons per year. [Humanity] now occupies a time/growth dimension in

which the world population doubles in thirty-five years or less. In this

new universe, there is only one viable and ecologically consistent so

lution to the body waste problems — the processing and application

of [humanure] for its agronutrient content.”62 This sentiment is

echoed by World Bank researchers, who state, “[I]t can be estimated

that the backlog of over one billion people not now provided with water

or sanitation service will grow, not decrease. It has also been estimated

that most developing economies will be unable to finance water car

riage waste disposal systems even if loan funds were available.” 63

The 1 billion people without toilets the researchers were talking

about in 1980 did in fact grow in numbers. In 2018 the number was

2.3 billion. The World Health Organization and UNICEF issued a re

port in 2017 stating 4.5 billion people lack safely managed sanitation,

including the 892 million still people practicing open defecation.64 A

2016 report indicated that the lack of access to sanitation cost the global

economy $222.9 billion in 2015 alone. More than half of those costs

were related to premature deaths.65 Water pollution caused 1.8 million

deaths in 2015, while unsafe water continues to sicken about a billion

people every year. Pathogenic microbes from human and animal ex

crements are a major source of water contamination.

Accidental, illegal, or intentional discharges from sewage facilities

contribute many of the harmful pathogens to waterways. Every year

3.5 million Americans have health issues such as skin rashes, pink eye,

respiratory infections, and hepatitis from sewage-laden coastal waters

alone, according to the EPA.66

But humanure is a natural substance that can be returned to the

earth to produce food for humans. It doesn’t have to be a pollutant.

68 The Humanure Handbook ??— 4th Edition — Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Compost

Please don’t let me be misunderstood...

Compost, like agriculture, is a human creation. You will not find

it in nature any more than you will find a corn field, unless humans

created it. You will not find an ant-hill in nature, either, unless ants

created it. Ants create ant-hills, humans create compost.

Compost is made from organic materials that originated from

plants and animals. Humans place the organic material into piles,

where natural, ever-present microbes consume them (remember the

thermophiles, Mother Nature’s housekeepers?). In the process the mi

crobes convert the organic materials into what some people call

“humus,” others call “earth,” and others even call “soil,” but it is cor

rectly referred to as “compost.” The microbial process that converts

the organic material into compost generates internal biological heat,

heat generated by the microbes themselves, microbes that live in the

presence of oxygen and are therefore termed aerobic.

So there you have it: Compost, by definition, has three compo

nents: (1) humans make it or manage it, (2) the process generates inter

nal biological heat, and (3) the organisms that proliferate in the compost

do so in the presence of oxygen. If these three conditions are not met,

then it’s not composting, and the end product shouldn’t be called com

post.

The Humanure Handbook ??— 4th Edition — Chapter Eight 69

In 2018, the US Composting Council (USCC) defined compost as

the product manufactured through the controlled aerobic, biological decompo

sition of biodegradable materials. The product has undergone mesophilic and

thermophilic temperatures, which significantly reduces the viability of

pathogens and weed seeds and stabilizes the carbon such that it is beneficial to

plant growth.

The Association of American Plant Food Control Officials

(AAPFCO) approved the new definition for compost because it em

phasized the pathogen-removing thermophilic process, differentiating

it from many products often confused with compost. This more com

pletely defines what our products are so that people out there wanting to call

their products compost cannot do that without meeting this definition, said

Ron Alexander, the USCC's liaison to AAPFCO, who had labored for

years on the updated definition.1

A lot of people call a lot of things compost, incorrectly, and it’s

hurting the composting industry. We don't want to have the compost in

dustry's product being confused with other products after all the work we've

invested in best practices and quality product standards, said Alexander. The

new definition helps the producers of other products, from biochar to

mulch to dehydrated food, worm castings, and anaerobic digestate, to

more clearly differentiate their products as not being compost. For ex

ample, “vermicompost” is a misnomer. The correct term is “vermicul

ture.” The end product of vermiculture is not compost; it’s worm

castings. Vermiculture is not dominated by aerobic microorganisms

generating biological heat. It’s dominated by red worms. Thermophilic

microorganisms would kill those worms. The final product is not the

same as compost, and it should not be called compost. Nor should a

lot of other things that are referred to as compost.

For example, “composting toilets” are not composting toilets.

Composting does not take place inside toilets unless internal biological

heat is being generated, which is highly unlikely for reasons we will

discuss later. What people call “composting toilets” would correctly be

referred to as “dry toilets,” or “biological toilets.” But we’ll get into

this discussion in greater detail in a separate chapter.

70 The Humanure Handbook ??— 4th Edition — Chapter Eight

The 2018 compost definition is important because the composting

industry has worked hard to train and educate people about natural

processes that use microbes to reduce or eliminate human pathogens.

This is particularly relevant to the recycling of humanure.

We can’t blame anyone for incorrectly referring to any rotting vege

tation or any brown decayed or dehydrated organic material as “com

post.” Composting is a young science, and few people in the general

public know much about it. With the tidal wave of misinformation that

can be found on the internet and everywhere else, it’s no wonder there

is so much misunderstanding.

The term “compost” is found in literature dating back to at least

1600. Shakespeare no less, is attributed to using the word in Hamlet:

Act 3, Scene 4: “Confess yourself to heaven;/Repent what’s past; avoid what

is to come;/And do not spread the compost on the weeds;/To make them

ranker.” Back in 1600 Leeuwenhoek hadn’t even been born and micro

organisms were still a thing of the future. They also didn’t have com

post thermometers and no way to determine the temperatures of

compost piles, if there were any elevated temperatures at all.

Apparently, any pile of rotted organic material was once referred

to as “compost.” For example, an agricultural guide from 1831 advised,

“If you have not had time to root out all the weeds on your premises,

you will at least endeavor to prevent their going to seed by cutting off

the tops with a scythe or sickle, and it will be good economy to lodge

the proceeds of your puttings in your barn, barn yard, or compost bed.”

They add, “The proper soil for bulbs, in general, is a light rich soil,

mixed with a considerable portion of fine sea sand; and the compost

generally used, is one third fine sand, one sixth rich loam, one third

cow dung and one sixth leaves of trees.”2

A materia medica published in 1834 recommends using a “compost

of dung, ashes, and nitrous earth” when growing poppies for opium.3

Likewise, an 1851 book yielded poetic advice for growing tobacco: With

rich manure first saturate your land, Or better, mix the compost well with sand;

Then with this mixture cover o’er your field, And for your care, it bounteous

crops will yield.4

The Humanure Handbook ??— 4th Edition — Chapter Eight 71

Although “compost” was obviously something people used in the

nineteenth century for gardening, horticulture, and agriculture to their

benefit, it was also something looked down upon in urban areas, as this

1865 report from the Detroit Board of Health reveals: This committee

have learned from the sanitary inspectors of wards, and from their own obser

vations, that there are in many parts of the city alleys filled with decaying com

post and human ordure, and alleys and gutters covered with stagnant water...5

In 1885 compost heaps were likewise seen as a public health nuisance:

Most important part of the work of defense from disease...all decaying and

germinating vegetables should be removed therefrom with all accumulations

of rubbish of every kind, and the whole should be destroyed by burning, or re

moved to the compost heap to be carted away.

It seems that “compost” had developed a dual personality, a Jekyll

and Hyde reputation; sometimes good, sometimes bad, depending on

whom you ask. Any pile of garbage, manure, and wood ashes could be

considered compost. And it didn’t need to be a pile; it could be a “pit.”

In 1911, in his book Farmers of Forty Centuries, Professor F. H. King de

scribes “compost pits” in China as being sunken depressions filled with

vegetable matter, ashes, and soil, covered with mud or water, the aim

being to have the fiber of all organic material completely broken down, the re

sult being a product of the consistency of mortar. Wet mortar. This “com

post” is then spread on the ground to dry.6 The word “fermentation,”

like “compost,” was used loosely back then, as the contents of a com

post pile were considered to be fermenting. Yet fermentation, in bio

chemistry, is defined as the extraction of energy from carbohydrates in

the absence of oxygen,7 whereas composting is an aerobic process in the

presence of oxygen. Saturated, submerged, anaerobic processes do not

produce what we would call compost today.

This distinction is important — the conversion of organic material

by microorganisms through the composting process is nothing short

of magical. Consider humanure and all those nasty pathogens that may

reside in the excretions of infected persons. Composting the humanure

will eliminate those disease organisms, or at least reduce them to non

detectable levels. Anaerobic processes can’t make this claim, as pointed

72 The Humanure Handbook ??— 4th Edition — Chapter Eight

out in the discussion of wastewater treatment systems earlier.

Compost, nevertheless, is getting a bad rap from people calling stuff

“compost” when it isn’t. For example, National Geographic published

an article in 2016 that stated, Chinese farmers regularly fertilized their rice

paddies with anaerobic (lacking oxygen) composting techniques.8 But there

aren’t any anaerobic composting techniques. If it’s anaerobic, it’s not

composting. A 2011 research study stated, “Compost latrines do not

reach temperatures sufficient to destroy all pathogens,” and

“Pathogens, mainly helminths, were still present in compost stored for

the 6-month contact time.” But these latrines weren’t composting, and

they shouldn’t be called compost latrines — they were not producing

compost. The same study also concluded, “The majority of composting

latrines in developing countries do not reach high enough tempera

tures for complete pathogen destruction.”9 That’s because they’re not

composting latrines, they’re dry toilets, a subject that we will revisit later.

The words “compost” and “composting” are being used incorrectly.

Having served on the editorial board of the industry journal Com

post Science and Utilization, and having reviewed research papers related

to “composting” and “composting toilets,” I know that there’s a deep

misunderstanding about what composting is, not just among the gen

eral public, but also among general academia. When PhD candidates

or post-doctoral researchers report that their “compost” did not elim

inate pathogenic organisms, when in fact they weren’t composting and

didn’t have compost at all, then it hurts the composting industry. These

are not isolated incidents; this is a widespread problem.

Part of our misunderstanding about compost can be traced back to

the roots of compost science. F. H. King’s Farmers of Forty Centuries

went into detail about Chinese “compost” systems. King shows photos

of shallow pools of water, which he refers to as “compost pits.” “In the

preparation of composts, pits are dug, as seen in the illustration, and into them

are thrown coarse manure and any roughage in the form of stubble or other re

fuse which may be available, these materials being saturated with the soft mud

dipped from the bottom of the reservoir.”10

King described a Chinese “compost house” constructed for the

The Humanure Handbook ??— 4th Edition — Chapter Eight 73

purpose of making compost. In preparing the “compost,” materials are

brought daily and spread over one side of the compost floor until the pile has

attained a height of five feet. After one foot in depth has been laid and firmed,

1.2 inches of soil or mud is spread over the surface and the process repeated

until full height has been attained. Water is added sufficient to keep the whole

saturated and to maintain the temperature below that of the body. After a

number of weeks, the “compost stacks” are forked over and transferred to

the opposite side of the house.11

King further described another “compost” pit: “In it had been

placed all the manure and [organic material] of the household and

street, all stubble and [organic] roughage from the field, all ashes not

to be directly applied” [to the soil], as well as some soil. “Sufficient

water was added at intervals to keep the contents completely saturated

and nearly submerged....

”12

Clearly what King was describing was not what we would refer to

as compost today. Submerging organic material in water or mud creates

anaerobic conditions in which temperatures are not likely to rise above

the temperature of the human body. Remember that compost bacteria

are aerobic and will not multiply in an anaerobic environment. Nev

ertheless, King’s writing was influential in its day.

Much of compost's current popularity in the West can be attributed

to the work of Sir Albert Howard, who wrote An Agricultural Testament

in 1943 and several other works on aspects of what has now become

known as organic agriculture. Howard's discussions of composting

techniques focus on the Indore process of composting, a process devel

oped in Indore, India, between the years of 1924 and 1931, just fourteen

years after King had published his book. Howard described the Indore

process as “a simple development of the Chinese system.”13

Howard was impressed with Chinese agriculture. He stated, The

Chinese peasant has hit on a way of supplying his fields with humus by the

device of making compost. Compost is the name given to the result of any sys

tem of mixing and decaying natural [organic material] in a heap or pit so as

to obtain a product resembling what the forest makes on its floor... .14 Any

system of decaying organic material produced “compost,” according

74 The Humanure Handbook ??— 4th Edition — Chapter Eight

to Howard. Today, we differentiate between aerobic systems such as

composting, and anaerobic systems since the outputs are entirely dif

ferent.

The Indore process was first described in detail in Howard's 1931

work, co-authored with Y. D. Wad, The Waste Products of Agriculture, in

which the authors state, “The Indore process utilizes all the products

of agriculture and produces an essential manure.” They add that any

successful system of manufacturing compost must also fulfill the fol

lowing conditions: minimal labor, a suitable carbon-nitrogen ratio, an

aerobic process with adequate water, no nitrogen loss, a mature end

product, microbial stimulation of soil to which the compost is added,

and a clean and sanitary process overall.15 Modern composters would

certainly agree with all of this.

Indore process composting was also done in “pits.” According to

Howard, “A convenient size for a compost pit is 30 ft. by 14 ft. and 2 ft. deep

with sloping sides. The depth of the pit is most important on account of the

aeration factor. It should never exceed 24 inches.” The pits are filled with a

mixture of dung, “urine earth,” wood ashes, fungus and bacterial in

oculants, vegetable residues, and animal bedding.16 “The urine earth and

wood ashes are as essential in the manufacture of compost as the plant residues

themselves.”17 Today we know that neither earth nor wood ashes are re

quired in compost.

According to various accounts of life in the nineteenth century in

America, shallow farmyard pits were used as a place for dumping or

ganic garbage, wood ashes, and other household and farmyard residues.

Perhaps these provided a place for pigs to wallow and browse, the de

pression providing a means of containing the material, so it wasn’t

spread all over the place, as well as a means of collecting water and mud

for the pigs to enjoy. Adapting this system to an organics recycling pro

cess would make sense, as open piles of garbage would be fly infested

and smell badly, at least until the pigs trampled the organic material

into the mud where it could anaerobically decay.

Once the materials are deposited in the pit, according to Howard,

“The fermenting mass is now ready for the development of an active fungus

The Humanure Handbook ??— 4th Edition — Chapter Eight 75

76 The Humanure Handbook ??— 4th Edition — Chapter Eight

growth (the first stage in the manufacture of compost).”18 In modern times,

composting is done above ground, not in pits; the mass isn’t ferment

ing (anaerobic), it’s undergoing aerobic degradation; and the first stage

of composting is bacterial, typically mesophilic, then thermophilic, not

fungal. Making compost is far simpler than what Howard described. I

can’t imagine having to dig a pit for housing a compost pile. Go outside

and dig a two-foot-deep hole and you’ll soon see what I mean.

Howard admits that the pits will fill with water during heavy rains

and recommends building compost “heaps” during the rainy season,

“The dimensions of the heaps should not exceed 7 ft. by 7 ft. at the top, 8 ft.

by 8 ft. at the bottom, and 2 ft. in height. The dimensions of these monsoon

heaps...must not be exceeded, otherwise aeration difficulties are certain to be

encountered.”19 Such dimensions today don’t make any sense at all, but

we’ll get into compost making in another chapter.

A watering schedule is strictly followed in the Indore process; other

wise decay will stop, according to Howard, and turning of the organic

mass three times was needed to ensure uniform mixture and decay, and to

provide the necessary amount of water and air as well as a supply of suitable

bacteria. If flies or smells become evident, the heap should be turned at

once with the addition of dung slurry and wood ashes. The first turn was to

take place sixteen days after the pile was built, the second turn one

month after the pile was built, and the third turn two months after the

building of the pile. It’s no wonder that turning was recommended.

Surely the bottom twenty four inches of the pile, being underground,

was anaerobic and needed to be brought to the top to drain.

Three months after the pile is built, the manure is ready, when it

should be applied to the land. If kept in heaps longer than three months...ni

trogen is certain to be lost.20 Again, and with all due respect, immature

compost is phytotoxic (kills plants), and I have never made compost

that was mature in three months, nor have I witnessed any nitrogen

loss due to allowing compost to mature or “cure.” Of course, I have

seen others claim their compost is ready in three months, but it prob

ably isn’t, and I’ll explain why in another chapter.

The Indore process subsequently became embraced by agricultur

The Humanure Handbook ??— 4th Edition — Chapter Eight 77

ists — a million tons of compost were being made in tea estates in India

by 1938. Eight municipal compost pits were in operation in South Af

rica by 1942. Someone had invented a compost turning machine that

was demonstrated in England in 1944, where a hundred machines

“sold on the spot.”21 By the 1940s, the science, and the business, of

compost was off and running!

It was once a practice in Asia to apply raw applications of human

excrement, known as “night soil,” to agricultural fields. Although this

kept the soil enriched, it also acted as a vector, or route of transmission,

for disease organisms. In the words of Dr. J. W. Scharff, former chief

health officer in Singapore (1940), “Though the vegetables thrive, the

practice of putting human [manure] directly on the soil is dangerous

to health. The heavy toll of sickness and death from various enteric

diseases in China is well-known.” It is interesting to note Dr. Scharff ’s

suggested solution: “We have been inclined to regard the installation

of a water-carried system as one of the final aims of civilization.”22 The

World Health Organization also discouraged the use of night soil:

“Night soil is sometimes used as a fertilizer, in which case it presents

great hazards by promoting the transmission of food-borne enteric [in

testinal] disease, and hookworm.”23

Composting, on the other hand, creates an environment that de

stroys disease organisms that can exist in humanure, thereby convert

ing human excrement into a friendly, pleasant-smelling compost safe

for food gardens. Composted humanure is entirely different from both

night soil and the anaerobic digestate that the Chinese were likely pro

ducing in the water-filled “compost pits.”

Perhaps it is better stated by the experts in the field: From a survey

of the literature of night soil treatment, it can be clearly concluded that the only

fail-safe night soil method which will assure effective and essentially total

pathogen inactivation, including the most resistant helminths [intestinal

worms] such as Ascaris [roundworm] eggs and all other bacterial and viral

pathogens, is heat treatment to a temperature of 55° to 60°C [131° to 140°F]

for several hours.24 These experts are specifically referring to the heat of

an actual compost pile.

78 The Humanure Handbook ??— 4th Edition — Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Compost Nuts and Bolts

Composting is not waste disposal. It is organics recycling. Com

posting is a waste-free process. We do not compost waste; we discard

waste — that’s why it’s called waste. Anyone who tells you he or she is

composting waste doesn’t know what waste is. We compost organic ma

terial; waste is what isn’t composted; it’s wasted. You don’t look for

waste to compost; you look for organic material to compost. Compost

ing is a continuous natural cycle whereby organic material is recycled

to make soil for plants, which in turn produce food, which is eaten by

animals, which in turn produce manures, animal carcasses, and dis

carded food and agricultural residues. These organic by-products of

life are then composted, and the cycle continues, without waste.

The composting industry sprang from the waste disposal industry.

Waste management people had the trucks, the equipment, the machin

ery, the industrial sites, the permitting options, and whatever else was

needed to jump into the composting arena. The unfortunate con

sequence of this is that they insist on referring to organic material as

waste. Yes, it was waste when they dumped it in landfills. It’s not waste

when it’s being composted.

The organic material utilized to make compost could be anything

on Earth that had been alive, or from a living thing, such as manure,

plants, leaves, sawdust, peat, straw, grass clippings, food scraps, and

urine. A rule of thumb is that anything that will rot will compost, in

cluding such things as cotton clothing, wool rugs, rags, paper, animal

carcasses, junk mail, and cardboard. Composting converts organic ma

terial, even humanure, into a stable material that does not attract in

sects or nuisance animals. Mature compost can be safely handled and

stored indefinitely and is beneficial to the growth of plants.

Compost holds moisture and therefore increases the soil’s capacity

to absorb and hold water. It is said to hold nine times its weight in

water (900 percent), as compared to sand which only holds 2 percent,

The Humanure Handbook ??— 4th Edition — Chapter Nine 79

and clay 20 percent.1 Compost

also adds slow-release nutrients

essential for plant growth,

creates air spaces in soil, helps

balance the soil pH, darkens the

soil (thereby helping it to absorb

heat), and supports microbial

populations that add life to the

soil. Nutrients such as nitrogen

in compost are slowly released

throughout the growing season,

making them less susceptible to

loss by leaching than more solu

ble chemical fertilizers.2 Organic

matter from compost enables the

soil to immobilize and degrade

pesticides, nitrates, phosphorus,

and other chemicals that can be

come pollutants. Compost also

binds pollutants in soil systems,

reducing their leachability and

absorption by plants.3

The building of topsoil by

Mother Nature is a centuries

long process. Adding compost to

soil will help to quickly restore

fertility that might otherwise

take nature hundreds of years to

replace. Humans deplete soils in

relatively short periods of time.

By composting our discarded or

ganic material and returning it

to the land, we can restore that

fertility in relatively short

80 The Humanure Handbook ??— 4th Edition — Chapter Nine

periods of time. Fertile soil yields better food, thereby promoting good

health.

The Hunzas of northern India have been studied to a great extent.

Sir Albert Howard reported, When the health and physique of the various

northern Indian races were studied in detail, the best were those of the Hunzas,

a hardy, agile, and vigorous people living in one of the high mountain valleys

of the Gilgit Agency.... There is little or no difference between the kinds of

food eaten by these hillmen and by the rest of northern India. There is, however,

a great difference in the way these foods are grown.... The very greatest care

is taken to return to the soil all human, animal, and vegetable [refuse] after

being first composted together. Land is limited: upon the way it is looked after,

life depends.4

Compost is made above ground in piles, bins, vessels, and wind

rows. There are several reasons for piling composting material above

ground. A contained pile (versus an open pile or windrow) keeps the

material from drying out or cooling down prematurely. A high level of

moisture (50-60 percent) is necessary for the microorganisms to work

happily.5 A contained pile helps to prevent leaching and waterlogging,

and it holds heat. A neat, contained pile looks like you know what

you’re doing when you’re making compost in your backyard or in your

community, instead of looking like a dump. Compost bins, as opposed

to open piles, also keep out nuisance animals such as dogs. A bin

doesn’t have to cost money; it can be made from recycled wood, cement

blocks, hay bales, repurposed pallets, or whatever else is at hand.

A pile makes it easier to cover the compost. When a fresh deposit

is added to a compost pile, especially a smelly deposit, it’s essential to

cover it with clean organic material to eliminate odors and to prevent

flies from being attracted to the compost. Granted, large-scale munic

ipal composting is often done in windrows, which are long open piles

of organic material that are usually uncovered. These open piles have

to be frequently turned and stirred because the exposed surfaces attract

flies and can’t heat up like the interior does. You will find that these

large-scale windrow operations will often not accept animal manures,

certainly not humanure, and often not even food scraps, due to the odor

The Humanure Handbook ??— 4th Edition — Chapter Nine 81

and fly issues these feedstocks will create when the uncovered piles are

sitting and rotting in the sun or are being stirred up and releasing gases

and a host of other things into the air. The good news is that smelly

feedstocks such as humanure, dead animals, and food materials can be

composted in contained, covered piles that do not need to be stirred

up at all, thereby eliminating the odor and fly issues completely. A con

tained composting technique also eliminates the cost and labor in

volved in turning the compost piles. We will dwell more on this issue

in subsequent chapters.

MOISTURE

Compost must be kept moist. A dry pile will not work; it will just

sit there looking bored. It’s amazing how much moisture an active

compost pile can absorb. When people who don’t have any experience

with composting try to picture a humanure compost pile in someone’s

backyard, they imagine a giant, fly-infested, smelly heap of turds,

draining noxious, stinky liquids out the bottom of the pile. However,

a compost pile is not a pile of garbage or waste. Thanks to the miracle

of composting, the pile of organic material becomes a living, breathing,

biological mass, a sponge that absorbs quite a bit of moisture. The pile

is not likely to create a leaching problem unless mismanaged or sub

jected to sustained heavy rains — then it can simply be covered with a

roof, a tarp, or even just hay or straw.

Why do compost piles require moisture? For one thing, compost

loses a lot of moisture into the air during the composting process, espe

cially when the piles are turned or stirred up. It is not uncommon for

compost piles to shrink 40 to 80 percent.6 Even when wet materials

are composted, a pile can undergo considerable drying.7 An initial

moisture content of 65 percent can dwindle down to 20 to 30 percent

in only a week, according to some researchers, probably a result of turn

ing or stirring up the hot piles.8 Due to compost’s need for liquid, it is

more likely that one will have to add moisture to one’s compost than

have to deal with excess moisture leaching from it.

82 The Humanure Handbook ??— 4th Edition — Chapter Nine

Also, microorganisms don’t walk — they swim. They don’t have

legs like land animals do, and they need moisture for motility. Mi

crobes live in biofilms coating the particles and surfaces in a compost

pile. When the compost dries out, biological activity slows down and

eventually grinds to a halt.

The amount of moisture a compost pile receives or needs depends

on the materials put into the pile as well as the location of the pile. For

example, in northwestern Pennsylvania, there are about forty-two

inches (roughly one meter) of precipitation each year, on average. Out

door, exposed compost piles rarely need watering under these con

ditions. According to Sir Albert Howard, it is also unnecessary to water

a compost pile in a location in England where the annual rainfall is

twenty-four inches. Nevertheless, the water required for compost-mak

ing may be around two hundred to three hundred gallons for each

cubic yard of finished compost.9 This moisture requirement can be met

when human urine is used in the compost and the pile is receiving

adequate rainfall. Additional water can come from moist organic ma

terials such as food scraps. If adequate rainfall is not available and the

contents of the pile are not moist, such as in a desert situation, watering

will likely be necessary to produce a moisture content equivalent to a

squeezed-out sponge. Graywater from household drains or collected

rainwater might suffice for this purpose. Lately, I’ve been collecting

discarded beer from a local brewery in five-gallon buckets and pouring

it over my compost piles. The piles love it. Spent wine from brandy

making is also a favorite. If the pile is above ground, it will remain

aerobic. Aerobic bacteria will suffer from a lack of oxygen if drowned

in liquid, which would occur, for example, at the bottom of a pit in

standing water.

Anaerobic decomposition is a slower, cooler process that usually

stinks. Anaerobic odors can smell like rotten eggs (caused by hydrogen

sulfide), sour milk (caused by butyric acids), vinegar (acetic acids),

vomit (valeic acids), and putrification (alcohols and phenolic com

pounds).10 Obviously, we want to avoid such odors by maintaining an

aerobic system, not an anaerobic one.

The Humanure Handbook ??— 4th Edition — Chapter Nine 83

KEEP IT COVERED

Compost need not offend one’s sense of smell. However, for this to

be true, two simple rules must be followed: (1) Never put any organic

materials on top of a compost pile (the exception being cover materi

als). Always add new organic material (food scraps, toilet material, dead

animals, etc.) into the pile by first digging a hole in the top center,

dumping your material there, raking the existing compost over it, then

covering it with the cover material, which brings us to: (2) Always keep

the contents of a compost pile covered with a clean cover material (like

straw, hay, grasses, weeds, bagasse, leaves) when using contained com

posting systems such as backyard or community bins.

If you’re using a compost toilet, then you must also cover the de

posits inside your toilet after each use. Good cover materials inside toilets

include sawdust, peat moss, leaves, rice hulls, coco coir, sugar cane ba

gasse, and lots of other things provided they’re a finer consistency with

some level of moisture content, but we’ll get back to this topic later.

Good cover materials for an outdoor compost pile include weeds,

straw, hay, leaves, grass, and other materials that can be bulky, dry, or

green, but not woody, such as tree branches. Adequately covering com

post with a clean organic material is the simple secret to odor preven

tion. It also keeps flies and other vermin off the compost. The US Army

once sprayed their compost piles with a mixture of toxic chemicals to

keep off flies, much to the consternation of the microbes within, no

doubt. A simple layer of straw, grasses, leaves, or other cover material

thrown over the compost piles would have worked much better.

Adequate cover material insulates the pile, absorbs rainfall, and

prevents dehydration. Dehydration will cause the compost micro

organisms to stop working. So will freezing. Compost piles will not

work if frozen. However, the microorganisms can simply wait until the

temperature rises enough for them to thaw out, then they’ll go back to

work. You can continue to add material to a frozen compost pile. After

a thaw, the pile should work up a steam as if nothing happened.

84 The Humanure Handbook ??— 4th Edition — Chapter Nine

CARBON AND NITROGEN

A good blend of materials (a good carbon/nitrogen balance in com

post lingo) is required for a nice, hot compost pile. Since most of the

materials commonly added to a backyard compost pile are high in car

bon — leaves, for example — a source of nitrogen must be incorporated

into the blend of ingredients. This isn’t as difficult as it may seem. You

can carry bundles of weeds to your compost pile and add hay, straw,

leaves and food scraps, but you may still be short on nitrogen. Of

course, the solution is simple: add manure. Where can you get manure?

From an animal. Where can you find an animal? Look in a mirror.

Rodale states in The Complete Book of Composting that the average

gardener may have difficulty in obtaining manure for the compost

heap, but with a little ingenuity and a thorough search, it can be found. A

gardener in the book testifies that when he gets all steamed up to build

myself a good compost pile, there has always been one big question that sits

and thumbs its nose at me: Where am I going to find the manure? I am willing

to bet, too, that the lack of manure is one of the reasons why your compost pile

is not the thriving humus factory that it might be.

Hmmm. Where can a large animal such as a human being find ani

mal manure? Gee, that’s a tough one. Let’s think really hard about that.

Perhaps with a little “ingenuity and a thorough search” we can come

up with a source. Where is that mirror, anyway? Might be a clue there.

One way to understand the blend of ingredients in your compost

pile is by using the C/N (carbon/nitrogen) ratio. Quite frankly, the

chance of the average person measuring and monitoring the carbon

and nitrogen quantities of her organic material is almost nil. If com

posting required this sort of drudgery, no one would do it.

However, by using all of the organic refuse a family produces, in

cluding humanure, urine, food scraps, weeds from the garden, and

grass clippings, with some materials from the larger agricultural com

munity such as a little straw or hay, and maybe some rotting sawdust

or some collected leaves from the municipality, one can get a good mix

of carbon and nitrogen for successful composting.

The Humanure Handbook ??— 4th Edition — Chapter Nine 85

86 The Humanure Handbook ??— 4th Edition — Chapter Nine

The Humanure Handbook ??— 4th Edition — Chapter Nine 87

A good C/N ratio for a compost pile is between 20/1 and 35/1.11

That’s 20 parts of carbon to 1 part of nitrogen, up to 35 parts of carbon

to 1 part of nitrogen. Or for simplicity you can figure on shooting for

an optimum 30/1 ratio. You can think of carbon as something that orig

inates from plants and that will burn if dry. Ashes don’t burn; they’re

what’s left after burning, so there’s no carbon there. Rocks don’t burn,

so lime is not a carbon source. Most agricultural or natural plant resi

dues, if dried out, will burn. Those are your carbon sources.

For microorganisms, carbon is the basic building block of life and

is a source of energy, but nitrogen is also necessary for such things as

proteins, genetic material, and cell structure. For a balanced diet, mi

croorganisms that digest compost need about 30 parts of carbon for

every part of nitrogen they consume. If there’s too much nitrogen, the

microorganisms can’t use it all and the excess is lost in the form of

smelly ammonia gas. Nitrogen loss due to excess nitrogen in a compost

pile (a low C/N ratio) can be over 60 percent. At a C/N ratio of 30 or 35

to 1, only 0.5 percent of the nitrogen may be lost. You don’t want too

much nitrogen in your compost — the nitrogen will escape into the air

as ammonia gas, and nitrogen is too valuable for plants to allow it to

disappear into the atmosphere.12 If you have a high-nitrogen feedstock

such as humanure, chicken manure, urine, and so on., just add more

carbon. How much? Enough that you can’t smell anything — it really

is that simple. Use your nose; it’s a great tool!

Humanure and urine alone will not compost. They’re too wet and

they contain too much nitrogen and not enough carbon, and micro

organisms, like humans, gag at the thought of eating it. Since there’s

nothing worse than the thought of several billion gagging microorgan

isms, a carbon material must be added to the humanure to make it into

an appealing dinner. Plant by-products such as hay, straw, weeds or

even paper products if ground to the proper consistency, will provide

the needed carbon. Food scraps in general are already C/N balanced,

so they can be readily added to your compost pile.

Sawmill sawdust has a moisture content of 40 to 65 percent, which

is good for compost.13 Lumber yard sawdust, on the other hand, is kiln-

88 The Humanure Handbook ??— 4th Edition — Chapter Nine

dried and is biologically inert due to dehydration. Therefore, it is not

as desirable in compost unless rehydrated with water (or urine from

your compost toilet) before being added to the compost pile. If you

have a supply of kiln-dried sawdust being used as a cover material in a

compost toilet, leave the sawdust outside in an open-topped, drained

container and let it get rained on, rehydrated, and biologically acti

vated. It makes a much better biofilter for odor control when it has a

higher amount of moisture in it, and it’s better for your compost pile.

For simplicity, just dump the sawdust in an open pile outside and let

it get wet that way, assuming it rains there.

Lumber yard sawdust nowadays can sometimes be contaminated

with wood preservatives such as chromated copper arsenate (CCA)

from “pressure treated lumber.” Both chromium and arsenic are

human carcinogens, so avoid such lumber and sawdust. The EPA

began a voluntary phaseout of CCA lumber for residential use as of De

cember 2004, but there is still lots of it around.14

Some backyard composters refer to organic materials as “browns”

and “greens.” The browns (such as dried leaves) supply carbon, and

the greens (such as fresh grass clippings) supply nitrogen. It’s rec

ommended that two to three volumes of browns be mixed with one vol

ume of greens to produce a mix with the correct C/N ratio for

composting.15 However, since most backyard composters are not hu

manure composters, many have a pile of material sitting in their com

post bin showing little activity. What is usually missing are nitrogen

and moisture, two critical ingredients to any compost pile. Both are

provided by humanure when collected with urine and a carbon cover

material. The humanure mix can be quite brown but is also quite high

in nitrogen. So, the “brown/green” approach isn’t necessary when com

posting humanure along with other household organic material. Let’s

face it, humanure composters are in a class by themselves.

What about sanitary napkins and disposable diapers? Sure, they’ll

compost, but they’ll leave strips of plastic throughout your finished

compost, which are quite unsightly. Of course, that's OK if you don't

mind picking the strips of plastic out of your compost, something I did

The Humanure Handbook ??— 4th Edition — Chapter Nine 89

for years when I was composting commercially available menstrual

pads. Otherwise, use cloth diapers and washable cloth menstrual pads.

I personally have never composted disposable diapers because I

never used them. My kids all used cloth diapers when they were babies.

Fecal material was scraped off the diapers with toilet paper into the

compost toilet. The diapers were then soaked in a “diaper bucket” in

water, eventually wrung out, laundered, and reused. The soiled water

from the diaper bucket was dumped into the compost pile.

Toilet paper composts, too. So do the cardboard tubes in the center

of the rolls. Unbleached, recycled toilet paper is ideal. Or you can use

the old-fashioned toilet paper, otherwise known as corncobs. Popcorn

cobs work best, they’re softer. Corncobs don’t compost very readily

though, so you have a good excuse not to use them. There are other

things that don’t compost very well: eggshells, bones, and hair to name

a few. But these things won’t hurt your compost pile. Throw them in.

Compost professionals have seized on the idea that “wood chips”

are good for making compost. Nowadays, when novice composters

want to begin making compost, the first thing they want to know is

where can they get wood chips. But wood chips don’t compost well at

all, unless ground into fine particles, as in sawdust. Even commercial

composters admit they must screen out the wood chips after the com

post is finished because they didn’t decompose. They insist on using

them anyway, because they break up the compost consistency and

maintain air spaces in their large masses of organic material. A home

composter should avoid wood chips and use other bulking materials

that degrade more quickly, such as hay, straw, sawdust, and weeds.

Never put woody-stemmed plants, such as tree saplings, in your

compost pile. I hired a young lad to clear some brush for me one

summer and he innocently put the small saplings on my compost pile.

Later, I found them networked through the pile like iron rods. I’ll bet

the lad’s ears were itching that day — I sure had some nasty things to

say about him. Fortunately, only the compost pile heard me.

90 The Humanure Handbook ??— 4th Edition — Chapter Nine

PHASES OF COMPOST

There is a huge difference between a backyard composter and a

municipal composter. Municipal composters handle large batches of

organic materials all at once, while backyard composters continuously

produce small amounts of organic material every day. Municipal com

posters, therefore, could be termed “batch” composters, while backyard

composters would be “continuous” composters. When organic material

is composted in a batch, four distinct stages of the composting process

are apparent. Although the same phases occur during continuous com

posting, they are not as apparent as they are in a batch, and in fact they

may be occurring concurrently rather than sequentially.

The four phases include: (1) the preliminary mesophilic phase; (2)

the hot thermophilic phase; (3) the cooling phase; and (4) the curing

phase.

Compost bacteria combine carbon with oxygen to produce carbon

dioxide and energy. Some of the energy is used by the microorganisms

for reproduction and growth; the rest is given off as heat. When a pile

of organic material begins to compost, mesophilic bacteria reproduce

The Humanure Handbook ??— 4th Edition — Chapter Nine 91

and multiply, raising the temperature of the composting mass up to

about 111°F (44°C). This is the first stage of the composting process.

These mesophilic bacteria can include E. coli and other bacteria from

the human intestinal tract, but these soon become increasingly inhib

ited by the temperature, as the thermophilic bacteria take over in the

transition range of 111°F to 125.6°F (44°C-52°C).

This begins the second stage of the process, when thermophilic mi

croorganisms become very active and produce a lot of heat. This stage

can then continue to about 158°F (70°C) in larger compost piles,16 al

though such high temperatures are not common in smaller backyard

compost bins. This heating stage takes place rather quickly and can

last a few days, weeks, or many months depending on the amount and

nature of the material being composted. The hot area tends to be lo

calized in the central portion of a backyard compost bin, which is

where you should be adding your fresh material. In batch compost, the

entire composting mass may become thermophilic at once.

The thermophilic phase wipes out pathogens rather quickly, after

which most of the organic material will appear to have been digested,

but the coarser organic material will not. This is when the third stage

of composting, the cooling phase, takes place. During this phase, the

microorganisms that were chased away by the thermophiles migrate

back into the compost and get to work digesting the more resistant or

ganic materials. Fungi and macroorganisms such as earthworms and

sow bugs also break the coarser elements down into compost.

After the thermophilic stage has been completed, only the readily

available nutrients in the organic material have been digested. There’s

still a lot of food in the pile, and a lot of work to be done by the crea

tures in the compost. It takes many months to break down some of the

more resistant organic materials such as “lignin,” which comes from

wood materials. Like humans, trees have evolved with a skin that is

resistant to bacterial attack, and in a compost pile these lignins resist

breakdown by thermophiles. However, other organisms, such as fungi,

can break down lignin, given enough time.

The final stage of the composting process is called the curing,

92 The Humanure Handbook ??— 4th Edition — Chapter Nine

aging, or maturing stage, and it is an important one. Commercial com

posting professionals often want to make their compost as quickly as

possible, sometimes sacrificing the compost’s curing time. One munic

ipal compost operator remarked that if he could shorten his compost

time to four months, he could make three batches of compost a year

instead of the two he was then making, increasing his output by 50 per

cent. Municipal composters see truckloads of organic material coming

into their facilities daily, and they want to make sure they don’t get in

undated. Therefore, they feel a need to move their material through

the composting process as quickly as possible to make room for the

new stuff. Household composters don’t have that problem, although

there seem to be plenty of backyard composters who are obsessed with

making compost as fast as possible. Yet, curing is a critically important

stage of the compost-making process and should not be hastened.

A long curing period adds a safety net for pathogen elimination.

Many human pathogens have only a limited period of viability in the

soil, and the longer they are subjected to the microbiological competi

tion of the compost pile, the more likely they will die a swift death.

Immature or uncured compost produces substances called phyto

toxins that are toxic to plants. It can also rob the soil of oxygen and ni

trogen and can contain high levels of organic acids. So relax, sit back,

put your feet up, and let your compost reach full maturity before you

even think about using it. It doesn’t cost anything to wait.

Let the microbes tell you when they’re done. Keep a compost ther

mometer in your pile, and leave it there once you’ve finished building

it. Shove it right into the center of the pile so the dial is against the

surface of the cover material. Don’t move it. As the pile shrinks, the

dial will appear to move up from the surface, although the surface is

really moving down, and the dial isn’t moving at all. This shows you

the amount of shrinkage that is occurring. Also, the dial will show you

the temperature of the pile. Once that temperature has reached ambient

(outdoor air temperature), then your pile is likely finished. If in doubt,

take a sample from the pile, put it in a pot or cup, and germinate a seed

in it, maybe a cucumber, squash, or pumpkin seed. If the compost is

The Humanure Handbook ??— 4th Edition — Chapter Nine 93

94 The Humanure Handbook ??— 4th Edition — Chapter Nine

immature, the seedling will look unhealthy.

The easiest way to determine when to use the finished compost is

to simply follow an annual system. Once a pile is fully built, wait ap

proximately a year before using it. That means having bins sized cor

rectly so they are filled in a year, then left alone while another bin, or

bins, are filled the following year. Once the second bin or set of bins is

filled, then the first can be emptied and the compost utilized.

If you keep stirring up your compost, you risk cooling it down pre

maturely. You may think it’s finished after three months, but it would

still be composting if you had just left it alone. I have seen undisturbed

compost in cubic meter piles stay above 131°F (55°C) for six months

or longer, and larger undisturbed piles for over a year. Let the microbes

tell you when they’re done. Use a compost thermometer and they’ll

signal you that way. If the compost temperature is above the outside

air temperature, the microbes are still busy. You don’t need to stir or

“turn” contained compost piles. There are plenty of reasons not to.

Since this is a contentious and important topic, the turning of compost

piles will be addressed in another chapter.

Compost is normally populated by three general categories of mi

croorganisms: bacteria, actinomycetes, and fungi. Actinomycetes are

intermediates between bacteria and fungi because they look like fungi

and have similar nutritional preferences and growth habits. They tend

to be more commonly found in the later stages of compost and are gen

erally thought to follow the thermophilic bacteria in succession. They,

in turn, are followed predominantly by fungi during the last stages of

the composting process.

There are at least 100,000 known species of fungi; most of them

are microscopic.17 Most fungi cannot grow at 122°F (50°C) because it’s

too hot, although thermophilic fungi are heat tolerant. Fungi tend to be

absent in compost above 140°F (60°C) and actinomycetes tend to be

absent above 158°F (70°C). Above 180°F (82°C) biological activity ef

fectively stops.18

To get an idea of the microbial diversity normally found in nature,

consider this: A teaspoon of native grassland soil contains six hundred

The Humanure Handbook ??— 4th Edition — Chapter Nine 95

to eight hundred million bacteria comprising ten thousand species,

plus perhaps five thousand species of fungi, the mycelia of which could

be stretched out for several miles. In the same teaspoon, there may be

ten thousand individual protozoa of perhaps a thousand species, plus

twenty to thirty different nematodes from as many as one hundred

species. Sounds crowded to me. Good compost will reinoculate de

pleted, sanitized, chemicalized soils with a wide variety of beneficial

microorganisms.19

PATHOGEN ELIMINATION

This section would be appropriate in the next chapter, Compost Mi

racles, as it certainly seems miraculous that Mother Nature provides us

with a simple, free, non-chemical, non-pharmacological, non-technical,

biological tool for the elimination of disease organisms — a tool acces

sible to almost anyone, anywhere, if they only knew it existed. But it

does exist, and it is perhaps this characteristic of compost that most

gives it its unique value and sets it apart from other forms of organics

recycling. This is also why professionals in the compost industry don’t

want non-composted degraded organic material incorrectly character

ized as “compost.”

Compost kills human disease organisms (pathogens). This is well

established science, and very important. This is what makes compost

ing such a valuable endeavor, especially the composting of humanure

and other organic materials that are potential carriers of pathogens.

A common question often asked is, How do you know that all poten

tial pathogens have been killed in all parts of a compost pile? The answer

should be obvious: You don’t. You never will. Unless, of course, you

examine every cubic centimeter of your compost for pathogens in a la

boratory. How do you know that all pathogenic bacteria on your hands

were removed when you washed them? You don’t, but that doesn’t

mean you stop washing your hands. Nor do you refrain from compost

ing because you can’t guarantee 100 percent removal of potential

pathogens. Composting is a sanitation procedure, like hand-washing,

96 The Humanure Handbook ??— 4th Edition — Chapter Nine

or teeth-brushing. It works, so that’s why we do it. There are practical

procedures that will improve sanitation in compost piles, which we

will discuss in the Tao of Compost chapter.

A combination of factors causes pathogen elimination in compost,

including:

• Competition for food from compost microorganisms;

• Inhibition and antagonism by compost microorganisms;

• Consumption by compost organisms;

• Biological heat generated by compost microorganisms; and

• Antibiotics produced by compost microorganisms.

For example, when pathogens were grown in an incubator without

compost at 122°F (50°C) and separately in compost at 122°F, they died

in the compost after only seven days, but lived in the incubator for sev

enteen days. This indicated that it is more than just temperature that

determines the fate of pathogenic bacteria. The other factors listed

above undoubtedly affect the viability of non-indigenous microorgan

isms, such as human pathogens, in a compost pile. Those factors bene

fit from a diverse microbial population, which is best achieved by

temperatures below 140°F (60°C). One researcher states that significant

reductions in pathogen numbers have been observed in compost piles which

have not exceeded [104°F] 40°C.20

There is no doubt that the heat produced by thermophilic bacteria

kills pathogenic microorganisms, viruses, bacteria, protozoa, worms,

and eggs that may inhabit compost feedstocks. A temperature of 122°F

(50°C), if maintained for twenty-four hours, is said to be sufficient to

kill all of the pathogens, according to some sources (this issue is cov

ered more fully in the Worms and Disease chapter). A lower temperature

will take longer to eliminate pathogens. A temperature of 115°F (46°C)

may take nearly a week to reduce pathogens to non-detectable levels;

a higher temperature may take only minutes. What we have yet to de

termine is how low those temperatures can be and still achieve satis

factory pathogen elimination over time. Some researchers insist that

The Humanure Handbook ??— 4th Edition — Chapter Nine 97

all pathogens will die at ambient temperatures (normal air tempera

ture) eventually.

When Westerberg and Wiley composted sewage sludge which had

been inoculated with polio virus, Salmonella, roundworm eggs, and

Candida albicans, they found that after forty-three hours of composting,

“no viable indicator organisms could be detected,” with the polio virus

being inacivated in the first hour. They concluded that a compost tem

perature of 140°F to 158°F (60°C to 70°C) maintained for three days

would kill all of the pathogens.21 This phenomenon has been confirmed

by many other researchers, including Gotaas, who indicates that patho

genic bacteria are unable to survive compost temperatures of 131-140°F

(55-60°C) for more than thirty minutes to one hour.22 The first goal in

making compost from humanure, therefore, should be to create a com

post pile that will heat sufficiently to eliminate potential human

pathogens that may be found in the manure.

