The sniff test
The weather this past
November was a lot more like December, but once the calendar flipped
over, we got a welcome thaw. As the day warmed up, I was
astonished to notice that the ouside world had smells again! I
guess when the ground is frozen, odors have a hard time reaching our
noses.
Although I enjoyed most
of the scents, I was a bit afraid to drop by the new composting
toilet because the
goal there is a complete absence of odor. I shouldn't
have worried. All of that sawdust we've been dropping down the
hole has done its job --- the composting toilet is currently smell-free.
The next test will wait
until summer --- presence or absence of flies. After that, we
won't get more feedback until two years from now when I scoop this
fall's poop under the fruit trees as compost.
That's assuming
something doesn't go drastically wrong. I'll be sure to report if
there's any seepage, slumps, or other disasters.
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About us: Anna Hess and Mark Hamilton spent over a decade living self-sufficiently in the mountains of Virginia before moving north to start over from scratch in the foothills of Ohio. They've experimented with permaculture, no-till gardening, trailersteading, home-based microbusinesses and much more, writing about their adventures in both blogs and books.
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I thought you might be moving some of the pile. Regardless, the material you move after the winter should not be a hot pile. Some of what I have read suggests the worms would assist the break down of what might still be pathogenic. In any case, after two years it should be perfectly clean.
I hope for the winter you have a backup plan. Looks like it would take dedication to use your loo all winter.
FWIW, I really liked the Milkwood's barrels with drain taps.