There’s a new, one-of-a-kind resource recovery toilet at the Mad River Rec Hub in Waitsfield. The toilet functions like any regular bathroom with the exception being that liquid and solid waste is separated.
Misha Golfman, executive director of the Mad River Path Association, said that the toilet is the first of its kind in Vermont and was the result of a fruitful collaboration with Yestermorrow, the Mad River Valley Chamber of Commerce, and those involved in bringing the Mad River Rec Hub to fruition, including property owner John Morris.
“What happens with this prototype is that it allows us to recover 100% of the waste,” Golfman said, pointing out that there are currently over 1,000 similar toilets in Europe and 400 in the western United States. He said the U.S. Forest Service and other groups are paying attention to how this new local toilet works with an eye to replacing traditional port-o-lets and composting toilets in other areas.
The Yestermorrow-built structure is handicap accessible from the parking lot of the Localfolk Smokehouse where the Mad River Valley Chamber visitor center is located as well as parking for the rec hub and the bridge over the Mill Brook that connects Irasville and Waitsfield to The Valley’s recreation trails.
The structure is two-tiered, with the toilet on the parking lot level and a 300-gallon gravity fed tank that holds liquids. Solids travel on a human-pumped conveyor belt down to three containers at a lower level that hold, dehydrate and super-heat them. The solids are located on the southside with access to the sun and heat and are in a wholly separate area which minimizes any odors, Golfman said.
The toilet is an Eco Domeo toilet from France and the Wasted company in Burlington is now a licensed agent. Wasted provides and services the port-o-lets found throughout The Valley (thanks to stewardMRV) that separate and collect urine which is transported off-site, pasteurized and turned into liquid nitrogen fertilizer and powder phosphorus fertilizer.
Typically, both liquid and solid waste is flushed using water into conventional wastewater systems. By separating both components of waste and gathering them without the use of water, this system saves thousands of gallons of water, Golfman explained.
“Eighty percent of human waste is liquid and all of that is going to the plant in Burlington. What is left are the solids that end up in the three receptables that are rotated as they fill up. The waste begins to compost in those tanks which has to do with the optimal carbon to nitrogen ratio. When separate solids and liquids, the solids have a pretty ideal composition for decomposition and service chamber is designed to heat up to unbelievable degrees with the see-through roof and vent rotated by rising heat. It will dehydrate and the final yield is a very small amount of dried solids in the end,” Golfman said.
“If this is successful, we are hoping that this type of toilet could replace many Valley port-o-lets,” he said. “But it will require testing the protype over the course of a full season.
The prototype cost $11,000 which included the toilet unit at $5,000 and then construction and the other materials. A $5,000 grant from the chamber (via Waitsfield Telecom) plus $3,000 from the Mad River Path and a lot of donated time covered most of the expenses and organizers are seeking grants for the balance.
