We have started the Composting Toilet Project in the Jubilee Blanc neighborhood of Gonaïves, Haiti and have gotten about half-way through what needs to be done. Working with a Haitian construction crew, we now have the foundation and barrel enclosure finished. Next up, the concrete floor of the stalls, toilet bowl, and privacy enclosure need to be completed.

Why a toilet?
The village of Jubilee has no real sanitation facilities to speak of. There are a few private outhouses in this village, but nothing that is public and accessible to all who live there. There is no running water or sewage system in any of the modest houses and huts that comprise the village, so people go far out into the field behind the houses to relieve themselves. The problem with this is that many of the villagers, including very malnourished children, go shoeless in this same area. Parasites such as hookworms, present in areas with open defecation, enter the body through the soles of the feet and can rob an already malnourished child of 20% of his nutrients. The idea behind the toilet project is to offer people an alternative to open defecation which will make their living area more sanitary and improve the health of the whole community. Working with Haitian construction crews gives us the opportunity to pass the toilet design and goals of the project onto local people who can then replicate it as needed.

What’s a “composting” toilet?
A composting toilet, or “dry toilet,” is similar to a traditional outhouse with the exception that a dry toilet separates liquid waste from solid waste with the goal of eventually using both as fertilizer. In the design we have chosen for this project, solid waste will be contained in large barrels under the floor, and can be swapped out once the barrel has reached its capacity. Full barrels are placed in the sun to compost, and after a few months at a steady high temperature, become safe, fertile soil. The toilet will never become “full” and need to be closed down or abandoned. Liquid waste, with its high nitrogen content, can be used as fertilizer immediately. Fertile soil is especially precious in Jubilee, where the land the village sits on is salted and barren.

Check back for future updates on the toilet’s progress, and click on any of the photos below to see all of the progress pictures…

Laying the blocks for the foundation

Bringing supplies to the job site with the wheelbarrow

Helpers