Nevertheless, the heat of the compost pile is a highly lauded char

acteristic of compost that can be overblown. People may believe that

it’s only the heat of the compost pile that destroys pathogens, so they

want their compost to become as hot as possible. This is a mistake. In

fact, compost can become too hot, and when it does, it destroys the bio

diversity of the microbial community. As one scientist states, Research

has indicated that temperature is not the only mechanism involved in pathogen

suppression, and that the employment of higher than necessary temperatures

may actually constitute a barrier to effective sanitization under certain cir

cumstances.23 Perhaps only one species (e.g., Bacillus stearothermophilus

otherwise known as Geobacillus) may dominate the compost pile during

periods of excessive heat, thereby driving out or outright killing the

other inhabitants of the compost, which include fungi and actinomy

cetes as well as the bigger organisms that you can actually see.

A compost pile that is too hot can destroy its own biological com

munity and leave a mass of organic material that must be re-populated

to continue the necessary conversion of organic matter to compost.

Such sterilized compost is more likely to be colonized by unwanted

microorganisms, such as salmonella, as researchers have shown that the

98 The Humanure Handbook ??— 4th Edition — Chapter Nine

biodiversity of compost acts as a barrier to colonization by such un

wanted bacteria. In the absence of a biodiverse “indigenous flora,” such

as caused by excess heat, salmonella were able to regrow.24

The microbial biodiversity of compost is also important because it

aids in the breakdown of the organic material. For example, in high

temperature compost 176°F (80°C), only about 10 percent of sewage

sludge solids could be decomposed in three weeks, whereas at 122° to

140°F (50°-60°C), 40 percent of the sludge solids were decomposed in

only seven days. The lower temperatures apparently allowed for a

richer diversity of living microbes which in turn had a greater effect

on the degradation of the organic material.

One researcher indicated that optimal decomposition rates occur

in the 131° to 138°F (55-59°C) temperature range, and optimal thermo

philic activity occurs at 131°F, which are both adequate temperatures

for pathogen destruction.25 A study conducted at Michigan State Uni

versity, however, suggested that optimal decomposition occurs at an

even lower temperature of 113°F (45°C ).26 Another researcher asserts

that maximum biodegradation occurs at 113° to 131°F (45°-55°C), while

maximum microbial diversity requires a temperature range of 95° to

113°F (35°-45°C).27 Apparently, there is still some degree of flexibility

in these estimates, as compost science is not an utterly precise one at

this time. Control of excessive heat, however, is unlikely to be a concern

for the backyard composter, as smaller masses of organic material do

not develop temperatures as high as larger masses.

Some thermophilic actinomycetes, as well as mesophilic bacteria,

produce antibiotics that display considerable potency toward other bac

teria. Up to one half of thermophilic strains can produce antimicrobial

compounds, some of which have been shown to be effective against E.

coli and Salmonella. One thermophilic strain with an optimum growth

temperature of 122°F (50°C) produces a substance that significantly aided

the healing of infected surface wounds in clinical tests on human subjects. The

product(s) also stimulated growth of a variety of cell types, including various

animal and plant tissue cultures and unicellular algae.28 The production of

antibiotics by compost microorganisms theoretically assists in the de

The Humanure Handbook ??— 4th Edition — Chapter Nine 99

struction of human pathogens that may have existed in the organic ma

terial before composting.

Even if every speck of the composting material is not subjected to

the high internal temperatures of the compost pile, the composting

process nevertheless contributes immensely toward the creation of a

sanitary organic material. Or, in the words of one group of composting

professionals, The high temperatures achieved during composting, assisted

by the competition and antagonism among the microorganisms [i.e., biodiver

sity], considerably reduce the number of plant and animal pathogens. While

some resistant pathogenic organisms may survive, and others may persist in

cooler sections of the pile, the disease risk is, nevertheless, greatly reduced. 29

If a backyard or community composter has any doubt or concern

about the existence of pathogenic organisms in his or her finished com

post, s/he can use the compost for horticultural purposes rather than

for food purposes. Compost can grow an amazing batch of berry bushes,

flowers, shrubs, or trees. Furthermore, lingering pathogens continue

to die after the compost has been applied to the soil, which is not sur

prising since human pathogens prefer the warm and moist environ

ment of the human body. As World Bank researchers put it, “Even

pathogens remaining in compost seem to disappear rapidly in the

soil.”30 Compost can also be tested for pathogens by compost testing

labs.

Some say that a few pathogens in soil or compost are OK. “Another

point most folks don’t realize is that no compost and no soil are com

pletely pathogen free. You really don’t want it to be completely patho

gen free, because you always want [the human body’s] defense

mechanism to have something to practice on. So, a small number of

disease-causing organisms is desirable. But that’s it.”31 Pathogens are

said to have “minimum infective doses,” which vary widely from one

type of pathogen to another, meaning that a number of pathogens is

necessary to initiate an infection. The idea, therefore, that compost

must be sterile is incorrect. It must be sanitary, which means it must

have a greatly weakened, reduced, or destroyed pathogen population.

The average backyard composter usually knows whether his or her

100 The Humanure Handbook ??— 4th Edition — Chapter Nine

family is healthy. Healthy families have little to be concerned about

and can feel confident that their compost can be safely returned to the

soil, provided the simple instructions in this book are followed regard

ing compost temperatures, retention times, and compost management,

as discussed in the Tao of Compost chapter.

EARTHWORMS AND VERMICULTURE

Worms don’t make compost; humans do. So “worm composting”

is both incorrect and misleading. This sort of misunderstanding per

meates American culture. For example, according to the US Depart

ment of Agriculture, “Called vermicomposting, composting with worms is

easy and is an environmentally sound way to get rid of most kitchen wastes.”32

But it’s not composting by worms; it’s worm digestion. The end product

is worm castings, not compost. I should add that it’s not disposal of

waste, either; it’s recycling of food scraps. I’m fighting an uphill battle

trying to clean up and evolve the language, and I know it’s a tough job,

but somebody has to do it!

Vermiculture involves the use of redworms such as Eisenia fetida or

Lumbricus rubellus to consume organic material, either in specially de

signed worm boxes, or in large-scale outdoor piles. Redworms prefer a

dark, cool, well-aerated space, and thrive on moist bedding such as

shredded newspaper. Kitchen food scraps placed in worm boxes are

consumed by the worms and converted into worm castings, which can

then be used like finished compost to grow plants. Vermiculture is pop

ular among children who like to watch the worms, and among adults

who prefer the convenience of being able to make worm castings under

their kitchen counter or in a household closet.

Although vermiculture involves microorganisms as well as earth

worms, it is not the same as composting. The hot stages of composting

will drive away all earthworms from the hot area of the compost pile.

However, they can migrate back in after the compost cools down.

Earthworms are reported to actually eat root-feeding nematodes, patho

genic bacteria, and fungi, as well as small weed seeds.33

The Humanure Handbook ??— 4th Edition — Chapter Nine 101

When compost is piled on bare earth, a large surface area is avail

able underneath the pile for natural earthworms to migrate in and out

of the compost. Properly prepared compost situated on bare earth

should require no inoculation of earthworms since they will naturally

migrate into the compost when it best suits them. My compost is so

full of natural earthworms at certain stages in its development that,

when dug into, it can look like spaghetti. Earthworms can play an im

portant role in making compost, and their castings can contribute to a

compost pile, but their castings alone are not compost.

PRACTICE MAKES COMPOST

A compost neophyte may become overwhelmed with all that is in

volved in composting: bacteria, actinomycetes, fungi, thermophiles,

mesophiles, C/N ratios, oxygen, moisture, temperatures, bins,

pathogens, curing, and biodiversity. How do you translate this into

your own personal situation? How does one become an accomplished

composter, a master composter? That’s easy — just do it. Then keep

doing it. Set the books aside (not this one, of course) and get some

good, old-fashioned experience. There’s no better way to learn. Book

learning will only get you so far, but not far enough. A book such as

this one is for inspiring you, for sparking your interest, and for refer

ence. But you have to get out there and do it if you really want to learn.

Work with the compost, get the feel of the process, look at your

compost, smell the finished product, buy or borrow a compost ther

mometer and get an idea of how well your compost is heating up, then

use your compost for food production. Rely on your compost. Make it

a part of your life. Need it and value it. In no time, without the need

for charts or graphs, Ph.D.s, or worry, your compost will be as good as

the best of them. Perhaps someday we’ll be like the Chinese who give

prizes for the best compost in a county, then have inter-county com

petitions. Now that’s getting your shit together. Literally.

102 The Humanure Handbook ??— 4th Edition — Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Compost Miracles

Compost microorganisms not only convert organic material into

compost and eliminate disease organisms in the process, but they also

degrade toxic chemicals into simpler, benign, organic molecules. These

chemicals include gasoline, diesel fuel, jet fuel, oil, grease, wood pre

servatives, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), coal gasification wastes,

refinery wastes, insecticides, herbicides, TNT, and other explosives.1

In one research study, when compost piles were laced with insecti

cides and herbicides, the insecticide (carbofuran) was completely de

graded, and the herbicide (triazine) was 98.6 percent degraded after

fifty days of composting. In another, when soil contaminated with die

sel fuel and gasoline was composted for seventy days, the total petro

leum hydrocarbons were reduced approximately 93 percent.2 Soil

contaminated with dicamba herbicide at a level of three thousand parts

per million showed no detectable levels of this toxic contaminant after

The Humanure Handbook ??— 4th Edition — Chapter Ten 103

only fifty days of composting. In the absence of composting, the biode

gradation process takes years.

Fungi in compost produce a substance that breaks down petro

leum, thereby making it available as food for bacteria.3 One man who

composted a batch of sawdust contaminated with diesel oil said, “We

did tests on the compost, and we couldn’t even find the oil!” The compost

had apparently “eaten” it all.4 Fungi also produce enzymes that can be

used to replace chlorine in the paper-making process. Researchers in

Ireland have discovered that fungi gathered from compost heaps can

provide a cheap and organic alternative to toxic chemicals.5

Compost has been used in recent years to degrade other toxic

chemicals as well. For example, chlorophenol contaminated soil was

composted with peat, sawdust, and other organic matter and after

twenty-five months, the chlorophenol was reduced in concentration

by over 98 percent. In other compost trials Freon contamination was

reduced by 94 percent, PCBs by up to 98 percent, and trichloroethylene

by 89 to 99 percent.6 Some of this degradation is due to the efforts of

fungi at lower (mesophilic) temperatures.7

Some bacteria even have an appetite for uranium. A microbiologist

has been working with a strain of bacteria that normally lives 650 feet

under the Earth’s surface. These microorganisms will eat, then excrete,

uranium. The chemically altered uranium excreta becomes water in

soluble as a result of the microbial digestion process and can con

sequently be removed from the water it was contaminating.8

An Austrian farmer claims that the microorganisms he introduces

into his fields have prevented his crops from being contaminated by

the radiation from Chernobyl, the ill-fated Russian nuclear power plant

that contaminated his and his neighbor’s fields. Sigfried Lubke

sprayed his green manure crops with compost-type microorganisms

just before plowing them under. This practice produced a soil rich in

humus and teeming with microscopic life. After the Chernobyl dis

aster, crops from fields in Lubke’s farming area were banned from sale

because of high amounts of radioactive cesium contamination. Ho

wever, when officials tested Lubke’s crops, no trace of cesium could be

104 The Humanure Handbook ??— 4th Edition — Chapter Ten

found. The officials made repeated tests because they couldn’t believe

that one farm showed no radioactive contamination while the sur

rounding farms did. Lubke surmises that the humus just “ate up” the

cesium.9

Compost is also able to decontaminate soil polluted with TNT

from munitions plants. The microorganisms in the compost digest the

hydrocarbons in TNT and convert them into carbon dioxide, water,

and simple organic molecules. The prior method of choice for elimi

nating contaminated soil has been incineration. However, composting

costs far less, and yields a material that is valuable (compost), as op

posed to incineration, which yields an ash that must itself be disposed

of as toxic waste. When the Umatilla Army Depot in Hermiston, Ore

gon, a Superfund site, composted fifteen thousand tons of contami

nated soil instead of incinerating it, it saved approximately $2.6

million. Although the Umatilla soil was heavily contaminated with

TNT and Royal Demolition Explosives, no explosives could be de

tected after composting and the soil was restored to “a better condition

than before it was contaminated.”10 Similar results have been obtained

at Seymour Johnson Air Force Base in North Carolina; the Louisiana

Army Ammunition Plant; the US Naval Submarine Base in Bangor,

Washington; Fort Riley in Kansas; and the Hawthorne Army Depot

in Nevada.11

The US Army Corps of Engineers estimates that taxpayers would

save hundreds of millions of dollars if composting, instead of inciner

ation, were used to clean up the remaining US munitions sites. The

ability of compost to bioremediate toxic chemicals is particularly mean

ingful when one considers that in the US there are thousands of De

partment of Defense sites in need of remediation.

Some success has been shown in the bioremediation of PCBs in

composting trials conducted by Michigan State University researchers.

In the best case, PCB loss was in the 40 percent range. Despite the chlo

rinated nature of the PCBs, researchers still managed to get quite a few

microorganisms to choke the stuff down.12

As promising as compost bioremediation appears, however, it can

The Humanure Handbook ??— 4th Edition — Chapter Ten 105

not heal all wounds. Heavily chlorinated chemicals show considerable

resistance to microbiological biodegradability. Apparently, there are

some things even a fungus will spit out.13 For example, there’s the vil

lain Clopyralid (3,6-dichloropicolinic acid), a “persistent herbicide”

manufactured by Dow AgroSciences that contaminated vast amounts

of commercial compost in the early twenty-first century. Clopyralid

has a few cousins, including: Aminopyralid (Dow AgroSciences), Ami

nocyclopyrachlor (DuPont), and Picloram (Dow AgroSciences). These

persistent herbicides are mostly unaltered during microbial digestion,

and in fact microbes can concentrate these chemicals because, to them,

they are a waste material. Plants suffering from these pesticide residues

in compost show stunted growth, reduced fruit set, cupping of leaves,

and so on. Sensitive plant families include peas, beans, lentils, clover,

tomatoes, potatoes, sunflowers, petunias, daisies, lettuce, asters, cu

cumbers, squash, pumpkin, and watermelon. Persistent herbicides can

last anywhere from several months to three or more years before com

pletely breaking down. If you wonder why some compost operations

won’t take grass clippings from golf courses, or even cow manure, now

you know. Even a compost pile can have a bad day.14

COMPOST FILTERS POLLUTANTS

Compost can control odors. Biological filtration systems, called

“biofilters,” are used at large-scale composting facilities where exhaust

gases are filtered for odor control. The biofilters are composed of layers

of organic material such as wood chips, peat, soil, and compost,

through which the exhaust air is drawn to remove any contaminants.

The microorganisms in the organic material eat the contaminants and

convert them into carbon dioxide and water.

Sawdust and other finely ground carbon-based organic materials

also make excellent biofilters in compost toilets. “Cover materials,” as

they are called, are used to cover the contents of the toilets; some work

so well the toilets can be located indoors, even next to a bed.

In Rockland County, New York, a commercial composting biofil-

106 The Humanure Handbook ??— 4th Edition — Chapter Ten

The Humanure Handbook ??— 4th Edition — Chapter Ten 107

tration system can process eighty-two thousand cubic feet of air a mi

nute and guarantee no detectable odor at or beyond the site property

line. Another facility in Portland, Oregon, uses biofilters to remediate

aerosol cans prior to disposal. After such remediation, the cans are no

longer considered hazardous and can be disposed of more readily. In

this case, a $47,000 savings in hazardous waste disposal costs was re

alized over a period of eighteen months. Vapor phase biofilters can

maintain a consistent volatile organic compound removal efficiency of

99.6 percent, which isn’t bad for a bunch of microorganisms.15 After a

year or two, the biofilter is recharged with new organic material and

the old stuff is simply composted or applied to land.

Compost is also used to filter stormwater runoff. Compost storm

water filters use compost to filter out heavy metals, oil, grease, pesti

cides, sediment, and fertilizers from stormwater. Such filters can

remove over 90 percent of all solids, 82 to 98 percent of heavy metals

and 85 percent of oil and grease, while filtering up to eight cubic feet

per second. These compost stormwater filters prevent stormwater con

tamination from polluting our natural waterways.16

COMPOST DEFENDS AGAINST PLANT DISEASES

Compost microbes directly compete with, inhibit, or kill organisms

that cause diseases in plants. Because of this, diseased plant material

should be composted rather than returned to the land, where reinocu

lation of the disease could occur. Plant pathogens are also eaten by

micro-arthropods, such as mites and springtails, which are often found

in compost.17 Compost microorganisms can also produce antibiotics

that suppress plant diseases.

Compost added to soil can activate disease resistance genes in

plants, preparing them for a better defense against plant pathogens.

Systemic acquired resistance caused by compost in soils allows plants

to resist the effects of diseases such as anthracnose and Pythium root

rot in cucumbers. Experiments have shown that when only some of

the roots of a plant are in compost-amended soil, while the other roots

108 The Humanure Handbook ??— 4th Edition — Chapter Ten

are in diseased soil, the entire plant can still acquire resistance to the

disease.18 Researchers have shown that compost combats chili wilt

(Phytophthora) in test plots of chili peppers, and suppresses ashy stem

blight in beans, Rhizoctonia root rot in black-eyed peas,19 Fusarium oxy

sporum in potted plants, and gummy stem blight and damping-off dis

eases in squash.20 It is now recognized that the control of root rots with

composts can be as effective as synthetic fungicides such as methyl bro

mide. Only a small percentage of compost microorganisms can, ho

wever, induce disease resistance in plants, which again emphasizes the

importance of biodiversity in compost.

Studies by researcher Harry Hoitink indicated that compost inhib

ited the growth of disease-causing microorganisms in greenhouses by

adding beneficial microorganisms to the greenhouse soils. He and a

team of scientists took out a patent for compost that could reduce or

suppress plant diseases caused by three deadly microorganisms: Phy

tophtora, Pythium and Fusarium. Growers who used this compost in

their planting soil reduced their crop losses to 1 percent from a range

of 25 to 75 percent without applying fungicides. The studies suggested

that sterile soils could provide optimum breeding conditions for plant

disease microorganisms, while a rich diversity of microorganisms in

soil, such as that found in compost, would render the soil unfit for the

proliferation of disease organisms.21

Compost tea has also been demonstrated to have disease-reducing

properties in plants. Compost tea is made by soaking mature, but not

overly mature compost in water for three to twelve days. The tea is then

filtered and sprayed on plants undiluted, coating the leaves with live

bacteria colonies. When sprayed on red pine seedlings, for example,

blight was significantly reduced in severity.22 Powdery mildew (Uncin

ula necator) on grapes was successfully suppressed by compost tea made

from cattle manure compost.23 “Compost teas can be sprayed on crops

to coat leaf surfaces and actually occupy the infection sites that could

be colonized by disease pathogens,” states one researcher, who adds,

“There are a limited number of places on a plant that a disease patho

gen can infect, and if those spaces are occupied by beneficial bacteria

The Humanure Handbook ??— 4th Edition — Chapter Ten 109

and fungi, the crop will be resistant to infection.” 24

When scientists inoculated wood chips with three different fungal

plant pathogens, then composted them, they found that a temperature

of 104°F (40°C), when exceeded for more than five days, was sufficient

to kill all three of the organisms.25 Fusarium, a pathogenic fungus that

blights cereal crops, was composted by other researchers. They found

that Fusarium species were rapidly eradicated from infected grains in

windrow compost. When temperatures achieved 124°F (51°C), the

pathogens were eliminated in only two days. At lower temperatures it

could take up to twenty-two days for total elimination.26

Besides helping to control soil and plant diseases, compost attracts

earthworms, aids plants in producing growth stimulators, and helps

control parasitic nematodes.27 Compost “biopesticides” are now be

coming increasingly effective alternatives to chemical bug killers.

These “designer composts” are made by adding certain pest-fighting

microorganisms to compost, yielding a compost with a specific pest

killing capacity.28 Composting also destroys weed seeds. Researchers

observed that after three days in compost at 131°F (55°C), all the seeds

of the eight weed species studied were dead.29

COMPOST RECYCLES THE DEAD

Dead animals of all species and sizes can be recycled by compost

ing. Of the 7.3 billion chickens, ducks, and turkeys raised in the US

each year, about 37 million die from disease and other natural causes

before they’re marketed.30 The dead birds can simply be composted.

The composting process not only converts the carcasses to compost

that can be returned directly to the farmer’s fields, but it also destroys

the pathogens and parasites that may have killed the birds in the first

place. It is preferable to compost diseased animals on the farm where

they originated rather than transport them elsewhere and risk spread

ing the disease. A temperature of 131°F (55°C) maintained for at least

three consecutive days maximizes pathogen destruction.

Composting is considered a simple, economic, environmentally

110 The Humanure Handbook ??— 4th Edition — Chapter Ten

sound and effective method of managing animal mortalities. Carcasses

are buried in a compost pile. Generally, the total time required ranges

from two to twelve months depending on the size of the animal and

other factors such as ambient air temperature. The rotting carcasses

are never buried in the ground where they may pollute groundwater,

as is typical when composting is not used. Carcass composting can be

accomplished without odors, flies, or scavenging birds or animals.

Animal carcasses that are now composted include full-grown pigs,

cattle, horses, fish, sheep, calves, and other animals. The process of

composting dead animals is the same as composting any other organic

material. The carcasses provide nitrogen and moisture, while sawdust,

straw, corn stalks, and paper provide carbon and bulk for air impreg

nation. The composting can be done in temporary bins made of straw

or hay bales. A layer of absorbent organic material is used to cover the

bottom of the bin, acting as a biological sponge for excess liquids. Large

animals are placed back down in the compost, with their abdominal

and thoracic cavities opened, and covered with organic material. Saw

mill sawdust has been shown to be one of the most effective materials

with which to compost dead animals. After filling the bin with properly

prepared animal mortalities, the top is covered with clean organic ma

terial that acts as a biofilter for odor control. Although large bones may

remain after the composting process, they are eventually broken down

when applied to the soil.31 Smaller animals carcasses such as from dogs

can be chucked into the compost bin with no prior preparation.

When a small animal has died, and the carcass needs to be recycled,

simply dig a hole in the top center of your compost pile, deposit the

carcass in the hole, cover it with the existing compost, then cover it all

with a clean layer of organic material such as straw, weeds, or hay. You

will never see the carcass again. This is also a good way to deal with

fish, meat scraps, milk products, and other organic materials that may

otherwise be attractive to nuisance animals.

I keep some ducks and chickens on my homestead, and occa

sionally one of them dies. A little digging in the compost pile to create

a depression in the top, and a plop of the carcass into the hole, and

The Humanure Handbook ??— 4th Edition — Chapter Ten 111

another creature is on the road to reincarnation. I’ve also used this

technique regularly for recycling other small animal carcasses such as

mice, baby chicks, and baby rabbits. After collecting earthworms from

my compost pile to go fishing at the local pond, I filet the catch. The

fish remains go straight into the compost, buried in the same manner

as any other animal mortality. My most recent backyard household

compost bin (2018) contained twenty-nine animal mortalities, mostly

raccoons and opossums, but also the chickens and ducks these preda

tors killed. Covering the carcasses with toilet material from the com

post toilet really blocked the odor. When you’re throwing four

thirty-pound dead raccoons into your compost bin at once, the smell

can be horrific if the contents of the bin aren’t adequately covered. Al

ways bury the carcass inside the pile, cover it with toilet material or

food scraps to accelerate the decomposition, rake the existing compost

over it, then add a heavy layer of straw or other clean cover material

on top. Still smell something? Add more cover material until you don’t.

Let your nose be your guide. Of course, these are contained piles that

are never turned. You do not want to be turning compost piles full of

humanure and dead animals. This composting technique is explained

in the Tao of Compost chapter.

My outdoor cats wouldn’t be caught dead digging around in com

post looking for a bite to eat. Nor would my dog — and dogs will eat

just about anything — but not when buried in a properly managed

compost pile. In the forty years I’ve lived at my homestead, bears have

become increasingly common. They’ve ransacked the neighborhood

garbage cans many times, raided the bird feeders in my garden,

knocked over my bee hives, been on my porch, and clawed my screen

door, but they have never shown any interest in any of my compost

piles.

Nevertheless, make sure your compost bin has animal-proof side

walls, and then simply lay a piece of stiff wire fencing on top of the

compost. That’s all it takes. Until animals learn how to use wire cutters,

your compost will be safe.

112 The Humanure Handbook ??— 4th Edition — Chapter Ten

COMPOST RECYCLES PET MANURES

A lady asked me if you can compost a dog turd. I told her I can

compost an entire dog, so why wouldn’t a dog turd compost as well?

When our full-size family collie died a few years ago of old age, in the

middle of the winter, her frozen carcass had a proper burial in the bot

tom of a compost bin. A year later all that was left was a bare skull and

a little bit of fur. All that compost went into one of my flower beds,

where, when the flowers bloom, I often think of the dog, Sylvie.

The idea of composting dog manure has been endorsed by J. I. Ro

dale in The Encyclopedia of Organic Gardening. He states, “Dog manure

can be used in the compost heap; in fact, it is the richest in phosphorus

if the dogs are fed with proper care and given their share of bones.”

According to BioCycle (October 2016), San Francisco alone has 120,000

dogs that produce thirty-two million pounds of dog manure annually.

Compost microbes will eat it all.

COMPOST EVEN RECYCLES JUNK MAIL

Composting is a solution for junk mail, too. A pilot composting

project was started in Dallas-Ft. Worth, Texas, where eight hundred

tons of undeliverable bulk mail are generated annually. The mail was

ground in a tub grinder, covered with wood chips so it wouldn’t blow

away, then mixed with zoo manure, sheep entrails, and discarded fruits

and vegetables. All of it was kept moist and thoroughly mixed. The re

sult — a finished compost “as good as any other compost commercially

available.” It grew a nice bunch of tomatoes, too.32

What about newspapers in backyard compost? Yes, newspaper will

compost, but there are some concerns about newsprint. For one, the

glossy pages are covered with a clay that retards composting. For

another, the inks can be petroleum-based solvents or oils with pigments

containing toxic substances and heavy metals such as chromium, lead,

and cadmium in both black and colored inks. Pigment for newspaper

ink still comes from benzene, toluene, naphthalene, and other benzene

The Humanure Handbook ??— 4th Edition — Chapter Ten 113

ring hydrocarbons that may be harmful to human health if accumu

lated in the food chain. Fortunately, quite a few newspapers today are

using soy-based inks instead of petroleum-based inks. If you really

want to know about the type of ink in your newspaper, call your news

paper office and ask them. Otherwise, keep the glossy paper or colored

pages in your compost to a minimum. Remember, ideally, compost is

being made to produce human food. One should try to keep the con

taminants out of it, if possible.33

Woods End Laboratory in Maine did some research on composting

ground-up telephone books and newsprint that had been used as bed

ding for dairy cattle. The ink in the paper contained common cancer

causing chemicals, but after composting it with dairy cow manure, the

dangerous chemicals were reduced by 98 percent.34 So it appears that

if you’re using shredded newspaper for bedding under livestock, you

should compost it, if for no other reason than to eliminate most of the

toxic elements from the newsprint. It’ll probably make acceptable com

post, too, especially if composted with garbage, manure, and other or

ganic materials.

PHARMACEUTICALS IN COMPOST

With the American epidemic of both antibiotic and pharmaceutical

usage, a thinking person must wonder, what happens to all those drugs

after they’re ingested and excreted? What about the drugs people buy

but don’t use and instead discard? What about pharmaceuticals in your

compost? Does composting even break down the drugs? Are some

pharmaceuticals worse than others? Do plants take up pharmaceuti

cals? These are good questions, and there are a lot of issues at play here.

For a sense of scale, Alameda County’s drug disposal program in

California alone brings in an incredible seven tons of prescription

drugs a year, which must be shipped out of the state to be incinerated.35

At least they don’t end up down the toilet and in the water.

To get answers, scientists and researchers must take antibiotics and

pharmaceuticals and introduce them into composting environments,

114 The Humanure Handbook ??— 4th Edition — Chapter Ten

then monitor and record the effects on the pharmaceuticals. Unfor

tunately, no one is doing such research on humanure composting, be

cause, at least in the US, humanure compost is not very available. On

the other hand, sewage sludge compost and animal manure composts

are available, so we must look at these research studies to get an idea

of what composting does to pharmaceuticals and other chemicals that

humans and other animals excrete or discard into the environment.

Approximately 170,000 public water systems in the US are mon

itored for nearly eighty harmful substances, including bacteria, viruses,

pesticides, petroleum products, strong acids, and some metals, but

water is also polluted by unmonitored chemicals such as pharmaceu

ticals, perfume, cologne, skin lotions, and sunscreens. Our bodies me

tabolize only a fraction of the drugs we ingest, while about half of all

medications are discarded, often down drains. Most of the remainder

is excreted and gets into wastewater via toilets. Hospitals and nursing

homes dispose of drugs down their drains too. In addition, the two tril

lion pounds of animal manures generated by poultry and livestock

farms in the US are also contaminated with hormones and antibiotics,

which inevitably leach into groundwater or surface waterways.36

A study conducted by the US Geological Survey found medications

in 80 percent of the water samples from a sampling of 139 streams in

thirty states. The drugs included antibiotics, antidepressants, blood

thinners, heart medications, hormones, and painkillers. The most

frequently detected compounds were steroids, insect repellents, caf

feine, triclosan (an antimicrobial disinfectant), fire retardants, and de

tergent metabolites.37 Other drugs contaminating our waters include

carbamazepine (an antiseizure drug), fibrates (a cholesterol drug), and

fragrance chemicals like galaxolide and tonalide. Water purification

plants and wastewater treatment plants aren’t designed to remove these

contaminants. In fact, the chemicals can become concentrated in the

sewage sludge produced by the plants.38

About half the sewage sludge (biosolids) produced in the USA is

applied to land, providing a significant opportunity for contaminants

to enter soil systems and to bioaccumulate over time from the repeated

The Humanure Handbook ??— 4th Edition — Chapter Ten 115

application of the sludge. Thirty-five new chemicals and six new mi

crobial pollutants were identified in biosolids in the USEPA’s 2013

Biennial Review alone, yet data regarding the health effects of these

contaminants was non-existent.39 Sewage sludge is used in large-scale

landscaping, home landscaping, gardens, abandoned mining sites,

farms, and elsewhere.

For example, fluoroquinolones, antibacterial drugs used for hu

mans and animals, “become highly enriched in sewage sludge.” Appli

cation of sewage sludge to soils is therefore a potential route for these

drugs to enter the environment. Moreover, fluoroquinolones persist in

sludge-treated soils up to several months after application.40

One study looked at the degradation of three pharmaceuticals: nap

roxen (anti-inflammatory drug), carbamazepine (anticonvulsant), and

fluoxetine (antidepressant) in soils, sludge, and soil‐sludge mixtures

(but not in compost). The carbamazepine and fluoxetine didn’t de-

116 The Humanure Handbook ??— 4th Edition — Chapter Ten

grade, while the naproxen slowly degraded. However, when the anti

biotic sulfamethazine was added, the degradation of the naproxen

slowed down, indicating that combinations of drugs, or the addition

of antibiotics to the contaminant stew, reacts to soil environments dif

ferently than do individual drugs. Degradation rates of pharmaceuti

cals in soils can range from days to years.41

Repeated land application of sewage sludge can result in localized

concentrations of contaminants. For example, one study indicated that

brominated fire retardants were still found at almost eight thousand

times higher concentrations than background concentrations in soil

samples twenty years after the last application of biosolids. In another

study, fifteen out of nineteen pharmaceutical drugs were still present

in soil six months after being irrigated with contaminated wastewater.42

In the United States, we each produce, on average, about 120 gal

lons of wastewater daily, containing 3 ounces of organic wastewater so

lids per person per day, much of which consists of toxic chemicals. In

one study, nine varieties of sewage sludge from municipal wastewater

treatment plants in seven different states were analyzed for eighty

seven different organic water contaminants, including pharmaceuti

cals, steroids, hormones, detergents, fragrances, plasticizers, fire

retardants, disinfectants, and pesticides. Many of these contaminants

exit wastewater treatment plants intact or incompletely removed and

thereby end up in the environment. A minimum of 30 and a maximum

of forty-five contaminants were detected in any one biosolids sample.

The study indicated that the organic contaminants are concentrated

in the sludge. These contaminants can cause increased rates of cancer

and reproductive impairment in humans and other animals, as well as

antibiotic resistance among pathogenic bacteria.43

What about composting? Will it remove antibiotics, pharmaceuti

cals, and organic contaminants? In one study, soil contaminated with

the pharmaceuticals probenecid (gout medicine) and methaqualone (a

sedative) was composted. These were biologically active compounds,

so removal from the soils was important. Results showed that the most

effective removal occurred at 77° F (25°C), although the probenecid re

The Humanure Handbook ??— 4th Edition — Chapter Ten 117

moval in the thermophilic stage ranged from 75 to 100 percent. Com

posting “removed the contaminants to the agreed end-points.” The

compost was subsequently used for landscaping purposes.44

Interesting that the mesophilic temperatures were more effective

in removing the contaminants, presumably because there is a higher

diversity of microorganisms with more “tools” at their disposal. This

phenomenon was replicated in a study involving polycyclic aromatic

hydrocarbons (PAHs), organic pollutants that are widely distributed

in the environment, are frequently detected in soils, and are toxic, even

carcinogenic. This study “proved that mesophilic conditions were

better performing than thermophilic conditions. The highest removal

of three- and four-ring PAHs were observed in reactors displaying me

sophilic conditions.” On the other hand, the highest removal of five

ring PAHs took place under thermophilic conditions. Composting, in

this case, “was considered a high efficiency biostimulation strategy for

the degradation of persistent PAHs....

”45

Approximately thirty million pounds of antibiotics are used an

nually in the US for agricultural purposes, about 70 percent of which

is excreted in manure. One study showed that sulfachlorpyrazine (a

poultry drug) decreased by 58 to 82 percent during only eight days of

composting. Another experiment showed a 99 percent removal of ox

ytetracycline (an antibiotic) after thirty-five days of composting, while

less than a 15 percent reduction was achieved at room temperature.

After thirty-five days of thermophilic temperatures, another antibiotic,

chlortetracycline, was reduced more than 99 percent; the antibiotics

monensin and tylosin were reduced from 54 to 76 percent, whereas the

antibacterial drug sulfamethazine did not degrade at all in this time

period.46 Another study indicated that composting is effective in re

ducing salinomycin (a broad-spectrum antibiotic) in manure.47

From 2001 to 2003 roughly thirty-three hundred tons of tetracy

cline antibiotics were produced annually for animals in the US. Oxy

tetracycline is the most widely used tetracycline compound

administered. As an environmental contaminant, it can affect algae,

crustaceans, and soil bacteria; can create antibiotic-resistant bacteria;

118 The Humanure Handbook ??— 4th Edition — Chapter Ten

and can risk contamination of the food chain. Approximately 23 per

cent of the oxytetracycline fed to calves passes through in the manure.

Although this antibiotic was present in manure being composted, it

did not appear to affect the composting process. Within the first six

days of composting, levels of oxytetracycline were reduced 95 percent.

The researchers recommended that farmers should be advised of the

persistence of oxytetracycline in untreated manure and should compost

manure to reduce oxytetracycline residues. In contrast, such residues

in manure were not effectively reduced during anaerobic digestion.48

Other research indicated that aerobic windrow composting of ma

nure would significantly reduce the amount of chlortetracycline (an

antibiotic), sulfamethazine (anti-bacterial drug), and tylosin (an anti

biotic).49 Additional research involved three common classes of anti

biotics (tetracyclines, sulfonamides, and macrolides). During

composting, in both field and lab-scale investigations, the concentra

tions of all three antibiotics declined to acceptable levels. It’s interest

ing to note that the decline of tetracycline and sulfonamide

concentrations was highly dependent on the presence of sawdust while

there was no influence of sawdust on the tylosin.50 Another study in

vestigated three antibiotics, including chlortetracycline, oxytetracy

cline, and tetracycline in swine manure composting. During the pilot

scale composting, they were degraded by 74 percent, 92 percent and 70

percent, respectively.51

When byproducts of poppy production were thermophilically com

posted for fifty-five days to remove morphine, the morphine content

decreased below detectable levels after thirty days, even when the wind

row compost was not turned at all.52

Both male and female human hormones showed an 84 to 90 percent

reduction after 139 days of composting in poultry manure. Although

the levels of hormones were reduced during composting, they were not

completely eliminated during that time period.53 Perhaps a longer cur

ing phase was needed?

What about residual drugs in animal carcasses? Phenylbutazone

(an anti-inflammatory drug) was undetectable after composting. Iver

The Humanure Handbook ??— 4th Edition — Chapter Ten 119

mectin (a deworming agent) had undetectable levels by the end of the

composting process. The fate of barbiturates after composting is mixed

and requires further research. “Studies are just beginning to reveal the

impact of composting on drugs and drug residues…While more re

search is needed, recent and ongoing studies are supporting the use of

composting....

”54

About 70 percent of the drugs we ingest is excreted. Much of the

pharmaceuticals we excrete exits our bodies in our urine. Although

urine is easily composted, there is a subset of “dry toilet” users who

prefer to segregate urine and use it directly on plants and gardens, di

luted beforehand with water. A study in Germany indicated that there

are 124 active pharmaceutical agents in the average German urine,

which is unbelievable. The study concluded that “it is recommended

not to use urine of people under medication for fertilization of food

crops.”55 No doubt they mean direct fertilization. Composting urine

beforehand would benefit from the same remediation that is achieved

when composting contaminated manure, sludge, and soils.

Will edible plants uptake drugs from contaminated soils? A green

house experiment studied the uptake of carbamazepine (an anticon

vulsant), diphenhydramine (an antihistamine), and fluoxetine (an

antidepressant), and two personal care products — triclosan (an anti

bacterial) and triclocarban (another antibacterial) in the soybean plant.

After growing for 60 and 110 days, carbamazepine, triclosan, and tri

clocarban were found to be concentrated in root tissues and trans

located into above ground parts of the plant, including the beans.

Accumulation and translocation of the diphenhydramine and fluoxet

ine was limited. Growth in biosolids resulted in higher plant concen

trations, probably due to higher concentrations of contaminants.

Contaminants introduced by irrigation were more available for uptake

and translocation into the plant tissue.56

Another greenhouse study used corn, green onion, and cabbage.

All three crops absorbed chlortetracycline (an antibiotic) but not tylo

sin (another antibiotic). The concentrations of chlortetracycline in

plant tissues were small, but the concentrations increased with increas-

120 The Humanure Handbook ??— 4th Edition — Chapter Ten

ing amount of antibiotics present in the manure. This study points out

the potential human health risks associated with consumption of fresh

vegetables grown in soil amended with antibiotic laden manures. The

risks may be higher for people who are allergic to antibiotics. There is

also the possibility of enhanced antimicrobial resistance as a result of

human consumption of these crops.57 Clearly, contaminated manures

should be composted rather than used raw in agriculture.

Additional research studies also confirm that pharmaceuticals are

absorbed by plants grown in soil fertilized with sewage sludge. “Uptake

of ciprofloxacin, norfloxacin, ofloxacin, sulfadimethoxine, and sul

famethoxazole was demonstrated in lettuce. The uptake of fluoroqui

nolones and sulfonamides by plants such as lettuce does not seem to

be a major human health risk, as the detected levels of the studied phar

maceuticals were relatively low, if compared to their soil concentra

tions.”58 These same antibiotics were studied on wheat, carrots, and

potatoes, grown in sewage sludge fertilized soil. The wheat grains had

no uptake, but the potatoes and carrots did, enough that the researchers

warned that plants like potato and carrot might present a health risk.59

Then there are the chemotherapy drugs. I couldn’t find much re

search on the effect of composting on these drugs, but there are a lot of

warnings about them. These drugs not only directly attack DNA, but

they pass through cancer patients as active chemicals in urine, feces,

vomit, saliva, and sweat. One of the most powerful and dangerous

chemo drugs is cyclophosphamide. Accidental contamination by this

drug can cause cancer, birth defects, miscarriages, leukemia, and per

manent infertility. Patients can even develop cancers that don’t appear

for several years. For example, cyclophosphamide, although used to

treat breast cancer, can cause bladder cancer. Yet, we routinely flush

the excretions of cancer patients down the toilet. Although the Amer

ican Cancer Society recommends flushing the toilet twice, somehow

this doesn’t sound very reassuring. The ACS warns that toilets used by

cancer patients can be hazardous, as can even the lips of a chemo pa

tient (they recommend no kissing). Chemotherapy drugs can exit

cancer patients as active and dangerous chemicals. Septic systems and

The Humanure Handbook ??— 4th Edition — Chapter Ten 121

wastewater treatments plants can’t remove 98 percent of them, so they

end up intact in lakes, rivers and ponds, and eventually into our drink

ing water supplies.60 One anti-cancer drug, salinomycin, was com

posted in manure. The researchers concluded that “on the basis of the

results obtained in this study, it appears that the composting technique

is effective in reducing salinomycin in manure.” 61

What do you do if you’re on chemotherapy and are also a compost

toilet user? I will not hazard a guess, because the jury is still out on

that subject. I hope more research will be conducted in which the toxic

chemo drugs are subjected to true composting over an extended time

period. We can also hope that the medical industry develops treatments

for cancer that aren’t so threatening and damaging.

HEAVY METALS

Here is another frequently asked question regarding compost and

compost toilets. “What about the heavy metals?” My answer: What

heavy metals? Where are the heavy metals coming from? If you’re ex

creting heavy metals, then you have a serious problem. Otherwise, how

would heavy metals get into your compost toilet? It seems that some

people hear that heavy metals can contaminate compost; therefore all

compost must suffer from heavy metal contamination. No, that’s not

true at all.

But yes, heavy metals can be a problem for the composting indus

try, depending on the source of the feedstocks being composted. Some

feedstocks are contaminated with heavy metals such as lead, copper,

and cadmium, especially “municipal solid waste” feedstocks. Soils can

also be contaminated due to the long-term use of sewage for irrigation,

extensive use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides, and careless storage

of industrial and mining wastes. Your shit, on the other hand, is clean

(so to speak). Unless you’re eating heavy metals.

Remember that what you put into a compost pile is what the mi

croorganisms want to eat. They don’t eat heavy metals. On the other

hand, compost can strongly bind metals and prevent their uptake by

122 The Humanure Handbook ??— 4th Edition — Chapter Ten

both plants and animals, thereby preventing transfer of metals from

contaminated soil into the food chain.62 One researcher fed lead-con

taminated soil to rats, some with compost added, and some without.

The soil to which compost had been added produced no toxic effects,

whereas the soil without compost did produce some toxic effects.63

Plants grown in lead contaminated soil with 10 percent compost

showed a reduction in lead uptake of 82.6 percent, compared to plants

grown in soil with no compost.64

But it’s more complicated than this. For example, three composts

were tested in a 1997 research study, one made from cattle manure, one

from sewage sludge, and one from municipal solid waste. The cattle

manure compost had the least heavy metal contamination, the sewage

sludge compost contained more zinc, copper, and lead than the manure

compost, and the municipal solid waste compost contained the most

heavy metals of all three. After six years, the sludge compost "did not

cause any significant increase in heavy metal levels in soil and plants."

On the other hand, the municipal solid waste compost increased con

centrations of zinc, copper, nickel, lead, cadmium, and chromium in

the soil, and in the case of lead and cadmium, also in the vegetation

and the fruits.65

In another experiment, published in 2013, two separate composts

(olive pomace compost, and municipal solid waste compost) were ap

plied to soil in a Mediterranean environment. At the end of the first

four years, neither of the composts caused any heavy metal accumula

tion in the soil or the plants.66

Studies have found that compost is a promising strategy to immo

bilize heavy metals in soils by changing the soil properties. Reactions

between heavy metals and organic matter in compost can turn the toxic

state of heavy metals to a non-toxic state. Compost applied to contam

inated agricultural soils can also reduce the bioavailability of heavy

metals, thus reducing harm to plants, soil animals, and microorgan

isms. Compost can also reduce heavy metal contents in water by 85 to

89 percent through chemical absorption.67

Although compost usually reduces the available forms of heavy

The Humanure Handbook ??— 4th Edition — Chapter Ten 123

metals to plants, the addition of compost to soils can also increase the

plant uptake of heavy metals depending on the plant species. Also, the

extensive use of compost made from feedstocks contaminated with

heavy metals can increase the risk of heavy metal pollution in soils.

Stable, mature, well cured compost seems to have the greatest effect on

binding heavy metals, compared to immature composts. Different

metals also react differently to compost; while some may be bound in

the soils and kept out of the plant material, thanks to the compost,

other metals in the same soil may become more available to the same

plants. Plants that tend to accumulate heavy metals can strategically

be used to extract the metals from the soils, after which the plants can

be disposed of in some manner, effectively reducing the heavy metal

contamination in the soil.

It's also interesting to note that earthworms seem to reduce the

toxicity of heavy metals in compost.68 Like I said, it's complicated.

In summary, humanure is not a source of heavy metal pollution,

so don’t worry about your compost toilet. Worry about compost made

from heavily contaminated source materials such as municipal solid

waste, especially if derived from industrial areas. The solution is to

source separate discarded materials so trash or effluents containing

heavy metals can be quarantined and disposed of or recycled properly.

It’s not surprising that heavy metal contamination in waste materials

increases as socioeconomic status increases, according to a study con

ducted in Bangladesh.69

Incidentally, the maximum heavy metal contents allowed in Class

A+ Compost (for use in organic agriculture) in Europe are as follows

(grams per tonne) — lead: 45; cadmium: 0.7; copper: 70; nickel: 25;

mercury: 0.4; zinc: 200, and chromium: 70.70

Finally, as you read this there may have been dozens if not hun

dreds of research studies regarding antibiotics and heavy metals in

compost since this book was written. I hope this chapter provides a

suitable introduction to the information that is currently available.

124 The Humanure Handbook ??— 4th Edition — Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Compost Myths

TURNING THE PILE

What is one of the first things that comes to mind when one thinks

about compost? Turning the pile. Early researchers who wrote seminal

works in the composting field, such as King, Howard, Gotaas, and Ro

dale, emphasize turning compost piles. For example, Robert Rodale

wrote in the February 1972 issue of Organic Gardening, “We rec

ommend turning the pile at least three times in the first few months,

and then once every three months thereafter for a year.”

A large industry has emerged from this philosophy, one that man

ufactures expensive compost turning equipment, and a lot of money,

energy, and expense go into making sure compost is turned regularly.

For some compost professionals, the suggestion that compost doesn’t

need to be turned at all is utter blasphemy. Of course, you have to turn

it — it’s a compost pile, for heaven’s sake.

Or do you? Well, in fact, no, you don’t, especially if you’re a back

yard composter, or even if you’re a large-scale composter. The perceived

need to turn compost is one of the myths of composting.

Turning compost potentially serves four basic purposes. First, turn

ing is supposed to add oxygen to the compost pile, which is supposed

to be good for the aerobic microorganisms. We are warned that if we

do not turn our compost, it will become anaerobic, smell bad, and at

tract rats and flies. Second, turning the compost ensures that all parts

of the pile are subjected to the high internal heat, thereby ensuring

total pathogen death and yielding a hygienically safe, finished compost.

Third, the more we turn the compost, the more it becomes chopped

and mixed, and the better it looks when finished, rendering it more

marketable. Fourth, frequent turning can supposedly speed up the

composting process.

Since backyard composters don’t actually market their compost,

The Humanure Handbook ??— 4th Edition — Chapter Eleven 125

usually don’t care if it’s finely granulated or somewhat coarse, and

usually have no good reason to be in a hurry, we can eliminate the last

two reasons for turning compost. Let’s look at the first two.

