The Composting Toilet System Book: A Practical Guide to Choosing, Planning and Maintaining Composting Toilet Systems, a Water-Saving, Pollution-Preven [Paperback]

David Del Porto (Author), Carol Steinfeld (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 2000

From systems for cottages to year-round systems with micro-flush toilets and graywater gardens, the wide range of ecological recycling toilet options are featured in The Composting Toilet System Book. More than 40 systems - including those you can buy and those you can build - are featured. Composting toilet systems and other ecological wastewater management methods are increasingly installed in both seasonal and year-round homes, as municipalities require systems that won't pollute the environment and drinking water. This book details why - and how to choose, install and maintain them. You'll also find profiles of owner-operators worldwide, regulatory information for every state, compatible toilet stools (waterless, micro-flush, foam- and vacuum-flush and urine-diverting), a chapter on graywater systems, information about health risks and handling, and sources for many off-the-shelf and DIY designs. If you are seeking to install a system that meets state codes or if you are simply seeking to make your own system, this book is for you. Stop polluting and start recycling and saving water today!

Editorial Reviews

Review

Deals with this topic technically and responsibly. -- Daniel Linter from Portland, Oregon, January 3, 2003

Explains the technologies, sources, applications, graywater issues, and regulations relevant to a composting toilet system. -- Midwest Book Review from Oregon, WI USA

This book can save (readers) all of the mistakes people usually make. -- wili from Washington State, Amazon, 1999

About the Author

Carol Steinfeld is a writer, researcher and resource-recycling specialist writing about ecological resource management solutions. She is co-author of The Composting Toilet System Book and Reusing the Resource: Adventures in Ecological Wastewater Recycling.

Product Details

• Paperback: 240 pages
• Publisher: Ecowaters Books (May 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0966678303
• ISBN-13: 978-0966678307
• Product Dimensions: 10.9 x 8.5 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #239,949 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #63 in Books > Crafts, Hobbies & Home > How-to & Home Improvements > Plumbing & Household Automation

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

62 of 63 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Most complete and credible book on the topic, January 3, 2003

By 

Daniel Linter (Portland, Oregon) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Composting Toilet System Book: A Practical Guide to Choosing, Planning and Maintaining Composting Toilet Systems, a Water-Saving, Pollution-Preven (Paperback)

After reading a couple of books about composting toilets and graywater systems that were either suspiciously poetic or a little too humorous, I was happy to find this book.

As someone who needs a variety of systems for a variety of high-use sites, I was glad to find a book that deals with this topic in technically and responsibly (in terms of public health). I showed this book to my local health agent, and he was far more amenable to permiting an "experimental system" afterwards, saving me a lot of money.

Also, after experimenting with various systems over the years, I am aware that some systems still described in books and magazines just don't work well. The authors of this book have apparently had the same experience, and I appreciate their researching this so completely.

55 of 56 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Definitive Composting Toilet Book, December 31, 1999

By 

W. Eppick (Washington State) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Composting Toilet System Book: A Practical Guide to Choosing, Planning and Maintaining Composting Toilet Systems, a Water-Saving, Pollution-Preven (Paperback)

Del Porto's book is the definitive composting toilet book at this time. There is nothing even close. His book covers all aspects of composting toilet systems and touches on graywater issues as well. He treats the composting toilet as part of the home system. If a person is seriously interested in installing/having a composting toilet, this book can save him/her all of the mistakes people usually make. He even (carefully) explodes some of the advertising myths that the purveyors of composting toilets would have us believe. The book covers ready-made systems as well as home built sytems. As trite as this sounds, the book truly is a must for someone considering intstalling composting toilet.

28 of 29 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The best book out there, November 15, 2002

By 

Scott R. Driver (Tucson AZ) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Composting Toilet System Book: A Practical Guide to Choosing, Planning and Maintaining Composting Toilet Systems, a Water-Saving, Pollution-Preven (Paperback)

I would venture that the authors have forgotten more about toilets than most of the rest of us will ever know. There is no possible toilet configuration that does not receive at least cursory discussion. I only have 2 complaints about the book, both of them minor. First there were a couple of systems that I felt were described incompletely and critiqued a bit unfairly. Second, much of the book seemed to be a compilation of other writings without a lot of editing. Consequently there is significant repetition, and a presentation of information that is sometimes slightly disorganized and confusing.

I definitely think that the book is worth reading.