Under the Lens by Elise Hugus
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Posts Tagged ‘composting toilets’
Wednesday, June 1st, 2011
Green Pond, Bournes Pond, and Eel Pond in East Falmouth
A week after a day-long symposium on the potential for outfall pipes to handle the Cape’s wastewater problem, I’ve finally figured out what’s been bothering me.
It seems that wastewater managers and engineers, in their infinite wisdom, operate according to the “if it can be complicated, why make it simple?” ethic.
The speakers at the ocean outfall forum did not mince words: it would take no less than an amendment to three state acts protecting marine resources—not to mention, years of study and millions of dollars— for an outfall pipe to be constructed on these shores.
They were less candid about the probable impacts on the environment— and were subtle about the whole reason for entertaining the idea of an ocean outfall: it’s cheaper than the only other “approved” method of disposing of wastewater. (more…)
Tags: aquaculture, cape cod, Climate Change, composting toilets, Comprehensive Wastewater Management Plan, ocean outfall, sustainability, urine diverting toilets, Wastewater, water reuse
Posted in Sewering, sustainable solutions, Wastewater | No Comments »
Tuesday, March 22nd, 2011
Are we flushing money down the toilet?
As someone who goes to a fair share of wastewater-related meetings, I wasn’t expecting to be blown away at last weekend’s Eco-Toilet Summit.
On a conceptual level, I felt I already understood the basics of composting human waste— hey, I do it every day with food scraps.
Adding one step through my digestive system to my garden seemed to make sense… from a theoretical point of view.
But after hearing about the range of eco-toilet options available, and a variety of perspectives from regular residents, the theoretical became possible.
What stopped making sense is the way we use—and view—the bathroom.
(more…)
Tags: cape cod, composting toilets, Comprehensive Wastewater Management Plan, Earle Barnhart, Eco-Toilet Summit, Falmouth Climate Action Team, Falmouth MA, fertilizer, Hilde Maingay, Matt Patrick, nitrogen, packaging toilets, sustainability, The Green Center, urine diverting toilets, Wastewater
Posted in Agriculture, Alternative toilets, Sewering, sustainable solutions, Wastewater | 1 Comment »
Tuesday, January 25th, 2011
A typical urine-diverting toilet collects solid and liquid waste, which could be processed into fertilizer, removing nitrogen from the waste stream
Considering that we all flush at least three times a day, it’s surprising how little we know about where our waste goes. Into a white bowl and then down a pipe— never to be seen, smelled, or thought of again.
But as many Cape Codders are beginning to realize, that’s not really the case. The by-products of our waste are seeping out of underground septic systems and into the groundwater, flowing finally into coastal ponds. The nutrients are harmless by themselves, but in concentrated form, throw off the ecological balance of sensitive estuarine systems.
Though there are many nutrients and “contaminants of concern” to be worried about, nitrogen is known as the culprit for changing pristine harbors into algae-filled swamps, devoid of marine life. Or so we fear. (more…)
Tags: aquaculture, cape cod, composting toilets, Comprehensive Wastewater Management Plan, contaminants of concern, David Dow, Diane Murphy, fertilizer, George Heufelder, gray water, John Ramsey, Michael Giggey, Nitrex, nitrogen, permeable membrane reactors (PRB), Rick York, Ron Zweig, Sewering, shellfish, urine diverting toilets, Wastewater, water reuse
Posted in Sewering, sustainable solutions, Wastewater | 4 Comments »
Friday, December 24th, 2010
Discussion at a Falmouth Board of Health meeting over a proposed nutrient management bylaw–likely to be on the April town meeting warrant–sparked an important exchange between a lawyer who tends to represent homeowners and builders and a board concerned that a sewer system will encourage development, thus increasing the town’s nitrogen load. (more…)
Tags: cape cod, composting toilets, Comprehensive Wastewater Management Plan, Earle Barnhart, Falmouth, Hilde Maingay, nitrogen, Sewering
Posted in Sewering, sustainable solutions, Wastewater | No Comments »
Friday, December 3rd, 2010
Most people, when they think about Cape Cod, think about seafood. But very little of the shellfish we consume actually come from local waters! After decades of decline, the local shellfish industry is woefully underdeveloped, while overfishing and over-development of waterfront housing has caused the downfall of a once-fertile industry.
Given that its now easier to find oysters from Duxbury and mussels from Prince Edward Island than it is to get locally-sourced seafood, this locovore’s dilemma begs the question: which came first? The shellfish or the septic system? The problem or the solution?
(more…)
Tags: aesthetic costs, aquaculture, commercial fisheries, composting toilets, eel grass, Falmouth estuary, fertilizer, Marine Policy Center, nitrogen, Ron Zweig, sequestration, Sewering, shellfish, TMDL, Wastewater, WHOI
Posted in fisheries, Sewering, sustainable solutions, Wastewater | 6 Comments »
Tuesday, September 21st, 2010
A Hatchville couple wants the town to consider home-based wastewater treatment options before moving forward with a multi-million dollar, centralized sewage treatment system. (more…)
Tags: Alchemy Farm, aquaculture, biogas digester, cape cod, composting toilets, Comprehensive Wastewater Management Plan, Earle Barnhart, Falmouth Climate Action Team, fertilizer, gray water, Hilde Maingay, packaging toilets, Ron Smolowitz, Ron Zweig, Sewering, shellfish, The Green Center, Todd Ecological Design, urine diverting toilets, Wastewater, water reuse
Posted in sustainable solutions, Wastewater | 4 Comments »
Wednesday, July 21st, 2010
Most of us have heard the reasons for consuming food with origins closer to home: fresher food tastes better, it contributes little to global warming, and supporting your local farmer keeps food dollars in the community. But Hatchville resident Earle Barnhart wants Cape Codders to go the extra mile for their produce, by “growing fresh, growing local.”
(more…)
Tags: Alchemy Farm, composting toilets, Earle Barnhart, fertilizer, global warming, Hilde Maingay, New Alchemy Institute, packaging toilets, permaculture, The Green Center, water reuse
Posted in sustainable solutions, Wastewater | No Comments »
Tuesday, March 16th, 2010
Within the next few years, coastal municipalities will be compelled to redesign their wastewater systems in order to meet state-mandated limits on nitrogen loading to sensitive marine environments. The options vary, but many towns are considering laying miles of sewer pipe to replace septic tanks, and upgrading their wastewater treatment facilities, a costly, yet effective way to meet the targets.
While it is understood that the town’s efforts will improve water quality and biological habitat, these benefits may not be realized in our lifetimes, due to the estimated 25-50 years it could take for all the contaminated groundwater to flush through the estuaries. Many residents balk at the $250-600 million price tag, which will likely be financed through betterment fees for homeowners and tax levies for all residents.
A message from Karen Schwalbe of Hatchville sums up the problem and offers a potential solution:
There is an old adage: if you take a barrel of sewage and add a teaspoon of wine, you get a barrel of sewage; if you take a barrel of wine and add a teaspoon of sewage, you get a barrel of sewage… Adding clean (and drinkable) water to human waste, then having to clean up a larger volume seems the wrong way to go. Why aren’t composting toilets or dry toilets being considered as part of the solution to our wastewater problems?
What if there was an option that residents could undertake right now that would remove their household’s contribution to the waste stream? In this blog, we’ll explore some of the innovative ways that people are turning their waste into a resource. It’s not as tricky (or stinky) as one might think… (more…)
Tags: Alchemy Farm, composting toilets, fertilizer, nitrogen, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
Posted in Wastewater | 6 Comments »