Oxygen is necessary for aerobic compost, and there are numerous

ways to aerate a compost pile. One is to force air into or suck air

through the pile using fans, which is common at large-scale compost

ing operations where air is pulled from under the compost piles and

pumped out through a biofilter. The suction causes air to seep into the

organic mass through the top, keeping it aerated. Such mechanical aer

ation is never a need of the backyard composter and is limited to large

scale composting operations where the piles are so big, they can

smother themselves if not subjected to forced aeration.

Aeration can also be achieved by poking holes in the compost, driv

ing pipes into it and generally impaling it. This is popular among some

backyard composters. A third way is to physically turn or dig the pile.

A fourth, largely ignored way, however, is to build the pile in a con

structed bin above ground allowing tiny interstitial air spaces to be

trapped in the compost. This is done by using materials in the compost

such as hay, straw, weeds, and the like. When a compost pile is properly

constructed, no additional aeration will be needed. Even organic gar

dening pros such as Rodale admit that, “good compost can be made with

out turning by hand if the materials are carefully layered in the heap which is

well-ventilated and has the right moisture content.”1

Recall Sir Albert Howard and the Indore composting method in

India back in the early 1900s. Many would argue that this is where

composting got started both as a science and as a widespread practice.

Howard’s piles were open piles with exposed outer surfaces. If you ever

pile up manures and food scraps in an open pile, you will soon notice

two things: flies and odors, both of which are highly undesirable. What

you can’t see, but will soon realize, is that the interior of the pile is

heating up while the outer surfaces are not. All three of these con

ditions can be rectified by repeatedly stirring up the organic mass, as

Howard instructed. However, there is an alternative.

When I toured large-scale compost operations in Arizona as part

126 The Humanure Handbook ??— 4th Edition — Chapter Eleven

of a Compost Operator’s Training Course, I noticed that almost all of

the compost operations refused to accept food scraps or manure, only

accepting yard trimmings and landscape residues. They all composted

in outdoor piles or windrows and apparently none of them wanted to

deal with the flies and odors from manure and rotting food.

I met a group of Brazilian agronomists in Mozambique when I was

there on assignment composting blackwater from school latrines.

When the agronomists found out I was making compost, we entered

into a lively discussion. About three years prior, they had introduced

composting to farmers in Brazil as a means of recycling manures and

other organic materials. The farmers were enthusiastic to learn how to

make compost. So, I asked, that was three years ago, how is it progres

sing today? Oh, they quit making the compost. Why?! Because turning

the piles was too much work, so they just abandoned it altogether! But

you don’t have to turn compost piles, I told them. It’s a huge amount

of work and it’s completely unnecessary. No wonder they quit.

My first trip to Haiti in 2010, shortly after the earthquake, was to

teach people how to make and use compost toilets, since they didn’t

have any toilets and many thousands were living in tents. I began by

working with a local group who already had a small composting oper

ation in progress. In a walled outdoor enclosure, they were piling food

scraps and organic garbage in a big pile. It was, of course, covered in

flies, and it smelled really bad. Once the pile was big enough, they

would attempt to turn it using shovels, but since it was laced with tree

fronds, scrap fabrics, and other such materials, it was extremely diffi

cult to turn by hand, and no machinery was available. I said, no, no,

no, that’s not how you make compost! Why are you doing it like this?

Because a teacher from Europe came and told them this was how it was

supposed to be done.

But composting is easy. Let the microbes do the work, especially if

you’re composting smelly things such as toilet materials, dead animals,

and food scraps, all of which will stink like hell and attract flies, rats,

and dogs if you don’t manage your pile correctly. The trick is always

to keep the compost vertically contained and keep it covered. In Haiti

The Humanure Handbook ??— 4th Edition — Chapter Eleven 127

we used recycled pallets standing on edge for side walls for the compost

bins. We had to pay about $5 each for the pallets. In Africa we used

wire fencing looped into circular bins. These bins cost about $15 US

per household. The point is to hold the organic material vertically

above ground. If it’s above ground and not underwater (like Howard’s

pits), the organic mass will be aerobic. No forced aeration will be

needed, and no poking, prodding, digging, or turning whatsoever is re

quired. The second trick is to put a thick layer of “cover material” un

derneath the pile, then create a layer of cover material surrounding the

composting mass. Finally, always keep a substantial layer of cover ma

terial on top of the pile, too. We used sugarcane bagasse in Haiti, a by

product of the rum industry, as cover material. At home I mostly use

straw. When adding fresh material to your compost bin, pull aside the

cover material, dig a hole in the underlying compost, deposit the new

material in the hole, cover it with the existing compost, pull the cover

material back over, then add more cover material as needed. This feeds

fresh material directly into the center of the pile, leaves no exposed

surface areas, and eliminates odors, flies, and any need to turn or agitate

the pile. It’s that simple.

I can assure you that if you’re composting material from toilets,

you don’t want to be turning the pile if you don’t have to. I turned my

piles dutifully for the first decade, as we are told to do, then figured

out the alternatives. It is a huge amount of work to turn compost piles

(the Brazilian farmers were correct), and why do it if it’s not necessary?

Making compost can be like baking bread — you put it in the oven,

let it cook, and don’t touch it until it’s completely done, then you pull

it out and it’s ready. When making compost, you put the organic ma

terial in the bin enveloped by cover material, like a bread dough in a

bread pan, and then wait. When the temperature drops to ambient out

door temperature, and not before, then you can take the bread out of

the oven. The rule of thumb is that once the pile is completely built,

wait a year before harvesting the compost (give or take a couple of

months). There are various other things to take into consideration —

the compost pile can’t be too high, for example, but the details of bin

128 The Humanure Handbook ??— 4th Edition — Chapter Eleven

composting are discussed in the Tao of Compost chapter.

What about the oxygen content of the pile? Researchers have meas

ured oxygen levels in large-scale windrow composting operations (a

windrow is a long, narrow, exposed pile of compost). One reported,

“Oxygen concentration measurements taken within the windrows dur

ing the most active stage of the composting process, showed that within

fifteen minutes after turning the windrow — supposedly aerating it —

the oxygen content was already depleted.”2 Other researchers compared

the oxygen levels of large turned and unturned batch compost piles

and have come to the conclusion that compost piles are largely self

aerated. “The effect of pile turning was to refresh oxygen content, on

average for [only] 1.5 hours (above the 10% level), after which it

dropped to less than 5% and in most cases to 2% during the active phase

of composting.... Even with no turning, all piles eventually resolve

their oxygen tension as maturity approaches, indicating that self-aer

ation alone can adequately furnish the composting process.... In other

words, turning the piles has a temporal but little sustained influence

on oxygen levels.” These trials compared compost that was not turned,

bucket turned, turned once every two weeks, and turned twice a week.3

Interestingly enough, the same trials indicated that bacterial

pathogens were destroyed whether the piles were turned or unturned,

stating that there was no evidence that bacterial populations were in

fluenced by turning schemes. There were no surviving E. coli or Sal

monella strains, indicating that there were “no statistically significant

effects attributable to turning.”

The more frequently compost piles are turned, the more agricul

tural nutrients they lose. When the finished compost was analyzed for

organic matter and nitrogen loss, the unturned compost showed the

least loss. The more frequently the compost was turned, the greater

was the loss of both nitrogen and organic matter. Also, the more the

compost was turned, the more it cost. The unturned compost cost $3.05

per wet ton to produce, while the compost turned twice a week cost

$41.23 per wet ton, a 1,350 percent increase. The researchers concluded

that “composting methods that require intensification [frequent turn

The Humanure Handbook ??— 4th Edition — Chapter Eleven 129

ing] are a curious result of modern popularity and technological devel

opment of composting as particularly evidenced in popular trade jour

nals. They do not appear to be scientifically supportable based on these

studies.... By carefully managing composting to achieve proper mixes

and limited turning, the ideal of a quality product at low economic bur

den can be achieved.”4 Another study concluded that the turning

frequency of yard refuse windrow compost did not improve aeration,

had little impact on temperatures, and increased the bulk density of

the compost, which actually reduces oxygen availability.5

When large piles of compost are turned, they give off emissions of

such things as Aspergillus fumigatus fungi, which can cause health prob

lems in people. Aerosol concentrations from static (unturned) piles are

relatively small or nonexistent when compared to mechanically turned

compost. Measurements thirty meters downwind from static piles

showed that aerosol concentrations of A. fumigatus were not signifi

cantly above background levels and were “33 to 1800 times less” than

those from piles that were being moved.6

The Cornell Waste Management Institute published a document

in 2007 that summarized the issues related to compost bioaerosols re

leased during the turning and screening of compost. Elevated levels of

bioaerosols can be detected downwind from outdoor composting facil

ities to distances of 650 to 1,640 feet. They can contain particles of bac

teria, fungi, viruses, allergens, endotoxins, antigens, various toxins,

glucans, mold components, pollen, plant fibers, and so on. Compost

bioaerosols can also contain sulfur and nitrogen compounds, volatile

fatty acids, ketones, terpenes, aldehydes, alcohols, and ammonia com

pounds that are associated with compost odors.7

The bioaerosols can cause a wide range of adverse health effects

and infection, including contagious diseases, acute toxic effects, al

lergies and cancer, as well as possibly pre-term births or late abortions

and dermatitis. People can become sensitized to some bioaerosols from

repeated exposures. Particulates and pieces of bacteria (endotoxin),

spores, and fungal hyphae can produce irritation, allergy, and toxic re

actions. An association was found in residents between their distance

130 The Humanure Handbook ??— 4th Edition — Chapter Eleven

to an outdoor composting facility and respiratory symptoms and gen

eral health complaints, but not allergies or infectious disease. Acute

and chronic respiratory health effects, mucosal membrane irritation,

skin diseases and inflammatory markers were elevated in compost

workers, and several studies indicate high prevalence of respiratory

The Humanure Handbook ??— 4th Edition — Chapter Eleven 131

symptoms and airway inflammation. Compost workers had signifi

cantly more symptoms and diseases of the airway and skin than control

subjects. Increased antibody concentrations against fungi and actino

mycetes were also found in compost workers.8

Minimizing agitation, spraying water to control dust, and monitor

ing wind speed and direction to avoid stirring up the compost when

winds are likely to blow toward the neighbors, can help minimize im

pacts. As already mentioned, frequency of turning has little impact on

keeping compost piles aerated; instead, increased turning can increase

bulk density and actually reduce air flow through the compost pile. A

blanket of finished compost on top of unfinished piles can reduce odor

and volatile organic compound (VOC) emissions, according to the Cor

nell paper.9 Instead, I recommend a clean cover material such as hay,

straw, or something similar to cover the compost piles; it can be re

moved later and used to make the next batch of compost. A generous

cover material and no agitation of the pile will reduce odor emissions

to zero, thereby eliminating the negative health effects of inhaling com

post bioaerosols. Those volatile fatty acids, ketones, terpenes, alde

hydes, alcohols, ammonia, bacteria, fungi, viruses, allergens,

endotoxins, antigens, various toxins, glucans, mold components,

pollen, plant fibers, and so on that are inside the compost pile belong

inside the compost pile. What’s the point of releasing them into the air?

If turning has no significant effect on the pile’s oxygen levels, why is

the compost being turned? Someday, one of these compost operators

is going to build a pile correctly, cover it, then just leave it alone. After

the pile has fully matured, he or she will dig it out and find beautiful

compost. The microorganisms did the dirty work, and they loved it.

Turning compost piles in cold climates can also cause them to lose

too much heat. It is recommended that cold climate composters turn

less frequently, if at all.10 I recommend not turning. In fact, what’s the

point of diminishing the heat of the pile, no matter what the climate?

That’s what turning the pile does. That’s why there are large clouds of

vapor billowing off large compost piles as they’re being turned by ma

chines. It’s the heat, and lots of other things, escaping into the air.

132 The Humanure Handbook ??— 4th Edition — Chapter Eleven

COMPOST INOCULANTS

Do you need to inoculate your compost pile? No. This is perhaps

one of the most astonishing aspects of composting. In October of 1998

I took a trip to Nova Scotia, Canada, to observe the municipal com

posting operations there. The province had legislated that as of No

vember 30 that year no organic materials could be disposed of in

landfills. By the end of October, with the “ban date” approaching, vir

tually all municipal organic garbage was being collected and trans

ported instead to composting facilities, where it was effectively being

recycled. The organic material was checked for contaminants such as

bottles and cans, run through a grinder, and finally shoved into a con

crete compost bin. Within twenty-four to forty-eight hours, the tem

perature of the material would climb to 158° F (70° C). No inoculants

were required. The thermophilic bacteria were already there.

Researchers have composted materials with and without inocula

and found that, “although rich in bacteria, none of the inocula accel

erated the composting process or improved the final product.... The

failure of the inocula to alter the composting cycle is due to the ade

quacy of the indigenous microbial population already present and to

the nature of the process itself.... The success of composting opera

tions without the use of special inocula in the Netherlands, New Zea

land, South Africa, India, China, the USA, and a great many other

places, is convincing evidence that inocula and other additives are not

essential in the composting of [organic] materials.”11 In The Science of

Composting, the topic is summed up by stating “no data in the literature

indicate that the addition of inoculants, microbes, or enzymes accel

erates the composting process.” Instead, “particle size, optimum mois

ture, and optimum C/N ratio..... appears to provide the best

conditions for optimum composting.”12 Other researchers have arrived

at similar conclusions.13

On the other hand, a 2017 study indicated that composting plants

in China were beginning to use microbial inoculants. They concluded

that the addition of an inoculant when composting pig manure “in

The Humanure Handbook ??— 4th Edition — Chapter Eleven 133

creased the temperature at the early stage of composting and reduced

the maturation time when compared to non-inoculant controls.”14

LIME

The belief that compost piles should be limed is a common mis

conception, probably dating back to Sir Albert Howard and the Indore

process. Nor are other mineral additives needed in your compost. If

your soil needs lime, put the lime in your soil, not your compost. Bac

teria don’t eat limestone; in fact lime is used to kill bacteria in sewage

sludge — it’s called lime-stabilized sludge.

Aged compost is not acidic. The pH of finished compost should

slightly exceed 7 (neutral). What is pH? It’s a measure of acidity and

alkalinity that ranges from 1 to 14. Neutral is 7. Below 7 is acidic; above

7 is basic or alkaline. If the pH is too acidic or too alkaline, bacterial

activity will be hindered or stopped completely. Lime and wood ashes

raise the pH, but wood ashes should also go straight on the soil. The

compost pile doesn’t need them. It may seem logical that one should

put into one's compost pile whatever one also wants to put into one’s

soil, as the compost will end up in the soil eventually, but what one

134 The Humanure Handbook ??— 4th Edition — Chapter Eleven

should put into one’s compost is what the microorganisms in the com

post want or need, not what the garden soil wants or needs.

Sir Albert Howard, one of the most well-known proponents of

composting, and J. I. Rodale, another prominent organic agriculturist,

have recommended adding lime to compost piles.15 They seemed to

base their reasoning on the belief that the compost may become acidic

during the composting process, and therefore the acidity must be neu

tralized by adding lime to the pile while it’s composting. Yet the pH of

compost may appear to drop at the beginning of the composting pro

cess, but it rises again on its own.

The author who recommended liming compost piles in one book

states in another, “The control of pH in composting is seldom a prob

lem requiring attention if the material is kept aerobic.... the addition

of alkaline material is rarely necessary in aerobic decomposition and,

in fact, may do more harm than good because the loss of nitrogen by

the evolution of ammonia as a gas will be greater at the higher pH.”16

Researchers have indicated that maximum thermophilic composting

occurs at a pH range between 7.5 and 8.5, which is slightly alkaline.17

Don’t be surprised if your compost is acidic at the start of the process.

It should turn neutral or slightly alkaline when completely cured.

The Humanure Handbook ??— 4th Edition — Chapter Eleven 135

Scientists who were studying various commercial fertilizers found

that agricultural plots to which composted sewage sludge had been

added made better use of lime than plots without composted sludge.

The lime in the composted plots changed the pH deeper in the soil,

indicating that organic matter assists calcium movement through the

soil better than anything else, according to research chemist Cecil Tester,

Ph.D.18 The implications are that lime should be added to the soil when

compost is added to the soil.

Gotaas sums it up best: “Some compost operators have suggested

the addition of lime to improve composting. This should be done only

under rare circumstances such as when the raw material to be com

posted has a high acidity due to acid industrial wastes or contains ma

terials that give rise to highly acid conditions during composting.”19

WHAT NOT TO COMPOST

I get perturbed when I see compost educators telling their students

that there is a long list of things “not to be composted!” This prohi

bition is always presented in such an authoritative and serious manner

that novice composters become concerned at the thought of compost

ing any of the banned materials. I can imagine naive composters armed

with this misinformation carefully segregating their food scraps, so the

wrong materials don’t end up in the compost pile. Those “banned” ma

terials include meat, fish, milk, butter, cheese and other dairy products,

bones, lard, mayonnaise, oils, peanut butter, salad dressing, sour cream,

weeds with seeds, diseased plants, citrus peels, rhubarb leaves, crab

grass, pet manures, bread products, rice, tea bags, and perhaps worst

of all — human manure. Presumably, one must segregate half-eaten

peanut butter sandwiches from the compost bucket, or any sandwich

with mayonnaise or cheese, or any left-over salad with salad dressing,

or spoiled milk, or orange peels, all of which must go to a landfill and

be buried under tons of dirt instead of being composted.

The United States EPA lists the following materials they say

should not be composted at home: dairy products, butter, milk, sour

136 The Humanure Handbook ??— 4th Edition — Chapter Eleven

cream, yogurt, eggs, diseased plants, fats, grease, lard, oils, meat, fish

bones, dog or cat feces, and soiled cat litter, among other things.20

Luckily, I was never exposed to such instructions, and my family

has composted everything on that list. Yes, all tea bags go into the com

post, tags and strings attached. I often make fresh-squeezed citrus juice

in the winter months and I put buckets of citrus peels in the compost.

I composted menstrual pads for years, and probably have cycled at least

fifty dead animals through my roughly one cubic meter home compost

bin — so far. We’ve done this in our property for forty years with never

a problem. Why would it work for us and not for anyone else? The an

swer, in a word, if I may hazard a guess, is humanure, a staple food for

our compost microbes, and another forbidden compost material.

When compost heats up, much of the organic material is quickly

degraded. This holds true for oils and fats, or in the words of scientists,

“Based on evidence on the composting of grease trap wastes, lipids

[fats] can be utilized rapidly by bacteria, including actinomycetes,

under thermophilic conditions.”21 The problem with the materials on

the “banned” list is that they may require thermophilic conditions for

best results. Otherwise, they may just sit in the compost pile and look

very attractive to the wandering dog, cat, raccoon, or rat. Ironically,

when the forbidden materials, including humanure, are combined with

other compost ingredients, thermophilic conditions will prevail. When

humanure and the other controversial organic materials are segregated

from compost, thermophilic conditions may not occur at all. This is a

situation that is probably quite common in many backyard compost

piles. The solution is not to segregate materials from the pile, but to

add nitrogen and moisture, as are commonly found in manure.

Furthermore, it’s how you manage your compost that makes a dif

ference, too. Never put anything on your compost pile, always add ma

terials into your pile. And always keep a generous, clean, organic cover

material on your compost, such as grass, hay, straw, weeds, or leaves.

When you bury that leftover pork chop inside your active compost pile,

then cover it over with a clean cover material, there’s no reason for a

wandering dog or raccoon to have any interest in it at all.

The Humanure Handbook ??— 4th Edition — Chapter Eleven 137

Compost educators would provide a better service to their students

if they told them the truth — almost any organic material will compost

— rather than give them the false impression that some common food

materials will not. Granted, some things do not compost very well.

Bones are one of them, but they do no harm in a compost pile.

What not to compost: sawdust from CCA pressure-treated lumber,

which is now largely prohibited by the EPA for residential use but is

still available for commercial and agricultural use. Researchers in 2017,

on the other hand, composted wood contaminated with arsenic, chro

mium, copper, and lead paint, along with sewage sludge, and concluded

that “treated wood...will not significantly degrade the quality of bio

solids compost products.”22 Other researchers have composted creosote

treated wood and concluded that composting was “an extremely effi

cient and sustainable treatment for contaminated wood.”23

Don’t try to compost things that the microbes don’t want to eat,

such as ashes (wood or coal), ground minerals, heavy metals, plastics,

rubber, glass, and synthetic fertilizers. Having a compost pile is like

having a goat in your back yard. Keep it fed with what it likes to eat,

and you’ll keep it happy!

138 The Humanure Handbook ??— 4th Edition — Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Compost Toilets and Dry Toilets

The World Health Organization in 2018 defined a toilet as a “user

interface with the sanitation system, where excreta is captured, and can

incorporate any type of toilet seat or latrine slab, pedestal, pan, or uri

nal. There are several types of toilets, for example pour- and cistern

flush toilets, dry toilets and urine-diverting toilets. The superstructure

of the toilet may be a stand- alone structure, or the toilet may be located

within a building... .” They add that “billions of people live without

access to even the most basic sanitation services. Billions more are ex

posed to harmful pathogens through the inadequate management of

sanitation systems, causing people to be exposed to excreta in their

communities, in their drinking water, fresh produce, and through their

recreational water activities.”1

It never ceases to amaze me that many, if not most, of the citizens

of the US, approximately 4 percent of the world’s population, don’t

have much of a clue about how the other 96 percent of humanity lives.

People who grow up with water toilets and never knew any other type

of sanitation system can’t conceive of what it’s like to live without a

toilet. But hundreds of millions of humans still practice “open defe

cation,” which means they crap outside in a field, behind a tree, or in

their backyard, every day. Still many more only have a hole in the

ground for a toilet, which is considered an improvement over open def

The Humanure Handbook ??— 4th Edition — Chapter Twelve 139

ecation. The holes are usually located away from the living area because

they’re full of shit, they stink like hell, and they breed flies by the mil

lions. So the toilet is a hundred feet away, outside, in the rain, at night,

and maybe they have little kids to deal with. Or maybe they’re bed

ridden, elderly, incapable of walking, or amputees, or have diarrhea, or

are even just temporarily ill. We’re talking numbers in the billions

here, people who have never had a water toilet, nor have their ances

tors, nor will their descendants. What some take for granted is not pos

sible for others, and never will be.

Providing comfortable, secure, convenient, odorless, indoor, sani

tary toilets for these people is a dilemma that has vexed developers and

sanitation workers for generations. Billionaire philanthropists try to

reinvent the toilet by creating yet another hi-tech disposal device,

priced way out of reach of those who need it the most. Billions of people

live on $2 US a day or less; they’re not going to buy a Nano-Toilet.

They’re going to continue shitting in a hole in the ground until some

one can show them a realistic alternative they can afford.

Much of the problem is psychological. Notice that human excre

ment is commonly referred to as “human waste” in US culture. When

you say human waste, people automatically assume you’re referring to

human excrement. But what about the mountains of human waste that

are dumped into landfills across the country every day? What about

the pollution in our waters from sewage systems and factory effluents;

the particulates in our air from smoke stacks, tail pipes and other pol

lution sources; what about the body burden of synthetic chemicals we

all carry in us all the time; that cigarette butt you flung out the window

of your car? That’s human waste! Why is only our poop thought of as

human waste?

Ironically, human excrement is actually a recyclable resource. It

has value as food for microbes. The microbes eat it, along with just

about any other organic materials we can throw at them, and they con

vert it to compost. When composting is used as a sanitation system,

sewage can be eliminated, as can diseases associated with fecal contam

ination of the environment; toilets can be located comfortable indoors

140 The Humanure Handbook ??— 4th Edition — Chapter Twelve

where they’re safe and convenient; and they can be odor-free. There is

no waste as nothing is being wasted, and the result is compost suitable

for growing food.

One of the seminal works on composting “night soil” (which is com

bined human fecal material and urine) was published by Harold B. Go

taas, professor of sanitary engineering at the University of California,

Berkeley, in 1956 (World Health Organization Monograph Series

Number 31). In the 205-page publication, the word “waste” is used 254

times! Anyone can write an entire book on composting and never use

the word “waste” once, because composting is the recycling of organic

materials, not the disposal of waste. Yet “composting waste” is an un

fortunate oxymoron still in widespread use today, especially among

compost professionals and academics. It’s simply not waste if it’s being

recycled, no matter what it is. When I’m composting organic material

and someone states that waste is being used, I say “show me the waste

— point to it.” When the process is done, there is only compost; there

is no waste and nothing is wasted. I know it seems like I’m belaboring

this point in this book, but it needs to be done. If we can understand

what waste truly is, maybe we will also eventually understand that our

excretions are valuable and can be constructively reused. The billion

aires who are concerned about the global sanitation issue should be

thinking about recycling, not disposal. Think outside the box!

In 2018 the World Health Organization (WHO) declared that

people have a right to water and sanitation: “After decades of neglect,

the importance of access to safe sanitation for everyone, everywhere, is

now rightly recognized as an essential component of universal health

coverage. But a toilet on its own is not sufficient to achieve [these

goals]; safe, sustainable and well-managed systems are required.” They

add, “The human right to sanitation entitles everyone to sanitation

services that provide privacy and ensure dignity, and that are physically

accessible and affordable, safe, hygienic, secure, socially and culturally

acceptable.”2

The United Nations is on the same page: “Water and sanitation fa

cilities and services must be available and affordable for everyone, even

The Humanure Handbook ??— 4th Edition — Chapter Twelve 141

the poorest. The costs for water and sanitation services should not ex

ceed 5% of a household’s income, meaning services must not affect

peoples’ capacity to acquire other essential goods and services, includ

ing food, housing, health services, and education. Almost two in three

people lacking access to clean water survive on less than $2 a day, with

one in three living on less than $1 a day.”3

In 2013 WHO described “improved” sanitation to include “a pit

latrine whereby the pit is fully covered by a slab or platform that is

fitted either with a squatting hole or seat. The platform should be solid

and can be made of any type of material (concrete, logs with earth or

mud, cement, etc.) as long as it adequately covers the pit without ex

posing the pit contents other than through the squatting hole or seat.”4

This is an improvement over a basic hole in the ground with a couple

of boards spanning the pit where one can squat and shit. Small children

are known to fall into these “unimproved” pit latrines, and some die

there.

And since we’re talking about squatting, I can’t tell you how many

people have expressed to me the opinion that squatting is the natural

way to “go.” They say that people around the world prefer to squat,

that it’s the only way to thoroughly evacuate your bowels, and so on. I

was able to test this theory during a trip to Africa in 2018 where only

squat toilets were available. What I found was that people squat because

they don’t have a choice — what else are they going to do if they’re

shitting in a hole or open defecating, stand up? Kneel? Try taking a

shit standing up. When there’s no place to sit down, you have to squat.

Given a choice, they will choose a sit-down toilet, especially if they’re

elderly, have a cell phone in their pocket, want to read while on the

pot, and so forth.

WHO adds that a “composting toilet [they mean a dry toilet] is a

toilet into which carbon-rich material such as vegetable wastes [they

mean scraps], straw, grass, sawdust, and ash are added to the excreta

and special conditions are maintained to produce inoffensive compost

[probably septage, not compost]. A [dry toilet] may or may not have a

urine separation device.” However, ash has no carbon and doesn’t be-

142 The Humanure Handbook ??— 4th Edition — Chapter Twelve

The Humanure Handbook ??— 4th Edition — Chapter Twelve 143

long in compost. Furthermore, the literature is rife with references to

“composting” toilets that are actually dry toilets that do not make com

post. The amount of misunderstanding and misinformation being cir

culated on this topic is incredible.

For example, the US EPA published a document in 1999 about

“composting” toilets. It stated, “A composting (or biological) toilet sys

tem contains and processes excrement, toilet paper, carbon additive,

and sometimes, food [scraps]. Unlike a septic system, a composting toi

let system relies on unsaturated conditions where aerobic bacteria

break down [organic material]. This process is similar to a yard [debris]

composter. If sized and maintained properly, a [biological] toilet breaks

down [organic material] 10 to 30% of its original volume. The resulting

soil-like material called ‘humus,’ legally must be either buried or re

moved by a licensed septage hauler in accordance with state and local

regulations.”5 Clearly they’re referring to dry toilets or biological toi

lets, but not compost toilets. The material produced by dry toilets is

not necessarily sanitary, which is why it’s considered septage and is sup

posed to be removed and processed by a septage hauler. Of course, that

material could instead be actually composted as a secondary procedure,

rendering it hygienically safe and usable as an agricultural resource,

rather than disposed of as a waste.

The EPA goes on to state, “The [toilet]unit must be constructed to

separate the solid fraction from the liquid fraction and produce a stable,

humus material.... Once the leachate has been drained or evaporated

out of the unit, the moist, unsaturated solids are decomposed by aero

bic organisms.” Yep, that would be a urine-separating dry toilet, not a

compost toilet. They add that the toilet chamber may be heated by

solar or electrical means, which is common in urine-diverting dry toi

lets. Compost toilets, on the other hand, rely on actual composting and

on internal microbiological heat — no urine separation is needed.

Remember that composting, by definition, requires (1) human

management, (2) aerobic conditions, and (3) the generation of meso

philic and thermophilic heat by microorganisms. “Composting toilets”

is a misnomer. Composting is unlikely to take place inside any toilet

144 The Humanure Handbook ??— 4th Edition — Chapter Twelve

receptacle because sufficient biological heat will not be generated, for

several reasons. For one, the mass of the collected toilet material may

be too small; for another, the collected material may be too dry due to

urine separation or intentional dehydration; for another, the toilet ma

terial may be anaerobic. Most devices that people call “composting toi

lets” would be correctly referred to as “dry toilets” or “biological

toilets,” but they should not be referred to as “composting” devices.

They do not make compost; instead, the result is decayed organic ma

terial, or what’s known as “septage,” which has not been subjected to

the biological temperatures of true compost and is therefore not sani

tary. A 2017 research study pointed out that “conditions required for

pathogen or parasites die-off.... are seldom or never achieved in UDDTs

[urine diverting dry toilets] feces chambers in real situations.”6

One of the reasons dry toilets don’t reach and maintain thermo

philic conditions is that the volume of the material inside the toilet

chamber is too small. One interesting research study published in 2007

compared temperatures achieved in three different “backyard” com

post containers: a plastic bin, a wooden bin, and a small open pile. The

volumes were small by composting standards at 74 gallons each for the

plastic bin and the open pile, and 209 gallons for the wooden bin. The

organic mix was made from plant material; no food scraps or manures

were used. A hundred cubic meters of the mix were generated using

shredding machines; 30 cubic meters were used in the numerous bins

being tested, while the remaining 70 cubic meters were left in a pile.

To make a long story short, none of the bins achieved thermophilic

temperatures. The maximum temperature reached was about 77°F

(25°C), whereas the temperatures in the big left-over pile ranged from

104°F (40°C) to 158°F (70°C). The researchers concluded that “the

small volume of material is thought to be the most likely cause of the

lack of temperature increase.” They also suggested that bins of at least

a cubic meter in size “have greater potential to maximize heat genera

tion,” and that “composters should attempt to better insulate compost

vessels,” as well as keep some type of cover on top to protect from ex

cessive rainfall and to insulate the pile.7 My own experience bears this

The Humanure Handbook ??— 4th Edition — Chapter Twelve 145

out. Dry toilet chambers tend to be much smaller than a cubic meter,

and even when they are large, there is no way to insulate around the

collected organic material inside the chamber, where the toilet contents

may be right up against a plastic or metal wall.

I first became aware of the importance of the semantics surround

ing composting when a dry toilet vendor from New Zealand was visit

ing me in my home in Pennsylvania. We were sitting at my kitchen

table one evening when the conversation went something like this:

“Composting doesn’t eliminate pathogens,” he said.

“Yes, it does,” I replied. “It’s well-established science.”

“No, it doesn’t, and I can prove it. Scientists have done research

on this and have published papers showing that composting doesn’t

eliminate pathogens. I have one such research paper here with me

now.”

“Let me see it.”

My friend rooted around in his briefcase and pulled out a printed

document, a published research paper. I took it and reviewed it. It was

a paper about so-called “composting toilets” and their inability to elim

inate pathogens in the toilet material.

“This isn’t compost,” I said. “They’re not composting. They’re just

calling it a ‘composting toilet’ because they don’t know what compost

ing is. What they have is a dry toilet, and yes, pathogen removal is not

very successful in these types of toilets precisely because they do not

compost. If they take the collected toilet material and run it through a

true composting process, then test it, they will find that the pathogens

have been eliminated.”

A 1986 research project, again by the EPA, studied a variety of com

mercial and home-made dry toilets in California. To their credit, they

referred to them throughout the paper as “biological toilets.” Their

conclusions were far from flattering: “Evidence suggested that per

formance of the biological toilets varied from mere storage of human

excrement to partially successful decomposition of organics and/or re

duction of microbiological hazards. The physical presence of solids at

the final chamber of a toilet system had no bearing on whether or not

146 The Humanure Handbook ??— 4th Edition — Chapter Twelve

treatment had occurred. The rate at which excrement moved through

a system depended solely on system capacity and rate of usage. In ad

dition, the physical appearance and odor characteristics were not reli

able indicators of the biological degradation process.” To top it off, they

added, “Most of the system users were advocates of alternative tech

nology, yet they were generally unable to make their systems work sat

isfactorily. Few of these systems displayed any significant evidence of

biological composting during 17 months of observation. The systems

repeatedly showed evidence of conditions unfavorable for the occur

rence of biological composting — for example, inadequate use of bulk

ing agent, too much moisture, anaerobic conditions, insect vectors, and

ambient temperatures. The users were generally not well informed

about the particular sensitivities of their systems to improper operating

procedures. Since a majority of the users were unwilling and/or un able

to perform recommended operation and maintenance procedures, it is

unclear whether any of the toilet systems studied were capable of ac

ceptable performance.” 8 Maybe they should have just collected their

toilet material and composted it in an outdoor bin instead. That works.

So dry toilets are unfairly giving composting a bad name. As stated

before in this book, this is a widespread problem, including among

scientists, researchers, post-docs, grad students, and academics in gen

eral, as well as the general public. I confess, I also have been guilty of

this misunderstanding in that I have incorrectly referred to dry toilets

as “composting toilets” in the previous three editions of this book. Just

like turning my compost piles at one time because everyone else was

doing it, I had adopted the common vernacular and repeated it. My in

tention with the fourth edition of this book is to correct the terminol

ogy and try to set the record straight.

A dry toilet is any toilet that doesn’t use water to flush away “waste,”

which is what a water toilet does. It disposes of waste. A dry toilet can

be a urine-diverting toilet, a chemical toilet, an incinerating toilet, a

biological toilet, an eco-toilet, or any of a multitude of devices designed

to collect and process toilet material without water. Many dry toilets

are disposal units, too, but some are recycling devices.

The Humanure Handbook ??— 4th Edition — Chapter Twelve 147

Most of the processing in dry toilets is done by dehydrating the

toilet contents. This is achieved by “urine diversion,” which means

either diverting the urine away from the solids at the source by utiliz

ing a toilet seat designed for this purpose, or by allowing the urine to

drain away from the toilet contents. These toilets are often referred to

as “urine diverting dry toilets” or UDDTs.

Another type of dry toilet is a “compost toilet.” Notice that it isn’t

called a “composting” toilet, because that implies that composting is

taking place in the toilet. If you want to dwell on the semantics (and

yes, readers will contact me to argue this point), the word “composting”

is a present participle derived from the verb “to compost” which refers

to an action. A composting toilet would then be a toilet that composts.

A singing toilet would be a toilet that sings. A laughing toilet would

be a toilet that laughs. You get the point. Since the toilets don’t com

post, there’s no point in calling them composting toilets.

A compost toilet is any toilet that collects toilet material so that it

can be composted. And composting, as you already know, requires

human management, aerobic conditions, and the generation of biolog

ical heat. Since compost toilets collect toilet material for composting

rather than for dehydration, urine separation is neither necessary, nor

recommended. Urine is quite a good additive in compost piles.

There are scores of dry toilets available on the market today, world

wide. If the contents of the toilets are collected and then composted

(most aren’t), they could correctly be referred to as compost toilets.

When the researchers test the finished products of true composting,

they will find that the human disease organisms have been completely

eradicated, greatly reduced, or substantially weakened. Which is ex

actly why we want to compost humanure.

THE EARTH CLOSET

Let’s take a journey back in time to when population centers were

all dealing with sanitation issues. We’ve already discussed cholera and

epidemics caused by water pollution in England in the late 1800s. The

148 The Humanure Handbook ??— 4th Edition — Chapter Twelve

solution was water toilets and sewers designed to carry the excrement

out to the river, dump it, and forget about it. Water toilets today are

often credited as being the single most important device for improving

human health on this planet. Yet, when they first came into use, they

were blamed for causing cholera.

The Sanitary Fertilizer Company in 1888, clearly trying to con

vince the government about the agricultural value of human manure,

soundly condemned water toilets. “The shortcomings of modern san

itary methods are due to the fact that in dealing with organic refuse, a

scientific error is being committed by mixing excremental matter with

water by means of the water-closet and the sewer,” they stated. Adding,

“Not only does the putrefaction of human refuse tend to fill our rivers

with foulness, but this mixture of organic matter with water is attended

with other bad consequences. It fills the air of our homes and cities

with disease. Since the introduction of the present water-closet, and as

a direct consequence of it, we have severe epidemics of cholera, a dis

ease not previously known; and enteric or typhoid fever, previously al

most or quite unrecognized, has risen to the place of first importance

among fevers of this country.”9

Could it be that the water closet (flush toilet) actually increased the

incidence of waterborne disease, and therefore sanitation professionals

had to scramble to build sewers that would flush the polluted water

away in a more rapid and thorough manner so that the epidemics could

be quelled? A report by the British Royal Commission on Town Sewage

regarding local rivers seemed to bear this out: “The increasing offen

siveness of the Medlock and Irwell at Manchester, of the Mersey at

Stockport, of the Tame at Birmingham, and of many other rivers,

proves that a national evil is fast growing up which demands immedi

ate and serious attention. The last named river.... a small stream in

itself, may be said without exaggeration, during dry seasons to contain

at Birmingham as much sewage as water. The increasing pollution of

the rivers and streams of the country is an evil of national importance,

which urgently demands the application of remedial measures.” Some

of these rivers were drinking water sources for entire towns.10

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150 The Humanure Handbook ??— 4th Edition — Chapter Twelve

A Dr. Farr at that time reported that water closets were invented

about 1813 and came into broader use among the upper class around

1828 to 1833. The effluent from these toilets was collected in cesspools

with overflow drains. “It will be noticed,” says Dr. Farr, “that the

deaths from cholera and diarrhea increased in London in 1842, in

creased still more in 1846, when the potato crop was blighted, and in

1849 culminated in the epidemic of cholera.” The first appearance of

epidemic cholera and a striking increase of diarrhea in England coin

cided with the adoption into general use of the water-closet system,

“which had the advantage of carrying night-soil out of the houses, but

the incidental and not necessary disadvantage of discharging it into

the rivers from which the water supply was drawn.”11

In 1886, a Mr. Hedges, a laborer, and his wife, both forty-six, died

of “Cholera Asiatica,’’ the husband after fifteen hours and the wife after

twelve hours of illness. The discharges were traced from a water-closet

at 12 Priory Street, draining into the Lea River, which resulted in an

outbreak of cholera and diarrhea that ultimately caused the death of

over 4,000 persons. “If the excreta of the Hedges family had been bu

ried, the waters of the Lea would not have been infected, and possibly

4,000 lives would have been saved.”12 Burial of the excrement would

have helped, especially if it had been buried in a compost pile.

The new water closet trend in the late 1800s had competition in

the form of Earth Closets. These would have been the predecessors of

today’s dry toilets, and they bear an uncanny resemblance to compost

toilets, except at that time, they didn’t know what compost was or how

to make it. They didn’t know about microorganisms consuming or

ganic material back then, but if they had, things may have been very

different around the world today.

Water closets, despite the creation of water pollution, were rapidly

gaining popularity in the late 1800s. An 1870 account made this clear,

“The water-closet has won its way to universal favor on the grounds of

convenience, comfort, and decency alone. These it secures; and there

is no luxury connected with modern living that is so highly prized by

those who have once known its benefits. The water-closet is the chief

The Humanure Handbook ??— 4th Edition — Chapter Twelve 151

thing of which women living in the country envy their city cousins the

possession.”13 Of course, this is perfectly understandable. If you have

always had to use an outhouse or pit latrine and now you have an odor

less indoor toilet, this would constitute a revolution in sanitation.

The downside of the new flush toilets included not only the ex

pense, but also plumbing, pumps, piping systems, tanks, and vents that

could malfunction, clog, or freeze in the winter, not to mention

plumber’s fees, and, “worse than all, a receptacle in the garden known

as a cesspool” which usually had a subterranean connection to the

drinking water supply. “The manure is, of course, lost; it is worse than

lost. Too far below the surface to be of use to vegetation, it lies, a fes

tering mass, sending its foul and poisonous gases back through the soil

pipe and kitchen sink drain into the house, and developing in its putrid

fermentation the germs of typhoid fever and dysentery that any film

of gravel in the lower soil may carry to the well or the spring.”14

Obviously, water toilets had their detractors. One of the most well

known was the Reverend Henry Moule, who in 1868 published Earth

Sewage Versus Water Sewage, Or, National Health and Wealth Instead of

Disease and Waste, in which Moule presented the case for earth closets

vs. water closets. “This invention [earth closets] effectually remedies

evils arising from common cesspool privies and water-closets; and

equally prevents the offensive smell consequent on the use of the ordi

nary commode in bedrooms, hospital wards, prison cells, etc. It is

founded upon the well-known power of earth as a deodorizing agent:

a given quantity of dry earth destroying all smell, and entirely prevent

ing noxious vapors and other discomforts. Apart from its superiority

over the water system in destroying all smell, the earth system is more

economical.... there being no expensive cistern or pipes; no danger

from frost; and the product being a manure of value to farmers and

gardeners. The supply of the earth, and its removal, are attended with

no more inconvenience than the supply of coal and the removal of

ashes, whilst the value of the manure amply pays the cost.”15

The principles of the “dry earth system” were simple enough. First,

deposits in toilets, whether solid or liquid, were covered with a dry soil.

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When the soil/feces/urine combination accumulated in the toilet, it was

removed from the toilet chamber, spread on the ground and allowed

to dry out. This dry combo was then used again to cover the toilet

contents, then again, or in the words of Moule, the first earth toilet

principle is “the marvelous capability of dry and sifted earth, or of

clayed subsoil, for deodorization. This is such, that two pounds weight

of such earth, or three half-pints, is amply sufficient for one use of [the

toilet]. And if with this quantity the excreta covered by it be intimately

mixed, it may in a very short time be dried without offence by artificial

heat. And the mass, when dried thus, or by natural heat, may be used

again and again for the same purpose. I have tried it with success ten

times.”16

The second principle is that the toilet material is captured and de

odorized at the source and never allowed to enter any waterways. The

third is that the feces/soil mix can be used for agricultural purposes.

One system allows the toilet contents to fall into a vault “so that within

six weeks from the deposits falling, the excreta and any vegetable

matter disappear; and the mass looks and smells like fresh earth. And

in that vault, without the omission of any offensive smell, it may con

tinue three, four, or six months.” The vaults can be constructed so they

can be accessed from outdoors, much like the common coal chutes of

that era, and the soil periodically hauled away. Moule mentions a

school of seventy boys using earth closets where a farmer paid them

monthly to haul away their toilet by-product.17

Moule pointed out that the City of London was throwing away no

less than £2,500,000 annually into the Thames from agricultural nu

trients flushed down toilets, and was spending £3,500,000 on increasing

sewer capacity, a combined expense of £6,000,000 that could be elimi

nated by the widespread use of earth closets.

Moule calculated that about two pounds of earth (1.5 pints) would

be needed per “flush,” and that one person produces an average of four

pounds a day of excretions. For a family of five persons, this would pro

duce one ton of toilet by-product in sixteen weeks, or thirty-four tons

a year. He adds that “it has been found that the annual evacuations of

154 The Humanure Handbook ??— 4th Edition — Chapter Twelve

a well-fed man suffice to manure half an acre of ground.”18 Moule in

sists that this type of sanitation is not new, but “was early known to

the Hindus, and further that it has been practiced amongst the Chinese

in the south of China, from time immemorial. It would seem indeed

that the observance of a similar practice was enjoined by Moses upon

the Israelites in the wilderness.”19

The gardens benefited from the earth closet’s by-products. In de

scribing one gardener’s experience, Moule stated, “His barren garden

was changed into a fruitful field. His peas grew seven feet high and

were covered with pods; the white head of his cabbages weighed four

pounds and upwards, and the passers-by stopped with wonder to ask

what made his crops so much better than their own.”

Of course, we all know now that the water closets beat out the earth

closets, and while water toilets are found everywhere in the US and

many other countries, earth closets are nowhere to be found. Were

there faults inherent in the design of the earth closet that may have led

to its demise? Well, yes, in fact, there is a hygienic issue with the use

of earth in a toilet of this nature. Jenkins’s three rules of human sani

tation were not known back then (and still aren’t): (1) never allow

human excrement to come in contact with water; (2) never allow

human excrement to come into contact with soil; and (3) wash your

hands after defecating (OK, the third rule is well known). Obviously,

Moule was well aware of the first rule, but the second rule of sanitation

was violated when soil was used as a “cover material.”

What’s wrong with soil? It’s everywhere, it’s cheap or free, it’s an

inexhaustible resource, and it’s an excellent biofilter. The answer, in a

word, is parasites. Some intestinal parasites coevolved with humans

over millennia simply because we have the habit of defecating on soil.

Several human intestinal parasites therefore evolved requiring a period

in soil during their life cycle. When we’re allowing human excrement

to come in contact with soil, we’re enabling these parasites to multiply.

For example, roundworms (Ascaris lumbricoides) do not multiply in the

human host; instead, eggs are excreted in feces, allowing the larval

stage to develop in soil. However, knowledge about the life cycle of

The Humanure Handbook ??— 4th Edition — Chapter Twelve 155

roundworms was unknown until 1916, long after the demise of Moule’s

earth closet.

Humans acquire roundworm infections (ascariasis) by ingesting

food, water, or soil contaminated with embryonated eggs. Parasitized

people contaminate soil with roundworm eggs by defecating on the

soil, which, after embryona tion, offers a source of new infection or re

infection. People ingest infective eggs by putting their dirty fingers in

their mouths (see Jenkins’s rule of sanitation #3). In hot and humid

areas of rural Africa, Asia, and Latin America up to 93 percent of all

inhabitants in some villages may be infected with roundworms. In

highly endemic areas several hundred roundworms per person are not

uncommon and cases of more than two thousand worms in individual

children have been reported. Roundworm infections are common in

China, India, Southeast Asia, the Philippines, Japan, Russia, Afghan

istan, Iran, throughout Africa and Egypt, and in Central and South

America. Even in the US in the Gulf Coast states and rural parts of

southern Appalachia, up to 30 percent of the population may be in

fected in some areas.20 And the roundworm is only one example of a

parasite that requires humans to crap on soil.

So now you know what Jenkins’s second rule of sanitation is all

about, and why there was a fatal flaw in Moule’s earth closet design.

