THE ENVIRO LOO
dehydration & evaporation toilet
compared to compost toilets

There are numerous other "composting" type toilets in the Market. These systems such as; Sun-Mar, Clivus Multrum, Roto-Loo, Nature Loo, Eco-Loo were generally developed in Canada, Sweden, America and Australia.

These toilets operate by utilising similar principles namely; composting of the waste in a single and or multiple chamber system and mostly through utilisation of electrical assistance for heating and ventilation.

Electrical assistance is required for these toilets due to the climates where most of these systems are marketed such as Canada, Sweden, Norway and America. Due to the extended cold periods the systems require additional heating to assist with the composting process.

Enviro Options does not preclude the use of electrical assistance within the Enviro Loo where required.

Some of the above mentioned systems do however offer non-electrical units.

The non-electrical systems that Enviro Options is aware of are generally only able to provide a small-scale facility for approximately 3 to 4 users per toilet per day. They are generally used in weekend cottages and the like. They are not intended for ongoing long-term utilisation.

The composting systems mentioned herein are generally installed in the basements of houses for two reasons namely; protection against the severe weather conditions and basements are standard in the design of houses within these areas.

In instances where basements do not exist these types of toilets have to be installed above ground and the necessary top structure has to be elevated to accommodate the toilet. Obviously this makes the toilet and installation very expensive.

Other barrel type composting toilets such the Sun-Mar are in essence quite delicate systems in the sense that they cannot accept foreign materials such as newspaper, cement packets and corn cobs, which are often used for anal cleansing material in rural areas in less developed regions of World.

The introduction of any foreign material of this nature can cause blockages in the drum and interference with the gear and cog systems, which can cause operation failure.

In addition the operating criteria for these systems such as continually having to add bulking material to aid the composting process or alternating the use of separate chambers and to ensure that foreign material is not put into the system, which can cause the somewhat complicated moving parts to jam and thereby cause a system failure.

From our experience it is very difficult for a sanitation system to function on a sustainable basis if it requires complicated and or out of the ordinary care and support.

Generally users in developing countries do not adhere to stringent operating requirements and often the necessary institutional support is not available.

The developers of these systems have primarily concentrated on the markets in Canada, Sweden etc, which are more affluent markets and naturally have the necessary infrastructure to support and maintain these expensive systems.

Other forms of composting toilets do exist and have been tried and tested in areas such as Africa, South America, Vietnam etc. These are rudimentary systems and are commonly known as double vault composting latrines. They are built on-site using local material namely brick and mortar. The results from the trials of these systems have not been very positive and problems were experienced with flies, odours and general lack of workmanship. These problems led to poor acceptance of these self-build type toilets from the communities.

The Enviro Loo has been developed in Africa for Africa. The system can withstand the abusive operating conditions and is able to operate with a minimum level of infrastructure support and maintenance. Yet at the same time the aesthetic design of the system and the service it provides competes favourable with other 1^st World composting type toilets. In fact the operating simplicity of the Enviro Loo system is perceived as an advantage to 1^st World users who have already experienced costly servicing and replacement when a failure occurs.

The advantage of the Enviro Loo is that Enviro Options has not compromised on the standard of the system such as the ceramic toilet pan and exterior design of the toilet. The Enviro Loo can therefore provide the same quality of service as the more expensive "1^st World" composting toilets, yet it can operate effectively in developing countries, and offer an improved level of service to meet the communities expectations. The system offers an effective and affordable alternative to small councils who have to contend with low operating budgets.

An important advantage of the Enviro Loo is that the container of the system is buried in the ground, which means that the building and construction costs are competitive to normal toilet installations.

The Enviro Loo can therefore offer a turnkey sanitation solution, which guarantees the environmental and structural integrity, as the system is self-contained as compared to relying on local labour to build toilets to the required specifications.

New products and applications for the Enviro Loo toilet:

• A portable "dehydration" toilet for the toilet hire market.
• A multi-story unit.
• A mobile "trailer" ablution facility for the Military.
• A compact toilet system for buses, caravans and mobile homes.
• A marine toilet system.

The Enviro Loo underground mine toilet and the Enviro Loo evaporation system have already been proven and sold in the market.

The biological operating principles of the Enviro Loo are described over-page.