By using soil as a cover material, anyone infected with intestinal para

sites could have been passing those parasites on to those handling the

soil coming out of the toilet, whether they were simply drying the soil,

or using the soil in their gardens. They had no way of knowing any

thing about this at that time, but we know now.

Moule’s toilet design needed to be tweaked. Instead of soil, a car

bon-based cover material, such as sawdust, should have been used.

Then the collected material could have been composted, and any par

asites would have been killed during the composting process. Granted,

carbon-based materials are not as available as soil, but such compost toi

lets could be used to a limited degree where water toilets were not avail

able, and they could be used in a widespread sense in societies,

countries, or cultures where water toilets do not exist.

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158 The Humanure Handbook ??— 4th Edition — Chapter Twelve

BUCKET AND PAIL TOILETS

There are two words that should never be used in association with

compost toilets. One is “waste,” as I have repeatedly mentioned, and

the other is “bucket.” Some compost toilets utilize five-gallon buckets

as toilet receptacles. Others use drums, urns, barrels, bins, or any re

ceptacle that is water-tight and manageable, depending on the situ

ation. Five gallons or approximately twenty liters is a good capacity for

easy handling by one person, and a five-gallon container will hold ap

proximately one week’s excretions of one typical adult, assuming an

appropriate cover material is used. Five-gallon plastic buckets are easy

to come by in some countries, such as the US, where they can be ac

quired cheaply or for free when recycled. In other countries, believe it

or not, they can be nearly impossible to find.

Some people who grow up in water toilet cultures can become per

turbed at the idea of using a compost toilet. One person posted on a

blog during Cape Town, South Africa’s severe drought in 2018, “I’m

not going to shit in a bucket. That’s disgusting!” I responded that they

would be shitting in a compost toilet, as opposed to shitting in a pot of

drinking water. Funny that defecating in drinkable water is not con

sidered disgusting at all, even when the potable water supply had dwin

dled to dangerous levels and was looking like it might dry up

completely.

Humans are the only land animal that intentionally defecates in

water. Water toilet users will seek out water to poop in even when there

is little to be found. One lady on another blog during California’s severe

drought in 2017 wrote that her water well had dried up, as had all her

neighbors’. Only one farm still had an operating well, and she had to

drive over there to bring back the precious water in jugs. She had to

shit in something, so she poured the water into her toilet.

I would call this putting all one’s eggs in one basket, or else going

way out on a limb. Water toilet cultures don’t have any viable alter

native to defecating in their water supplies, other than to revert to open

defecation or pit latrines again. This strikes me as being dangerous,

The Humanure Handbook ??— 4th Edition — Chapter Twelve 159

reckless, and imprudent, especially in this day and age when climate

change can cause widespread power outages and other mayhem. A five

gallon receptacle utilized as a compost toilet and a bag of compressed

peat moss for cover material can service one person for one week. If

the receptacle is regularly emptied into a compost bin, then it can last

until the peat moss runs out, which would be weeks. A steady supply

of cover material and a compost bin or bins can yield a compost toilet

system that can last a lifetime. And compost bins can be built easily

and quickly. A durable pallet bin can be built in 10 minutes. A wire

bin can be thrown up in a very short time, too. But I digress.

“Bucket toilets” are a thing. They are not compost toilets. Bucket

toilets were commonly used in, for example, prisons, where inmates

had to shit in open buckets. No cover material was used, and the bucket

contents were simply dumped outside somewhere, or maybe down a

sewer hole. They smelled horribly, attracted flies, and severely de

tracted from the quality of life. People hated them.

Bucket toilets date back generations, are widely condemned by san

itation professionals, and are not to be confused with compost toilets.

For example, the World Health Organization describes a bucket toilet

as an “example of containment technologies that does not reduce the

likelihood or severity of exposure to hazardous events.”21

Even when a compost toilet utilizes buckets as toilet receptacles, it

is still not a bucket toilet. The best approach is to avoid the use of the

160 The Humanure Handbook ??— 4th Edition — Chapter Twelve

word “bucket” altogether when discussing compost toilets. Most

people know little about compost toilets, but bucket toilets have a long

history. They are not to be confused.

An interesting example of a bucket toilet system involved the city

of Syracuse, New York, where Skaneateles Lake, located in the Finger

Lakes region of New York State, serves as its primary drinking water

source. The lake is one of the few remaining unfiltered drinking water

supplies left in the US. The village of Skaneateles, on the north-end of

the lake, is connected to a municipal sewer system. But the residents

of the village are only 8 percent of the residences located within the

watershed. Forty percent of all watershed houses are on the lakefront.

The potential for water pollution should be obvious. Any leaking out

house, septic system, or pit latrine could pollute and endanger the

drinking water for an entire city.

For a hundred years, a municipal service was provided to collect

pails of raw sewage from outdoor toilets (privies) located at the res

idences around the lake. Cottage owners using this service were accus

tomed to the foul odors, unsanitary conditions, and inconvenience

associated with using an outdoor toilet in wintry New York, where the

toilet was nothing more than a stinky bucket. Collecting the buckets

at least kept the sewage out of the lake, but the outdoor pail privies had

to be an unpleasant aspect of living on a lake shore. The sewage was

hauled away and disposed of, most likely down sewer drains.

After a century of this, the residents switched to on-site dry toilets.

Cottage owners were closely involved with selecting the toilet models

and deciding where to put them, either in the cottages or in the existing

privies. A total of seventy-four dry toilets were installed.

For a hundred years the residents surrounding the lake had to use

bucket toilets. However, New York is a heavily forested state, and saw

dust from the timber industry is plentiful and has been for generations.

Such sawdust is a 100 percent effective biofilter, if they had utilized it

as a cover material in their toilets, there would have been no odor or

flies. The toilets could have been located comfortably indoors. The re

sulting container of feces, urine, and sawdust, instead of being dumped

The Humanure Handbook ??— 4th Edition — Chapter Twelve 161

into sewers as a waste material, could have been dumped into compost

bins and recycled. In fact, the cottage owners could have had their own

compost bins and had a completely decentralized, ecological sanitation

system located right on their own property, if they wanted to have the

compost for growing things. They could have had beautiful shrubbery

and fruit trees instead of a stinky bucket toilet and the associated waste

if they had used odorless, indoor compost toilets. But nobody knew.22

FECAPHOBIA

We don’t grow food with “human waste,” nor do we grow gardens

with “night soil.” We feed microorganisms in a compost environment

with humanure. We also feed those microorganisms with a lot of other

things — other animal manures, banana peels, coffee grounds, meat,

bones, fats, all sorts of food scraps, animal mortalities, garden residues,

grass clippings, leaves, and so on. The microorganisms, over time, con

vert the organic materials into compost. Then we feed the compost to

soil, which makes it available to plants. Then either we eat the plants

or we feed the plants to animals, then eat the animals or their bypro

ducts.

It’s a mistake to apply human excrement directly to soil; that’s why

we don’t. Just as with defecating on soil, there are too many opportu

nities for pathogenic organisms to find their way back to their human

hosts when violating Jenkins’ second rule of sanitation. However, when

we compost humanure, we break the cycle of pathogen infection. Al

though this is well-established science, there are plenty of skeptics.

The belief that compost is unsafe for agricultural use when human

ure is a feedstock is what I call “fecaphobia.” People believe that it’s

dangerous and unwise to use human excretions for making compost.

Yet humanure is best rendered hygienically safe by composting. Nev

ertheless, in Finland, for example, compost that included human ma

nure as a feedstock cannot be used in commercial agriculture. In

Arizona, compost made from any manure can’t be used for remediating

public roadsides. A person managing a commercial composting oper-

162 The Humanure Handbook ??— 4th Edition — Chapter Twelve

ation posted a question on a blog, “Can I still compost food scraps col

lected at a public venue if there was a tissue in it from a restroom?” So

don’t expect humanure composting to go mainstream in the US or else

where any time soon. The exception is where water toilets are not in

use. Those communities aren’t afflicted with fecaphobia and are en

thusiastic about humanure composting because compost toilets offer

an alternative to a pit latrine. Like the water closets in the late 1800s

providing a sanitation revolution for people who were tired of out

houses, compost toilets can provide the same revolution for many

people worldwide today.

The day will come when municipally collected organic materials

will include toilet materials. There are already opportunities for Amer

icans to start to develop some expertise in the field of ecological sani

tation. For one, anywhere portable toilets are used, such as at large

gatherings, music festivals, camp sites, and so forth, where plumbing

or even electricity is not available, compost toilets can be a solution.

The regulatory hurdles and statutory barriers must be removed; other

wise there is no way this solution can be developed. For example, some

states define human excrement as a waste product that must be disposed

of. Yet human excrement can be constructively recycled by composting,

not wasted at all, and not referred to as “human waste,” anymore, but

instead referred to as “humanure.” When humanure is composted,

there is no sewage, no waste, and no pollution. Instead, there is com

post. Compost toilets are waste-free toilets. No waste goes into a com

post toilet, and none comes out.

BACK TO ASIA

Did Asians really make compost, historically? It is well known that

Asians have recycled humanure for centuries, probably millennia, but

historical information concerning the composting of humanure in Asia

seems difficult to find. Rybczynski et al. state that composting was only

introduced in China in a systematic way in the 1930s and that it wasn't

until 1956 that dry toilets were used on a wide scale in Vietnam.23

The Humanure Handbook ??— 4th Edition — Chapter Twelve 163

A book published in 1978 and translated from the original Chinese

indicates that composting had not been a cultural practice in China

until only recently. An agricultural report from the Province of Hopei

states that the standardized management and hygienic disposal (i.e.,

composting) of excreta and urine was only initiated there in 1964. The

composting techniques being developed at that time included the seg

regation of feces and urine, which were later “poured into a mixing

tank and mixed well to form a dense fecal liquid” before being piled

on a compost heap. The compost was made of 25% human feces and

urine, 25 percent livestock manure, 25 percent miscellaneous organic

refuse and 25 percent soil.24

A report from a hygienic committee of the Province of Shantung

lists three traditional methods used in that province for the recycling

of humanure:

1) Drying — "Drying has been the most common method of treating

human excrement and urine for years." It is a method that causes a signif

icant loss of nitrogen.

2) Using it raw, a method that is known to allow pathogen trans

mission.

3) "Connecting the household pit privy to the pig pen.... a method that

has been used for centuries." This is an unsanitary method in which the

excrement was simply eaten by a pig.25

No mention is made whatsoever of composting being a traditional

method used by the Chinese for recycling humanure. On the contrary,

all indications were that the Chinese government in the 1960s was, at

that time, attempting to establish composting as preferable to the three

traditional methods listed above, mainly because the three methods

were hygienically unsafe, while composting, when properly managed,

would destroy pathogens in humanure while preserving agriculturally

valuable nutrients. This report also indicated that soil was being used

as an ingredient in the compost, or, to quote directly, “Generally, it is

adequate to combine 40 to 50 percent of excreta and urine with 50 to

60 percent of polluted soil and weeds.” Generally speaking, soil is not

a recommended additive for composting. Weeds yes, soil no. Soil

164 The Humanure Handbook ??— 4th Edition — Chapter Twelve

doesn’t hurt compost, but the microbes don’t eat it, they produce it.

Rybczynski’s World Bank research on low-cost options for sanita

tion considered over twenty thousand references and reviewed approx

imately twelve hundred documents. Their review of Asian composting

includes the following information, which I have condensed:

There are no reports of dry privies or toilets being used on a wide

scale until the 1950s, when the Democratic Republic of Vietnam initi

ated a five-year plan of rural hygiene and a large number of anaerobic

dry toilets were built. These toilets, known as the Vietnamese double

vault, consisted of two aboveground watertight tanks, or vaults, for the

collection of humanure. For a family of five to ten people, each vault

was required to be 1.2 meters wide, 0.7 meters high and 1.7 meters long

(approximately 4 feet wide by 28 inches high and 5 feet, 7 inches long).

One tank was used until full and left to decompose while the other tank

was used. The use of this sort of dry toilet requires the segregation of

urine, which is diverted to a separate receptacle through a groove on

the floor of the toilet. Fecal material is collected in the tank and covered

with soil, where it anaerobically decomposes. Kitchen ashes are added

to the fecal material to help reduce odor.

Eighty-five percent of intestinal roundworm eggs, one of the most

persistent human pathogens, were found to be destroyed after a two

month period in this system. Organic material from such latrines is re

ported to increase crop yields by 10 to 25 percent in comparison to the

use of raw night soil. The success of the Vietnamese double vault re

quired “long and persistent health education programs.”26

When this system was exported to Mexico, the result was "over

whelmingly positive," according to one source, who adds, “Properly

managed, there is no smell and no fly breeding in these toilets. They

seem to work particularly well in the dry climate of the Mexican high

lands. Where the system has failed because of wetness in the processing

chamber, odors, and/or fly breeding, it was usually due to non-existent,

weak, or bungled information, training, and follow-up.”27

Another anaerobic double-vault dry toilet used in Vietnam in

cluded using both fecal material and urine. In this system, the bottoms

The Humanure Handbook ??— 4th Edition — Chapter Twelve 165

166 The Humanure Handbook ??— 4th Edition — Chapter Twelve

The Humanure Handbook ??— 4th Edition — Chapter Twelve 167

of the vaults were perforated to allow drainage, and urine was filtered

through limestone to neutralize acidity. Other organic refuse is also

added to the vaults, and ventilation is provided via a pipe.

COMMERCIAL DRY TOILETS

Because no water is used or required during the operation of dry

toilets, human excrement is kept out of water supplies. A single person

using a Clivus (pronounced Clee-vus) Multrum will produce 88 pounds

of organic material per year while refraining from polluting 6,604 gal

lons of water annually.28 The finished septage can be used as a soil ad

ditive where the material will not come in contact with food crops.

Dry toilets, when used properly, should provide a suitable alter

native to water toilets for people who don’t have water to waste. Inex

pensive versions of dry toilets were introduced into the Philippines,

Argentina, Botswana, and Tanzania, but were not successful. According

to one source, “Units I inspected in Africa were the most unpleasant

and foul-smelling household latrines I have experienced. The trouble

was that the mixture of excreta and vegetable matter was too wet, and

insufficient vegetable matter was added, especially during the dry sea

son.”29 Too much liquid will create anaerobic conditions with con

sequent odors. The aerobic nature of the organic mass can be improved

by the regular addition of carbonaceous bulking materials. Your nose

will soon let you know if you're doing something wrong.

A variety of other dry toilets is available on the market today. Some

cost upward of $10,000 and can be equipped with insulated tanks, con

veyers, motor-driven agitators, pumps, sprayers, and exhaust fans.30

According to a dry toilet manufacturer, waterless toilets can reduce

household water consumption by forty thousand gallons per year.31

This is significant when one considers that only 3 percent of the Earth's

water is not salt water, and two-thirds of the freshwater is locked up in

ice. That means that less than 1 percent of the Earth's water is available

as drinking water. Why shit in it?

168 The Humanure Handbook ??— 4th Edition — Chapter Twelve

Chapter Thirteen

Worms and Disease

Human excrement has a bad reputation — unfairly so, because it’s

not the excrement that’s bad; it’s what we do with it that makes it bad.

When we discard it as waste and pollution, we create health hazards.

When we feed it to microbes and return it to the soil, we create health

benefits. Although the former situation is well known, most people

don’t know anything about the latter.

In the late seventies when I first informed a friend that I intended

to compost humanure and grow food with it, the response was predict

able: “Oh my God, you can’t do that!” she exclaimed.

“Why not?”

“Worms and disease!”

A young British couple was visiting me one summer after I had

been composting humanure for about six years. One evening, as dinner

was being prepared, the couple suddenly understood their horrible sit

uation: The food they were about to eat was recycled shit. When this

fact dawned on them, it seemed to set off an instinctive alarm, possibly

inherited directly from Queen Victoria. “We don’t want to eat shit!”

they informed me, rather distressed (that’s an exact quote), as if in pre

paring dinner I had simply set a turd on a plate in front of them with

a knife and fork.

Fecaphobia is alive and well and running rampant. One common

The Humanure Handbook ??— 4th Edition — Chapter Thirteen 169

misconception is that fecal material, when composted, remains fecal

material. It does not. Humanure comes from the earth, and through

the miraculous process of composting, is converted back into earth.

When the composting process is finished, the end product is compost,

not poop, and it is valuable for growing food. When you eat a piece of

cherry pie and it’s processed through your digestive system, is what

comes out the other end cherry pie? Nope, it’s poop. The cherry pie is

gone. When microbes eat poop, they convert it to something else too.

In a compost pile, the end product is compost. The poop is gone.

Humanure is not any more dangerous than the body from which

it is excreted. The danger lies in what we do with the excrement, not

in the material itself. A glass jar is not dangerous either, but if we smash

it on the kitchen floor and walk on it with bare feet, we will be harmed.

If we use a glass jar improperly and dangerously, we will suffer for it,

but that’s no reason to condemn glass jars. When we discard humanure

as a waste material and pollute our soil and water supplies with it, we

are using it improperly, and that is where the danger lies. When we

constructively recycle humanure by composting, it enriches our soil,

and, like a glass jar, actually makes life easier for us.

Not all cultures think of human excrement in a negative way. For

example, swear words meaning excrement did not seem to exist in the

Chinese language at one time. The Tokyo bureau chief for the New

York Times explains why: I realized why people [in China] did not use

170 The Humanure Handbook ??— 4th Edition — Chapter Thirteen

words for excrement in a negative way. Traditionally, there was nothing more

valuable to a peasant than [humanure].1 Calling someone a “humanure

head” just doesn’t sound like an insult. “Humanure for brains” doesn’t

work, either. If you told someone he was “full of humanure,” he’d prob

ably agree with you. “Shit,” on the other hand, is a substance that is

widely denounced and has a long history of excoriation in the Western

world. Our ancestors failed to responsibly recycle the substance and

thereby caused monumental public health problems. Consequently, the

attitude that humanure itself is terribly dangerous has been embraced

and promulgated up to the present day.

For example, an American book on the topic of recycling “human

waste” begins with the following disclaimer: “Recycling human waste

can be extremely dangerous to your health, the health of your com

munity and the health of the soil. Because of the current limits to gen

eral public knowledge, [we] strongly discourage the recycling of human

waste on an individual or community basis at this time and cannot as

sume responsibility for the results that occur from practicing any of

the methods described in this publication.” The author adds, “Before

experimenting, obtain permission from your local health authority

since the health risks are great.” The author then elaborates on a

human “waste” composting methodology that includes segregating

urine from feces, collecting the manure in thirty-gallon plastic con

tainers, and using straw rather than sawdust as a cover material in the

toilet.2 All three of these procedures are ones I would discourage based

on my forty years of humanure composting experience — there is no

need to go to the bother of segregating urine; a thirty-gallon container

is too big and heavy to be able to handle easily; and sawmill sawdust

does, in fact, work beautifully in a composting toilet, much better than

straw. These issues will be discussed in the next chapter.

I had to ask myself why an author writing a book on recycling hu

manure would “strongly discourage the recycling of human waste,”

which seems counterproductive, to say the least. If I didn’t already

know that recycling humanure was easy, simple, and beneficial, I might

be totally petrified at the thought of attempting such an “extremely

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dangerous” undertaking after reading that book. And the last thing

anyone wants to do is get the local health authorities involved. If there

is anyone who knows little about composting, it’s probably the local

health authority, who likely receives no such training.

The “bio-dynamic” agricultural movement, founded by Dr. Rudolf

Steiner, provides another example of fecaphobia. Dr. Steiner has quite

some following around the world, and many of his teachings are fol

lowed almost religiously by his disciples. The Austrian scientist and

spiritual leader had his own opinions about the recycling of humanure,

based on intuition rather than on experience or science. He insisted

that humanure must only be used to fertilize soil to grow plants to feed

animals other than humans. The manure from those animals can then

be used to fertilize soil to grow plants for human consumption. Ac

cording to Steiner, humans must never get any closer to a direct human

nutrient cycle than that. Otherwise, they will suffer “brain damage and

nervous disorders.” Steiner further warned against using “lavatory

fluid,” including human urine, which “should never be used as a fer

tilizer, no matter how well-processed or aged it is.”3 Steiner, quite

frankly, was ill-informed, incorrect, and fecaphobic, and that fecapho

bia has no doubt rubbed off on some of his followers.

History is rife with humanure misconceptions. At one time, doc

tors insisted that human excrement should be an important and nec

essary part of one’s personal environment. They argued that, “fatal

illness may result from not allowing a certain amount of filth to remain

in [street] gutters to attract those putrescent particles of disease which

are ever present in the air.” At that time, toilet contents were simply

dumped in the street. Doctors believed that the germs in the air would

be drawn to the filth in the street and therefore away from the people.

This line of reasoning so influenced the population that many home

owners attached their outhouses to their kitchens to keep their food

germ-free and wholesome.4 The results were just the opposite — flies

made frequent trips between the toilet contents and the food table.

By the early 1900s the US government was condemning the use of

humanure for agricultural purposes, warning of dire consequences, in-

172 The Humanure Handbook ??— 4th Edition — Chapter Thirteen

cluding death, to those who would dare to do otherwise. A 1928 US

Department of Agriculture bulletin made the risks crystal clear:

Any spittoon, slop pail, sink drain, urinal, privy, cesspool, sewage

tank, or sewage distribution field is a potential danger. A bit of spit,

urine, or feces the size of a pin head may contain many hundred germs,

all invisible to the naked eye and each one capable of producing disease.

These discharges should be kept away from the food and drink of [hu

mans] and animals. From specific germs that may be carried in sewage

at any time, there may result typhoid fever, tuberculosis, cholera, dys

entery, diarrhea, and other dangerous ailments, and it is probable that

other maladies may be traced to human waste. From certain animal

parasites or their eggs that may be carried in sewage there may result

intestinal worms, of which the more common are the hookworm, round

worm, whipworm, eelworm, tapeworm, and seat worm.

Disease germs are carried by many agencies and unsuspectingly

received by devious routes into the human body. Infection may come

from the swirling dust of the railway roadbed, from contact with tran

sitory or chronic carriers of disease, from green truck [vegetables] grown

in gardens fertilized with night soil or sewage, from food prepared or

touched by unclean hands or visited by flies or vermin, from milk han

dled by sick or careless dairymen, from milk cans or utensils washed

with contaminated water, or from cisterns, wells, springs, reservoirs, ir

rigation ditches, brooks, or lakes receiving the surface wash or the un

derground drainage from sewage-polluted soil.

The bulletin continues, “In September and October 1899, 63 cases

of typhoid fever, resulting in five deaths, occurred at the Northampton

(Mass.) insane hospital. This epidemic was conclusively traced to

celery, which was eaten freely in August and was grown and banked in

a plot that had been fertilized in the late winter or early spring with

the solid residue and scrapings from a sewage filter bed situated on the

hospital grounds.”

And to drive home the point that human excrement is highly dan

The Humanure Handbook ??— 4th Edition — Chapter Thirteen 173

gerous, the bulletin adds, “Probably no epidemic in American history

better illustrates the dire results that may follow one thoughtless act

than the outbreak of typhoid fever at Plymouth, Pa., in 1885. In Janu

ary and February of that year the night discharges of one typhoid fever

patient were thrown out upon the snow near his home. These, carried

by spring thaws into the public water supply, caused an epidemic run

ning from April to September. In a total population of about 8,000,

1,104 persons were attacked by the disease and 114 died.” They could

have thrown those night discharges into a compost pile where microbes

would have eliminated the threat of disease, but they didn’t know about

this option at that time, and, ironically, neither do most government

agencies today, nearly a century and a half later.

The US government bulletin insisted that the use of human excre

ment as fertilizer was “dangerous” and “disgusting.” It warned that

“under no circumstances should such wastes be used on land devoted

to celery, lettuce, radishes, cucumbers, cabbages, tomatoes, melons, or

other vegetables, berries, or low-growing fruits that are eaten raw. Dis

ease germs or particles of soil containing such germs may adhere to the

skins of vegetables or fruits and infect the eater.” The bulletin added,

“Never use [human] waste to fertilize or irrigate vegetable gardens.”

The fear of human excrement was so severe it was advised that the

contents of collection toilets be burned, boiled, or chemically disinfec

ted, then buried in a trench.5

This degree of fecaphobia, fostered and spread by government au

thorities and others who knew of no constructive alternatives to waste

disposal, still maintains a firm grip on the Western psyche. It may take

a long time to eliminate. A more constructive attitude is displayed by

scientists with a broader knowledge of the subject of recycling human

ure for agricultural purposes. They realize that the benefits of proper

humanure recycling “far outweigh any disadvantages from the health

point of view.”6

174 The Humanure Handbook ??— 4th Edition — Chapter Thirteen

THE HUNZAS

It’s already been mentioned that entire civilizations have recycled

humanure for thousands of years. That should provide a fairly con

vincing testimony about the usefulness of humanure as an agricultural

resource. You may have heard of the “Healthy Hunzas,” a people in

what is now a part of Pakistan who reside among the Himalayan peaks,

and routinely live to be 120 years old. The Hunzas gained fame in the

United States during the 1960s health food era when several books were

written about the fantastic longevity of this ancient people. Their ex

traordinary health has been attributed to the quality of their overall

lifestyle, including the quality of the natural food they eat and the soil

it’s grown on. Few people, however, realize that the Hunzas also recy

cled their humanure and used it to grow their food. They’re said to

have virtually no disease, no cancer, no heart or intestinal trouble, and

they regularly live to be over a hundred years old while “singing, danc

ing, and making love all the way to the grave.”

According to one account, “In their manuring, the Hunzakuts re

turn everything they can to the soil: all vegetable parts and pieces that

will not serve as food for humans or beast, including such fallen leaves

as the cattle will not eat, mixed with their own seasoned excrement,

plus dung and urine from their barns. Like their Chinese neighbors,

the Hunzakuts save their own manure in special underground vats,

clear of any contaminable streams, there to be seasoned for a good six

months. Everything that once had life is given new to life through lov

ing hands.”7

Sir Albert Howard wrote in 1947, “The Hunzas are described as

far surpassing in health and strength the inhabitants of most other

countries; a Hunza can walk across the mountains to Gilgit sixty miles

away, transact his business, and return forthwith without feeling

unduly fatigued.” Sir Howard maintains that this is illustrative of the

vital connection between a sound agriculture and good health, insisting

that the Hunzas have evolved a system of farming that is perfect. He

adds, “To provide the essential humus, every kind of waste [sic], vege

The Humanure Handbook ??— 4th Edition — Chapter Thirteen 175

table, animal and human, is mixed and decayed together by the culti

vators and incorporated into the soil.”8

McCarrison, former medical office of the Gilgit Agency, described

the health of the Hunzas: “During the period of my association with

these people I never saw a case of asthenic dyspepsia, of gastric or

duodenal ulcer, of appendicitis, of mucous colitis, of cancer.... Among

these people the abdomen over-sensitive to nerve impressions, to fa

tigue, anxiety, or cold was unknown. Indeed, their buoyant abdominal

health has, since my return to the West, provided a remarkable contrast

with the dyspeptic and colonic lamentations of our highly civilized

communities.”9

Sir Howard adds, “The remarkable health of these people is one of

the consequences of their agriculture, in which the law of return is

scrupulously obeyed. All their vegetable, animal and human wastes

[sic] are carefully returned to the soil of the irrigated terraces which

produce the grain, fruit, and vegetables which feed them.”10

The Hunzas recycled their organic material, incorrectly referred

to as “waste” by Sir Howard, thereby enhancing their personal health

and the health of their community. The US Department of Agriculture

was unaware of the natural process of composting in 1928 when they

described the recycling of humanure as “dangerous and disgusting.”

No doubt the USDA would have been scratching their heads about the

Hunzas, who had for centuries safely and constructively engaged in

such recycling.

PATHOGENS

Much of the information in this section is adapted from Appropriate Technology for Water

Supply and Sanitation, by Feachem et al., World Bank, 1980. This comprehensive work

cites 394 references and was carried out as part of the World Bank’s research project

on appropriate technology for water supply and sanitation.11

Clearly, even the primitive composting of humanure for agricul

tural purposes does not necessarily pose a threat to human health, as

was made evident by the Hunzas. Yet fecal contamination of the envi-

176 The Humanure Handbook ??— 4th Edition — Chapter Thirteen

ronment certainly can pose a threat. Feces can harbor a host of disease

organisms that can contaminate the environment to infect innocent

people when infected human excrement is discarded as a waste material

and pollutant. In fact, even a healthy person apparently free of disease

can pass potentially dangerous pathogens through his or her feces,

simply by being a carrier. The World Health Organization estimates

that 80 percent of all diseases are related to inadequate sanitation and

polluted water, and that half of the world’s hospital beds are occupied

by patients who suffer from water-related diseases.12 Understanding

how to compost humanure would certainly seem like a worthwhile un

dertaking worldwide.

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178 The Humanure Handbook ??— 4th Edition — Chapter Thirteen

The following information is not meant to be alarming. It’s in

cluded for the sake of thoroughness, and to illustrate the need to com

post humanure, rather than to discard it as waste or to use it raw for

agricultural purposes. When the composting process is side-stepped,

and pathogenic waste is dispersed into the environment, various dis

eases and worms can infect the population living in the contaminated

area. This fact has been widely documented.

Consider the following quote: “The use of night soil [raw human fecal

material and urine] as fertilizer is not without its health hazards. Hepatitis B

is prevalent in Dacaiyuan [China], as it is in the rest of China. Some effort

is being made to chemically treat [humanure] or at least to mix it with other

ingredients before it is applied to the fields. But chemicals are expensive, and

old ways die hard. Night soil is one reason why urban Chinese are so scrupu

lous about peeling fruit, and why raw vegetables are not part of the diet. Neg

ative features aside, one has only to look at satellite photos of the green belt

that surrounds China’s cities to understand the value of night soil.”13

On the other hand, “worms and disease” are not spread by properly

prepared compost, nor by healthy people. There is no reason to believe

that the manure of a human being is dangerous unless allowed to ac

cumulate in the environment, pollute water with intestinal bacteria, or

breed flies and rats, all of which are the results of negligence. The

breath one exhales can also be the carrier of dangerous pathogens, as

can one’s saliva and sputum. The issue is confused by the notion that

if something is potentially dangerous, then it is always dangerous, which

is not true. It is generally not understood that the composting of hu

manure converts it into a sanitized agricultural resource. No other sys

tem of fecal material recycling or disposal can so effectively achieve

this without the use of dangerous chemical poisons or a high level of

technology and energy consumption.

Even urine, usually considered sterile, can contain disease germs

(Table 1). Urine, like humanure, is valuable for its soil nutrients. It is

estimated that one person’s annual urine output contains enough soil

nutrients to grow grain to feed that person for a year.14 Therefore, it is

just as important to recycle urine as it is to recycle humanure, and com

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180 The Humanure Handbook ??— 4th Edition — Chapter Thirteen

posting provides an excellent means for doing so.

The pathogens that can exist in humanure can be divided into four

general categories: viruses, bacteria, protozoa, and worms (helminths).

VIRUSES

First discovered in the 1890s by a Russian scientist, viruses are

among the simplest and smallest biological entities. Many scientists

don’t even consider them to be organisms. They are much smaller and

simpler than bacteria and the simplest form may consist only of an

RNA molecule. By definition, a virus is an entity that contains the in

formation necessary for its own replication but does not possess the

physical elements for such replication — they have the software but

not the hardware. To reproduce, therefore, viruses rely on the hardware

of the infected host cell, which is re-programmed by the virus to re

produce viral nucleic acid. Viruses cannot reproduce outside their cel

lular host.15

There are more than 140 types of viruses worldwide that can be

passed through human feces, including polioviruses, coxsackieviruses

(causing meningitis and myocarditis), echoviruses (causing meningitis

and enteritis), reovirus (causing enteritis), adenovirus (causing respi

ratory illness), infectious hepatitis (causing jaundice), and others (Table

3). During periods of infection, one hundred million to one trillion vi

ruses can be excreted with each gram of fecal material.16

BACTERIA

Of the pathogenic bacteria, the genus Salmonella is significant be

cause it contains species causing typhoid fever, paratyphoid, and gas

trointestinal disturbances. Another genus of bacteria, Shigella, causes

dysentery. Myobacteria cause tuberculosis (Table 4 lists some of the

bacteria). However, according to Gotaas, pathogenic bacteria in com

post “are unable to survive temperatures of [131°-140°F] 55° to 60°C

for longer than 30 minutes to one hour.”17

The Humanure Handbook ??— 4th Edition — Chapter Thirteen 181

PROTOZOA

The pathogenic protozoa include Entamoeba histolytica (causing

amoebic dysentery), and members of the Hartmanella-Naegleria group

(causing meningo-encephalitis). The cyst stage in the life cycle of pro

tozoa is the primary means of dissemination as the amoeba die quickly

once outside the human body. Cysts must be kept moist to remain vi

able for any extended period.18 See Table 5.

PARASITIC WORMS

A number of parasitic worms pass their eggs in feces, including

hookworms, roundworms (Ascaris), and whipworms (Table 6). Various

researchers have reported 59 to 80 worm eggs in sampled liters of sew-

182 The Humanure Handbook ??— 4th Edition — Chapter Thirteen

The Humanure Handbook ??— 4th Edition — Chapter Thirteen 183

age. This suggests that billions of pathogenic worm eggs may reach a

wastewater treatment plant daily in some parts of the world. These eggs

tend to be resistant to environmental conditions because of their thick

outer covering,19 and they are extremely resistant to the sludge diges

tion process common in wastewater treatment plants. Three months’

exposure to anaerobic sludge digestion processes appears to have little

effect on the viability of Ascaris eggs; after six months, 10 percent of

the eggs may still be viable. Even after a year in sludge, some viable

eggs may be found.20 In 1949 an epidemic of roundworm infestation in

Germany was directly traced to the use of raw sewage to fertilize gar

dens. The sewage contained 540 Ascaris eggs per 100 ml; over 90 per

cent of the population became infected.21

If there are 59 to 80 worm eggs in a liter sample of sewage, then we

could reasonably estimate that there are 70 eggs per liter, or 280 eggs

per gallon to get a rough average. That means approximately 280 patho

genic worm eggs per gallon of wastewater could enter wastewater treat

ment plants in infected localities. A plant serving a population of eight

thousand people and collecting about 1.5 million gallons of wastewater

daily could have 420 million worm eggs entering the plant each day

and settling into the sludge. In a year’s time, over 153 billion parasitic

eggs can pass through a small-town wastewater facility. Let’s look at

the worst-case scenario: All the eggs survive in the sludge because

they’re resistant to the environmental conditions at the plant. During

the year, thirty tractor-trailer loads of sludge are hauled out of a facility

of that size. Each truckload of sludge could theoretically contain over

5 billion pathogenic worm eggs, en route to maybe a farmer’s field, but

probably to a landfill.

As already mentioned, roundworms co-evolved over millennia as

parasites of the human species by taking advantage of the long-stand

ing human habit of defecating on soil. Since roundworms live in the

human intestines but require a period in the soil for their development,

their species is perpetuated by our excretory habits. If we humans never

allowed our excrement to come in contact with soil, and if we instead

composted it, the parasitic species known as Ascaris lumbricoides, a par-

184 The Humanure Handbook ??— 4th Edition — Chapter Thirteen

asite that has plagued us for perhaps hundreds of thousands of years,

would soon become extinct. Otherwise, we will continue to be out

smarted by the parasitic worms that rely on our ignorance and care

lessness for their own survival.

INDICATOR PATHOGENS

Indicator pathogens are those whose detection in soil or water

serves as evidence that fecal contamination exists.

The astute reader will have noticed that many of the pathogenic

worms listed in Table 6 are not found in the United States. Of those

that are, the Ascaris lumbricoides (roundworm) is the most persistent

and can serve as an indicator for the presence of pathogenic helminths

in the environment.

A single female roundworm may lay as many as twenty-seven mil

lion eggs in her lifetime.22 These eggs are protected by an outer cover

ing that is resistant to chemicals and enables the eggs to remain viable

in soil for long periods of time. The egg shell is made of five separate

layers: an outer and inner membrane, with three tough layers in be

tween. The outer membrane may become partially hardened by hostile

environmental influences.23 The reported viability of roundworm eggs

(Ascaris ova) in soil ranges from a couple of weeks under sunny, sandy

conditions24 to two and a half years,25 four years,26 five and a half years,27

or even ten years28 in soil, depending on the source of the information.

Consequently, the eggs of the roundworm seem to be the best indicator

for determining if parasitic worm pathogens are present in compost.

In China, current standards for the agricultural reuse of humanure re

quire an Ascaris mortality of greater than 95 percent.

Ascaris eggs develop at temperatures between 60° and 95°F (15.5°C

and 35°C), but the eggs disintegrate at temperatures above 100.40° F

(38°C ).29 The temperatures generated during thermophilic composting

can easily exceed levels necessary to destroy roundworm eggs.

Although it’s extremely unlikely that cured compost would be con

taminated with Ascaris eggs, you can have a stool analysis done at a

The Humanure Handbook ??— 4th Edition — Chapter Thirteen 185

local hospital to check yourself. Such an analysis is relatively inexpen

sive. I subjected myself to three stool examinations over a period of

twelve years as part of the research for earlier editions of this book. I

had been composting humanure for fourteen years at the time of the

first testing, and twenty-six years at the time of the third. I had used

all of the compost in my food gardens. Hundreds of other people had

also used my toilet over the years, potentially contaminating it with

Ascaris. Yet, all stool examinations were completely negative. As of this

writing, four decades have passed since I began gardening with com

post made from humanure. During those years, I have raised several

healthy children. Our toilets have been used by countless people, in

cluding many strangers from around the world. All of the toilet mate

rial has been composted and the compost used for gardening purposes.

There are indicators other than roundworm eggs that can be used

to determine fecal contamination of water, soil, or compost. Indicator

bacteria include fecal coliforms, which reproduce in the intestinal sys

tems of warm-blooded animals (Table 7). If one wants to test a water

supply for fecal contamination, then one looks for fecal coliforms,

usually Escherichia coli, which is one of the most abundant intestinal

bacteria in humans; over two hundred specific types exist. Although

some of them can cause disease, most are harmless.30 The absence of

E. coli in water indicates that the water is free from fecal contamination.

Water tests often determine the level of total coliforms in the water,

reported as the number of coliforms per 100 ml. Total coliform counts

give a general indication of the sanitary condition of a water supply.

Total coliforms include bacteria that are found in the soil, or in water

influenced by surface water, and in human or animal excrements. Most

coliform bacteria do not cause disease, but some rare strains of E. coli,

particularly the strain 0157:H7, can cause serious illness. However, E.

coli 0157:H7 rarely contaminates drinking water supplies.31

Fecal coliforms do not multiply outside the intestines of warm

blooded animals, therefore their presence in water is unlikely unless

there is fecal pollution. Since fecal coliforms survive for a shorter time

in natural waters than the coliform group as a whole, their presence

186 The Humanure Handbook ??— 4th Edition — Chapter Thirteen

indicates relatively recent pollution. In domestic sewage, the fecal co

liform count is usually 90 percent or more of the total coliform count,

but in natural streams, fecal coliforms may only contribute 10 to 30

percent of the total coliform density. Almost all natural waters have a

presence of fecal coliforms, since all warm-blooded animals excrete

them. Most states in the US limit the fecal coliform concentration al

lowable in waters used for water sports to two hundred fecal coliforms

per 100 ml. Contrast this to the polluted Yamuna river in India, which

contains twenty-two million fecal coliforms per 100 ml.32 You don’t want

to be swimming in that water!

Bacterial analyses of drinking water supplies are routinely pro

vided for a small fee by agricultural supply firms, water treatment com

panies, or private labs.

PERSISTENCE OF PATHOGENS

IN SOIL, CROPS, MANURE, AND SLUDGE

IN SOIL

Survival times of pathogens in soil are affected by soil moisture,

pH, type of soil, temperature, sunlight, and organic matter. Although

fecal coliforms can survive for several years under optimum conditions,

a 99 percent reduction is likely within twenty-five days in warm cli

mates. Salmonella bacteria may survive for a year in rich, moist, or

ganic soil, although fifty days would be a more typical survival time.

Viruses can survive up to three months in warm weather and up to six

months in cold. Protozoan cysts are unlikely to survive for more than

ten days. Roundworm eggs can survive for several years.

The viruses, bacteria, protozoa, and worms that can be excreted in

humanure all have limited survival times outside of the human body.

Tables 8 through 12 reveal their survival times in soil.

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188 The Humanure Handbook ??— 4th Edition — Chapter Thirteen

The Humanure Handbook ??— 4th Edition — Chapter Thirteen 189

190 The Humanure Handbook ??— 4th Edition — Chapter Thirteen

SURVIVAL OF PATHOGENS ON CROPS

Bacteria and viruses are unlikely to penetrate undamaged vegetable

skins. Furthermore, pathogens are unlikely to be taken up in the roots

of plants and transported to other portions of the plant,33 although

some research indicates that pathogenic E. coli can enter lettuce plants

through the root systems and travel throughout the edible portions of

the plant, when the plants are fertilized using contaminated manure

and irrigation water.34

Some pathogens can survive on the surfaces of vegetables, espe

cially root vegetables, although sunshine and low air humidity will pro

mote their death. Viruses can survive up to two months on crops but

usually live less than one month. Indicator bacteria may persist several

months, but usually less than one month. Protozoan cysts usually sur

vive less than two days, and worm eggs usually last less than one

month. In studies of the survival of Ascaris eggs on lettuce and toma

toes during a hot, dry summer, all eggs degenerated enough after

twenty-seven to thirty-five days to be incapable of infection.35 Of

course, who wants to wait thirty-five days to eat lettuce and tomatoes?

Lettuce and radishes in Ohio sprayed with sewage containing Po

liovirus I had a 99 percent reduction in pathogens after six days; 100

percent after thirty-six days. Radishes grown outdoors in soil contain

ing fresh typhoid-contaminated feces four days after planting showed

a pathogen survival period of less than twenty-four days. Tomatoes and

lettuce contaminated with roundworm eggs showed a 99 percent re

duction in eggs in nineteen days and a 100 percent reduction in four

weeks.36 Contaminated crops can be composted to remove residual

pathogens.

The Humanure Handbook ??— 4th Edition — Chapter Thirteen 191

PATHOGEN SURVIVAL IN SLUDGE AND FECES/URINE

Viruses can survive up to five months, but usually less than three

months in sludge and human excrement. Indicator bacteria can survive

up to five months, but usually less than four. Salmonellae survive up

to five months, but usually less than one. Tubercle bacilli survive up

to two years, but usually less than five months. Protozoan cysts survive

up to one month, but usually less than ten days. Worm eggs vary de

pending on species, but roundworm eggs may survive many months.

PATHOGEN TRANSMISSION THROUGH

VARIOUS TOILET SYSTEMS

It is evident that human excrement possesses the capability to

transmit numerous diseases. For this reason, it should also be evident

that the composting of humanure should not be done in a frivolous,

careless, or haphazard manner. On the other hand, composting is not

difficult. Simple practical procedures as outlined in this book will

maximize sanitary efficiency. I am amazed when a “health authority”

concludes that it’s too dangerous for someone to compost humanure,

then they drive off in a three-thousand-pound steel machine and race

down the road at sixty miles an hour passing oncoming cars head-on

only feet away on the other side of the road. There are many things

people do every day that are infinitely more dangerous than making

compost. Yet there is no proven, natural, low-tech, beneficial method

for destroying human pathogens in organic material that is as success

ful and accessible to the average human as composting.

But what happens when the compost is not well managed? How

dangerous is the undertaking when those involved don’t make an effort

to ensure that the compost maintains adequate temperatures? In fact,

this is usually what happens in most owner-built and commercial dry

toilets. Composting does not occur in most dry toilets because the cor

rect blend of ingredients and the environment needed for such micro

bial activity does not exist. In the case of most commercial dry toilets,

192 The Humanure Handbook ??— 4th Edition — Chapter Thirteen

composting is not even intended. Instead, the toilets are designed to

be dehydrators rather than composters.

On several occasions, I have seen compost toilet systems in which

the compost collected from the toilet was simply dumped in an outdoor

pile, not in a bin, and not covered with clean organic material such as

straw or grass, kind of like my first compost pile. These piles most

likely never became thermophilic, but since their temperatures were

never checked, there is no way of knowing. People who are not respon

sibly working with and managing their compost often let the compost

sit for years before use, if they use it at all. If they are combining their

humanure with a carbonaceous cover material and letting it biolog

ically degrade for at least a year, they are unlikely to be creating health

problems. What happens to these ignored and neglected compost piles?

After a couple of years, they turn into a pile of soil, and if left entirely

alone, they will simply become covered with green vegetation, even

tually disappearing back into the earth.

A different situation exists when humanure from a highly patho

genic population is being composted. Such a population would be the

residents of a hospital in an underdeveloped country, for example, or

any residents in a community where certain diseases or parasites are

endemic, such as the German community in 1949. In that situation,

the composter must make every effort necessary to ensure thermophilic

composting, adequate retention time, and adequate pathogen elimi

nation. Dedicated gloves, boots, tools, even coveralls and a dust mask

would be recommended in these circumstances.

The following information illustrates the various waste treatment

methods and composting methods commonly used today and shows

the transmission of pathogens through the individual systems.

OUTHOUSES AND PIT LATRINES

Outhouses have odor problems, breed flies and mosquitoes, and

pollute groundwater. However, if the contents of a pit latrine have been

filled over and left for a minimum of one year, there should be no sur

The Humanure Handbook ??— 4th Edition — Chapter Thirteen 193

194 The Humanure Handbook ??— 4th Edition — Chapter Thirteen

viving pathogens except for the possibility of roundworm eggs, accord

ing to Feachem. This risk is small enough that the contents of pit la

trines, after twelve months burial, can be used agriculturally. Franceys

et al. state, “Solids from pit latrines are innocuous if the latrines have not

been used for two years or so, as in alternating double pits.” 37

SEPTIC TANKS

It is safe to assume that septic tank effluents and sludge are highly

pathogenic. Viable viruses, parasitic worm eggs, bacteria, and protozoa

can be emitted from septic tank systems.

CONVENTIONAL SEWAGE TREATMENT PLANTS

The only sewage digestion process producing a guaranteed patho

gen-free sludge is batch thermophilic digestion in which all the sludge

is maintained at 122°F (50°C) for thirteen days. Other sewage digestion

processes will allow the survival of worm eggs and possibly pathogenic

bacteria. Typical sewage treatment plants instead use a continuous pro

cess whereby wastewater is added daily or more frequently, thereby

guaranteeing the survival of pathogens.

I took an interest in my local wastewater treatment plant in Penn

sylvania when I discovered that the water in the creek below the waste

water discharge point had ten times the level of nitrates that unpolluted

water has, and three times the level of nitrates acceptable for drinking

water.38 In other words, the water being discharged from the water

treatment plant was polluted. We had tested the water for nitrates, but

we didn’t test for pathogens or chlorine levels. Despite the pollution,

the nitrate levels were within legal limits for wastewater discharges.

WASTE STABILIZATION PONDS

Waste stabilization ponds, or lagoons, large shallow ponds widely

used in North America, Latin America, Africa, and Asia, involve the

The Humanure Handbook ??— 4th Edition — Chapter Thirteen 195

use of both beneficial bacteria and algae in the decomposition of or

ganic waste materials. Although they can breed mosquitoes, they can

be designed and managed well enough to yield pathogen-free waste

water. However, they typically yield water with low concentrations of

both pathogenic viruses and bacteria.

COMPOST TOILETS AND DRY TOILETS

Most commercial dry toilets decompose organic material at a low

temperature. According to Feachem, a minimum retention time of

three months produces septage free of all pathogens except possibly

some intestinal worm eggs. The septage obtained from these types of

toilets can theoretically be composted again in a thermophilic pile and

rendered suitable for food gardens (Table 14). Otherwise, the septage

can be moved to an outdoor compost bin; moistened, if needed; cov

ered with straw, weeds, or leaves; then left to age for an additional year

or two to eliminate lingering pathogens. Over time, microbial activity

and earthworms will aid in the sanitation of the compost.

COMPOSTING

Complete pathogen destruction is guaranteed by arriving at a tem

perature of 143.6°F (62°C) for one hour, 122°F (50°C) for one day,

114.8°F (46°C) for one week, or 109.4°F (43°C) for one month. It ap

pears that no excreted pathogen can survive a temperature of 149°F

(65°C) for more than a few minutes. A compost pile may rapidly rise

to a temperature of 131°F (55°C) or above or will maintain a tempera

ture hot enough for a long enough period of time to destroy human

pathogens beyond a detectable level.

The United States Environmental Protection Agency publishes re

quirements for the safe reuse of sewage sludge (biosolids) and domestic

septage (such as from a dry toilet). The EPA states, “Composting

creates a marketable end product that is easy to handle, store, and use.

It is usually a ‘Class A’ material without detectable levels of pathogens

196 The Humanure Handbook ??— 4th Edition — Chapter Thirteen

The Humanure Handbook ??— 4th Edition — Chapter Thirteen 197

that can be applied to gardens, food and feed crops, and rangelands.

Biosolids compost is safe to use and generally has a high degree of ac

ceptability by the public. Thus, it competes well with other bulk and

bagged products available to homeowners, landscapers, farmers, and

ranchers.” They add, “Domestic septage is a form of sewage sludge.

Domestic septage applied to a public contact site, lawn, or home garden

must meet the same requirements as treated sewage sludge... .(Class

A requirements).”39

EPA requirements for “Class A” sewage sludge compost include

the following time/temperature requirements:

(1) Aerated static pile or in-vessel: 131°F (55°C) for at least 3 days.

(2) Windrow: 131°F (55°C) for at least 15 days with 5 turns.40

PRIONS

According to the EPA, “Can biosolids carry the pathogen that

causes mad cow disease? It has been found that Bovine Spongiform

Encephalopa thy (BSE), or Mad Cow disease, is caused by a prion pro

tein, or the resistant beta form of protein. The pathway for transmis

sion is through the ingestion of tissue from infected animals. There

has been no evidence that the BSE prion protein is shed in feces or

urine. The primary route for infection, the use of animal carcasses in

animal feed, is banned in [the US]. Thus there should be no risk of

BSE exposure from biosolids.”41

HIV

Also from the EPA: “Is there any risk of HIV infection from bio

solids? The HIV virus is contracted through contact with blood or

other body fluids of an infected individual. Feces and urine do not

carry the HIV virus. Class A biosolids makes it virtually impossible

that biosolids would contain the HIV virus.”42

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The Humanure Handbook ??— 4th Edition — Chapter Thirteen 199

PINWORMS

Pinworms are fairly common among school-age kids. These un

pleasant parasites are spread from human to human by direct contact

and by inhaling eggs. The pinworm life cycle does not include a stage

in soil, compost, or manure.

Pinworms (Enterobius vermicularis) lay microscopic eggs at the anus

of a human being, its only known host. This causes itching at the anus

which is the primary symptom of pinworm infection. The eggs can be

picked up almost anywhere. Once in the human digestive system, they

develop into the tiny worms. Some estimate that pinworms infest or

have infested 75 percent of all New York City children in the three to

five-year age group, and that similar figures exist for other cities.43

Infection is spread by the hand-to-mouth transmission of eggs re

sulting from scratching the anus, as well as from breathing airborne

eggs. In about one-third of infected children, eggs may be found under

the fingernails.

A worm’s life span is thirty-seven to fifty-three days; an infection

would self-terminate in this period, without treatment, in the absence

of reinfection. The amount of time that passes from ingestion of eggs

to new eggs being laid at the anus ranges from four to six weeks.44

In 95 percent of infected persons, pinworm eggs aren’t found in the

feces. Transmission of eggs to feces and to soil is not part of the pin

worm life cycle, which is one reason the eggs aren’t likely to end up in

feces or compost. Even if they do, they quickly die outside the human

host.45

HOOKWORMS

Hookworm species in humans include Necator americanus, Ancylos

toma duodenale, A. braziliense, A. caninum, and A. ceylanicum.

These small worms are about a centimeter long (less than half an

inch); humans are almost the exclusive host of A. duodenale and N.

americanus. A hookworm of cats and dogs, A. caninum, is an extremely

200 The Humanure Handbook ??— 4th Edition — Chapter Thirteen

rare intestinal parasite of humans.

The eggs are passed in the feces and mature into larvae outside the

human host under favorable conditions. The larvae attach themselves

to the bottom of your foot when they’re stepped on, then enter your

body through pores, hair follicles, or even unbroken skin. They tend

to migrate to the upper small intestine where they suck their host’s

blood. Within five or six weeks, they’ll mature enough to produce up

to twenty thousand eggs per day. Don’t walk barefoot around pit la

trines!

Hookworms are estimated to infect five hundred million people

throughout the world, causing a daily blood loss of more than one mil

lion liters, which is as much blood as can be found in all the people in

the city of Erie, Pennsylvania, or Austin, Texas. An infection can last

two to fourteen years. Light infections can produce no recognizable

symptoms, while a moderate or heavy infection can produce an iron

deficiency anemia. Infection can be determined by a stool analysis.

These worms tend to be found in tropical and semi-tropical areas

and are spread by defecating on the soil. Both the biological tempera

tures of composting and the freezing temperatures of winter will kill

the eggs and larvae (Table 16). Drying is also destructive.46

The Humanure Handbook ??— 4th Edition — Chapter Thirteen 201

WHIPWORMS

Whipworms (Trichuris trichiura) are usually found in humans but

may also be found in monkeys or hogs. They’re usually under two

inches long; the female can produce three thousand to ten thousand

eggs per day. Larval development occurs outside the host, and in a fa

vorable environment (warm, moist, shaded soil), first stage larvae are

produced from eggs in three weeks. The lifespan of the worm is usually

considered to be four to six years.

Hundreds of millions of people worldwide, as much as 80 percent

of the population in certain tropical countries, are infected with whip

worms. In the US, whipworms are found in the South where heavy

rainfall, a subtropical climate, and feces-contaminated soil provide a

suitable habitat.

Persons handling soil that has been defecated on by an infected

person risk infection by hand-to-mouth transmission of the eggs. Light

infections may not show any symptoms. Heavy infections can result

in anemia and death. A stool examination will determine if there is an

infection. Cold winter temperatures of 18° to 10°F (-8° to -12°C) are

fatal to the eggs, as are the high temperatures of composting.47

ROUNDWORMS

Roundworms (Ascaris lumbricoides) are fairly large worms (ten

inches in length) that parasitize the human host by eating semi-di

gested food in the small intestine. The females can lay two hundred

thousand eggs per day for a lifetime total of roughly twenty-six million.

Larvae develop from the eggs in soil under favorable conditions (70°-

86°F [21°C - 30°C]). Above 99°F (37°C), they cannot fully develop.

Approximately nine hundred million people are infected with

roundworms worldwide, one million in the United States. The eggs

are transmitted hand to mouth by people, usually children, who have

come into contact with the eggs in their environment. Infected persons

usually complain of a vague abdominal pain. Diagnosis is by stool anal-

202 The Humanure Handbook ??— 4th Edition — Chapter Thirteen

ysis.48 An analysis of four hundred thousand stool samples throughout

the US by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found As

caris in 2.3 percent of the samples, with a wide fluctuation in results

depending on the geographical location of the people sampled. Puerto

Rico had the highest positive sample frequency (9.3 percent), while

samples from Wyoming, Arizona, and Nevada showed no incidence of

Ascaris at all.49 In moist tropical climates roundworm infection may

afflict 50 percent of the population.50

Eggs are destroyed by direct sunlight within fifteen hours and are

killed by temperatures above 104°F (40°C), dying within an hour at

122°F (50°C). The eggs are resistant to freezing, chemical disinfectants,

and other strong chemicals, but composting will kill them.

Roundworms, like hookworms and whipworms, are spread by fecal

contamination of soil. Much of this contamination is caused and spread

by children who defecate outdoors within their living area. One sure

way to eradicate fecal pathogens is to conscientiously compost all fecal

material. Therefore, it is very important when composting humanure

The Humanure Handbook ??— 4th Edition — Chapter Thirteen 203

to be certain that all children use a toilet facility and do not defecate

on the soil. When changing soiled diapers, scrape the fecal material

into a compost toilet with toilet paper or another biodegradable mate

rial (yeah, we parents actually used cloth diapers back in the last cen

tury). It’s up to adults to keep an eye on kids and make sure they

understand the importance of always using a toilet facility and never

defecating on the ground.

Fecal environmental contamination can also be caused by using

raw fecal material for agricultural purposes. Proper composting is es-

204 The Humanure Handbook ??— 4th Edition — Chapter Thirteen

sential for the eradication of pathogens. And don’t forget to wash your

hands after feeding your compost pile and before feeding yourself!

After reading this section on intestinal parasites and their need to

have some time in soil for their life cycle to be complete, it should be

clear now why the Earth Closet, which used soil to cover feces, was not

such a good idea, especially in warmer climates.

TEMPERATURE AND TIME

Two primary factors lead to the death of pathogens in humanure.

The first is temperature. A compost pile that is properly managed will

destroy pathogens with the heat and biological activity it generates.

The second factor is time. The lower the temperature of the com

post, the longer the subsequent retention time needed for the destruc

tion of pathogens. Given enough time, the wide biodiversity of

microorganisms in the compost will destroy pathogens by the antago

nism, competition, consumption, and antibiotic inhibitors provided

by the beneficial microorganisms. Feachem et al. state that three

months retention time will kill all the pathogens in a dry toilet except

worm eggs, although Table 14 indicates that some additional pathogen

survival may occur.

A thermophilic compost pile will destroy pathogens, including

worm eggs, quickly, possibly in a matter of minutes. Lower tempera

tures require longer periods of time, possibly hours, days, weeks, or

months, to effectively eliminate pathogens. One need not strive for ex

tremely high temperatures in a compost pile to feel confident about

the destruction of pathogens. It may be more realistic to maintain lower

temperatures in a compost pile for longer periods of time, such as 122°F

(50°C) for twenty-four hours, or 115°F (46°C) for a week. According to

one source, “All fecal [pathogenic] microorganisms, including enteric

viruses and roundworm eggs, will die if the temperature exceeds

114.8°F (46°C) for one week.”51 Other researchers have drawn similar

conclusions, demonstrating pathogen destruction at 122°F (50°C),

which produced compost “completely acceptable from the general hy

The Humanure Handbook ??— 4th Edition — Chapter Thirteen 205

gienic point of view.”52

A good approach to pathogen destruction when composting hu

manure is to compost the toilet material, then allow the compost to sit,

undisturbed, for a lengthy retention time to allow the compost to thor

oughly age or cure. The biodiversity of the compost will aid in the de

struction of pathogens as the compost ages. If one wants to be

particularly cautious, one may allow the compost to age for two years

after the pile has been completed, instead of the approximately one

year that is normally recommended.

In the words of Feachem, “The effectiveness of excreta treatment

methods depends very much on their time-temperature characteristics. The ef

fective processes are those that either make the excreta warm (55°C/131°F),

hold it for a long time (one year), or feature some effective combination of time

and temperature.”

The US Environmental Protection Agency requires three days at

131°F (55°C) for pathogen elimination in a static compost pile. Our

compost piles in Haiti, California, and elsewhere maintain tempera

tures above 131°F for many months. These are unturned piles, insu

lated on top and around the sides with cover material such as straw, or

sugar cane bagasse. The temperatures are incredibly uniform through

out the piles, even maintaining pathogen destroying temperatures right

up to the edges.

CONCLUSIONS

Humanure is a valuable resource suitable for agricultural purposes

and has been recycled for such purposes by large segments of the

world’s population for thousands of years. However, humanure con

tains the potential for harboring human pathogens and thereby can

contribute to the spread of disease when improperly managed or when

discarded as a waste material. Yet, when humanure is composted,

human pathogens are destroyed and the humanure is converted into a

hygienically safe form suitable for human food production.

206 The Humanure Handbook ??— 4th Edition — Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Fourteen

The Tao of Compost

Tao or Dao is a Chinese word signifying “way,” or “path.” It repre

sents the natural unfolding of the universe, something that we can

learn to understand simply by living everyday life.1 One thing we can

learn about, if we’re paying attention, is something called a nutrient

cycle, especially the “human nutrient cycle.” When an organism con

sumes food (nutrients), that organism’s excretions become food for

other organisms. That’s the way of nature, an endless cycle. When we

dispose of our excretions as waste, dumped into landfills wrapped in

waterproof liners like gigantic disposable diapers, the cycle is broken.

Composting feeds our excretions to beneficial microorganisms, thereby

returning them back to the earth, and the nutrient cycle is complete.

Organic material should be recycled by everyone on the planet.

This is the sort of thing we could be teaching our children in schools

and adults in universities. Learning how to live on our planet in ways

that are symbiotic rather than pathogenic is critical to the long-term

survival of the human species. Extinction should not be an option. Yet,

humans act as though they’re pathogens on Earth, acting as if there is

no real future. What about a thousand generations from now? Who

cares? Nobody. Why not? Why are we consuming resources as fast as

possible while creating toxic wastes in increasing amounts? These

would normally be considered characteristics of pathogens.

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208 The Humanure Handbook??— 4th Edition — Chapter Fourteen

It’s safe to say that the government is not going to teach you how

to make compost and certainly not how to make compost with human

ure. It doesn’t matter what country you live in. It’s important to learn

how to take care of yourself on this planet. One thing you should know

is that there are invisible beings and they’re here to help. Organic ma

terial feeds them if you pile it above ground. They convert it back to

earth, and will do so even with your excretions, but you need to know

some of the techniques that make it work.

I’ve had lots of feedback since I published the first edition of this

book — hundreds of letters until the internet came along, then hun

dreds of emails. One concern some people have is that they’re going to

have to “shit in a bucket!” What about the population centers, they ask?

What about high-rise apartments? How do you compost humanure

there? Recently someone asked me, “What about New York City?” My

response is, what about the 2.6 billion people with no toilets at all?

What about the billion people who still open defecate? What about the

people who live without electricity or running water? What if you want

a toilet somewhere where water toilets are impossible? Composting is

an important skill to learn, which could benefit many people world

wide. Once you see tears in the eyes of an old woman because she has

a toilet inside her dwelling for the first time in her life, you might un

derstand.

No, I’m not concerned about New York City, or about high-rise

The Humanure Handbook ?— 4th Edition — Chapter Fourteen 209

apartments, nor do you have to worry about having to use a compost

toilet. Water toilet cultures already have their hands full dealing with

the polluted water. When the British started installing water closets,

the population of the world was less than a billion people. They weren’t

thinking that the population would increase by a factor of six in the

next century. They couldn’t have foreseen the millions of tons of anti

biotics, pharmaceuticals, and toxic chemicals that would be flushed

down toilets in the future. They could not have predicted climate

change and the planetary disruptions that would result from increas

ingly erratic weather events, where power would be knocked out for

extended periods of time and water toilet systems would no longer

function.

One question I’m often asked is how did I get into composting hu

manure in the first place? Well, when I graduated from college in the

1970s, I moved into an abandoned farmhouse on 212 acres. There was

no running water. There was a pit latrine out back and a spring down

over the hill where I fetched water in five-gallon jugs. There was a big

pile of old sawdust in the woods nearby, which I used to mulch my first

garden. It was left over from timbering and had been rotting in the

woods for fifteen years. This place was my introduction to outhouses;

the smells, the bugs, and the inconvenience.

Then I moved to a stone cottage about ten miles away. The agree

ment was that I would do the finish carpentry on the cottage in ex

change for living in it. It had no electricity, running water, or even an

outhouse. So I constructed a crude toilet from a five-gallon bucket,

went back and got some of that sawdust, and found that, as long as the

sawdust was covering the toilet contents, the toilet could be used in

doors with no odor whatsoever. When the toilet container became full,

I took it out back and dumped it in a pile. If the pile smelled, I covered

it with weeds. After a year of this, I moved again and left the pile be

hind. That was 1977. A few years later the property owners used that

pile of compost to plant blueberry bushes.

In 1979, I bought my own land. There was no electricity or running

water there, either; nothing, in fact, just woods. I remembered the

210 The Humanure Handbook??— 4th Edition — Chapter Fourteen

“sawdust toilet” in the stone cottage and quickly set up a new one. This

time I built a compost bin. After fifteen years of using the compost toi

let, I found myself in grad school and decided to write my thesis on

the toilet system. It would give me an opportunity to research what

was going on in the compost. I ended up publishing the thesis as the

first edition of The Humanure Handbook. Today, over forty years have

passed since that first compost toilet in the stone cottage, and I still ex

clusively use a compost toilet at home and in my business. I’ve used

all my household compost to grow the food that I and my family have

eaten, and I’ve used all the compost generated at my business to grow

flowers, shrubs, and trees. Over that time period, I’ve learned a few

things that I want to pass on. The information may come in handy in

the event of a prolonged emergency, even if you live with a flush toilet.

PRIMAL COMPOST

Try to imagine yourself in an extremely primitive setting, perhaps

sometime around 10,000 BC. Imagine that you're slightly more enlight

ened than your brutish companions and it dawns on you one day that

your feces should be disposed of in a different manner. Everyone else

is defecating in the back of the cave like dogs, creating a smelly, fly-in

fested mess and you don't like it.

Your first revelation is that smelly excretions should be deposited

in one place, not spread around for everyone to step in, and they should

be deposited away from one's living area. You watch the wild cats and

see that they each go to a special spot to defecate. But the cats are still

one step ahead of the humans, as you soon find out, because they cover

their excrement.

When you've shat outside the cave on the ground in the same place

several times, you see that you've still created a foul-smelling, fly-in

fested mess. Your second revelation is that the refuse you're depositing

on the ground should be covered after each deposit. So, you scrape up

some leaves every time you defecate and throw them over the feces. Or

you pull some tall grass out of the ground and use it for cover.

The Humanure Handbook ?— 4th Edition — Chapter Fourteen 211

Soon your companions are also defecating in the same spot and

covering their fecal material as well. They were encouraged to follow

your example when they noticed that you had conveniently located the

defecation spot between two large rocks and positioned logs across the

rocks to provide a convenient perch, allowing for care-free defecation.

A pile of dead leaves is now being kept beside the toilet area to

make the job of covering the deposits more convenient. As a result, the

offensive odors of human feces and urine no longer foul the air. Instead,

it’s food scraps that are generating odors and attracting flies. This is

when you have your third revelation: Food scraps should be deposited

on the same spot and covered as well. Every stinky bit of organic refuse

you create is now going to the same place and is being covered with a

natural material to eliminate odor. This hasn't been hard to figure out,

it makes good sense, and it's easy to do.

You've succeeded in solving three problems at once: no more

human excrement scattered around your living area, no more garbage,

and no more offensive odors ruining your day. Eventually, you begin

to realize that the illnesses that were prone to spread through the group

have subsided, a fact that you don't understand, but you suspect may

be due to the group's new-found hygienic practices.

Quite by accident, you've succeeded in doing one very revolution

ary thing: You've created a compost pile. You begin to wonder what's

going on when the pile gets so hot it looks as if it’s steaming. What you

don't know is that you've done exactly what nature intended you to do

by piling your organic refuse together with biodegradable cover mate

rials. Nature has "seeded" your excrement with microscopic creatures

that proliferate in and digest the pile you've created. In the process,

they heat the compost to such an extent that disease-causing pathogens

resident in the humanure are destroyed. The microscopic creatures

would not multiply rapidly in the discarded refuse unless you created

the pile, and thereby the conditions that favor their proliferation.

Finally, you have one more revelation. You see that the pile, after

it gets old, sprouts all kind of vibrant plant growth. You put two and

two together and realize that the stinking refuse you carefully collected

212 The Humanure Handbook??— 4th Edition — Chapter Fourteen

has been transformed into rich earth and ultimately into food. Human

kind has just taken another step up the ladder of evolution.

There is one basic problem with this scenario: It didn’t take place

twelve thousand years ago — it’s taking place now. Compost microbes

are apparently very patient. Not much has changed since 10,000 BC in

their eyes. The invisible creatures that convert humanure into compost

don’t care what composting techniques are used today any more than

they cared what techniques may have been used eons ago, so long as

their needs are met. And those needs haven’t changed in human mem

ory, nor are they likely to change as long as humans roam the Earth.

Those needs include: (1) temperature (compost microorganisms won’t

work if frozen); (2) moisture (they won’t work if too dry or too wet);

(3) oxygen (they won’t work without it); and (4) a balanced diet (other

wise known as balanced carbon and nitrogen). With a little imagina

tion, we can see the microbes as a working army of microscopic people

who need the right food, water, air, and warmth.

The art of composting, then, remains the simple and yet profound

art of providing for the needs of invisible workers so they work as vig

orously as possible, season after season. And although those needs may

be the same worldwide, the techniques used to arrive at them may

differ from eon to eon and from place to place.

There are thousands of geographic areas on the Earth, each with

its own unique human population, climate, and available organic ma

terials, so there will potentially be thousands of individual composting

methods, techniques, and styles. What works in one place on the planet

for one group of people may not work for another group in another

geographic location. For example, we have lots of sawdust in Penn

sylvania, but no rice hulls. Composting should eliminate local waste

and pollution as well as recover resources, and a compost maker will

strive to utilize in a wise and efficient manner whatever local organic

materials are available.

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WHICH CAME FIRST — THE GARDEN OR THE COMPOST?

The garden. That’s why we make compost, to grow plants. If you

have no need for compost or plants, a compost toilet may not be the

wisest choice for you, unless your organic material is being collected

for you and composted elsewhere.

If you’ve been reading this book, you know that manures are not

that easy to get for your organic garden (remember the mirror?). But

we’re animals too and we produce manure every day, so if we can recy

cle our own, then we have a constant supply. But composting human

ure is not the same as composting yard trimmings. There are things

you want to know.

First, human excrement nourishes a compost pile. It provides

much needed nitrogen and moisture. Many people with backyard com

post piles don’t really see much biological heat developing. They’re pil

ing up leaves and garden weeds, which do rot rapidly but may not spark

a thermophilic response from the microbes. Add nitrogen and mois

ture, and you will see heat becoming generated. Food scraps are enough

to create thermophilic conditions since they’re moist and tend to be

high in nitrogen, as are most green plant materials. Add humanure,

and you have the right mix.

But humanure smells bad. Mother Nature makes things smell bad

so we will bury them. Covering with earth has been the age-old solu

tion to bad smells. The Earth Closet made perfect sense in this regard.

It did block the odor. Decaying corpses smell horribly, but not if

they’re buried in dirt. That old sawdust pile showed me that it’s not

only earth that blocks odors; ground-up plant material works just as

well. The difference is that ground plant material also sets the stage for

composting. The microbes need the carbon to balance the nitrogen.

Earth doesn’t provide the carbon, but plant cellulose does.

There are four requirements for a compost toilet to function cor

rectly: (1) the cover material; (2) the toilet; (3) the compost bins; and

(4) human management.

214 The Humanure Handbook??— 4th Edition — Chapter Fourteen

IT’S ALL ABOUT THE COVER MATERIAL

For a water toilet to function, you need water. For a compost toilet

to function, you need a carbon-based cover material. This is the limit

ing factor with compost toilet systems. If you don’t have the cover ma

terial, you won’t have a compost toilet. When I travel to a far-off land

to help people set up compost toilets, the first thing I look for is the

cover material. You can’t use ashes, you can’t use sand, you can’t use

lime, and you can’t use dirt. It must be a plant cellulose material.

Cover materials we have successfully used around the world in

clude sugarcane bagasse, which is ground and shredded sugarcane

stalks used in the sugar and rum industries, found in most tropical cli

mates. It contains residual sugar as well as cellulose, and microbes love

it. Of course, sawdust can be found worldwide. The best is what comes

from cutting trees into boards, beams, or posts. Sawdust is not wood

chips and it is not wood shavings. Chips come from a chipper and they’re

too big for bacteria to eat. Shavings come from planing machines, and

they also produce relatively large pieces of wood, which bacteria have

a hard time dealing with. In big municipal compost piles, wood shav

ings may work just fine, given enough time. In backyard compost piles

they will slow your pile down, especially if kiln-dried.

Rice husks or hulls, a by-product of the rice industry, are often used

for cover material. They also tend to slow down the compost in smaller

piles, but they do work. The byproducts of cassava distilleries have

been successfully used as cover materials when composting sewage

sludge in China. Other promising cover materials in compost piles in

clude olive mill by-products and sweet sorghum bagasse.2 A lady in

California emailed me and said that she had been using a compost toilet

for years but had trouble finding cover material, so she got a

chipper/shredder and started shredding blackberry brambles, describ

ing them as “an invasive nuisance around here...they are very abundant

and grow quickly (about 15 feet a year). Smaller branches and twigs

with leaves on them (usually willow around here) can also be shredded

into a great cover material.”

The Humanure Handbook ?— 4th Edition — Chapter Fourteen 215

TWO USES FOR COVER MATERIAL

There are two categories of cover material: (1) the cover material

for inside the toilet, and (2) the cover material for your compost pile. They

are not the same. Inside the toilet you will need a fine material that has

a small degree of residual moisture. Sawdust from trees, with residual

sap, is perfect. If you have dry sawdust such as from kiln-dried boards,

pile it outside and let it get rained on, rehydrated, and thereby biolog

ically reactivated. The residual moisture is what makes it an effective

biofilter. Bacteria live in the biofilms coating the wood particles. If

you’re using bone-dry sawdust as a cover material and you notice odor

escaping from the toilet, mist the cover material with water when

you’re adding it to the toilet. If you have dry sawdust or wood shavings,

pile them outside and let them get rained on and rot for a while.

If you use an appropriate cover material in adequate quantities, all

odor will be blocked, and no flies will be attracted to the compost. This

can’t be emphasized enough. The cover material is the biofilter, and it’s of

utmost importance. It’s the cover material that eliminates the need for

venting. When you’re using appropriate cover material, a standard toi

let seat lid (other than the cover material) is all that is required to cover

the toilet contents. The loo receptacle never needs its own separate lid

until it’s removed from the loo cabinet.

On the other hand, the cover materials used on the compost pile don’t

have to be in fine particles and can be either dry or moist. Straw works

great. Hay is good, as are grasses, weeds, leaves, or anything from a

plant source that is clean and doesn’t smell bad. You don’t want to use

barnyard manures as cover material because they have unpleasant

odors. Your toilet and your compost bin should be completely odor

free. With proper management, they will be. Cover materials help keep

your pile aerobic by creating tiny interstitial air spaces in the compost.

That’s all the oxygen your compost will need. Large bulky materials

are not needed in compost piles to create air spaces. We’re talking about

microscopic organisms here. If the compost is above ground and not

under water, it will have air spaces in it. Turning, digging, or chopping

216 The Humanure Handbook??— 4th Edition — Chapter Fourteen

the compost is not necessary. Have a large squash? Just throw it in. You

don’t need to chop it up first. Stick a thermometer in your compost,

and keep an eye on it. If it’s heating up above ambient temperatures,

your compost is active.

During a cold winter, cover material stored outside can freeze solid

and should be covered or insulated in some manner. Containers filled

with sawdust stored in a basement, heated garage, or enclosed porch

will provide toilet cover material throughout the winter months.

YOU WILL NEED A LOO

The compost toilet, also known as a loo, is used to collect the toilet

material, and it’s the simplest part of the system. The toilet must have

receptacles that are sturdy, waterproof, and durable. If you’re emptying

the receptacles by hand, they must be small enough to be handled by

one or two people. One person can handle five gallons of capacity, two

people can handle fifteen gallons. If you’re alone and five gallons is too

much, empty the receptacle when it’s half full; don’t wait until it’s too

full to handle. Although this seems like common sense, you’d be sur

prised how many people can’t figure this out.

All urine, fecal material, and toilet paper go into the loo, as does

anything else that would normally go into a flush toilet. You can also

throw in the cardboard tubes from the center of toilet paper rolls. You

can vomit in the toilet. Just don’t put food scraps in the toilet because

you’ll risk a fruit fly infestation. You can put food scraps in the loo after

the receptacle has been removed from the toilet housing, and a lid has

been placed on it. It’s all going to the same compost pile anyway.

You can make your own loo for very little money out of scrap wood,

and you can find recycled plastic receptacles available cheap or free.

You should construct the loo to fit the receptacles, so make sure you

have several receptacles that are exactly the same size, otherwise they’re

not all going to fit the loo. I use five five-gallon receptacles in my bath

room loo, one in the loo cabinet and four on standby with lids. When

four are filled and set aside, with lids snugly attached, they all go to

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the compost pile at the same time while the fifth is in use. Although

they’re “full,” there is still about a gallon of room in each receptacle to

add food scraps from your kitchen compost pail. This does make the

receptacle heavier, but if that’s not a problem, this is a convenient way

to get all your organic material out to the compost bin at the same time.

Why not just “shit in a bucket”? Why not just clamp a toilet lid on

a five-gallon bucket and shit in that? Go ahead, if that’s your style. It

works, but it’s neither comfortable nor stable. Lean over to wipe your

self and watch the bucket go out from underneath you. It will not be a

pretty site. If you’re a water toilet user, why not just fill a bowl with

drinking water and shit in that, then dump it down a sewer drain? The

concepts seem ridiculous, but people do ask these questions, especially

those who don’t want to spend any money on a toilet.

Another question often asked is, “Why not just put the toilet over

an outdoor compost bin?” Again, go ahead, if that’s what you want to

do. Most people like their loo indoors, where it’s convenient, secure,

and comfortable, year-round. In my house, I have a loo in my office,

another in a guest bedroom, and another in the downstairs bathroom.

I also have one in a separate guest quarters and two in my business of

fice. All are odor free when properly used. Why would I want to have

to go outside or to a single indoor location to use a toilet when all I

have to do is once a week (for a family of four) or once a month (for a

single person) empty four compost receptacles into an outdoor bin in

stead? A bin underneath your house will still need to be emptied,

you’re still going to produce the same amount of compost, and you’ll

eventually want to get it to your garden or flower beds. These are also

important considerations. It may not be so convenient to manage the

compost when it’s under the house, or to have to move it up to ground

level during the growing season if it’s in a basement.

Always keep the toilet contents covered. If you’re using an adequate

amount of appropriate cover material, your loo will be odor-free, as will

your compost bin. If your nose picks up bad odors, or your eyes see

flies, you’re not keeping the compost covered correctly. You need a nose

that works and eyeballs that work to be able to manage a compost toilet

222 The Humanure Handbook??— 4th Edition — Chapter Fourteen

system. A brain that works helps, too. A compost toilet is “the thinking

person’s toilet.”

Add more cover material if you smell anything. Make sure it’s fine

enough and has residual moisture when covering your toilet contents.

If it’s light and fluffy and dry like bagged wood shavings, it will not be

as effective an odor blocker in your toilet, and you will need to use

more of it, filling your loo receptacle too rapidly. Wet it down, and let

it rot, even for years if needed; then use it for covering the toilet

contents.

In the compost bins, always cover the contents thoroughly. If you

smell odors, add more cover material. A lady emailed me and said her

compost bin smelled bad. I emailed back, “Add more cover material.”

She replied a week later and said her bin still smelled bad. I emailed

back, “Add more cover material.” This went on for a while, back and

forth, until she finally stopped emailing me. She must have eventually

added enough cover material. The cover material can be three feet deep

if it has to be (it doesn’t); it won’t hurt the compost. You’re going to

move it aside as you add new material anyway. You should see nothing

on top of your bin but cover material.

The instructions are so simple, it’s ridiculous. If it smells or attracts

flies, add cover material until it doesn’t. If this is too complicated,

you’re probably not a good candidate for a compost toilet.

With enough containers, a compost toilet system can be used for

any number of people. If you’re using one in your home and you’re vis

ited by thirty people all at once, you’ll be very happy to have empty

containers on hand to replace any that fill up. You will also be happy

that you will not have to empty any compost containers until after your

company leaves, because you can set them out of the way, with lids,

and then empty them whenever it’s convenient.

Experience has shown that 150 people will require four five-gallon

containers during a summer evening party (because the men tend to

pee outside). Therefore, always be prepared for the unexpected and

have extra toilet receptacles available, as well as extra cover material.

For every full compost container carried out of a toilet room, a full,

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same-size container of cover material will need to be carried in.

Finally, there is no need to use chlorine to rinse compost recep

tacles. Chlorine is a chemical poison that is detrimental to the envi

ronment and is totally unnecessary for use in any humanure recycling

system. Simple soap and water are adequate.

THE COMPOST BINS

This is the third necessary element of a compost toilet system. No

tice I say bins, plural, because you will need at least two, one to fill

until full and another to fill while the first one cures or ages. The pur

pose of the bin is to contain the organic material vertically above

ground in such a manner that dogs, goats, horses, and other critters

won’t be able to get into it. Holding it above ground maintains an aero

bic system. Once a bin is filled, leave it alone for approximately one

year while you’re filling the next one. Size the bins so it takes a year to

fill them. If you’re a larger group, you may need either several bins or

larger bins. A standard family bin size is roughly 5 feet square and 4 feet

high.

You can throw up a quick bin in ten minutes using four wood pal

lets standing on edge. Just lean them against each other and run a cou

ple of screws in each side to hold them together. If you don’t have

screws, tie them together with something. If you need larger bins, such

as for a school, make them two pallets wide, but not much wider. You

need to be able to reach into the middle of the bins from either side to

manage the compost. You can make them as long as you want, however.

Position the bins on soil, not on concrete. Some sanitary profes

sionals may imagine that a compost pile is like a cesspool leaching bad

things into the ground, and they insist that a barrier must exist be

tween the compost and the soil. But the soil/compost interface is im

portant for several reasons. It provides a biological conduit for micro

and macroorganisms to enter and exit the compost pile. It also provides

an area for compost microbes to reside after the bin is emptied; these

microbes help inoculate the next pile. The upper few inches of soil also

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226 The Humanure Handbook??— 4th Edition — Chapter Fourteen

act as a buffer for excess liquid, absorbing it when needed. I have seen,

photographed, and videotaped leachate seeping out the bottom of hu

manure compost piles situated on concrete pads. Not much leachate,

but enough to step in and track around, enough to breed maggots. If

the compost had been on a soil base, these problems would not have

existed.

Always dish the soil base to create a bowl underneath the compost

pile. Take the dirt you dig out — and it doesn’t need to be much — and

throw it up against the inside of the bin walls around the bottom edges.

You now have a shallow depression under your bin providing extra in

surance against any leachate seeping out the bottom.

Before adding any toilet material to your bin, first lay a “biological

sponge” in the bottom. This is a cushion of grasses, weeds, leaves, hay,

straw, or whatever else you have on hand and whatever you’re using

for cover material, at least 18 inches or more. Thicker is fine; it will

compress down and disappear in the finished compost.

Put enough of a biological sponge in the bottom so that you can

open a hole in it to place your first organic deposit, then rake the

sponge material back over the deposit and add cover material. The

fresh deposit, which may be toilet material, is now buried in the cover

material. When adding additional material to your bin, using a ded

icated tool such as a shovel, fork, or rake, peel open the cover material

and dig into the existing compost to create a depression, dump the

fresh material into the depression, then rake the cover material back

over it. Add more cover material. Don’t let your compost pile become

shaped like the Matterhorn — keep it flattened.

Always keep a compost thermometer in the center of your active

pile. Twenty-inch thermometers are inexpensive, and they give you a

constant reading letting you know what’s going on in your pile. Every

now and then someone emails me and says his compost isn’t getting

hot. I ask him what the temperature is. He says he doesn’t know; he’s

not using a thermometer. I ask, “How do you know it’s not getting

hot?” He says, “It looks like it’s not hot.” I tell him to get a thermo

meter, then report back with actual data, not speculation.

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228 The Humanure Handbook??— 4th Edition — Chapter Fourteen

Pull the thermometer out before adding new material. By adding

incoming material into the center of the compost pile, you achieve

some important things: You inject the new material into the most ac

tive part of the pile; you cover it thoroughly, not only with cover ma

terial, but also with existing compost; and you create a cover material

cushion around the outer edges of the compost, thereby enveloping the

compost in cover material, like a blanket. This insulates the pile, keeps

the outside edges of the compost from cooling down, and keeps com

post from falling out of any gaps in the bin walls, such as happens with

pallet bins. By using a cover material cushion around your compost,

you can use any kind of bin: wood, block, brick, metal, or plastic, and

holes, spaces, or gaps are not needed in the side walls for aeration. Air

is entrapped in the cushion. Just make sure you have an earth bottom.

You could call this “center feeding” a compost pile, as opposed to the

“layering” that seems popular in some circles. Layering is loosely de

fined as adding new material to the top of the compost pile in layers,

like lasagna, and is not recommended when composting humanure.

Speaking of pallet bins (or any bins), if you have straw bales, you

can peel off “chips” from the bales, which are flat straw sections a few

inches thick, and position them flat against the inside of the bins to

line the interior walls before adding your organic material. This insu

The Humanure Handbook ?— 4th Edition — Chapter Fourteen 229

lates your pile, keeps compost from falling out between gaps in the

sidewalls, and provides an aerated space enveloping the compost.

A three-bin system in cold climates is good because a center bin

for storing cover materials can be constructed with a roof or covering

over it. By keeping the cover material dry (straw bales for example), it

won’t freeze solid and will remain available for use all winter. When

you have a sudden large quantity of cover material available, such as

an influx of grass clippings, weeds, or leaves, you can also place them

in the center bin for storage and use them to cover the compost as

needed. It is assumed that you do not use any poisonous chemicals on

your lawn. If you do, bag the lawn clippings, take them to the nearest

toxic waste dump, and reflect on your folly.

Every year around the summer solstice (late June), I start a new

compost pile at home. During late spring the old pile can look as

though it’s full as if it can’t take any more material, but it will. This is

due to the constant shrinkage of the compost pile. When the pile is

fully built, it is covered over with a nice layer of straw, leaves, grass

clippings or other clean material (without weed seeds) to insulate it

and to act as a biofilter; then it is left to age, undisturbed. No turning is

needed. Never add anything to a curing compost pile!

The previous year’s bin has been emptied by this time, and a new

batch of compost can now be started in that bin, following the same

procedure as the first — with a concave earth floor, biological sponge,

cover material envelope, and center-feeding procedure. When that bin

is nearly full (about a year later), the first one can begin to be emptied

onto the garden, berries, orchard, or flower beds. If you’re not comfort

able using your compost for gardening purposes for whatever reason,

use it for flowers, trees, shrubs, or berry bushes.

A compost pile can accept a huge amount of organic material. Even

though the pile may seem to be full, as soon as you turn your back it

will shrink down and leave room for more material. One common con

cern among neophyte humanure composters is that the pile looks as if

it’s filling up too fast. More than likely, the compost pile will keep tak

ing the material as you add it because the pile is continuously shrink-

230 The Humanure Handbook??— 4th Edition — Chapter Fourteen

The Humanure Handbook ?— 4th Edition — Chapter Fourteen 231

232 The Humanure Handbook??— 4th Edition — Chapter Fourteen

The Humanure Handbook ?— 4th Edition — Chapter Fourteen 233

ing. If for some reason your compost pile does suddenly fill up and you

have nowhere to deposit the compost material, then you will simply

have to start a new compost bin. Four wooden pallets on edge, stacked

straw bales, or wire fencing will make a quick bin in an emergency.

The system outlined above will not yield any compost for two years

(one year to build the first pile and an additional year for it to age). Ho

wever, after the initial two-year start-up period, an ample amount of

compost will be available on an annual basis.

If you’re composting humanure from a population with endemic

diseases, an additional year-long curing period should be considered.

This will require additional compost bins. In that situation, after a bin

is filled, it is left to rest for two years. This system will create a longer

lag time before compost is available for agricultural purposes. If in

doubt about the hygienic safety of any compost, either test it for

pathogens in a laboratory, or use it agriculturally where it will not come

in contact with food crops, and wear gloves when handling it.

Finally, all organic material goes into the same bin! Food scraps,

toilet material, animal mortalities, stale beer, the whole works. If you

have animals and want to add the animal manures, that’s fine; you may

just need additional bins because they may fill up faster. Yes, you can

compost toilet paper. Yes, you should compost your food scraps and

your toilet material in the same bin — it makes better compost!

LEACHATE

Compost requires a lot of moisture and prefers to be kept damp.

Evaporated moisture is one of the main reasons that compost shrinks

so much. Compost piles are not inclined to drain moisture unless sub

jected to an excessive amount of rain or other influx of liquid. Most

rainwater is absorbed by the compost, but in heavy rainfall areas a roof

or cover can be placed over the compost pile at appropriate times to

prevent leaching. This roof can be as simple as a piece of plastic or a

tarp. You can also add more cover material on top of the pile to protect

it from heavy rains. The biological sponge acts as a leachate barrier too.

234 The Humanure Handbook??— 4th Edition — Chapter Fourteen

You can also get leachate if you use too much wash water to clean

toilet receptacles, because the wash water goes into the pile. If your

compost seems too wet, add more drier material into your compost mix

when building your pile. And don’t use too much wash water. If you’re

washing a lot of receptacles at once, say a dozen, a gallon of water is

enough to provide an initial rinse for all of them. Dump the gallon into

the first receptacle, rinse it, dump the same water into the next recep

tacle, rinse, and repeat. Then dump that water into the compost bin.

Use another gallon with a small amount of soap to wash the next dozen

or so five-gallon receptacles. Dump that into the compost bin, then use

another gallon to give them all a final rinse to get the soap washed out.

Dump that into the bin too. Soap won’t hurt anything in your compost.

You will have used three gallons of water to clean sixty gallons of toilet

contents, or a ratio of 1/20. That means you only used a liter (about a

quart) per five-gallon receptacle by following this procedure.

If you don’t like washing loo receptacles and don’t mind spending

the money, buy compostable plastic bag liners for your loo. That elim

inates much of the wash water. Some people use newspapers to line

their loo receptacles. Then, when they empty the containers, the news

paper and the humanure go into the compost pile together.

We had record rainfall the year I wrote this. Sixty inches. Not only

did I not have leachate problems, I dumped five gallons at a time of

discarded beer from a brewery into my piles, and they loved it. Re

member, microbes don’t walk, they swim. Keep your piles moist.

COMPOST BIN REVIEW

In review, here are the important considerations when making and

using compost bins:

(1) Make sure the bin is above ground, stable, and vermin proof.

You may need to line it with wire mesh if you live in a rat-infested area.

(2) If possible, start the bin on a soil base with a bowl-like depres

sion in the bottom.

(3) Always start with a “biological sponge” underneath the pile.

The Humanure Handbook ?— 4th Edition — Chapter Fourteen 235

(4) Add your fresh material into a depression in the center of the

bin. Always put smelly organic material in the bin, never on the bin.

Layering compost like lasagna? Forget it; that’s obsolete. Center feed

ing works much better.

(5) Always cover the contents of the bin. If you see flies or smell

odors, you are not covering adequately or properly. Cover it until there

is no odor and there are no flies.

(6) Build a layer of cover material around the insides of the bin.

This happens naturally when you’re feeding new material into the

center of the bin.

(7) Once the bin is full, let it sit, undisturbed, for about a year. Keep

a layer of cover material on top at all times. You can use the old cover

material as your biological sponge in the next bin after you empty out

the compost. There is no advantage in trying to rush compost. Imma

ture compost kills plants. It doesn’t cost anything to let the compost

age and cure. That’s how you get the best, most agriculturally useful,

most hygienically safe compost.

MANAGEMENT IS NECESSARY

The final necessary element in a compost toilet system: human man

agement. It’s a not a “take a shit and let someone else deal with it” sit

uation, like a water toilet. You, or someone, must take responsibility

for the compost toilet you’re using. Receptacles must be cleaned, emp

tied, and available for use at all times. Cover material must be supplied,

and the compost pile must be managed responsibly. It helps if the man

ager of the system is also someone who wants and values the compost.

Making compost is creating something of value. There’s not much

point in making it if it’s not going to be constructively utilized.

You will often hear that composting is both a science and an art

and that’s true. The point is to recycle organic material in an odor-free,

nuisance-free, environmentally safe and hygienically effective manner.

Pay attention to what you’re doing, and adjust things over time as

needed. A compost toilet system will quickly fail if managed poorly.

236 The Humanure Handbook??— 4th Edition — Chapter Fourteen

SOME THESIS DATA

Here is some old graduate thesis data worth reviewing. After four

teen years of humanure composting I analyzed my garden soil, my yard

soil (for comparison), and my compost, each for fertility and pH, using

LaMotte test kits from the local university.3 I also sent samples of my

feces to a local hospital lab to be analyzed for indicator parasitic ova or

worms. That was back in 1993.

The humanure compost proved to be adequate in nitrogen (N), rich

in phosphorus (P) and potassium (K), and higher than either the gar

den or the yard soil in these constituents as well as in various beneficial

minerals. The pH of the compost was 7.4 (slightly alkaline), but no

lime or wood ashes had been added during the composting process.

The garden soil was slightly lower in nutrients (N, P, K) than the com

post, and the pH was also slightly lower at 7.2. I had added lime and

wood ashes to my garden soil over the years, which may explain why

it was slightly alkaline. The garden soil, however, was still significantly

higher in nutrients and pH than the yard soil (pH of 6.2), which re

mained generally poor.

My stool sample was free of pathogenic ova or parasites. I used my

own stool for analysis purposes because I had been exposed to the com

post system and the garden soil longer than anyone else in my family

by a number of years. I had freely handled the compost, with bare

hands, year after year, with no reservations. I repeated the stool analysis

a year later, after fifteen years of exposure, then again eleven years later,

after twenty-six years of exposure, again with negative results. Hun

dreds of people had used my compost toilet over the years, prior to

these tests.

These results indicated that humanure compost is a good soil

builder, and that no intestinal parasites were transmitted from the com

post to the compost handler after twenty-six years of continuous, un

restricted, unprotected use in the United States. Over the entire

twenty-six-year period, almost all of the compost my family had pro

duced had been used in our food garden. We raised a lot of food with

The Humanure Handbook ?— 4th Edition — Chapter Fourteen 237

that compost, and a crop of lovely and healthy children with that food.

Some may surmise that the ova & parasite lab analyses I had done

were pointless. They didn’t prove anything because there may not have

been any contamination by intestinal parasites in the compost to begin

with. If, after twenty-six years and hundreds of users, no such contam

inants made their way into the compost, then that’s important infor

mation. This suggests that the fears of humanure composting are

grossly overblown. The point is that my compost has not created any

health problems for me or my family; on the contrary, it has provided

us with a garden for decades without the need to import outside ma

nures. That very important point is one that fecaphobes should take

note of.

MONITORING COMPOST TEMPERATURE

I keep a compost thermometer in my active compost piles at all

times. By checking the thermometer, you can tell at a glance how active

your compost is. Back in 1993 in grad school, I charted the temperature

of my thawing spring compost piles for two years in a row. Over the

winter, the compost had frozen solid as a shitcicle, and I wanted to see

what was happening after the piles thawed out. The compost consisted

primarily of deposits from the compost toilet, which contained hard

wood sawdust; humanure including all urine; and toilet paper. Kitchen

food scraps were also added to the pile intermittently throughout the

winter, and hay was used to cover the toilet deposits. Some weeds and

leaves were added, too.

The material was continuously collected from a family of four.

Nothing special was done to the pile at any time. No unusual ing

redients were added, no compost starters, no water, no animal manures

other than human (although a little chicken manure was added to the

1994 pile charted on the right, which may explain the higher compost

temperatures). No turning was done whatsoever. The compost piles

were situated in a three-sided, open-top wooden bin on bare soil, out

doors. The only imported materials were raw sawdust, a locally abun-

238 The Humanure Handbook??— 4th Edition — Chapter Fourteen

dant resource, and hay from a neighboring farm (less than two bales

were used during the entire winter).

Two thermometers were used to monitor the temperature of this

compost, one having an eight-inch probe, the other having a twenty

inch probe. The outside of the pile (eight-inch depth) shown on the

left graph heated by thermophilic activity before the inside (twenty

inch depth). The outside thawed first, so it became biologically active

first. Soon thereafter, the inside thawed and heated. By April 8, the

outer part of the pile had reached 122°F (50°C), and the temperature

remained at that level or above until April 22 (a two-week period). The

inside of the pile reached 122°F on April 16, over a week later than the

outside, and remained there or above until April 23. The pile shown

in the right graph was above 122°F for twenty-five days.

Since 1993 I have monitored my compost temperatures continu

ously, year-round. The compost typically reaches 120°F (about 50°C)

or above, at a depth of twenty inches, in early spring and stays there

all summer and fall. In the winter, the temperature drops, but the com

post piles have not frozen since 1997. In fact, the compost thermophiles

The Humanure Handbook ?— 4th Edition — Chapter Fourteen 239

seem to be adapting to the cold winters of Pennsylvania and it is not

uncommon for my compost to read temperatures over 100°F all winter

long, even when the ambient air temperature is in the single digits. I

videotaped during one recent winter when the outside air temperature

was 4°F (negative 16°C) and the compost pile was 130°F (54°C). The

video is on YouTube along with many others. The maximum tempera

ture I have recorded in my compost is about 149° F (65°C), but more

typical temperatures range from 110°F (43°C) to 130°F (54°C). For

some reason, the compost seems to stay around 120°F most of the

summer months at a depth of twenty inches. I keep the thermometer

right in the top center of the pile where new material is added.

According to Dr. T. Gibson, head of the Department of Agricul

tural Biology at the Edinburgh and East of Scotland College of Agri

culture, “All the evidence shows that a few hours at 120° Fahrenheit

[49°C] would eliminate [pathogenic microorganisms] completely.

There should be a wide margin of safety if that temperature were main

tained for 24 hours.”4

I wrote the following three paragraphs on February 24, 2005:

“I emptied four humanure compost receptacles this morning before

I started writing. The outdoor temperature was 22°F (-6°F). The com

post temperature at twenty inches deep was just over 100°F (38°C). I

glanced at the clock before I started emptying the compost, then again

after I had finished and washed my hands. Exactly fifteen minutes had

elapsed. This is a weekly chore and more time consuming in the winter

because a gallon jug of water must be carried out with the compost to

rinse the containers (the rain barrel at the Humanure Hacienda is

drained during the winter months so no water is available there). I have

never paid much attention to how time-consuming humanure com

posting can be, so I was surprised that it only took fifteen minutes to

empty four receptacles at a leisurely pace during the worst time of year.

“I shouldn’t be surprised, though, because we’ve developed an ef

ficient system over the years — we use a four-receptacle system because

two receptacles are easier to carry than one, and four receptacles will

last approximately one week for a family of four, which means only

240 The Humanure Handbook??— 4th Edition — Chapter Fourteen

feeding the compost pile on a weekly basis, usually on Sunday (making

compost is more spiritually meaningful to me than going to a church).

In the winter, one gallon of water is used for rinsing two compost re

ceptacles. That means four people will need 1/2 gallon of water each

per week for toilet use, requiring about four minutes per person per

week for feeding the compost pile.

“Granted, there is additional time required to acquire and stockpile

cover materials — a job usually done in the summer or fall (we go

through about ten bales of straw or hay each year, plus a pick-up truck

load of sawdust). A few minutes each week are also needed to refill saw

dust containers (a job for the kids). The biggest task is wheelbarrowing

the compost to the garden each spring. But then, that’s the whole idea

— making compost.”

Now I’m writing the following paragraphs in 2018:

“The kids have grown and moved on. I now only compost for my

self and only empty four receptacles once a month. I use five receptacles

now. That way, when four are being fed to the compost pile, there is

always one in service. The compost pile at my nearby office was 127°F

[53°C] a couple nights ago when it was 19°F [-7°C] outside. I attribute

the microbial activity to the 15 gallons of room temperature beer I

dumped into the pile during a recent week of cold weather (five gallons

each night). I get the beer from a local brewery — it’s what drains from

the tap as froth or overflow, into a bucket. They were dumping it down

a sink drain every night, but now I collect it. It gives me a good excuse

to go in and have a beer, and my compost loves it.

“My house compost pile was only 60°F [16°C] today. I have not fed

it in over a month (I was in Europe). The weather has been frigid.

Today I emptied six toilet receptacles into the pile, a bucket of beer,

and a dead possum. I’m sure the temperature will rise quickly [it rose

to 126°F (52°C)]. Compost likes to be fed. If you don’t feed it, the tem

perature will drop. If you feed it, the temperature will rise again.

“My pile has not frozen in twenty-one years and I don’t expect it

to freeze again. The cover material surrounding the pile is helpful be

cause it helps insulate the compost during cold weather, and it helps

The Humanure Handbook ?— 4th Edition — Chapter Fourteen 241

with oxygen infiltration. Also, my compost bacteria have reproduced

so many generations in nearly forty years that I wouldn’t be surprised

if they’ve become naturally selected for the local climate. They, like

me, live here now. It’s their home too. Plus, adding liquids to the piles

in the winter helps a lot to keep the temperatures up. Climate change

may be having an effect too. We’ve had some weird warm weather dur

ing the winter months over the past decade, plus a fair share of nasty

cold weather and blizzards.

“I used to call my compost pile Gomer (Gomer the pile), but no

body knows what that means anymore. Even bad humor eventually ex

pires.”

COMPOST HAPPENS

Fears of compost exist perhaps because much of the information

in print concerning the recycling of humanure is confusing, erroneous,

or incomplete. For example, when researching the literature during

the preparation of an earlier edition of this book, I found it surprising

that almost no mention is ever made of the composting of humanure

as a viable alternative to other forms of on-site sanitation. When

“bucket” systems are mentioned, they are universally decried as being

the least desirable sanitation alternative.

For example, in A Guide to the Development of On-Site Sanitation by

Franceys et al., published by the World Health Organization in 1992,

“bucket latrines” are described as “malodorous, creating a fly nuisance,

a danger to the health of those who collect or use the night soil, and

the collection is environmentally and physically undesirable.” This

sentiment is echoed in Rybczynski’s (et al.) World Bank funded work

Appropriate Technology for Water Supply and Sanitation, where it is stated

that “the limitations of the bucket latrine include the frequent collec

tion visits required to empty the small container of [humanure], as well

as the difficulty of restricting the passage of flies and odors from the

bucket.”

I’ve personally used a compost toilet for forty years, and it has

242 The Humanure Handbook??— 4th Edition — Chapter Fourteen

never caused odor problems, fly problems, health problems, or envi

ronmental problems, even when a bucket was used as a receptacle.

Quite the contrary, it has actually enhanced my health, the health of

my family, and the health of my environment by producing healthy,

organic food in my garden, and by keeping “human waste” out of the

water table. Nevertheless, Franceys et al. go on to say that “[humanure]

collection should never be considered as an option for sanitation im

provement programs, and all existing bucket latrines should be re

placed as soon as possible.” Now you see why I say never use the term

“bucket’ in association with a compost toilet. A compost toilet is not a

bucket latrine.

Obviously Franceys was referring to the practice of collecting hu

manure in buckets without a cover material and without any intention

of making compost. Such buckets of feces and urine are presumably

dumped raw into the environment. Naturally, such a practice should

be strongly discouraged, if not outlawed.

However, rather than forcing people who use such crude waste dis

posal methods to switch to other prohibitively costly waste disposal

systems, perhaps it would be better to educate those people about re

cycling, the human nutrient cycle, and about composting. It would be

more constructive to help them acquire adequate and appropriate cover

materials for their toilets, assist them in constructing compost bins,

and thereby eliminate waste, pollution, odor, flies, and health hazards

altogether. I find it inconceivable that intelligent, educated scientists

who observe bucket latrines and the odors and flies associated with

them do not see that the simple addition of a clean, organic cover ma

terial to the system would solve these problems and would balance the

nitrogen of the humanure with carbon, thereby allowing composting

to happen.

Franceys et al. state, however, in their book that “apart from storage

in double pit latrines, the most appropriate treatment for on-site san

itation is composting.” I would agree that composting, when done

properly, is the most appropriate method of on-site sanitation available

to humans. I would not agree that double pit storage is more appropri

The Humanure Handbook ?— 4th Edition — Chapter Fourteen 243

ate than composting unless it could be proven that human pathogens

could be adequately destroyed using such a double pit system, and that

such a system would be comfortable and convenient, would produce

no unpleasant odor, and would not require the segregation of urine

from feces. According to Rybczynski et al., the double pit latrine shows

a reduction of Ascaris ova of 85 percent after two months, a statistic

that does not impress me. When my compost is finished, I don't want

any pathogen threat lurking in the compost that I’m holding in my

bare hands.

Ironically, the work of Franceys et al. further illustrates a “decision

tree for selection of sanitation” that indicates the use of a “compost la

trine” as being one of the least desirable sanitation methods, and one

that can only be used if the user is willing to collect urine separately.

Unfortunately, contemporary professional literature is rife with this

sort of inconsistent, incomplete, and incorrect information that would

surely lead a reader to believe that composting humanure just isn’t

worth the trouble.

On the other hand, Hugh Flatt, who, I would guess, was a prac

titioner and not a scientist, in Practical Self-Sufficiency tells of a compost

toilet system he had used for decades. He lived on a farm for more than

thirty years that made use of “sawdust toilets.” The lavatories serviced

a number of visitors during the year and often two families in the farm

house, but they used no chemicals. They used sawdust, added after

each use of the toilet, which Mr. Flatt described as “absorbent and

sweet-smelling.” The toilet was emptied on a compost pile. The com

post heap was located on a soil base with a floor of “cut weeds, grass,

or straw.” The deposits were covered each time they were added to the

heap, and kitchen refuse was added to the pile (as was straw). The result

was “a fresh-smelling, friable, biologically active compost ready to be

spread on the garden.”5

In 2018 toilet material collected in receptacles for processing was

being termed “container-based sanitation” by sanitation professionals

to distinguish from bucket latrines. Compost toilets are “compost

based sanitation” because the emphasis is on the composting rather

244 The Humanure Handbook??— 4th Edition — Chapter Fourteen

than on the container.

Those who use composting for sanitation might view the com

ments of some “experts” with annoyance. For example, someone posted

a query on a compost toilet forum wondering if anyone had any scien

tific criticism about humanure composting. An “expert” replied that

he was about to publish a new book on “composting toilets,” and he

offered the following excerpt:

Warning: If you don’t have a consistent track record of maintain

ing high temperatures in quick compost piles, I’d counsel against using

this system. Even among gardeners, only a small minority assemble

compost piles which consistently attain the necessary high temperatures.

.. .Health issues I’d be concerned about are 1) bugs and small critters

fleeing the high-temperature areas of the pile and carrying a coat of

pathogen laden feces out of the pile with them; 2) large critters (dogs,

raccoons, rats....) raiding the pile for food and tracking raw waste

away; and 3) the inevitable direct exposure from carrying, emptying,

and washing buckets.

Some clever and open-minded folk have hit on the inspiration of

composting feces... by adding them to their compost piles! What a rev

olutionary concept!... Sound too good to be true? Well, in theory it is

true, though in practice I believe that few folks would pass all the little

hurdles along the way to realizing these benefits. Not because any part

of it is so difficult, just that, well, if you never ate sugar and brushed

and flossed after every meal, you won’t get cavities either.6

He’s right about the cavities, but not about the rest. The comments

are lacking in scientific merit and expose someone who has no experi

ence about the subject on which he is commenting. It is disheartening,

but not surprising, that such opinions would actually be published.

The writer hits on knee-jerk fears of fecaphobes. His comment on bugs

and critters fleeing the compost pile coated with pathogen-laden feces

is a perfect example. Perhaps someone should inform this person that

fecal material is a natural product of the human body, and that if it is

The Humanure Handbook ?— 4th Edition — Chapter Fourteen 245

laden with pathogens, that person needs help.

When one lives with a composting system for an extended period,

one understands that fecal material is readily compostable, comes from

one’s body, exists inside oneself at all times, and is teeming with bene

ficial microorganisms. With such an understanding, it would be hard

to be fearful of one’s own humanure, and impossible to see it as a sub

stance brimming with disease organisms, unless, of course, one is brim

ming with disease.

The writer hits on another irrational fear — large animals, includ

ing rats, invading a compost pile and spreading disease. Compost bins

can be easily built to be animal-proof. If small animals such as rats are

a problem, the compost bin can be lined with chicken wire on all sides

and underneath. The compost bins should have side walls such as pal

lets, blocks, straw bales, wood boards, or similar barriers to keep out

larger animals. A simple piece of wire fencing cut to fit the exposed top

of an active compost pile will keep animals from digging into it, while

still allowing rain water to keep the pile moist. With adequate cover

material on the pile, there will be no flies. It’s pretty simple.

The writer warns that most gardeners do not have hot compost.

Most gardeners also leave critical ingredients out of their compost,

thanks to the fear-mongering of the ill-informed. Those ingredients

are humanure and urine, which are quite likely to make one’s compost

heat up.

As we have seen, it’s not only the temperature of the compost that

destroys pathogens, it’s also retention time. Compost that includes toi

let material requires approximately a year’s undisturbed retention time

(give or take) after the pile is built. When a thermophilic phase is added

to this process, I would challenge anyone to come up with a more ef

fective, earth-friendly, simpler, low-cost system for pathogen elimi

nation, assuming pathogens are there in the first place.

Finally, the writer warns of “the inevitable direct exposure from

carrying, emptying, and washing buckets.” Wiping one’s butt after def

ecating requires more “direct exposure” than emptying compost, but I

would not discourage people from doing it. It is quite simple to wash

246 The Humanure Handbook??— 4th Edition — Chapter Fourteen

one’s hands after defecating and after taking care of the compost.

Other experts have thrown in their two cents worth on composting

humanure. A book on dry toilets mentions the compost toilet system.7

Although the comments are not at all cynical and are meant to be in

formative, a bit of misinformation manages to come through. For ex

ample, one suggestion is to use “rubber gloves and perhaps a

transparent face mask so you do not get anything splashed on you”

when emptying a compost receptacle onto a compost pile. Yes, that ad

vice should be followed when making compost using toilet material

collected from a population with known health problems, such as areas

endemic with intestinal parasites. But you? How is it that what has just

emerged from your own body can be considered so utterly toxic? Can

one not empty a container into a compost pile without splashing the

contents all over one’s face? More exaggeration and misinformation

existed in the book regarding temperature levels and compost bin tech

niques. One warning to “bury finished compost in a shallow hole or

trench around the roots of non-edible plants,” might apply to dry-toilet

septage but not to compost. The authors recommended that humanure

compost be composted again in a non-humanure compost pile, or mi

crowaved for pasteurization, both ridiculous suggestions.

The act of composting humanure is so radical and revolutionary

that people who have spent their lives trying to dispose of the substance

can’t quite come to grips with the idea that it can be recycled. Ironi

cally, a simple compost toilet used by a physician and his family is fea

tured and illustrated in the above book. The physician states, “There

is no offensive odor. We’ve never had a complaint from the neighbors.”

Their compost toilet system is also illustrated and posted on the inter

net, where a brief description sums it up: “This simple composting toi

let system is inexpensive both in construction and to operate and, when

properly maintained, aesthetic and hygienic. It is a perfect complement

to organic gardening. In many ways, it out-performs complicated sys

tems costing hundreds of times as much.” Often, knowledge derived

from real-life experience can be diametrically opposed to the specula

tions of “experts.”

The Humanure Handbook ?— 4th Edition — Chapter Fourteen 247

What about “health agents”? Health authorities can be misled by

misinformation, such as that stated in the preceding accounts. Health

authorities, according to my experience, generally know very little, if

anything, about composting. The health authorities who have con

tacted me are very interested in getting more information and seem

very open to the idea of a natural, low-cost, effective, humanure recy

cling system. They know that human sewage is a dangerous pollutant

and a serious environmental problem, and they seem to be surprised

and impressed to find that such sewage can be avoided altogether. Most

intelligent people are willing and able to expand their awareness and

change their attitudes based on new information. Therefore, if you are

using a compost toilet and are having a problem with any authority,

we will donate, free of charge, a copy of The Humanure Handbook,

fourth edition, to any permitting agent or health authority, no ques

tions asked, upon anyone’s request — just send a name and address to

the publisher at the front of this book.

Well-informed health professionals and environmental authorities

are aware that “human waste” presents an environmental dilemma that

is not going away. The problem, on the contrary, is getting worse. Too

much water is being polluted by sewage and septic discharges, and

there must be a constructive alternative. When health authorities learn

about composting, they realize there may very likely be no better solu

tion to the human waste problem. Perhaps this is why I received a letter

from the US Department of Health and Human Services praising an

earlier edition of this book and wanting to know more about humanure

composting. The US Environmental Protection Agency wrote to me

to commend this book and order several cases. The Pennsylvania De

partment of Environmental Protection nominated the book for an en

vironmental award and the US Composting Council presented the

author with a national award for grassroots education. Fecaphobes may

think composting humanure is dangerous and disgusting. I will pa

tiently wait until they come up with a better solution to the problem

of “human waste,” but I won’t hold my breath waiting.

248 The Humanure Handbook??— 4th Edition — Chapter Fourteen

LEGALITIES

Composting humanure can’t be legal, can it? Well, yes actually, it

probably is, depending on your situation, and here’s why. Waste dis

posal is regulated, and it should be. Waste disposal is potentially very

dangerous to the environment. Sewage disposal and recycling are also

regulated, and they should be, too. Sewage, as we already know, in

cludes a host of hazardous substances deposited into a waterborne

waste stream. The process of composting humanure is neither disposal

of waste, nor production of sewage — it is the recycling of organic ma

terial. It’s composting. Both backyard composting and farm composting

are generally exempt from regulations unless the compost is being sold

or removed from the property on which it is made, or the compost op

eration is large. The National Sanitation Foundation has nothing to

do with composting. Composting is not a wastewater treatment system

and is not subject to the regulations that govern such systems.

To quote one source, “The US Department of Environmental Pro

tection (DEP) has established detailed regulations for the production

and use of compost created from [organic material]. These regulations

exclude compost obtained from backyard composting and normal

farming operations. Compost from these activities is exempt from reg

ulation only if it is used on the property where it was composted, as

part of the farming operation. Any compost which is sold must meet

the requirements of the regulations.”8

Dry toilets that dehydrate and degrade the organic material inside

them, producing septage, are regulated in many states. A humanure

toilet does not degrade organic material; it simply collects it. If the

composting occurs on private property and the compost is not being

sold, it is most likely not regulated. If someone tells you that it is illegal

to compost humanure on your property, ask them to produce the stat

ute or regulation so you can see for yourself. It probably doesn’t exist.

At one point in time I was engaged as a plaintiff in a group lawsuit

against the local municipality. The borough had issued a building per

mit to a polluting industry in violation of the zoning ordinances. Our

The Humanure Handbook ?— 4th Edition — Chapter Fourteen 249

250 The Humanure Handbook??— 4th Edition — Chapter Fourteen

The Humanure Handbook ?— 4th Edition — Chapter Fourteen 251

lawsuit was on the front page of the county paper repeatedly and things

got ugly. Some of the plaintiffs even received death threats. An ignorant

neighbor anonymously reported to the Department of Environmental

Protection that I was disposing of toxic waste on my property. The

DEP sent a plain-clothes investigator in an unmarked car to check it

out. He did the investigation without my knowledge, then walked into

my office with the anonymous report in his hand. After he explained

himself, he said that he found no evidence of any toxic waste and that

he would file the complaint as being without merit.

A couple of years later, I arranged a meeting with the Pennsylva

nia DEP in the capital city of Harrisburg. I did a PowerPoint presen

tation for them about humanure composting and explained that I

wanted a permit to collect and compost humanure from larger pop

ulations such as music venues, environmental centers, and so on. I

wanted both the experience and the data. Also, I own many acres of

unreclaimed strip-mined land, and the compost could be put to good

use there for reclamation if I composted it on my own property. The

DEP was very understanding and supportive. They emailed me the

permit application a few days later. It was about 100 pages long and

would take me a month to process, a period that was not available to

me at that time. An environmental engineer offered to process the ap

plication for me, for $35,000. The project ground to a halt.

Then I received a phone call one evening from Patricia Arquette,

a Hollywood actress, asking me if I would go to Haiti and teach them

how to set up compost toilets for the people now living in tent cities

after the earthquake, which I did. That was 2010. Since then, with the

help of Patricia’s group, GiveLove.org, and in particular Alisa Keesey,

the program director, and Samuel Souza, the compost instructor, I have

been able to gather data on larger scale composting without having to

deal with US regulations at all.

When I attended the US Composting Council conference in Aus

tin, Texas, a few years ago, as I waited in the auditorium for the keynote

speaker, I struck up a conversation with the lady sitting next to me.

She was a health department authority in a state I don’t remember;

252 The Humanure Handbook??— 4th Edition — Chapter Fourteen

Missouri, I think. I told her I was involved with humanure. “I’ve heard

of that,” she said. Oh yeah, how? “We got a complaint that someone

was composting humanure in their backyard in the city. We went to

investigate, and the homeowners admitted that they were in fact com

posting humanure. They said they would stop. So, we left.”

I looked her straight in the eye and asked, “Is what they were doing

illegal?” She looked me straight in the eye and said, “No.” Apparently

the homeowners thought it was illegal, but no one told them otherwise.

People in the US make the assumption that you can’t compost whatever

you want on your own property, but you can, as long as you are not cre

ating a nuisance or giving anybody something legitimate to complain

about, such as odors, rats, or liquid leaching out your pile onto some

one’s property, all of which are easily avoided.

Another example was a man who contacted me in the past year

about his compost toilet in a trailer court. The property had prohi

bitions against “composting and waterless toilets.” They informed him

that, in their opinion, “your sewage is being discharged by means of a

bucket directly onto the surface of the ground.” Here were four prob

lems the man had against him: the stigma and reputation of the

“bucket toilet,” the health authority’s total lack of knowledge about

composting, being on property he didn’t own, and an inability to com

municate correctly about his compost toilet system. For example, he

failed to describe his toilet as a compost toilet, and he mistakenly re

ferred to the compost toilet receptacles as “buckets,” invoking the

bucket toilet curse. His solution was to move his trailer elsewhere.

In Maine, it is apparently illegal to put food scraps down a toilet

chute in a commercial dry toilet, even though the food scraps and toilet

materials go to the same place in the degradation chamber. Such a reg

ulation makes no sense whatsoever. In Massachusetts, finished compost

from dry toilets must be buried under six inches of soil, or hauled away

and disposed of by a septage hauler. This is because most dry toilets

do not make compost, a topic we have already discussed.

If you’re concerned about your local laws, get online or go to the

library and see what you can find about regulations concerning com

The Humanure Handbook ?— 4th Edition — Chapter Fourteen 253

post. Or inquire at your county seat or state agency as statutes, ordi

nances and regulations vary from locality to locality. If you don’t want

to dispose of humanure but want to compost it instead, you may have

to stand up for your rights.

A reader called from a small state in New England to tell me his

story. The man had a compost toilet in his house, but the local munic

ipal authorities decided he could only use an “approved” waterless toi

let, meaning, in this case, an incinerating toilet. The man did not want

an incinerating toilet because the compost toilet was working well, and

he liked making and using the compost. So, he complained to the au

thorities, attended township meetings and put up a fuss. To no avail.

After months of “fighting city hall,” he gave up and bought a very ex

pensive and “approved” incinerating toilet. When it was delivered to

his house, he had the delivery people set it in a storage room — and

that’s where it remained, still in the packing box, never opened. The

man continued to use his compost toilet for years after that. The au

thorities knew that he had bought the “approved” toilet, and thereafter

left him alone. He never did use it, but the authorities didn’t care. He

bought the damn thing and had it in his house, and that’s what they

wanted. The locals obviously weren’t related to Albert Einstein.

Another interesting story comes from a fellow in Tennessee. It

seems that he bought a house that had a rather crude sewage system

— the toilet flushed directly into a creek behind the house. The fellow

was smart enough to know that was not good, so he installed a compost

toilet. However, an unfriendly neighbor assumed he was still using the

direct waste dump system, and the neighbor reported him to the au

thorities. But let him tell it in his own words:

Our primitive outhouse employs a rotating 5-gallon receptacle sawdust

shitter that sits inside a ‘throne.’ Our system is simple & based largely

on your book. We transport the poop to a compost pile where we mix

the mess with straw & other organic materials. The resident in our cabin

before we bought the farm used a flush toilet that sent all sewage directly

to a creekbed. An uninformed neighbor complained to the state, assum-

254 The Humanure Handbook??— 4th Edition — Chapter Fourteen

ing that we used the same system. The state people have visited us sev

eral times. We were forced to file a $100 application for a septic system,

but the experts agree that our hilly, rocky house site is not suitable for a

traditional septic system even if we wanted one. They were concerned

about our grey water as well as our composting outhouse. My rudimen

tary understanding of the law is that the state approves several alter

native systems that are very complicated and at least as expensive as a

traditional septic. The simple humanure toilet is not included & the

state does not seem to want any civilian to actually transport his own

shit from the elimination site to a different decomposition site. The bu

reaucrats tentatively approved an experimental system where our sew

age could feed a person-made aquatic wetlands type thingie & they

agreed to help us design & implement that system. Currently, we cannot

afford to do that on our own & continue to use our humanure latrine.

The officials seem to want to leave us alone as long as our neighbors

don't complain anymore. So, that's a summary of our situation here in

Tennessee. I've read most of the state laws on the topic; like most legal

texts, they are virtually unreadable. As far as I can tell, our system is

not explicitly banned but it is not included in the list of ‘approved’ al

ternative systems that run the gamut from high-tech, low volume, fac

tory-produced composting gizmos to the old-fashioned pit latrine. For

a while now, I've wanted to write an article on our experience and your

book. Unfortunately, grad school in English has seriously slowed down

my freelance writing.”

In Pennsylvania the state legislature has enacted legislation “en

couraging the development of resources recovery as a means of man

aging solid waste, conserving resources, and supplying energy.” Under

such legislation the term “disposal” is defined as “the incineration,

dumping, spilling, leaking, or placing of solid waste into or on the land

or water in a manner that the solid waste or a constituent of the solid

waste enters the environment, is emitted into the air or is discharged

to the waters of the Commonwealth.”9 Further legislation has been

enacted in Pennsylvania stating that “waste reduction and recycling

The Humanure Handbook ?— 4th Edition — Chapter Fourteen 255

are preferable to the processing or disposal of municipal waste,” and

further stating “pollution is the contamination of any air, water, land

or other natural resources of this Commonwealth that will create or is

likely to create a public nuisance or to render the air, water, land, or

other natural resources harmful, detrimental, or injurious to public

health, safety, or welfare.. .”10 In view of the fact that the composting

of humanure involves recovering a resource, requires no disposal of

waste, and creates no obvious environmental pollution, it is unlikely

that someone who conscientiously engages in such an activity would

be unduly bothered by anyone. Don’t be surprised if most people find

such an activity commendable, because, in fact, it is.

If there aren’t any regulations concerning backyard composting in

your area, then be sure that when you’re making your compost, you’re

doing a good job of it. It’s not hard to do it right. The most likely prob

lem you could have is an odor problem, and that would simply be due

to not keeping your deposits adequately covered with clean “biofilter”

material. If you keep it covered, it does not give off offensive odors. It’s

that simple. Shit stinks so people will be naturally compelled to cover

it with something. That makes sense when you think that thermophilic

bacteria are already in the feces waiting for the manure to be piled into

a compost bin, so they can get to work. Sometimes the simple ways of

nature are truly profound.

What about flies — could they create a public nuisance or health

hazard? I have never had problems with flies on my compost. Of

course, a clean cover material is always kept over the compost pile.

Concerning flies, F. H. King, who traveled through China, Korea

and Japan in the early 1900s when organic material, especially human

ure, was the only source of soil fertilizer, stated, “One fact which we do

not fully understand is that, wherever we went, house flies were very

few. We never spent a summer with so little annoyance from them as

this one in China, Korea and Japan. If the scrupulous husbanding of

[organic] refuse so universally practiced in these countries reduces the

fly nuisance and this menace to health to the extent which our experi

ence suggests, here is one great gain.” He added, “We have adverted to

256 The Humanure Handbook??— 4th Edition — Chapter Fourteen

the very small number of flies observed anywhere in the course of our

travel, but its significance we did not realize until near the end of our

stay. Indeed, for some reason, flies were more in evidence during the

first two days on the steamship out from Yokohama on our return trip

to America, than at any time before on our journey.”11

If an entire country the size of the United States, but with twice

the population at that time, could recycle its organic refuse without the

benefit of electricity or automobiles and not have a fly problem, surely

we in the United States can recycle a greater portion of our own organic

material with similar success today.

POTTY TRAINING 101

Americans suffer from arrested development when it comes to

human excretions. What we put into our bodies is celebrated as an art

and a science. Ironically, what comes out is ignored and avoided. We

are held captive to a nineteenth century attitude that our excretions

are waste materials choking with disease organisms. Our collective

mentality regarding excrement is juvenile at best. We can’t talk about

it without snickering like thirteen-year-olds, even on radio and TV.

People who are trying to advance the science and especially the

practical applications of humanure recycling face pushback from reg

ulatory personnel in the US and in most water toilet cultures. Yet we

in the developed world are the ones who have the education and the

wherewithal to be able to conduct research and development about hu

manure composting systems.

Composting not only has a positive impact on the Earth’s ecosys

tems but is proven to be sustainable. When Western culture is only a

distant and fading memory in the collective mind of humanity thou

sands (hundreds?) of years from now, the humans who will have

learned how to survive on this planet in the long term will be those

who have learned how to live in harmony with it. That will require

much more than intelligence or technology — it will require a sensitive

understanding of our place in the web of life. Perhaps what is required

The Humanure Handbook ?— 4th Edition — Chapter Fourteen 257

is a sense of humility, and a renewed respect for that which is simple.

True advancement requires the balanced development of human

ity’s intellect with physical and spiritual development. We must link

what we know intellectually with the physical effects of our behavior,

and with the understanding of ourselves as small, interdependent, in

terrelated life forms relative to a greater sphere of existence.

Perhaps we’re really advancing ourselves when we can function

healthfully, peacefully, and sustainably without squandering resources

and without creating pollution. That’s not a matter of mastering tech

nology; it’s a matter of mastering oneself, a much more difficult un

dertaking, but certainly a worthy goal.

258 The Humanure Handbook??— 4th Edition — Chapter Fourteen

Chapter Fifteen

Bum Rap

A bad rap—otherwise known as a bum rap—is dishonor resulting from

false accusations or trumped-up charges. Grammarist.com

You can’t say “shit,” at least not on TV. It’s unacceptable to utter

such a word on public airways because, according to the US Supreme

Court, it’s deemed “indecent,” meaning it “portrays sexual or excretory

organs or activities... .” So-called “indecent” content is prohibited

on broadcast television and radio in the United States between 6 a.m.

and 10 p.m. If the Federal Communications Commission finds a TV

or radio station in violation of these rules, it has the authority to revoke

the station’s license, or to impose a fine.

Funny that you can’t say “shit,” but you can say feces, turd, poop,

excrement, fecal material, dung, stool, and manure, all of which mean

exactly the same thing. Manure is the inevitable by-product of every

animal’s digestive system. Everything we eat turns to shit. When the

turds stop coming, it’s because we’re dead. Benjamin Franklin once

said, "In this world nothing is certain except death and taxes." He for

got to mention shit.

Humanure is getting a “bum” rap. You can’t say shit on TV or

radio, but you can say “murder.” You can say “rape.” You can talk about

chopping someone’s head off and shoving a crowbar down his neck.

The Humanure Handbook ??— 4th Edition — Chapter Fifteen 259

You can talk about killing someone and cooking her flesh on a barbe

cue. None of these are “indecent.” None are as objectionable as “shit.”

You can watch people being murdered on TV day in and day out. Heck,

you can stand in your living room with your hand over your heart wav

ing a flag as a superpower bombs a small nation back to the Stone Age,

broadcast live on TV for everyone’s enjoyment, while hundreds of

thousands of real men, women, and children are slaughtered, in real

time. There’s nothing indecent about that. In fact, it seems to happen

on a regular basis, complete with commercial sponsors. But hell no,

you can’t say shit. Shit is bad.

I was once interviewed on the Howard Stern radio show. You may

have heard the segment about the “feces farmer.” I waited on my com

post toilet for the phone interview early one morning, assuming I

would be the first person to be interviewed live while taking a dump

in a dry toilet. Alas, it was not to happen. After I waited much too long,

they called and informed me that I had been bumped off the show for

a walk-in transvestite. Then they rescheduled me for a week later.

When they did finally call, I was not on the loo. I took the interview

standing up, with their fart noises interrupting in the background and

their fake dairy farmer loudly excoriating me for engaging in such a

disgusting practice as recycling human excrement. When I was finally

able to get a word in edgewise, I uttered, “Your so-called ‘dairy farmer’

is full of shit!” A chorus of loud objections ensued from the entire staff.

“You can’t say that!” they exclaimed. It was a public broadcast, so they

censored out my comment. During the live interview, I also informed

them that I had been composting humanure for about twenty years at

that time and that I had used all the compost for growing food. They

censored that out, too — it also was much too objectionable for the

tender ears of their audience. After the interview, they segued into a

nice, wholesome segment about anal intercourse with midgets. No

more disgusting talk about recycling turds. Now on my resume I in

clude “bumped from the Howard Stern show for a walk-in transvestite”

and “censored twice on the Howard Stern show.” Not too many people

have that in their curriculum vitae.

260 The Humanure Handbook ??— 4th Edition — Chapter Fifteen

Americans, and perhaps humans in general, think of human ex

crement as “waste” teeming with pathogens. In fact, it is neither. Hu

manure is an organic resource teeming with beneficial microorganisms.

That’s a fact.

“Waste” is first a verb. We waste something, then what we’ve wasted

becomes the noun, “waste.” There’s no such thing as waste until some

thing is wasted. Humans are a peculiar species in that they inten

tionally and continually create waste, as if it’s normal and expected.

But where else in nature does waste exist? The word “humanure”

means human excrement beneficially recycled by feeding it to mi

crobes. There is no waste involved. Because this idea is so radical in

today’s world, especially in water toilet cultures, there was no word for

such an organic resource. I had to create one. Humanure.

The world is expected to be inhabited by ten billion people by

2050, projected to need 20,500 trillion calories derived from food. How

will this food be produced? If we continue to produce food in the same

manner as today, agricultural land would have to expand by more than

eight billion acres by 2050, potentially destroying the world’s forests

and savannas, which will have to be converted into farmland. Accord

ing to a 2018 World Resources Institute report, “The world faces an

unprecedented challenge. Crop and pasture yields must increase at

rates even faster than those achieved between 1961 and 2010—a period

that included the widespread use of synthetic fertilizer and scientifi

cally bred seeds and a doubling of irrigated area—to fully meet ex

pected food demand and to avoid massive additional clearing of forests

and woody savannas.”1

The recycling of organic materials for agricultural purposes is fun

damental to sustainable agriculture. Yet spokespersons for sustainable

agriculture remain silent about using humanure to make compost.

Americans each waste about a thousand pounds of humanure every

year, which we discard into sewers and septic systems throughout the

land. Much of the discarded humanure finds its final resting place in

a landfill, along with the other solid waste we Americans discard,

which, coincidentally, also amounts to about a thousand pounds per

The Humanure Handbook ??— 4th Edition — Chapter Fifteen 261

person per year. For a population of 330 million people, that adds up

to roughly 330 million tons of solid waste individually discarded by us

every year, much of which is valuable as an agricultural resource. In

fact, over 60 percent of municipal solid waste is organic and compos

table. But only a small percentage is actually composted.

This is not to suggest that sewage should be used to produce food

crops. "Sewage farming," using raw sewage for irrigation, is practiced

in many countries throughout the world, but the practice is unfor

tunately characterized by soil contamination, toxic organic chemicals

entering the food chain, bad odors, pathogenic microorganisms such

as parasites, bacteria, fungi and viruses, livestock infections, leachate

runoff, groundwater contamination, persistent organic contaminants,

crop contamination, surface water contamination, heavy metal con

tamination, and the degradation of both public health and the natural

environment.2

In the words of scientists, “Irrigation with untreated sewage ef

fluent could represent a major threat to public health (of both humans,

and livestock), food safety, and environmental quality. Soils are apt to

contamination with pathogens as a result of irrigation with sewage ef

fluent. Raw sewage effluent had been implicated as an important source

of health risk for chronic, low-grade gastrointestinal disease as well as

outbreaks of more acute diseases including cholera and typhoid. A pri

mary exposure route for the urban population in general is the con

sumption of raw vegetables that had been irrigated with sewage

effluent.”3

Humanure, on the other hand, when kept out of the sewers, col

lected as a resource material, and composted, is a valuable agricultural

resource. When we combine our manure with other organic materials

such as food scraps, paper products, wood products, and agricultural

byproducts, we achieve a blend that is irresistible to beneficial micro

organisms. Yet Americans, on average, each waste nearly a pound of

food every day, requiring thirty million acres of farmland every year

to produce food that is simply thrown out.4 Only a small percentage of

our discarded food is being composted in the United States; the re-

262 The Humanure Handbook ??— 4th Edition — Chapter Fifteen

mainder is incinerated or buried in landfills.5

Is it wise to rely on landfills to dispose of recyclable materials?

Landfills fill up, and new ones need to be built to replace them. In fact,

we may be lucky that landfills are closing so rapidly — they’re noto

rious polluters of water, soil, and air. Many closed landfills are now

listed as hazardous contaminated Superfund sites. A report from the

state of Florida revealed that groundwater contamination plumes from

older, unlined landfills can be longer than 3.4 miles, and that 523 pub

lic water supplies in Florida are located within 1 mile of these landfills,

while 2,700 lie within 3 miles.6 No doubt similar situations exist

throughout the rest of the United States.

Organic material disposed of in landfills also creates large quan

tities of methane, a major global-warming gas. “Municipal solid waste

landfills are the third-largest source of human-related methane emis

sions in the United States, accounting for approximately 14.1 percent

of these emissions in 2016,” according to the US EPA. They add that,

“Methane is a potent greenhouse gas twenty-eight to thirty-six times

more effective than CO2 at trapping heat in the atmosphere over a one

hundred year period.”7 Slowly we’re catching on to the fact that this

throw-away trend must be turned around. We can’t continue to throw

“away” usable resources in a wasteful fashion by burying them in dis

appearing, polluting, increasingly expensive landfills.

If we had scraped up all the human excrement in the world and

piled it on the world’s tillable land in 1950, we’d have applied nearly

220 tons per square mile at that time (which is roughly 690 pounds per

acre). In the year 2020, we would be collecting three times that amount,

and by 2050, four times that amount, because the global population is

increasing, but the global land mass isn’t. In fact, the global area of ag

ricultural land is steadily decreasing as the world loses, for farming and

grazing, an area the size of Kansas each year.8 The world’s burgeoning

human population is producing a ballooning amount of valuable or

ganic material that could be used to grow food, but instead is discarded

as waste.

Every time we flush a toilet, we launch 5 or 6 gallons of polluted

The Humanure Handbook ??— 4th Edition — Chapter Fifteen 263

water out into the world.9 That would be like defecating into a five

gallon office water dispenser and then dumping it out before anyone

could drink it. Then doing the same thing when urinating. Then doing

it every day, over and over. Then multiplying that by about 330 million

people in the United States alone. Even after the contaminated water

is treated in wastewater treatment plants, it is still polluted with exces

sive levels of nitrates, chlorine, pharmaceutical drugs, industrial chem

icals, detergents, and other pollutants. This “treated” water is

discharged directly into the environment and ends up in our rivers,

lakes, and coastal waters.

If you don’t want to get sick from the water you swim in, don’t sub

merge your head. Otherwise, you may end up like the swimmers in

Santa Monica Bay. People who swam there within 400 yards (366 m or

four football field lengths) of a storm sewer drain had a 66 percent

greater chance of developing a “significant respiratory disease” within

the following nine to fourteen days after swimming.10 Why not just

chlorinate the water before discharging it? It usually is chlorinated be

forehand, but research has shown that chlorine seems to increase bac

terial resistance to some antibiotics.11

Compost toilet systems are now becoming internationally recog

nized as constituting “proper sanitation,” and are becoming more at

tractive throughout the world because of their relatively low cost when

compared to waterborne waste systems and centralized sewers. In fact,

compost toilet systems yield a dividend: compost, which allows such a

sanitation system to yield a net profit, rather than being a constant fi

nancial drain (no pun intended). The obsession with flush toilets

throughout the world is causing the problems of international sanita

tion to remain unsolved. Many parts of the world cannot afford expen

sive and water consumptive waste disposal systems. Water for toilets

is simply not available in many places.

Water use in America increased by a factor of ten between 1900 and

1990, from 40 billion gallons per day to 409 billion gallons per day.12

The US Department of the Interior estimates that each American now

uses 80 to 100 gallons of water every day for personal use, mostly for

264 The Humanure Handbook ??— 4th Edition — Chapter Fifteen

flushing toilets,13 or 300 gallons per day for the average family, accord

ing to the EPA.14 That’s six 50-gallon drums of water used every day by

every family in the US just for household purposes. The amount of water

we Americans require overall, used in the finished products each of us

consumes, plus washing and drinking water, amounts to a staggering

1,565 gallons per person per day.15 This amount of water is equivalent

to each of us flushing toilets 313 times every day, about once every mi

nute and a half for eight hours straight.

By dumping soil fertility down the toilet, we increase our need for

chemical fertilizers. Today pollution from agriculture caused by erosion

and nutrient runoff due to excessive or incorrect use of fertilizers is

now the “largest diffuse source of water pollution” in our rivers, lakes,

and streams.16 Chemical fertilizers provide a quick fix of nitrogen,

phosphorus, and potassium for impoverished soils. However, it’s esti

mated that 25 to 85 percent of chemical nitrogen applied to soil and 15

to 20 percent of the phosphorus and potassium are lost to leaching,

which pollutes groundwater.17 This pollution shows up in small ponds

choked with algae as a result of the unnatural influx of nutrients.

From 1950 to 2018 the global consumption of artificial fertilizers

rose from 14 million tons to 220 million tons.18 Nitrate pollution from

excessive artificial fertilizer use is now one of the most serious water

pollution problems in Europe and North America. Nitrate pollution

in water can cause cancer and even brain damage or death in infants.19

All the while, hundreds of millions of tons of compostable organic ma

terials are generated in the US each year and buried in landfills, incin

erated, or discarded as waste.

Incidentally, all animal manures benefit from composting, as

today’s farmers are now discovering. Composted manures don’t leach

like raw manures do. Instead, compost helps hold nutrients in soil sys

tems. Composted manures also reduce plant disease and insect damage

and allow for better nutrient management on farms. In fact, 2 tons of

compost will yield more benefits than 5 tons of manure.20

It all adds up to the fact that the human species must inevitably

evolve. Evolution means change, and change is resisted when old

The Humanure Handbook ??— 4th Edition — Chapter Fifteen 265

habits die hard. Flush toilets and bulging garbage cans represent well

entrenched habits that must be rethought and reinvented. If we hu

mans are half as intelligent as we think we are, we’ll realize that nature

holds many of the keys we need to unlock the doors to a sustainable,

harmonious existence on this planet. Composting is one of those keys.

Don’t worry, I’ve seen the fear in the eyes of the water flushers at

the thought that they might have to actually use a compost toilet some

day. No one is suggesting that you use one, only that you know about

them and how they function. The knowledge may come in handy one

of these days. For example, I got a phone call from a lawyer in Boston

about ten years prior to writing this. He said that he wanted a simple

compost toilet like the one I describe in this book but didn’t have the

time or the tools to build one. I don’t know why he needed one, and I

didn’t ask. He asked me if I could make one for him. I gave him my

standard brusque response, which is, “Hell no, make your own goddam

toilet!” Or something to that effect. I don’t have time to make toilets

for people. Then he threw out some attractive dollar figures — what

he would pay for one. That got me thinking.

So when my son was home from college for the winter holidays

with about six weeks off, accompanied by one of his college buddies,

both looking for work and wanting to earn a few bucks, I got an idea.

I had a stack of air-dried lumber and they wanted work, so I got them

busy building Loveable Loos, which we put up for sale on the internet.

It turned out that some Americans actually do want a toilet designed

to simply collect toilet material rather than dispose of it. After we sold

the first thousand, I quit counting. Why would anyone in the US want

such a toilet? Who was buying them? Well, people from all walks of

life, such as the lawyer, needed them for one reason or another. Maybe

they had a garage without a toilet, a hunting camp, or a barn, or maybe

they just wanted to make compost. For whatever reason, there seemed

to be a demand, a small one, but a demand, nevertheless.

Then I started visiting countries where water toilets are not avail

able, from Mongolia to East Africa and in between. What it’s like to

have a hole in the ground for a toilet is a concept that is completely

266 The Humanure Handbook ??— 4th Edition — Chapter Fifteen

alien to people who grew up

with flush toilets. Yet cultures

without water toilets are

largely at a loss for alter

natives. There are pit latrines,

ventilated improved pit la

trines, double vault dry toi

lets, and a host of other

options, but none that you can

put next to your bed and none

that are odor-free. When I ex

plain to these people about

composting, how it works and

how it can be adapted to a san

itation system, they are imme

diately interested. After they

heard my presentation on compost toilets, villagers in Tanzania told

me that this was going to be the next revolution in their lives. An eld

erly man in Mongolia stood up in a crowd of people, all of whom were

sitting on the floor, after my compost toilet presentation to his com

munity, and excitedly suggested that their communities could have

competitions to see who could make the best compost. A senior citizen

in Nicaragua who put her Loveable Loo style toilet in her thatch hut

described it as an “en suite toilet,” equivalent to one in a fancy hotel

room. One of her neighbors, a bachelor octogenarian, stopped digging

a pit latrine hole behind his hut when he realized he could simply put

a compost toilet right next to his bed. He abandoned the hole, half dug,

and put up a compost bin outside instead. People who are bedridden,

crippled, elderly, missing limbs, or even just with little kids all appre

ciate having an indoor toilet. It was experiences such as these that made

me understand that the fart noises on the Stern show and the other

ridicule that Americans direct at the compost toilet concept were per

haps unfortunate but completely irrelevant.

On one radio interview I did, the interviewer asked how I got the

The Humanure Handbook ??— 4th Edition — Chapter Fifteen 267

turds out of the toilet. Did I use a fish net? I said no, I trained my kids

to bob for them like bobbing for apples, with their hands behind their

backs. Then I praised their radio station for having similar character

istics to my own endeavors. “Oh, how’s that?” they asked. “Well, we

both deal with crap,” I replied. “I compost mine, and you broadcast

yours.” They hung up on me.

The people around the world who don’t have toilets take the idea

of composting very seriously. Nobody in these places smirks or squirms

at my presentations; if anything, they are riveted. They tell me they’ve

never heard of anything like this and they didn’t know such a thing as

compost existed, nor that it was possible to compost their toilet mate

rial. It helps when I tell them that I personally use a compost toilet in

my home and have done so continuously for the past forty years and

the entire time I have grown my food with the compost. It also helps

when I tell them that I’ve made the long trip to their village or town as

a volunteer; that I’m not paid to go there; that I’m not associated with

any government, university, or business; that I’m not selling anything;

nor am I making any money for my efforts. Granted, I am paid once in

a while for doing compost teaching or training, or for setting up com

post toilet projects, but mostly I use whatever revenues I’m able to gen

erate from book sales to finance my efforts.

I’ll never forget the day I met with a group of tribal leaders in the

mountains of Tanzania, men and women, about 150 of them, gathered

on a mountainside under a giant community candelabra tree to hear

my compost toilet presentation. Some walked a mile through pouring

rain to attend. After explaining to them how the toilet system worked,

one of the men stood up and said (through an interpreter, of course),

“We want them, how do we get them, and how much do they cost?”

One thought immediately came to my mind: “[Insert name of billion

aire], you friggin a--hole.” A handful of people have hoarded wealth

equivalent to that owned by half the human race, and 2.3 billion people

can’t afford a toilet. That’s the unfortunate world we live in.

A number of media groups have shown an interest in humanure,

some out of a warped curiosity, some for scientific reasons, and some

268 The Humanure Handbook ??— 4th Edition — Chapter Fifteen

environmental. Many have made the trek to my humble cottage in the

woods, including public TV and radio, four separate Korean film crews

for documentaries aired in South Korea, the BBC filming an ecological

series for “The Ethical Man,” Treehouse Masters looking for a toilet

that would work in a treehouse, and Larry the Cable Guy shooting

some bizarre episodes for the History Channel. Unlike the Stern show,

the Cable Guy was very personable, funny as hell, and respectful. I

cooked him a venison roast with garden potatoes and a tomato salad

and we ate it on my side deck that beautiful fall day while his crew

filmed the episode. Somehow, before the lunch was over, those potatoes

became “pooptaters” and the tomatoes became “turdmaters.” Now I

can’t get those words out of my head. A curse? Perhaps. I do like fresh

sliced turdmaters on toast, I must admit.

Bacteria can be bizarre, but they can also have a profound effect on

our lives, for good or ill, but mostly, I believe, for good. For example,

a lady several hundred years ago was walking through the mountains

of Greece carrying a small bag of iron nails for shoe making. She was

delivering them from her father to a man in a nearby village. Walking

over the rugged, rocky terrain, she tripped and dropped the bag. Sev

eral of the nails fell out. Then she noticed something perplexing, some

thing she could not understand. One of the nails was stuck to a rock.

When she lifted the rock, the nail stayed adhered to it. She couldn’t

shake it off. The rock was magnetite. She had discovered magnetism.

Some bacteria are magnetotactic. They have organelles called mag

netosomes that contain magnetic crystals, fixed magnets that cause the

bacteria to orient themselves to Earth's magnetic field. Magnetotactic

bacteria were only discovered in 1963. No one is quite sure why the

bacteria orient to the Earth’s magnetic field, but they do. Billions of

years of such bacteria thriving on the Earth, dying, settling into sed

iment, collecting in layers, becoming compressed into mud and then

rock, and ultimately transforming into magnetite, finally caught the

attention of a human being.

The young lady took the rock back to her father to show him the

unusual phenomenon. Interest spread quickly. Magnetic rocks were

The Humanure Handbook ??— 4th Edition — Chapter Fifteen 269

collected and disseminated around the world. Leading scientists ex

perimented with magnetism. Needles were magnetized using the rocks,

creating the first compasses. Eventually, humans figured out that mag

netism doesn’t exist without electricity. It’s electromagnetism. The study

of electromagnetism yielded radio waves, TV, everything electric that

dominates the world as we know it today: our computers, cell phones,

the list is endless.

The lady is fictional, but facts are facts. We theoretically owe the

world as we know it today to lowly bacteria. An accidental blunder dis

covered the geological remains of trillions of bacteria and the magnetic

organelles they somehow created inside themselves.21 Our entire lives

rotate around electromagnetism today.

What if magnetism hadn’t been discovered? Where would we be

now, the human race? The bigger question is what else are we walking

past every day and not seeing? What natural marvels lie right in front

of our eyes that we are blind to? Can we peel our faces away from our

TVs, cell phones, and computer screens long enough to see the world

around us? If we look hard enough, we may find that microbes just

might have more tricks up their trillions of sleeves.

270 The Humanure Handbook ??— 4th Edition — Chapter Fifteen

The Humanure Handbook ??— 4th Edition 271

272 The Humanure Handbook ??— 4th Edition

Humanure Handbook — 4th Edition 273

actinomycete — Bacteria resembling fungi

because they usually produce a character

istic, branched mycelium.

activated sludge — Sewage sludge that is

treated by forcing air through it to activate

the beneficial microbial populations res

ident in the sludge.

aerobic — Able to live, grow, or take place only

where free oxygen is present, such as

aerobic bacteria.

algae — Small aquatic plants.

ambient air temperature — The temperature

of the surrounding air, such as the outdoor

air temperature in the vicinity of a compost

pile.

amendment — See “bulking agent.”

anaerobic — Able to live and grow where

there is no oxygen.

Ascaris — A genus of roundworm parasitic to

humans.

Aspergillus fumigatus — A spore-forming

fungus that can cause allergic reactions in

some people.

bacteria — One-celled microscopic organ

isms. Some can cause disease in humans;

others are capable of elevating the tem

perature of a pile of decomposing refuse

sufficiently to destroy human pathogens.

blackwater — Wastewater from a toilet.

bulking agent — An ingredient in compost,

such as sawdust or straw, used to improve

the structure, porosity, liquid absorption,

odor, and carbon content. The terms “bulk

ing agent” and “amendment” can be inter

changeable.

carbonaceous —Containing carbon.

carbon dioxide (CO2) —An inorganic gas

composed of carbon and oxygen pro

duced during composting.

cellulose — The principal component of cell

walls of plants, composed of a long chain

of tightly bound sugar molecules.

C/N ratio —The ratio of carbon to nitrogen in

an organic material.

combined sewers — Sewers that collect both

sewage and rain water runoff.

compost — Organic material that is managed

by humans to undergo decomposition by

aerobic organisms such that internal bio

logical heat is developed during the de

composition process.

continuous composting — A system of com

posting in which organic material is con

tinuously or daily added to a compost bin

or pile.

cryptosporidia — Pathogenic protozoa that

causes diarrhea in humans.

curing — Final stage of composting. Also

called aging or maturing.

effluent — Wastewater flowing from a source.

enteric — Intestinal.

fecal coliforms — Generally harmless bac

teria that are commonly found in the intes

tines of warm-blooded animals, used as

an indicator of fecal contamination.

fecaphobia — Fear of fecal material, espe

cially regarding the use of human fecal

material for agricultural purposes.

fungi — Simple plants, often microscopic, that

lack photosynthetic pigment.

graywater — Household drain water from

sinks, tubs, and washing (not from toilets).

green manure — Vegetation grown to be used

as fertilizer for the soil, either by direct ap

plication of the vegetation to the soil, by

composting it before soil application, or by

the leguminous fixing of nitrogen in the

root nodules of the vegetation.

heavy metal — Metals such as lead, mercury,

and cadmium, having more than five times

the weight of water. When they are con

centrated in the environment, they can

pose a significant health risk to humans.

helminth — A worm or worm-like animal,

especially parasitic worms of the human

digestive system, such as the roundworm

or hookworm.

human nutrient cycle — The repeating cy

clical movement of nutrients from soil to

plants and animals, to humans, and back

to soil.

humanure — Human feces and urine com

posted for agriculture purposes.

humus — A dark, loamy, organic material re

sulting from the decay of plant and ani

mal refuse.

hygiene — Sanitary practices, cleanliness.

indicator pathogen — A pathogen whose

occurrence serves as evidence that cer

tain environmental conditions, such as

pollution, are present.

K — Chemical symbol for potassium.

latrine — A toilet, often for the use of a large

number of people.

leachate — Any liquid draining from a

source. Pertaining to compost, it is the

liquid that drains from organic material,

for example, when excessive rain water

drains through the compost.

lignin — A substance that forms the woody

cell walls of plants and the “cement” be

tween them. Lignin is found together with

cellulose and is resistant to biological de

composition.

macroorganism — An organism that, unlike

a microorganism, can be seen by the

naked eye, such as an earthworm.

mesophile — Microorganisms that thrive at

medium temperatures (68-99°F or 20-

37°C).

274 Humanure Handbook — 4th Edition — Glossary

Glossary

metric tonne — A measure of weight equal

to 1,000 kilograms or 2,204.62 pounds.

microorganism — An organism that needs

to be magnified to be seen by the human

eye.

mulch — Organic material, such as leaves or

straw, spread on the ground around

plants to hold in moisture, smother

weeds, and feed the soil.

municipal solid waste (MSW) — Solid

waste originating from homes, industries,

businesses, demolition, land clearing,

and construction.

mycelium — Fungus filaments or hyphae.

N — Chemical symbol for nitrogen.

night soil — Human feces and urine used as

a soil fertilizer.

nitrates — A salt or ester of nitric acid, such

as potassium nitrate or sodium nitrate,

both used as fertilizers, and that show up

in water supplies as pollution.

organic — Referring to a material from an

animal or vegetable source, such as re

fuse in the form of manure or food

scraps; also, a form of agriculture that

employs fertilizers and soil conditioners

that are primarily derived from animal or

vegetable sources, as opposed to min

eral or petrochemical sources.

P — Chemical symbol for phosphorus.

pathogen — A disease-causing microorgan

ism.

PCB — Polychlorinated biphenyl, a persistent

and pervasive environmental contami

nant.

peat moss — Organic matter that is under

decomposed or slightly decomposed

originating under conditions of excessive

moisture, such as in a bog.

pH — A symbol for the degree of acidity or al

kalinity in a solution, ranging in value

from 1 to 14. Below 7 is acidic, above 7 is

alkaline, 7 is neutral.

phytotoxic — Toxic to plants.

pit latrine — A hole or pit into which human

excrement is deposited. Known as an

outhouse or privy when sheltered by a

small building.

protozoa — Tiny, mostly microscopic animals

each consisting of a single cell or a group

of more or less identical cells and living

primarily in water. Some are human

pathogens.

psychrophile — Microorganism that thrives

at temperatures as low as 14oF [-10oC],

but optimally above 68oF [20oC].

schistosome — Any genus of flukes that live

as parasites in the blood vessels of mam

mals, including humans.

septage — The organic material removed

from septic tanks and most dry toilets.

septic — Causing or resulting from putrefac

tion (foul-smelling decomposition).

shigella — Rod-shaped bacteria, certain

species of which cause dysentery.

sludge — The heavy sediment in a sewage

or septic tank. Also called biosolids.

source separation — The separation of dis

carded material by specific material type

at the point of generation.

sustainable — Able to be continued indefi

nitely without a significant negative im

pact on the environment or its

inhabitants.

thermophilic — Characterized by having an

affinity for temperatures above 1050F

(40.50C), or for being able to generate

high temperatures.

tipping fee — The fee charged to dispose of

refuse material.

vector — A route of transmission of

pathogens from a source to a victim. Vec

tors can be insects, birds, dogs, rodents,

or vermin.

vermiculture —The conversion of organic

material into worm castings by earth

worms.

vermin — Objectionable pests, usually of a

small size, such as flies, mice, and rats.

virus — Any group of submicroscopic biolog

ical entities that multiply only in connec

tion with living cells.

waste — A substance or material with no in

herent value or usefulness, or a sub

stance or material discarded despite its

inherent value or usefulness.

wastewater — Water discarded as waste,

often polluted with human excrements or

other human pollutants, and discharged

into any of various wastewater treatment

systems, if not directly into the environ

ment.

Western — Of or pertaining to the Western

hemisphere (which includes North and

South America and Europe) or its human

inhabitants.

windrow — A long, narrow pile of compost.

worm castings — Earthworm excrement.

Worm castings appear dark and granular

like soil and are rich in soil nutrients.

yard material — Leaves, grass clippings,

garden materials, hedge clippings, and

brush. Also called yard trimmings.

Humanure Handbook — 4th Edition — Glossary 275

276 Humanure Handbook — 4th Edition — Glossary

REFERENCES

CHAPTER 2: INVISIBLE BEINGS

1 Blaser, Martin J., MD. (2014). Missing Microbes – How the Overuse of Antibiotics Is Fueling

our Modern Plagues. Henry Holt and Company: New York. p. 21. Also, Michael T. Ma

digan, John M. Martinko, Kelly S. Bender, Daniel H. Buckley, David A. Stahl,

Thomas Brock. (2015). Brock Biology of Microorganisms, 14th Edition. Pearson Educa

tion Inc.: United Kingdom. p. 349.

2 Kolter, Roberto, and Stanley Maloy (editors). (2012). Microbes and Evolution: The World

that Darwin Never Saw. ASM Press: Washington, DC. p. 28.

3 Ibid. p. 31.

4 Ibid. p. 35.

5 Dixon, Bernard. (2009). Animalcules, the Activities, Impacts, and Investigators of Microbes.

ASM Press: Washington, DC. p. 79.

6 Kolter and Maloy. p. 73.

7 Dixon. p. 22.

8 Kolter and Maloy. p. 13.

9 Blaser. p. 25.

10 Kolter and Maloy. p. 45.

11 Blaser. pp. 5–6.

12 Ibid. p. 13.

13 Sadowsky, Michael J., and Richard L. Whitman (editors). (2011). The Fecal Bacteria.

ASM Press: Washington, DC. p. 43. Also Katy Califf, Antonio Gonzalez, Rob Knight,

and J. Gregory Caporaso. (2014). The Human Microbiome: Getting Personal. Microbe,

Volume 9, Number 10, 2014. p. 410.

14 Wassenaar, Trudy M. (2012). Bacteria: The Benign, the Bad, and the Beautiful. Wiley

Blackwell Inc.: Hoboken, NJ. p. 141.

15 Sadowsky and Whitman. p. 39.

16 Kolter and Maloy. p. 28.

17 Wassenaar. p. 145.

18 Blaser. p. 23.

19 Sadowsky and Whitman. p. 295.

20 Ibid. pp. 4, 18.

21 Blaser. p. 23.

22 Ibid. p. 228.

23 Kolter and Maloy. pp. 177–178.

24 Ibid. p. 183.

25 Ibid. p. 194.

26 Ibid. p. 166.

27 Dixon. p. 23.

CHAPTER 3: MICROBES — FRIEND OR FOE?

1 Gaynes, Robert P. (2011). Germ Theory – Medical Pioneers in Infectious Diseases. ASM

Press: Washington, DC. p. 64. Also Paul de Kruif. (1926). Microbe Hunters. Harcourt

Brace & Company: New York. p. 3. Also Clifford Dobell. (1958). Antony Van Leeuwen

hoek and His Little Animals. Russell and Russell Inc., New York.

2 Booss, John, Marilyn J. August. (2013). To Catch a Virus. ASM Press: Washington, DC. p.

5

.

3 Gaynes. p. 63.

4 Dobell. p. 19.

5 Dixon, Bernard. (2009). Animalcules: The Activities, Impacts, and Investigators of Microbes.

The Humanure Handbook ??— 4th Edition — References 277

ASM Press: Washington, DC. p. 202.

6 Gaynes. p. 150.

7 Rosenberg, Charles E. (1962). The Cholera Years. University of Chicago Press: Chicago.

pp. 66, 152.

8 Ibid. p. 98.

9 Ibid. p. 75.

10 Ibid. p. 152.

11 Ibid. p. 44.

12 Ibid. p. 193. Also John Snow, MD. (1849, 1855 [2nd ed.]). On the Mode of Communication

of Cholera. John Churchill: London.

13 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Snow.

14 Rosenberg. p. 3.

15 Klein, E., and H. Gibbes. (1885). An Inquiry into the Etiology of Asiatic Cholera. Also John

Chapman, MD. (1885). Cholera Curable: a Demonstration of the Causes, Non-contagious

ness, and Successful Treatment of the Disease.

16 Dubos, Rene. (1959). Mirage of Health, Utopias, Progress, and Biological Change. Harper

and Brothers: New York. p. 105.

17 Rosenberg. p. 184.

18 Gaynes. p. 300.

CHAPTER 4: WAR ON MICROBES

1 Gaynes, Robert P. (2011). Germ Theory — Medical Pioneers in Infectious Diseases. ASM

Press: Washington, DC. pp. 272–291.

2 Kolter, Roberto, and Stanley Maloy (editors). (2012). Microbes and Evolution, The World

that Darwin Never Saw. ASM Press: Washington, DC. p. 46.

3 Klein, Eili Y., Thomas P. Van Boeckel, Elena M. Martinez, Suraj Pant, Sumanth Gandra,

Simon A. Levin, Herman Goossens, and Ramanan Laxminarayan. (2018). Global In

crease and Geographic Convergence in Antibiotic Consumption Between 2000 and 2015.

PNAS April 10, 2018, 115 (15): E3463–E3470.

https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1717295115.

4 Blaser, Martin J., MD. (2014). Missing Microbes – How the Overuse of Antibiotics Is Fueling

our Modern Plagues. Henry Holt and Company: New York. p. 233.

5 Food and Drug Administration. 2015 Summary Report on Antimicrobials Sold or Distributed

for Use in Food-Producing Animals. (2016). http://www.fda.gov/downloads/ForIndus

try/UserFees/ AnimalDrugUserFeeActADUFA/UCM534243.pdf.

6 McKenna, Maryn. (2018). The Hidden Link Between Farm Antibiotics and Human Illness.

Wired. September 7, 2018.

7 Blaser. pp. 70–71.

8 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Outpatient Antibiotic Prescriptions—United

States, 2014. https://www.cdc.gov/antibiotic-use/community/pdfs/Annual-ReportSum

mary_2014.pdf.

9 Trends in US Antibiotic Use — New Data Needed to Improve Prescribing, Combat Threat of

Antibiotic Resistance. Issue Brief, March 22, 2017. PewTrusts.org. Also J. L. Schoeck, C.

A. Ruh, J. A. Sellick Jr., M. C. Ott, A. Mattappallil, and K. A. Mergenhagen. (2015).

Outpatient Treatment for Upper Respiratory Tract Infections: An Evaluation of Factors Asso

ciated with Antibiotic Misuse. Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy.

Doi:10.1128/AAC.00652-15.

10 Blaser. p. 202.

11 Ibid. p. 100.

12 Ibid. p. 85.

13 Kolter and Maloy. p. 57.

14 Ibid. p. 60.

15 Ibid. p. 116.

278 The Humanure Handbook ??— 4th Edition — References

16 Ibid. p. 51.

17 Gaynes. p. 312. Also The Guardian, Mon, 27 Feb 2017: The World Health Organization

(WHO) has published a list of the 12 bacteria that pose the greatest threat to human

health because they are resistant to antibiotics. Also http://www.who.int/news

room/detail/27-02-2017-who-publishes-list-of-bacteria-for-which-new-antibiotics-are

urgently-needed.

18 https://www.cdc.gov/drugresistance/index.html

[https://www.cdc.gov/drugresistance/threat-report-2013/pdf/ar-threats-2013-508.pdf].

19 Blaser. p. 85.

20 Gaynes. p. 315.

21 James, John T., PhD. (2013). A New, Evidence-based Estimate of Patient Harms Associated

with Hospital Care. Journal of Patient Safety: September 2013, Volume 9, Issue 3. pp.

122–128. https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/study_suggests_medi

cal_errors_now_third_leading_cause_of_death_in_the_us.

22 Sadowsky, Michael J., and Richard L. Whitman (editors). (2011). The Fecal Bacteria.

ASM Press: Washington, DC. p. 55.

23 Blaser. Just read the entire book. Also Shannon Weiman. (2014). Bugs as Drugs: Bacteria

as Therapeutics against Diseases. Microbe, Volume 9, Number 11, November 2014. p. 437

(regarding osteoporosis and autoimmune conditions). Also H. Zhang, X. Liao, J. B.

Sparks, and X. M. Luo. (2014). Dynamics of Gut Microbiota in Autoimmune Lupus. Ap

plied and Environmental Microbiology Online. 10.1128/AEM.02676-14.

24 Blaser. p. 190.

25 Potera, Carol. (2014). Probiotic Heals Leaky Guts in Mice, Improving Autism-Like Symp

toms. Microbe, Volume 9, Number 4, 2014.

26 Blaser. p. 190.

27 Ibid. p. 10.

28 https://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-news/america-s-obesity-epidemic-reaches

record-high-new-report-says-n810231.

29 Sadowsky and Whitman. p. 49.

30 Ibid. p. 48.

31 Blaser. p. 134.

32 Ibid. p. 26.

33 Ibid. p. 93.

34 Ibid. p. 236.

35 Ibid. p. 29.

36 Sadowsky and Whitman. p. 50.

37 Ibid. p. 81.

38 Blaser. pp. 212–213. Also Sadowsky and Whitman. p. 50.

CHAPTER 5: THERMOPHILES

1 Morita, Richard Y. (1975). Psychrophilic Bacteria. Bacteriological Reviews, June 1975, Vol.

39, No. 2, pp. 144-167. American Society for Microbiology. Department of Microbiol

ogy and School of Oceanography: Oregon State University, Corvallis, Oregon. p. 144.

2 Zeigler, Daniel R. (2014). The Geobacillus Paradox: Why Is a Thermophilic Bacterial Genus

so Prevalent on a Mesophilic Planet? Microbiology 160, 1–11. p. 1. Also Michael T. Madi

gan, John M. Martinko, Kelly S. Bender, Daniel H. Buckley, David A. Stahl, Thomas

Brock. (2015). Brock Biology of Microorganisms, 14th Edition. Pearson Education Inc.:

UK. p. 160.

3 Rogers, L. A., D. Sc., and W. C. Frazier, Ph. D. (1930). Significance of Thermophilic Bac

teria in Pasteurized Milk. American Journal of Public Health. The Nation’s Health, Vol.

XII, No.8., August 1930. p. 816.

4 Zeigler. p. 1.

5 Ibid. p. 1.

The Humanure Handbook ??— 4th Edition — References 279

6 Ibid. p. 2.

7 Morrison, Lethe E., and Fred W. Tanner. (1921). Studies on Thermophilic Bacteria: Aerobic

Thermophilic Bacteria from Water. Department of Bacteriology, University of Illinois Ur

bana. November 26, 1921. p. 343.

8 Ibid. p. 344

9 Zeigler. pp. 2, 7.

10 Madigan, Martinko, Bender, Buckley, Stahl, Brock. p. 55.

11 Zeigler. p. 7.

12 Saggu, Gagandeep Singh, Shilpi Kaushik, and Kanchan Soni. (2012). Study and Charac

terization of Thermophilic Bacteria. Lambert Academic Publishing. p. 17. Also Madigan,

Martinko, Bender, Buckley, Stahl, Brock. p. 350. Also Nicholas Wade. (1996). Universal

Ancestor. The New York Times, as seen in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Monday, Au

gust 26, 1996. p. A-8.

13 Zeigler. pp. 5–6. Also Brent G. Christner. (2012). Cloudy with a Chance of Microbes. Mi

crobe. February 2012. p. 70. Also Pierre Amato. (2012). Clouds Provide Atmospheric

Oases for Microbes. Microbe. Volume 7, Number 3, March 2012. p. 119.

CHAPTER 6: DEEP SHIT

1Rodale, J. I. (1946). Pay Dirt. Devon-Adair Co.: New York. p. vi.

2 King, F. H. (1911). Farmers of Forty Centuries. Rodale Press: Emmaus, PA.

3 Ibid. pp. 193, 196–197.

4 Winblad, Uno, Mayling Simpson-Hébert, Paul Calvert, Peter Morgan, Arno Rosemarin,

Ron Sawyer, Jun Xiao. (2004). Ecological Sanitation. 2004, revised edition. Stockholm

Environment Institute: Stockholm. pp. 73–74.

5 King. p. 194.

6 Ibid. p. 10.

7 Ibid. p. 19.

8 Ibid. p. 199.

9 White, A. D. (1955). The Warfare of Science with Theology. George Braziller: New York. pp.

68, 70.

10 Ibid. p. 69.

11 Ibid. p. 71.

12 Ibid. p. 73.

13 Ibid. pp. 76–77.

14 Ibid. p. 84.

15 Ibid. p. 85.

16 Reyburn, Wallace. (1989). Flushed with Pride — The Story of Thomas Crapper. Pavilion

Books Limited: London. pp. 24–25.

17 Seaman, L. C. B. (1973). Victorian England. Methuan & Co.: London. pp. 48–56.

18 Shuval, Hillel I., Charles G. Gunnerson, DeAnne S. Julius. (1981). Night-soil Composting.

Appropriate Technology for Water Supply and Sanitation; Vol. 10. Washington, DC: The

World Bank. http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/145651468764132414/Night

soil-composting.

19 Winblad, Uno, and Wen Kilama. (1985). Sanitation Without Water. Macmillan Education

Ltd.: London and Basingstoke. p. 12.

20 Edmonds, Richard Louis. (1994). Patterns of China’s Lost Harmony — A Survey of the

Country’s Environmental Degradation and Protection. Routledge: London and New York.

pp. 9, 132, 137, 142, 146, 156.

21 Harris, Briony. China Cut Fertilizer Use and Still Increased Crop Yields. This Is How They

Did It. (2018). World Economic Forum. https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2018/03/this

is-how-china-cut-fertilizer-use-and-boosted-crop-yields/.

22 Kahrl, F., L. Yunju, D. Roland-Holst, X. Jianchu, and D. Zilberman. 2010. Toward Sus

tainable Use of Nitrogen Fertilizers in China. ARE Update 14(2):5-7. University of Cali-

280 The Humanure Handbook ??— 4th Edition — References

fornia Giannini Foundation of Agricultural Economics.

23 National Academy of Sciences Global Health and Education Foundation, 2007. Pollu

tion in China.

24 Webber, Prof. Michael. (2017). Tackling China’s Water Pollution. Governance Water Qual

ity. October 9th, 2017. University of Melbourne, Australia. http://www.globalwater

forum.org/2017/10/09/tackling-chinas-water-pollution/.

25 Deng Tingting. (2017). In China, the Water You Drink Is as Dangerous as the Air You

Breathe. https://www.theguardian.com/global-development-professionals

network/2017/jun/02/china-water-dangerous-pollution-greenpeace.

26 Hoitink, Harry A. J. et al. (1997). Suppression of Root and Foliar Diseases Induced by Com

posts. As seen in the 1997 Organic Recovery and Biological Treatment Proceedings,

Stentiford, E. I. (ed.). International Conference, Harrogate, United Kingdom. 3–5 Sep

tember 1997. p. 97.

27 Pokharel, Krishna, and Preetika Rana. Troubled Waters. The Wall Street Journal, Oc

tober 21–22, 2017. p. C1.

28 78% of sewage generated in India remains untreated. (Analysis and reporting by Centre

for Science and Environment and Down To Earth magazine reveal how Indian cities

are disposing of excreta in an unsafe manner.) By DTE Staff. Last Updated: Wednes

day 06 April 2016. https://www.downtoearth.org.in/news/waste/-78-of-sewage-gener

ated-in-india-remains-untreated--53444.

29 37,000 Million Litres of Sewage Flows into Rivers Daily. Read more at: http://time

sofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/46657415.cms.

30 Chaturvedi, Anurag. Water & Sanitation — Fixing India’s Sewage Problem. Stanford Uni

versity. https://ssir.org/articles/entry/fixing_indias_sewage_problem.

31 Wastewater treatment facilities in the United States process approximately 34 billion

gallons of wastewater every day. https://www.epa.gov/nutrientpollution/sources-and

solutions-wastewater.

32 https://www.americanrivers.org/threats-solutions/clean-water/sewage-pollution/.

33 https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2015/09/americas-sewage-crisis-public

health/405541/.

34 Drayna, Patrick, Sandra L. McLellan, Pippa Simpson, Shun-Hwa Li, and Marc H.

Gorelick. Association between Rainfall and Pediatric Emergency Department Visits for Acute

Gastrointestinal Illness. (2010). https://doi.org/10.1289/ehp.0901671.

35 Pandey, Kundan. Shit, it’s Profitable. (2015). Last Updated: Thursday 11 June 2015.

https://www.downtoearth.org.in/coverage/shit-its-profitable-47389.

CHAPTER 7: A DAY IN THE LIFE OF A TURD

1 Executive Summary: Sustainable Development Goal 6 Synthesis Report 2018 on Water

and Sanitation. United Nations (2018).

2 Moeller, Dade W. (2005). Environmental Health, 3rd Edition. Harvard University Press:

Cambridge, MA. pp. 189–190.

3 Onsite Wastewater Treatment Systems Manual. EPA/625/R-00/008, February 2002. Office

of Water and Office of Research and Development, US Environmental Protection

Agency: Washington, DC.

4 Manci, K. Septic Tank — Soil Absorption Systems. Agricultural Engineering Fact Sheet

SW-44. Penn State College of Agriculture Cooperative Extension, University Park, PA.

5 Manci, K. Mound Systems for Wastewater Treatment. SW-43. Penn State College of Agricul

ture Cooperative Extension, University Park, PA.

6 Stewart, John G. (1990). Drinking Water Hazards: How to Know if There Are Toxic Chemi

cals in Your Water and What to Do if There Are. Envirographics: Hiram, OH. pp. 177–

178.

7 Ibid. pp. 177–178.

8 Mohamed, R.. (2009). Why Households in the United States Do Not Maintain Their Septic

The Humanure Handbook ??— 4th Edition — References 281

Systems and Why State-Led Regulations Are Necessary: Explanations from Public Goods

Theory. Int. J. Sus. Dev. Plann. Vol. 4, No. 2 (2009). pp. 41–55.

9 Stewart. pp. 177–178.

10 Environment Reporter. 2/28/92. The Bureau of National Affairs, Inc., Washington, DC.

pp. 2441–2442.

11 US EPA. (2016). Clean Watersheds Needs Survey 2012—Report to Congress.

12 US EPA. (2002). The Clean Water and Drinking Water Infrastructure Gap Analysis.

13 Center for Sustainable Systems. (2018). US Wastewater Treatment Factsheet. Pub. No.

CSS04-14. August 2018. University of Michigan: Ann Arbor.

14 Failure to Act—The Economic Impact of Current Investment Trends in Water and Wastewater

Treatment Infrastructure. (2013). The American Society of Civil Engineers.

15 US Environmental Protection Agency. 2018. National Summary of State Information:

Assessed Waters of United States.

16 Gray, N. F. (1990). Activated Sludge Theory and Practice. Oxford University Press: New

York. p. 125.

17 https://www.epa.gov/biosolids/frequent-questions-about-biosolids. Also Timothy E. Sei

ple, Andre M. Coleman, Richard L. Skaggs. (2017). Municipal Wastewater Sludge as a

Sustainable Bioresource in the United States. Journal of Environmental Management 197

(2017). pp. 673–680.

18 A National Biosolids Regulation, Quality, End Use, and Disposal Survey Final Report. July

20, 2007. Northeast Biosolids and Residual Association: Tamworth, NH.

19 http://www.nyc.gov/html/dep/html/wastewater/biohome.shtml.

20 2017 Potable Reuse Compendium. US EPA.

21 Press Release. (2013). UN: Rising Reuse of Wastewater in Forecast but World Lacks Data on

“Massive Potential Resource.” United Nations University: Tokyo.

https://unu.edu/media-relations/releases/rising-reuse-of-wastewater-in-forecast-but

world-lacks-data.html.

22 Wastewater Report 2018: The Reuse Opportunity. The International Water Association.

23 UNEP 2016. A Snapshot of the World’s Water Quality: Towards a Global Assessment.

United Nations Environment Programme: Nairobi, Kenya. 162 pp.

24 2017 Potable Reuse Compendium. US EPA.

25 https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2015/01/26/youre-going-to-have-to

spare-more-than-a-square-toilet-paper-is-shrinking.

26 https://www.betterplanetpaper.com/selah/Paper-Awareness.

27 Pickford, John (1995). Low-Cost Sanitation—A Survey of Practical Experience. IT Pub

lications: London. p. 96.

28 US EPA (1996). Wastewater Treatment: Alternatives to Septic Systems (Guidance Document).

EPA/909-K-96-001. US Environmental Protection Agency, Region 9, Drinking Water

Program (W-6-3). p. 16–19. Also US EPA. (1987). It’s Your Choice—A Guidebook for

Local Officials on Small Community Wastewater Management Options. EPA 430/9-87-006.

US Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Municipal Pollution Control (WH-

595), Municipal Facilities Division: Washington, DC. p. 55.

29 Manahan, S. E. (1990). Hazardous Waste Chemistry, Toxicology and Treatment. Lewis Pub

lishers, Inc.: Chelsea, MI. p. 131.

30 Bitton, Gabriel. (1994). Wastewater Microbiology. Wiley-Liss, Inc.: New York. p. 120.

31 Ibid. pp. 148–149.

32 Baumann, Marty. USA Today. Feb 2, 1994, p. 1A, 4A. USA Today: Arlington, VA.

33 The Perils of Chlorine. Audubon Magazine, 93:30–2, Nov/Dec 1991.

34 Liptak, B. G. (1991). Municipal Waste Disposal in the 1990s. Chilton Book Co.: Radnor,

PA. pp. 196–198.

35 Bitton. p. 312.

36 Ibid. p. 121.

37 Environment Reporter. 7/10/92. p. 767. Also https://waterandhealth.org/safe-drinking

water/drinking-water/chlorine-in-tap-water-is-safe-to-drink/

282 The Humanure Handbook ??— 4th Edition — References

38 Bitton. p. 121.

39 Buzzworm. March/April 1993. p. 17.

40 Environment Reporter. 7/10/92. p. 767.

41 Burke, W. K. A Prophet of Eden. Buzzworm. Vol. IV, Number 2, March/April 1992. pp.

18–19.

42 Environment Reporter. 8/7/92. p. 1152.

43 Ibid. 5/15/92. p. 319.

44 Bitton. p. 352.

45 Environment Reporter. 3/6/92, p. 2474, and 1/17/92, p. 2145.

46 Ibid. 1/3/92. p. 2109.

47 Ibid. 11/1/91, p. 1657, and 9/27/96, p. 1212.

48 Rybczynski, W. et al. (1982). Appropriate Technology for Water Supply and Sanitation—Low

Cost Technology Options for Sanitation, A State of the Art Review and Annotated Bibliogra

phy. World Bank. p. 124.

49 Ibid. p. 125.

50 Damsker, M. (1992). Sludge Beats Lead. Organic Gardening. Feb. 1992, Vol. 39, Issue 2.

p. 19.

51 Contact JCH Environmental Engineering, Inc., 2730 Remington Court, Missoula, MT

59801. Ph: 406-721-1164.

52 US EPA. (1989). Summary Report: In-Vessel Composting of Municipal Wastewater Sludge.

EPA/625/8-89/016. Center for Environmental Research Information: Cincinnati, OH.

pp. 20, 161.

53 Sterritt, Robert M. (1988). Microbiology for Environmental and Public Health Engineers. E.

& F. N. Spon Ltd.: New York. p. 160.

54 Venkatesan, Arjun K., Hansa Y. Done, and Rolf U. Halden. (2014). United States Na

tional Sewage Sludge Repository at Arizona State University — A New Resource and Re

search Tool for Environmental Scientists, Engineers, and Epidemiologists. Environ Sci Pollut

Res Int. 2015 Feb; 22(3): pp. 1577–1586.

55 Fahm, L. A. (1980). The Waste of Nations. Allanheld, Osmun & Co.: Montclair, NJ. p. 61.

56 Shuval, Hillel I., Charles G. Gunnerson, DeAnne S. Julius. (1981). Night-soil Composting.

Appropriate Technology for Water Supply and Sanitation; Vol. 10. Washington, DC:

The World Bank. p. 5.

http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/145651468764132414/Night-soil-compost

ing.

57 Bitton. pp. 166, 352.

58 Sterritt. pp. 242, 251–252.

59 Radtke, T. M., and G. L. Gist. (1989). Wastewater Sludge Disposal: Antibiotic Resistant

Bacteria May Pose Health Hazard. Journal of Environmental Health, Vol 52, No.2,

Sept/Oct 1989. pp. 102–105. Also Venkatesan, Done, and Halden. pp. 1577–1586.

60 Environment Reporter. 11/1/91. p. 1653.

61 Fahm. p. xxiv.

62 Ibid. p. 40.

63 Shuval et al.

64 Progress on Drinking Water, Sanitation and Hygiene: 2017 Update and SDG Baselines.

United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), World Health Organization (WHO). July

2017. Publisher: United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), World Health Organiza

tion. p. 29.

65 Poor Sanitation Cost Global Economy US$223 Billion in 2015. Aug 24, 2016. LIXIL Cor

poration.

66 https://www.nrdc.org/stories/water-pollution-everything-you-need-know.

The Humanure Handbook ??— 4th Edition — References 283

CHAPTER 8: COMPOST

1 News Release, February 27, 2018. Contact: Frank Franciosi, 1-301-897-2715; ffran

ciosi@compostingcouncil.org. USCC Efforts Result in New Compost Definition Approval

by Regulators’ Group, Changes Reduce Confusion, Differentiate Compost from Other Pro

ducts.

2 Barnum, H. L. (1831). Family receipts, or Practical guide for the husbandman and housewife:

containing a great variety of valuable recipes, relating to agriculture, gardening, brewery, cook

ery, dairy, confectionary, diseases, farriery, ingrafting, and the various branches of rural and do

mestic economy. To which is added a plain, concise, method of keeping farmer’s accounts, with

forms of notes of hand, bills, receipts, &c. &c. Published by A. B. ROFF: Cincinnati.

3 Carpenter, George W. (George Washington), 1802–1860. Essays on some of the most impor

tant articles of the materia medica: comprising a full account of all the new proximate princi

ples, and the popular medicines lately introduced in practice, detailing the formulas for their

preparation, their habitudes and peculiarities, doses and modes of administration: with remarks

on the most eligible form of their exhibition: to which is added a catalogue of medicines, surgical

instruments, &c, &c: adapted for a physician at the outset of his practice, with the doses and

effects attached to each medicine, &c, &c. 2nd edition. pp. 42–43.

4 Tabor, Stephen J. W., MD. (1851). Nicotian Geoponics. Shelburne Falls, MA. Com

municated for the Boston Medical and Surgical Journal. p. 236.

5 Report of a special committee to the Board of Health of the City of Detroit, suggesting measures

for the prevention of Asiatic cholera: and the promotion of the public health: also, containing a

plan and operations of a city dispensary. (1865) Detroit (Mich.). Board of Health. Walker,

Barns & Co., City Printers.

6 King, F. H. (1911). Farmers of Forty Centuries. Rodale Press: Emmaus, PA. p. 251.

7 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fermentation.

8 Sidder, Aaron. (2016). The Green, Brown, and Beautiful Story of Compost. National Geo

graphic Society, National Geographic Partners, LLC.

9 Mehl, Jessica, Josephine Kaiser, Daniel Hurtado, Daragh A. Gibson, Ricardo Izurieta,

and James R. Mihelcic. (2011). Pathogen destruction and solids decomposition in composting

latrines: study of fundamental mechanisms and user operation in rural Panama. Journal of

Water and Health, 09.1.

10 King. p. 116.

11 Ibid. pp. 212–213.

12 Ibid. p. 251.

13 Howard, Sir Albert. (1945). The Soil and Health: A Study of Organic Agriculture.

Schocken Books: New York. p. 11 (Introduction).

14 Ibid. p. 41.

15 Howard, Albert, and Yeshwant Wad. (1931). The Waste Products of Agriculture. Oxford

University Press: London. pp. 47–48.

16 Ibid. p. 52.

17 Ibid. p. 50.

18 Ibid. p. 53.

19 Ibid. p. 53.

20 Ibid. pp. 54–55.

21 Rodale, J. I. (1946). Pay Dirt. Devon-Adair Co.: New York. pp. 32–33.

22 Shuval, Hillel I., Charles G. Gunnerson, DeAnne S. Julius. (1981). Night-soil Composting.

Appropriate Technology for Water Supply and Sanitation; Vol. 10. Washington, DC:

The World Bank. p. 2.

http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/145651468764132414/Night-soil-compost

ing.

23 Ibid.

24 Ibid. p. ii.

284 The Humanure Handbook ??— 4th Edition — References

CHAPTER 9: COMPOST NUTS AND BOLTS

1 Bem, R. (1978). Everyone’s Guide to Home Composting. Van Nostrand Reinhold Co.:

New York. p. 4.

2 Haug, Roger T. (1993). The Practical Handbook of Compost Engineering. CRC Press,

Inc.: Boca Raton, FL. p. 2.

3 Cannon, Charles A. (1997). Life Cycle Analysis and Sustainability Moving Beyond the

Three R’s — Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle — to P2R2 — Preserve, Purify, Restore and

Remediate. As seen in the 1997 Organic Recovery and Biological Treatment Proceed

ings, E. I. Stentiford (Ed.). International Conference, Harrogate, United Kingdom. 3–

5 September 1997. p. 253. Available from Stuart Brown, National Compost

Development Association, PO Box 4, Grassington, North Yorkshire, BD23 5UR UK

(stuartbrown@compuserve.com).

4 Howard, Sir Albert. (1943). An Agricultural Testament. Oxford University Press: New

York.

5 Bhamidimarri, R. (1988). Alternative Waste Treatment Systems. Elsevier Applied

Science Publishers LTD.: Essex, UK. p. 129.

6 Rynk, Robert, ed. (1992). On-Farm Composting Handbook. Northeast Regional Agricul

tural Engineering Service. Ph: (607) 255-7654. p. 12.

7 Haug. p. 2.

8 Palmisano, Anna C., and Morton A. Barlaz (Eds.). (1996). Microbiology of Solid Waste.

CRC Press, Inc.: Boca Raton, FL. p. 129.

9 Howard. p. 48.

10 Ingham, Elaine. (1998). Anaerobic Bacteria and Compost Tea. Biocycle, June 1998. The

JG Press, Inc.: Emmaus, PA. p. 86.

11 Stoner, C. H. (ed.). (1977). Goodbye to the Flush Toilet. Rodale Press: Emmaus, PA. p.

46

.

12 Rodale, J. I. et al. (Eds.). (1960). The Complete Book of Composting. Rodale Books Inc.:

Emmaus, PA. pp. 646–647.

13 Gotaas, Harold B. (1956). Composting — Sanitary Disposal and Reclamation of Or

ganic Wastes. World Health Organization, Monograph Series Number 31. Geneva. p.

39

.

14 What You Should Know About CCA-Pressure Treated Wood for Decks, Playgrounds,

and Picnic Tables. (2011). US Consumer Product Safety Commission.

15 Mixing Browns and Greens for Backyard Success. Biocycle, Journal of Composting and

Recycling, January 1998 (Regional Roundup). JG Press, Inc.: Emmaus, PA. p. 20.

16 Lynch, J. M., and N. L. Poole (Eds.). (1979). Microbial Ecology: A Conceptual Ap

proach. Blackwell Scientific Publications: London. p. 238.

17 Sterritt, Robert M. (1988). Microbiology for Environmental and Public Health Engi

neers. E. & F. N. Spon Ltd.: New York. p. 53.

18 Palmisano and Barlaz. pp. 124, 125, 129, 133.

19 Ingham, Elaine. (1998). Replacing Methyl Bromide with Compost. Biocycle, Journal of

Composting and Recycling, December 1998. JG Press, Inc.: Emmaus, PA. p. 80.

20 Curry, Dr. Robin (1977). Composting of Source Separated Domestic Organic Waste by

Mechanically Turned Open Air Windrowing. As seen in the 1997 Organic Recovery

and Biological Treatment Proceedings, E. I. Stentiford (Ed.). International Confer

ence, Harrogate, United Kingdom. 3–5 September 1997. p. 184.

21 Wiley B. Beauford, and Westerberg Stephen C. (1969). Survival of Human Pathogens in

Composted Sewage. Applied Microbiology [01 Dec 1969, 18(6):994-1001].

22 Gotaas, Harold B. (1956). Composting — Sanitary Disposal and Reclamation of Or

ganic Wastes. World Health Organization, Monograph Series Number 31. Geneva. p.

20

.

23 Curry. p. 183.

24 Palmisano and Barlaz. p. 169.

The Humanure Handbook ??— 4th Edition — References 285

25 Ibid. pp. 121, 124, 134.

26 Rodale. p. 702.

27 Curry. p. 183.

28 Brock, Thomas D. (1986). Thermophiles — General, Molecular, and Applied Biology.

John Wiley and Sons: Hoboken, NJ. p. 244.

29 Rynk, Robert (Ed.). (1992). On-Farm Composting Handbook. Northeast Regional Agri

cultural Engineering Service. Ph: (607) 255-7654. p. 13.

30 Shuval, Hillel I., Charles G. Gunnerson, DeAnne S. Julius. (1981). Night-soil Compost

ing. Appropriate Technology for Water Supply and Sanitation; Vol. 10. Washington,

DC: The World Bank. p. 10.

http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/145651468764132414/Night-soil-compost

ing.

31 Biocycle. November 1998. p. 18.

32 USDA. Composting with Worms. https://www.nrcs.usda.gov/wps/portal/nrcs/detail/na

tional/newsroom/features/?cid=nrcs143

_

023541.

33 Biocycle, Journal of Composting and Recycling. November 1998. JG Press, Inc.: Em

maus, PA. p. 18.

CHAPTER 10: COMPOST MIRACLES

1 US EPA. (1998). An Analysis of Composting as an Environmental Remediation Technology.

EPA530-B-98-001, March 1998.

2 Haug, Roger T. (1993). The Practical Handbook of Compost Engineering. CRC Press, Inc.:

Boca Raton, FL. p. 9.

3 US EPA. (October 1997). Innovative Uses of Compost — Bioremediation and Pollution Pre

vention. EPA530-F-97-042.

4 Logan, W. B. (1991). Rot Is Hot. New York Times Magazine. 9/8/91, Vol. 140, Issue 4871.

p. 46.

5 Compost Fungi Used to Recover Wastepaper. Biocycle, Journal of Composting and Recy

cling. May 1998. JG Press, Inc.: Emmaus, PA. p. 6.

6 Young, Lily Y., and Carl E. Cerniglia (Eds.). (1995). Microbial Transformation and Degrada

tion of Toxic Organic Chemicals. Wiley-Liss, Inc.: New York. pp. 408 and 461 and Table

12.5.

7 Palmisano, Anna C., and Morton A. Barlaz (Eds.). (1996). Microbiology of Solid Waste.

CRC Press, Inc.: Boca Raton, FL. p. 127.

8 Logan. p. 46.

9 Lubke, Sigfried. (1989). Interview: All Things Considered in the Wake of the Chernobyl Nu

clear Accident. Acres U.S.A. December 1989. p. 20.

10 US EPA. An Analysis of Composting. EPA530-B-98-001.

11 Cannon, Charles A. (1997). Life Cycle Analysis and Sustainability Moving Beyond the Three

R’s — Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle — to P2R2 — Preserve, Purify, Restore and Remediate.

As seen in the 1997 Organic Recovery and Biological Treatment Proceedings, E. I.

Stentiford (Ed.). International Conference, Harrogate, United Kingdom. 3–5 Sep

tember 1997. p. 254. Also Doug Schonberner. (1998). Reclaiming Contaminated Soils.

BioCycle, 39(9):36-38, September 1998. Also Dave Block (1998). Composting Breaks

Down Explosives. BioCycle, September 1998. pp. 36–40.

12 Block, Dave (1998). Degrading PCB’s Through Composting. Biocycle, Journal of Compost

ing and Recycling. December 1998. JG Press, Inc.: Emmaus, PA. pp. 45–48.

13 US EPA. An Analysis of Composting. EPA530-B-98-001.

14 US Composting Council. Persistent Herbicide FAQ. https://compostingcouncil.org/persis

tent-herbicide-faq/.

15 US EPA. Innovative Uses of Compost. EPA530-F-97-042.

16 Ibid.

17 Rynk, Robert (Ed.). (1992). On-Farm Composting Handbook. Northeast Regional Agricul-

286 The Humanure Handbook ??— 4th Edition — References

tural Engineering Service. Ph: (607) 255-7654. p. 83.

18 Hoitink, Harry A. J. et al. (1997). Suppression of Root and Foliar Diseases Induced by Com

posts. As seen in the 1997 Organic Recovery and Biological Treatment Proceedings, E.

I. Stentiford (Ed.). International Conference, Harrogate, United Kingdom. 3–5 Sep

tember 1997. p. 95.

19 US EPA (October 1997). Innovative Uses of Compost — Disease Control for Plants and Ani

mals. EPA530-F-97-044.

20 US EPA. An Analysis of Composting. EPA530-B-98-001.

21 Logan. p.46.

22 US EPA. An Analysis of Composting. EPA530-B-98-001.

23 Trankner, Andreas, and William Brinton. (date unknown). Compost Practices for Control

of Grape Powdery Mildew (Uncinula necator). Woods End Institute: Mt. Vernon, ME.

24 Quote from Elaine Ingham as reported in Karin Grobe. (1998). Fine-Tuning the Soil Web.

Biocycle, Journal of Composting and Recycling, January 1998. p. 46. JG Press, Inc.:

Emmaus, PA.

25 Wichuk, Kristine M., et al. (2011). Composting Effect on Three Fungal Pathogens Affecting

Elm Trees in Edmonton, Alberta. Compost Science and Utilization, Summer 2011.

26 Larney, Francis J., and Kelly T. Turkington. (2009). Fate of Fusarium graminearum and

Other Fusarium Species during Composting of Beef Cattle Feedlot Manure. Compost

Science and Utilization, Autumn, 2009. p. 247.

27 Sides, S. (1991). Compost. Mother Earth News, Issue 127, Aug/Sept 1991. p. 50.

28 US EPA. Innovative Uses of Compost. EPA530-F-97-044.

29 Biocycle, Journal of Composting and Recycling, October 1998. p. 26. JG Press, Inc.:

Emmaus, PA.

30 US EPA. Innovative Uses of Compost. EPA530-F-97-044.

31 Brodie, Herbert L., and Lewis E. Carr. (1997). Composting Animal Mortality. As seen in

the 1997 Organic Recovery and Biological Treatment Proceedings, E. I. Stentiford

(Ed.). International Conference, Harrogate, United Kingdom. 3–5 September 1997. pp.

155–159.

32 McKay, Bart. (1998). Com-Postal-Ing in Texas. Biocycle, Journal of Composting and Re

cycling, May 1998. JG Press, Inc.: Emmaus, PA. pp. 44–46.

33 Garbage: The Practical Journal for the Environment. May/June 1992. Old House Jour

nal Corp.: Gloucester, MA. p. 66.

34 Logan.

35 Erik Neumann. (2016). Can Compost Recycle Our Drugs?

https://civileats.com/2016/06/01/can-compost-recycle-our-drugs/.

36 Harvard Health Letter. Drugs in the Water. June 2011.

https://www.health.harvard.edu/newsletter_article/drugs-in-the-water.

37 Kolpin, Dana, Edward Furlong, Michael Meyer, E. Michael Thurman, Steven Zaugg,

Larry Barber, and Herbert Buxton. (2002). Pharmaceuticals, Hormones, and Other Or

ganic Wastewater Contaminants in U.S. Streams, 1999-2000: A National Reconnaissance.

USGS Staff-Published Research. p. 68.

38 Harvard Health Letter. Drugs in the Water.

39 US EPA. 2013 Biosolids Biennial Review. Biennial Review of 40 CFR Part 503. As Re

quired Under the Clean Water Act Section 405(d)(2)(C).

40 Golet, Eva M., Adrian Strehler, Alfredo C. Alder, and Walter Giger. (2002). Determina

tion of Fluoroquinolone Antibacterial Agents in Sewage Sludge and Sludge-Treated Soil Using

Accelerated Solvent Extraction Followed by Solid-Phase Extraction. Swiss Federal Institute

for Environmental Science and Technology (EAWAG) and Swiss Federal Institute of

Technology Zurich (ETH): Dubendorf, Switzerland.

41 Monteirol, Sara C. and Alistair B. A. Boxal. (2009). Environmental Toxicology and Chem

istry, Volume 28, Issue 12, December 2009. pp. 2546–2554.

http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1897/08-657.1/full.

42 Kinney, Chad A., Edward T. Furlong, Steven D. Zaugg, Mark R. Burkhardt, Stephen L.

The Humanure Handbook ??— 4th Edition — References 287

Werner, Jeffery D. Cahill, and Gretchen R. Jorgensen. (2006). Survey of Organic Waste

water Contaminants in Biosolids Destined for Land Application. Department of Chemistry,

Eastern Washington University, Cheney, WA. Also National Water Quality Labo

ratory, US Geological Survey: Denver, CO. Environ. Sci. Technol., 2006, 40 (23), pp.

7207–7215. DOI: 10.1021/es0603406.

43 Ibid.

44 T. F. Guerin. (2001). Co-composting of pharmaceutical wastes in soil. Shell Engineering Pty

Ltd: Granville, NSW, Australia.

45 Lukic, Borislava. Composting of organic waste for enhanced bioremediation of PAHs contami

nated soils. (2016). Materials. Université Paris-Est.

46 Antibiotic Degradation during Manure Composting. Journal of Environmental Quality. May

2008. DOI: 10.2134/jeq2007.0399. Source: PubMed.

47 Ramaswamy, Jayashree, Shiv O. Prasher, Ramanbhai M. Patel, Syed A. Hussain, Suzelle

F. Barrington. (2009). The effect of composting on the degradation of a veterinary pharmaceu

tical. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biortech.2009.10.089.

48 Arikan, O. A., L. J. Sikora, W. W. Mulbry III, S. U. Khan, G. D. Foster. (2005). Compost

ing rapidly reduces levels of extractable oxytetracycline in manure from therapeutically treated

beef calves. Bioresource Technology. 98:169-175.

49 Cessna, Allan J., Francis J. Larney, Sandra L. Kuchta, Xiying Hao, Toby Entz, Edward

Topp, and Tim A. McAllister. (2010). Veterinary Antimicrobials in Feedlot Manure: Dis

sipation during Composting and Effects on Composting Processes. J. Environ. Qual. 40:188–

198 (2011). doi:10.2134/jeq2010.0079.

50 Kim, K. R., G. Owens, Y. S. Ok, W. K. Park, D. B. Lee, S. I. Kwond. (2010). Decline in

extractable antibiotics in manure-based composts during composting. Waste Manag. 2012

Jan;32(1):110-6. doi: 10.1016/j.wasman.2011.07.026. Epub 2011 Aug 23.

51 Wu, X., Y. Wei, J. Zheng, X. Zhao, W. Zhong. (2011). The Behavior of Tetracyclines and

their Degradation Products during Swine Manure Composting. Bioresour Technol. 2011

May; 102(10):5924–5931. doi: 10.1016/j.biortech.2011.03.007. Epub 2011 Mar 9.

52 Wanga, Yin Quan, Jin Lin Zhangb, Frank Schuchardtc, Yan Wanga. (2014). Degradation

of morphine in opium poppy processing waste composting. Bioresour Technol. 2014 Sep;

168:235-9. doi:10.1016/j.biortech. 2014.02.019. Epub 2014 Feb 17.

53 Hakk H., F. Millner, G. Larsen. (2005). Decrease in Water-Soluble 17Beta-Estradiol and

Testosterone in Composted Poultry Manure with Time. J Environ Qual. 2005 Apr 20;

34(3):943-50. Print 2005 May–Jun.

54 Ciamillo, Sarah, Gregory Peck, Rebecca K. Splan, C. A. Shea Porr. (2014). Impact of

Composting on Drug Residues in Large Animal Mortality. Communications and Market

ing, College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State

University: Blacksburg, VA.

55 Winker, Martina. (2009). Pharmaceutical Residues in Urine and Potential Risks related to

Usage as Fertiliser in Agriculture. Technische Universität Hamburg: Germany.

56 Wu, Chenxi, Alison L. Spongberg, Jason D. Witter, Min Fang, and Kevin P. Czajkowski

(2010). Uptake of Pharmaceutical and Personal Care Products by Soybean Plants from Soils

Applied with Biosolids and Irrigated with Contaminated Water. Department of Environ

mental Sciences and Department of Geography and Planning, University of Toledo:

Toledo, OH. http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/es1011115.

57 Kumar, K., S. C. Gupta, S. K. Baidoo, Y. Chandera, and C. J. Rosena. (2005). Antibiotic

Uptake by Plants from Soil Fertilized with Animal Manure. J Environ Qual. 2005 Oct 12;

34(6):2082–2085. Print 2005 Nov–Dec.

58 Lillenberg, Merike, Koit Herodes, Karin Kipper, and Lembit Nei. (2009). Plant Uptake

of some Pharmaceuticals from Fertilized Soils. Department of Food Science and Hygiene,

Estonian University of Life Sciences: Tartu, Estonia. Proceedings of 2009 Inter

national Conference on Environmental Science and Technology: Bangkok, Thailand.

23–25 April 2010.

59 Haiba, Egge, Merike Lillenberg, Karin Kipper, Alar Astover, Koit Herodes, Mari Ivask,

288 The Humanure Handbook ??— 4th Edition — References

Annely Kuu, Sandra Victoria Litvin, and Lembit Nei. (2013). Fluoroquinolones and sul

fonamides in sewage sludge compost and their uptake from soil into food plants. Tartu College,

Tallinn University of Technology: Tartu, Estonia.

60 Frank Carini/ecoRI News staff. 2012. Chemo Drugs Pose Serious Public Health Risks.

61 Ramaswamy, J., S. O. Prasher, R. M. Patel, S. A. Hussain, S. F. Barrington. (2009). The

effect of composting on the degradation of a veterinary pharmaceutical. Bioresource Technol

ogy, Volume 101, Issue 7. pp. 2294–2299. DOI: 10.1016/j.biortech.2009.10.089.

62 US EPA. An Analysis of Composting. EPA530-B-98-001.

63 US EPA. Innovative Uses of Compost. EPA530-F-97-042.

64 Cannon. p. 253.

65 Pinamonti, F., G. Stringari, F. Gasperi, G. Zorzi. (1997). The Use of Compost: Its Effects

on Heavy Metal Levels in Soil and Plants. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0921-3449(97)00032-

3

.

66 Montemurro, F., M. Charfeddine, M. Maiorana, and G. Convertini. (2013). Compost Use

in Agriculture: The Fate of Heavy Metals in Soil and Fodder Crop Plants. pp. 47–54.

https://doi.org/10.1080/1065657X.2010.10736933.

67 Mei Huang, Yi Zhu, Zhongwu Li, Bin Huang, Ninglin Luo, Chun Liu, Guangming

Zeng. (2016). Compost as a Soil Amendment to Remediate Heavy Metal-Contaminated Ag

ricultural Soil: Mechanisms, Efficacy, Problems, and Strategies. Water Air Soil Pollut

(2016) 227: 359 DOI 10.1007/s11270-016-3068-8

68 Ibid.

69 Khan, T. F., M. W. Ullah, and S. M. I. Huq. (2016). Heavy Metal Contents of Different

Wastes Used for Compost. Journal of Minerals and Materials Characterization and Engi

neering, 4. pp. 241–249. http://dx.doi.org/10.4236/jmmce.2016.43022.

70 Van der Wurff, A. W. G., J. G. Fuchs, M. Raviv, A. J. Termorshuizen. (Eds.). (2016).

Handbook for Composting and Compost Use in Organic Horticulture.

www.biogreenhouse.org.

CHAPTER 11: COMPOST MYTHS

1 Rodale, J. I. et al. (1960). The Complete Book of Composting. Rodale Books, Inc.: Emmaus,

PA. p. 932.

2 Smalley, Curtis. (1998). Hard Earned Lessons on Odor Management. Biocycle, Journal of

Composting and Recycling, January 1998. JG Press, Inc.: Emmaus, PA. p. 59.

3 Brinton, William F., Jr. (1997). Sustainability of Modern Composting — Intensification Versus

Cost and Quality. Woods End Institute: Mt. Vernon, ME.

4 Ibid.

5 Michel, F. C., Jr. (2002). Effects of Turning and Feedstocks on Yard Trimmings Composting.

BioCycle. 43(9):46.

6 Palmisano, Anna C., and Morton A. Barlaz (Eds.). (1996). Microbiology of Solid Waste.

CRC Press, Inc.: Boca Raton, FL. p. 170.

7 Harrison, Ellen Z. (2007). Compost Facilities: Off-Site Air Emissions and Health. Cornell

Waste Management Institute: Ithaca, NY. http://cwmi.css.cornell.edu/compostairemis

sions.pdf.

8 Ibid.

9 Ibid.

10 Researchers Study Composting in the Cold. Biocycle, Journal of Composting and Recy

cling, January 1998. JG Press, Inc.: Emmaus, PA. p. 24 (Regional Roundup).

11 Gotaas, Harold B. (1956). Composting — Sanitary Disposal and Reclamation of Organic

Wastes. World Health Organization, Monograph Series Number 31. Geneva. p. 77.

12 Epstein, Eliot. (1997). The Science of Composting. Technomic Publishing Company Inc.:

Lancaster, PA.

13 Haug, Roger T. (1993). The Practical Handbook of Compost Engineering. CRC Press LLC:

Boca Raton, FL. pp. 342–343.

The Humanure Handbook ??— 4th Edition — References 289

14 Pengxiang Xu and Ji Li. (2017). Effects of Microbial Inoculant on Physical and Chemical

Properties in Pig Manure Composting. Compost Science and Utilization, Volume 25, No.

S1. pp. S37–S42.

15 Howard, Sir Albert. (1943). An Agricultural Testament. Oxford University Press: New

York. p. 44. Also J. I. Rodale. (1946). Pay Dirt. The Devon-Adair Co.: New York.

16 Rodale, J. I. et al. (Eds.). Complete Book of Composting. p. 658.

17 Regan, Raymond W. (1998). Approaching 50 years of Compost Research. Biocycle, Journal

of Composting and Recycling, October 1998. JG Press, Inc.: Emmaus, PA. p. 82.

18 Poncavage, J., and J. Jesiolowski. (1991). Mix Up a Compost and a Lime. Organic Garden

ing. March 1991, Vol. 38, Issue 3. p. 18.

19 Gotaas. p. 93.

20 US EPA. Composting at Home. https://www.epa.gov/recycle/composting-home.

21 Palmisano and Barlaz (Eds.). p. 132.

23 Kamal, Abu et al. (2017). Effect of Treated Wood on Biosolids Composting. Compost Science

and Utilization, 2017, Vol. 25, No. 3. pp. 178–193.

24 Composting of Creosote Treated Wood Evaluated. Biocycle. October 2016. p. 11.

CHAPTER 12: COMPOST TOILETS

1 Guidelines on Sanitation and Health. (2018). World Health Organization: Geneva. License:

CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 IGO.

2 Ibid.

3 The Human Right to Water and Sanitation Media Brief. (2010). UNDP. Human Devel

opment Report 2006. Beyond Scarcity: Power, poverty and the global water crisis.

United Nations.

4 Guidance on How to Access the Oral Cholera Vaccine (OCV) from the ICG Emergency Stock

pile. ICG 9/13/2013.

5 Water Efficiency Technology Fact Sheet — Composting Toilets. (1999). United States Environ

mental Protection Agency, Office of Water, Washington, DC. EPA 832-F-99-066.

6 Andreev, N., M. Rontaltep, B. Boincean, and P. N. L. Lens. (2017). Treatment of Source

Separated Human Feces via Lactic Acid Fermentation Combined with Thermophilic Com

posting. Compost Science and Utilization, 2017, Vol. 25, No. 4. pp. 220–230.

7 Alexander, P. D. (2007). Effect of Turning and Vessel Type on Compost Temperature and Com

position in Backyard (Amateur) Composting. Compost Science and Utilization, Volume

15, No. 3. pp. 167–175.

8 Enferadi, K. M., R. C. Cooper, S. C. Goranson, A. W. Olivieri, J. H. Poorbaugh, M.

Walker, and B. A. Wilson. (1986). Field Investigation of Biological Toilet Systems and Grey

Water Treatment. United States Environmental Protection Agency, Water Engineering

Research Laboratory: Cincinnati, OH. EPA/600/S2-86/069 Sept. 1986.

9 To Municipal Authorities, Boards of Health, and Others. How to Prevent the Fouling of Water

Sources and thus Obtain Pure Water Free of Cost, Avoiding Typhoid Fever, Diphtheria,

Cholera, Dysentery, And Other Preventable Diseases. (1888). The Sanitary Fertilizer Com

pany of the United States: Philadelphia.

10 Moule, Henry. (1866). National Health and Wealth Instead of Disease, Nuisance, Expense,

and Waste Caused by Cess-Poole and Water Drainage. p. 5-6. Published by Moule’s Patent

Earth Closet Company Limited, London, 29, Bedford Street, Strand. 1866.

11 To Municipal Authorities, Boards of Health, and Others. How to Prevent the Fouling of Water

Sources and thus Obtain Pure Water Free of Cost, Avoiding Typhoid Fever, Diphtheria,

Cholera, Dysentery, And Other Preventable Diseases. (1888). The Sanitary Fertilizer Com

pany of the United States: Philadelphia.

12 Ibid.

13 Waring, George E., Jr. (1870). Earth-Closets and Earth Sewage Including: The Earth System

(Details). The Dry-Earth System for Cities. The Manure Question and Towns. Sewage and

Cesspool Diseases. The Details of Earth Sewage. The Philosophy of the Earth System. The

290 The Humanure Handbook ??— 4th Edition — References

Tribune Association: New York.

14 Ibid.

15 Ibid.

16 Ibid.

17 Ibid.

18 Ibid.

19 Ibid.

20 Reeder, M. M. (1998). The radiological and ultrasound evaluation of ascariasis of the gastroin

testinal, biliary, and respiratory tracts. Semin Roentgenol 1998, 33:57.

21 Guidelines on Sanitation and Health.

22 Abbott, Rich. (2004). Skaneateles Lake Watershed Composting Toilet Project. Small Flows

Quarterly, Spring 2004, Volume 5, No. 2.

23 Rybczynski, W. et al. (1982). Appropriate Technology for Water Supply and Sanitation —

Low Cost Technology Options for Sanitation, A State of the Art Review and Annotated Bibli

ography. World Bank. Transportation and Water Department: Washington, DC.

24 McGarry, Michael G., and Jill Stainforth (Eds.). (1978). Compost, Fertilizer, and Biogas

Production from Human and Farm Wastes in the People’s Republic of China. International

Development Research Center: Ottawa, Canada. pp. 9, 10, 29, 32.

25 Ibid.

26 Winblad, Uno, and Wen Kilama. (1985). Sanitation Without Water. Macmillan Education

Ltd.: London and Basingstoke. pp. 20–21.

27 Winblad, Uno (Ed.). (1998). Ecological Sanitation. Swedish International Development

Cooperation Agency: Stockholm. p. 25.

28 Clivus Multrum Maintenance Manual. Clivus Multrum Inc. Lawrence, Mass.

29 Pickford, John. (1995). Low-Cost Sanitation. Intermediate Technology Publications:

London. p. 68.

30 Garbage, Feb/Mar 1993, p. 35.

31 Composting Toilet Systems, PO Box 1928 (or 1211 Bergen Rd.), Newport, WA 99156,

phone: (509) 447-3708; Fax: (509) 447-3753.

CHAPTER 13: WORMS AND DISEASE

1 Kristof, Nicholas D. (1995). Japanese Is Too Polite for Words. Pittsburgh Post Gazette,

Sunday, September 24, 1995. p. B-8.

2 Beeby, John. (1995). The Tao of Pooh (now titled Future Fertility). Ecology Action of the

Midpeninsula: Willits, CA. Disclaimer and pp. 64–65.

3 Ibid. pp. 11–12.

4 Barlow, Ronald S. (1992). The Vanishing American Outhouse. Windmill Publishing Co.: El

Cajon, CA. p. 2.

5 Warren, George M. (1922, revised 1928). Sewage and Sewerage of Farm Homes. U.S. De

partment of Agriculture, Farmer’s Bulletin No. 1227. As seen in Ronald S. Barlow.

(1992). The Vanishing American Outhouse. Windmill Publishing Co.: El Cajon, CA. pp.

107–110.

6 Shuval, Hillel I. et al. (1981). Appropriate Technology for Water Supply and Sanitation —

Night Soil Composting. International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (World

Bank): Washington, DC. p. 8.

7 Tompkins, P., and C. Boyd. (1989). Secrets of the Soil. Harper and Row: New York. pp. 94–

95

.

8 Howard, Sir Albert. (1947). The Soil and Health: A Study of Organic Agriculture. Schocken:

New York. pp. 37–38.

9 Ibid. p. 173 (in the 2011 Oxford City Press edition).

10 Ibid. 174 (in the 2011 Oxford City Press edition).

11 Feachem et al. (1980). Appropriate Technology for Water Supply and Sanitation. The World

Bank, Director of Information and Public Affairs: Washington, DC.

The Humanure Handbook ??— 4th Edition — References 291

12 Sterritt, Robert M. (1988). Microbiology for Environmental and Public Health Engineers. E.

& F. N. Spon Ltd.: New York. p. 238.

13 Jervis, N. (1990). Waste Not, Want Not. Natural History. May 1990. p. 73.

14 Winblad, Uno (Ed.). (1998). Ecological Sanitation. Swedish International Development

Cooperation Agency: Stockholm. p. 75.

15 Sterritt. pp. 59–60.

16 Palmisano, Anna C. and Morton A. Barlaz (Eds.). (1996). Microbiology of Solid Waste.

CRC Press, Inc.: Boca Raton, FL. p. 159.

17 Gotaas, Harold B. (1956). Composting — Sanitary Disposal and Reclamation of Organic

Wastes. World Health Organization, Monograph Series Number 31: Geneva. p. 20.

18 Sopper, W. E. and L. T. Kardos (Eds.). (1973). Recycling Treated Municipal Wastewater

and Sludge Through Forest and Cropland. The Pennsylvania State University: University

Park, PA. pp. 248–251.

19 Ibid. pp. 251–252.

20 Shuval et al. p. 4.

21 Sterritt. p. 252.

22 Cheng, Thomas C. (1973). General Parasitology. Academic Press, Inc.: New York. p. 645.

23 Shuval et al. p.6.

24 Feachem et al.

25 Ibid.

26 Olson, O. W. (1974). Animal Parasites — Their Life Cycles and Ecology. University Park

Press: Baltimore, MD. pp. 451–452.

27 Crook, James. (1985). Water Reuse in California. Journal of the American Waterworks

Association, v77, no. 7. As seen in van der Leeden et al., The Water Encyclopedia.

(1990). Lewis Publishers: Chelsea, MI.

28 Boyd, R. F., and B. G. Hoerl. (1977). Basic Medical Microbiology. Little, Brown and Co.:

Boston. p. 494.

29 Cheng. p. 645.

30 Sterritt. pp. 244–245.

31 https://www.health.ny.gov/environmental/water/drinking/coliform_bacteria.htm.

32 Pokharel, Krishna, and Preetika Rana. Troubled Waters. The Wall Street Journal, Oc

tober 21–22, 2017. p. C1.

33 Epstein, Elliot. (1998). Pathogenic Health Aspects of Land Application. Biocycle, Sep

tember 1998. The JG Press, Inc.: Emmaus, PA. p. 64.

34 Solomon, Ethan B., et al. (2002). Transmission of Escherichia coli 0157:H7 from Contami

nated Manure and Irrigation Water to Lettuce Plant Tissue and Its Subsequent Internaliza

tion. Applied and Environmental Microbiology, January 2002. Amer. Soc. for

Microbiology. pp. 397–400.

35 Shuval et al. p. 5.

36 Feachem, et al. (1980). p. 231-236.

37 Franceys, R. et al. (1992). A Guide to the Development of On-Site Sanitation. World Health

Organization: Geneva. p. 212.

38 Schoenfeld, M., and M. Bennett. (1992). Water Quality Analysis of Wolf Creek (unpub

lished manuscript). Slippery Rock University, Applied Ecology Course, PREE, Fall

Semester (Prof. P. Johnson), Slippery Rock, PA.

39 USEPA. Biosolids Technology Fact Sheet, Use of Composting for Biosolids Management.

EPA/832-F-02-024. (2002).

40 USEPA. Environmental Regulations and Technology, Control of Pathogens and Vector

Attraction in Sewage Sludge, (Including Domestic Septage). Under 40 CFR Part 503.

EPA/625/R-92/013. (2003).

41 Ibid.

42 Ibid.

43 Pomeranz, V. E., and D. Schultz. (1972). The Mother’s and Father’s Medical Encyclopedia.

The New American Library, Inc.: New York. p. 627.

292 The Humanure Handbook ??— 4th Edition — References

44 Chandler, A. C., and C. P. Read. (1961). Introduction to Parasitology. John Wiley and Sons,

Inc.: New York.

45 Brown, H. W., and F. A. Neva. (1983). Basic Clinical Parasitology. Appleton-Century

Crofts: Norwalk, CT. pp. 128–131. Also Pinworm destruction by composting men

tioned in Gotaas. p. 20.

46 Ibid. 119–126.

47 Ibid.

48 Ibid.

49 Haug, Roger T. (1993). The Practical Handbook of Compost Engineering. CRC Press, Inc.:

Boca Raton, FL. p. 141.

50 Shuval. p. 4.

51 Franceys, R. et al. p. 214.

52 Shuval. p. 7.

CHAPTER 14: TAO OF COMPOST

1 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tao.

2 Pan, Tian-Hao, et al. (2017). Comparison of Cassava Distillery Residues and Straw as Bulk

ing Agents for Full-scale Sewage Sludge Composting. Compost Science and Utilization,

2017, Vol. 25, No. 1. pp. 1–12.

3 LaMotte Chemical Products Co., Chestertown, MD 21620.

4 Rodale, J. I. et al. (1960). The Complete Book of Composting. Rodale Books: Emmaus, PA.

p. 650.

5 Kitto, Dick. (1988). Composting: The Organic Natural Way. Thorsons Publishers Ltd.:

Wellingborough, UK. p. 103.

6 World of Composting Toilets Forum Update No. 3, Monday, November 2, 1998.

7 Del Porto, David, and Carol Steinfeld. (1999). The Composting Toilet System Book — edi

tor’s draft. Center for Ecological Pollution Prevention: Concord, MA.

8 Olexa, M. T. and Rebecca L. Trudeau. (1994). How is the Use of Compost Regulated? Uni

versity of Florida, Florida Cooperative Extension Service, Document No. SS-FRE-19.

9 Pennsylvania Solid Waste Management Act, Title 35, Chapter 29A.

10 Pennsylvania Municipal Waste Planning, Recycling and Waste Reduction Act (1988),

Title 53, Chapter 17A.

11 King, F. H. (1911). Farmers of Forty Centuries. Rodale Press, Inc.: Emmaus, PA. pp. 78,

202.

CHAPTER 15: BUM RAP

1 Searchinger, Tim et al. (2018). World Resources Report — Creating a Sustainable Food Fu

ture — A Menu of Solutions to Feed Nearly 10 Billion People by 2050. Synthesis Report,

December 2018. World Resources Institute.

2 Saber, Mohammed, Hussein Fawzy Abouziena, Essam Mohamed Hoballah, Wafaa Mo

hamed Haggag, and Alaa El-Din Mohamed Zaghloul. (2016). Sewage Farming: Benefits

and Adverse Effects. Research Journal of Pharmaceutical, Biological and Chemical

Sciences.

3 Ibid.

4 Conrad, Z., M. T. Niles, D. A. Neher, E. D. Roy, N. E. Tichenor, L. Jahns. (2018). Rela

tionship between food waste, diet quality, and environmental sustainability. PLoS

ONE 13(4): e0195405. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0195405.

5 US Environmental Protection Agency. (May 1998). Characterization of Municipal Solid

Waste in the United States: 1997 Update. Report #EPA530-R-98-007. US Environmen

tal Protection Agency: Washington, DC. pp. 29, 45.

6 State of the World 1998. pp. 101, 166.

7 Basic Information about Landfill Gas. Landfill Methane Outreach Program (LMOP).

The Humanure Handbook ??— 4th Edition — References 293

https://www.epa.gov/lmop/basic-information-about-landfill-gas. 8 World Resource

Foundation. (1998, April). Warmer Bulletin Information Sheet — Landfill.

9 Golden, Jack, et al. (1979). The Environmental Impact Data Book. Ann Arbor Science Pub

lishers, Inc.: Ann Arbor, MI. p. 495.

10 National Resources Defense Council. (1997). Bulletin: Stop Polluted Runoff — 11 Actions

to Clean up Our Waters. http://www.nrdc.org/nrdcpn/fppubl.html.

11 Bitton, Gabriel. (1994). Wastewater Microbiology. Wiley-Liss, Inc.: New York. p. 86.

12 Solley, Wayne B., et al. (1990). Estimated Water Use in the United States in 1990. U.S. Geo

logical Survey Circular 1081, Table 31. United State Geological Service: Denver, CO. p.

65

.

13 US Department of the Interior, U.S. Geological Survey. http://water.usgs.gov/edu/qa

home-percapita.html.

14 https://www.epa.gov/watersense/how-we-use-water#Daily%20Life.

15 National Resources Defense Council. (December 24, 1996). Population and Consumption

at NRDC: US Population Scorecard. National Resources Defense Council: Washington,

DC

.

16 State of the World 1998. Worldwatch Institute. W. W. Norton and Company, New York. p.

100.

17 Sides, S. (1991, August/September). Compost. Mother Earth News, Issue 127. p. 50.

18 World Fertilizer Trends and Outlook to 2018. (2015). Food and Agriculture Organization of

the United Nations (FAO): Rome. p. 8.

19 Vital Signs 1998. Worldwatch Institute. 1400 16th St. NW, Ste. 430, Washington, DC

20036. p. 132.

20 Cannon, Charles A. (1997). Life Cycle Analysis and Sustainability Moving Beyond the Three

R’s — Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle — to P2R2 — Preserve, Purify, Restore and Remediate.

As seen in the 1997 Organic Recovery and Biological Treatment Proceedings, E. I.

Stentiford (Ed.). International Conference, Harrogate, United Kingdom. 3–5 Sep

tember 1997. pp. 252–253. Available from Stuart Brown, National Compost Devel

opment Association, PO Box 4, Grassington, North Yorkshire, BD23 5UR UK

(stuartbrown@compuserve.com).

21 Livingston, James D. (1996). Driving Force — The Natural Magic of Magnets. Harvard

University Press. p. 42-45. Also: Veraschuur, Gerrit L. (1993). Hidden Attraction — The

Mystery and History of Magnetism. Oxford University Press. p. 180. Also: Wei Lin, Jin

hua Li, and Yongxin Pan. (2012). Newly Isolated but Uncultivated Magnetotactic Bac

terium of the Phylum Nitrospirae from Beijing, China. Applied and Environmental

Microbiology, February 2012, Volume 78, No. 3. p. 668. Also: Lefevre, Christopher T.

et. al. (2010). Moderately Thermophilic Magnetotactic Bacteria from Hot Springs in Nevada.

Applied and Environmental Microbiology, June 2010, Volume 76, No. 11. p. 3740

294 The Humanure Handbook ??— 4th Edition — References

A

actinomycetes 95, 99,

137

activated sludge 56, 57

acute gastrointestinal ill

ness 44

Africa 168

Alexander, Ron 70

American Cancer Soci

ety 121

Aminocyclopyrachlor

106

Aminopyralid 106

ammonia 135

anaerobic processes 72,

78, 83, 119, 197-198

An Agricultural Testa

ment 74

animal mortalities 110-

111, 119

anthracnose 108

antibiotic resistant bac

teria 21, 23, 67

antibiotics 21, 99

avoidance of 26

and babies 22

consumption in U.S.

21

in manure 118

in milk 22

overuse of 22

production by mi

crobes 99

Arquette, Patricia 252

artificial wetlands 63

ascariasis 155

Ascaris 78, 155, 182,

185, 191, 202-203,

244

Asia

and compost 163-166

Aspergillus fumigatus

130

Association of American

Plant Food Control Of

ficials 70

asthma 24, 25

Australia 9

autism 24

B

Bacillus stearothermo

philus 27, 98

bacteria 181

antibiotic resistance

21, 23, 67

pathogens in feces

180

survival in soil 189

and wind uplift 30

Bacteriodes fragilis 24

Bavaria 38

BBC 268

beef tapeworm 66

Beijing 43

bioaerosols 130, 132

bio-dynamic 172

biofilms 83

biofilter 89, 106-107

Biolet 167

biological sponge 111,

227-228

biological toilets 70, 144,

146-147

biome 11

biopesticides 110

biosolids 56, 115-117

Biosun 167

birth canal 25

Black Death 37

Bovine Spongiform En

cephalopathy 198

browns 89

bucket toilet 156, 242-

245

Buttermilk Bay 52

C

calomel 16, 18

Cape Town, South Africa

159

carbon nitrogen ratios

85, 86

Carousel 167

Catholic 39

cat litter 251

CCA lumber 89, 138

C. diff. 24

celiac disease 24

Centers for Disease

Control and Prevention

25

cesium 104-105

cesspools 149, 151

chemical fertilizers 265

chemotherapy drugs 121

Chernobyl 104

Chesapeake Bay 52

Chinese 33, 34, 35

agriculture 74

composting 163-164

nitrogen fertilizer 43

sewage waste 43

water pollution 43

chloramines 62

chlorine 60, 104, 225,

251

cholera 16-18, 37, 41,

149

Cholera Asiatica 151

Christianity 37

chromated copper arse

nate 89

Clivus Multrum 167-168

Clopyralid 106

Clostridium difficile 26

C/N ratios 85, 86, 88

CO2 209

coffee 251

colon 25

commabacilli 17

commercial dry toilets

166

Complete Book of Com

posting 85

compost 69

aging 93

benefits 80

bins 81, 224-234, 251

bioaerosols 130, 132

biodiversity 98-99

biofilter 89, 106

Class A 198

contained 82

covering 84, 228

curing 93, 229

definition 69-70

emissions 130-132

frozen 239

fungi in 104

Humanure Handbook — 4th Edition — Index 295

INDEX

compost (cont.)

heavy metals in 122

house 73

immature 93

inoculants 133

leaching 82

management 236

maturing 93

microorganisms 94

miracles 103

moisture 79, 81, 82

neglected 192

nitrogen loss 86, 88

odor control 89, 106,

132, 250

oxygen in 129

pathogen elimination in

96-101, 196, 199,

204-206

pathogen transmission

196, 197

pH 135-136

phases 91-93

pits 72, 73, 74, 75, 77,

78

plant disease suppres-

sion 108-109

safety zone 204

tea 109

toilet 196, 218-219

build one 220-221

turning 77, 125-132

turning machine 78

U.S. army 76

weed seeds 110

what not to 136

windrows 81

workers 131

composting

antibiotics 118

batch 91

beer 83

CCA lumber 138

class A 199

cold climates 132, 239

continuous 91

creosote 138

dead animals 110, 119

EPA requirements 199

fats 137

graywater 83

grease 137

junk mail 113

composting (cont.)

legalities 248

lipids 137

manures 265

monitoring tempera

ture 238

newspaper 113-114

pathogen elimination in

198

pet manures 112-113

pharmaceuticals 114-

122

safety zone 204

in small containers 145

urine 120

composting latrines 73

Compost Science and

Utilization 73

compost tea 109

compost toilet 84, 139,

147, 195, 217-225

build one 220-221

composting toilets 70,

142, 147

constructed wetlands 63

Cornell 37, 67, 130, 132

cover materials 84, 106,

215-217, 228

Crapper, Thomas 49

creosote 138

Crohn’s disease 24

C-section 25

cyanobacteria 28

D

DDT 62, 64

Delhi 44

Delft, Holland 15

Detroit Board of Health

72

diabetes 24

diapers 204

dioxin 61

disposable diapers 89

dog manure 113, 251

Double Vault 164, 243-

244

Dow AgroSciences 106

drugs in water 115

dry earth system 152

dry toilets 70, 73, 139,

144, 146, 147, 164,

166-168, 196

pathogen transmission

196-197

dust storms 30

dysentery 19

E

earth closet 148, 151,

153, 158, 203

earthworms 101, 124

E. coli 21, 23, 92, 99,

186, 191

electromagnetism 270

England 40

Envirolet 167

EPA pathogen elimi

nation 198, 206

epidemic 16, 40

Europe, hygiene in 37

excreta

nutrients in 35

average daily 35

F

Farmers of Forty Cen

turies 34, 72, 73

fecal coliforms 186

average density ex-

creted 182

survival times in soil

182

fecal microbiota trans

plantation 26

fecaphobia 162

feces

bacterial pathogens in

180

protozoal pathogens in

182

viral pathogens in 180

worm pathogens in

183

fermentation 72

fertilizers, chemical 265

Finger Lakes 160

Flatt, Hugh 244

Fleming, Alexander 21

flies 256-257

flood plain 251

flush toilet 149

food allergies 24

296 Humanure Handbook — 4th Edition — Index

food waste 262

fungi 11, 94, 95

Fusarium 110

G

Geobacillus 27, 98

Germany 39, 193

germ theory 18

Gibson, Dr. T. 240

Gilgit Agency 81, 176

GiveLove.org 224, 252

gluten intolerance 24

Gotaas, Harold B. 141

Great Lakes 56

greenhouse gas emis

sions 58

greens 89

gross national product

35

Guatemalan dry toilet

166

H

Haiti 224, 251, 252

Hamlet 71

heavy metals 63-65,

113, 122-124

helminths 78, 182, 198

egg death 191

in feces 183

survival times 191

hepatitis A 43

hepatitis B 177

herbicide 103

persistent 106

History Channel 269

HIV 198

hookworms 182, 190,

200-201

Hopei 164

horizontal gene transfer

23

Howard, Sir Albert 74,

81, 83, 126, 134, 175

Huangpu River 43

human nutrient cycle

207-208

humanure

agronutrients in 160

composition of 87

global production 160

humanure hacienda

232-233

humus 32, 69

Hunzas 81, 174-176

I

Iceland 28

India 44, 81, 187

tea estates 77

Indian River Lagoon 52

indicator pathogens 184

Indore process 74, 75,

77, 126, 134

inflammatory bowel dis

ease 24

inoculants 133

insecticide 103

J

jail fever 37, 39

Japan 41

Jenkins’s three rules of

sanitation 155

Jews 38

junk mail 113

K

Keesey, Alisa 252

King, Dr. F. H. 34, 72,

73, 256

King Minos 49

Koch, Robert 17

Korea 47

Kyoto, Japan 41

L

lactobacillus 25

lagoons 60, 195

landfills 262-263

Larry the Cable Guy 269

leachate 234

leach field 52-53

Leeuwenhoek, Antony

15-16

legalities 248

lime 134

Long Island 52

loo: see compost toilet

Lubke, Siegfried 104

lupus 24

M

Mad Cow Disease 198

magnetism 269

magnetite 269

magnetosomes 269

manure, comparison of

87

medical errors 24

medications in water 115

menstrual pads 90

mercury 16

mesophiles 27, 30, 92

Mexico 47, 165

methane 263

micro-arthropods 108

microbes 8

aerobic 69

in compost 94

in history 18

in our body

in sea water 10

3.5-billion-year-old 9

on your hand 13

in your mouth 11

microbial biodiversity 98-

99

microbiome 11, 24

microbiota 24

Milan 39

minimal infective doses

178

Miquel 28

Mongolia 226, 267

Moule, Reverend Henry

152

Mozambique 218

municipal solid waste

122, 209, 261-262

N

Nano-Toilet 140

National Geographic 73

Native Americans 39

New England 39

newspaper 113

Nicaragua 224, 267

Niger 44

night soil 33, 35, 41, 78,

179

nitrogen loss 135

Humanure Handbook — 4th Edition — Index 297

Nobel Prize 21

nonillion 9

Nova Scotia 133

O

obesity 24, 25

open defecation 47, 139

opium 71

organic agriculture 74

Organic Gardening 125

organic material 79

organochlorines 62

osteoporosis 24

outhouses 193

oxidation ponds 60

P

PAHs (polycyclic aro

matic hydrocarbons)

118

pail privy 157

pail toilet 156

Pakistan 175

parasites 155

pathogens 176

elimination 96-101

elimination in compost

198

indicator 184

persistence

in soil 187

on vegetables 191

safety zone 204

survival in composting

or soil 199

survival in sludge,

feces, and urine 192

survival on crops 191

thermal death points

199

transmission through:

compost toilets 195

dry toilets 195

outhouses and la-

trines 193

septic tanks 193

sewage plants 195

toilet systems 192

waste stabilization

ponds 195

PCBs (polychlorinated

biphenyls) 62, 64, 105

penicillin 21, 24, 67

persistent herbicide 106

pet manure 112

petroleum hydrocarbons

103

pH 134-136, 237

pharmaceuticals 114-

122

degradation in soils

117

phases of compost 91-

93

Phoenix 167

phytoplankton 13

phytotoxins 93

Picloram 106

pinworms 200

pit latrine 48, 142, 143,

193, 219, 251

plants

diseases 108

drug uptake in 120-121

plague 37

Plymouth Colony 39

poliovirus 181, 189, 191

survival in soil 189

polychlorinated biphe

nyls (PCBs) 62, 64,

105

polycyclic aromatic hy

drocarbons (PAHs) 118

Pope Innocent VIII 38

Pope of Poop 31

pressure treated lumber

89

Prince Albert 40

prions 198

priority pathogens 23

prison 219

privy 143, 157

Prochlorococcus 13

Protestant 39

protozoa 11, 181, 191

survival in soil 188

psychrophiles 27

public health bill 40, 41

Puerto Rico 202

Pythium root rot 108

Q

Queen Victoria 40

Quintana Roo 47

R

reflux disease 24

river pollution 58-59

Rodale 85, 125, 134

roundworms 155, 182,

190, 202-203

Royal Demolition Explo

sives 105

Royal Society 16

S

Salmonella 24, 66, 98-

99, 181

sand mound 51

Sanitary Fertilizer Com

pany 148

sanitary napkins 89

sanitation 141

improved 142

Santa Monica Bay 264

Satan 38

sawdust 87, 88

Scharff, Dr. J. W. 78

septage 51, 144, 145,

195, 198

septic systems 49, 51

chemicals in 52

failure rates 52

septic tank 53, 194, 195

sewage plant 54, 195

sewage sludge 56, 115-

116

agricultural use 64

composted 65, 198-

199

contaminants in 115-

116

farming 262

forest application 67

Shakespeare 71

Shang Dynasty 33

Shanghai 35, 43

Shantung 164

Sisters of Humility 31

Skaneateles Lake 161

Slippery Rock Univ. 1

Snow, John 17

soil 33

bacteria populations in

298 Humanure Handbook — 4th Edition — Index

94, 96

fungi populations in 94,

96

parasites 155

pathogen survival in

197

solar aquatics 64

Sonnerat 28

South Africa 9, 77-78

Souza, Samuel 252

Spain 39

squatting 142

St. Abraham 38

Steiner, Dr. Rudolf 172

Stern, Howard 260

stomach flu 44

stormwater biofilter 107-

108

stream contaminants

116

streptomycin 24

St. Sylvia 38

Sun-Mar 167

sustainable agriculture

261

Sven Linden 167

sweating sickness 37

synthetic fertilizer 43,

261

Syracuse, New York 160

systemic acquired resist

ance 108

T

Tanzania 168, 267-268

Tester, Cecil 136

tetracycline 22

Thames 40

thermal death points for

pathogens 197, 205

thermophiles 27-30

thermophilic bacteria 28,

92

Tianjin 43

TNT 105

tobacco 71

toilet, defined 139

toilet paper 59-60, 90

Tories 41

torture 39

Treehouse Masters 269

troposphere 28, 30

turning compost 77, 125-

132

typhoid fever 37

U

UDDTs (urine-diverting

dry toilets) 144, 145,

147

Uganda 219, 226

Umatilla Army Depot 105

United Nations 141

Universal Ancestor 29

uranium 104

urine, pathogens in 178

urine diversion 147

urine-diverting dry toilets

(UDDTs) 144, 145, 147

urine earth 75

urine-separating dry toi

let 144

urine separation 120,

147

US Composting Council

70, 252

used motor oil 64

V

vagina 25

Vanderbilt, George 49

vapor phase biofilter

107-108

vermicomposting 101

vermiculture 101

Vibrio cholerae 16

Vibrio comma 17

Vietnam 163

Vietnamese double vault

165-166

viral pathogens in feces

180

viruses 10, 179

survival in soil 188

volatile organic com

pound (VOC) emis-

sions 132

vomit 217

W

Wad, Y. D. 75

waste 79

waste stabilization

ponds 60, 194, 195

wastewater 56-59

contaminants in

streams 116

lagoon 57

minimize 66

reuse 56

treatment 44, 54, 64

wastewater plants,

pathogen transmission

through 194

water available 168

water closet 150

waterless toilets 168

water pollution 115

water testing 186

water toilets

causing cholera 148-

149

history of 49

water usage 58, 264

weed seeds 110

whipworms 182, 202

White, Andrew 37

windrows 81

witches 38, 39

wood chips 90, 250

Wood’s End Laboratory

114

World Health Organiza

tion 23, 78, 139, 141,

160, 176, 242

World Resources Insti

tute 261

worm pathogens in

feces 182, 183, 198

egg death 191

survival times 190

Y

Yamuna River 44, 187

yeast 11

Yucatan 47

Z

zooplankton 60

Humanure Handbook — 4th Edition — Index 299

300 Humanure Handbook — 4th Edition

NOTES