From a bed to a loo

Researching options for toilet facilities, we came across the very informative "Lovable loo" YouTube video. We liked the idea so much we decided to build our own version.

By chance we found a single bed for sale at the tip shop in Stawell for only $5, and immediately saw the potential for a toilet.

Single bed

There was a fair amount of materials available, and we got to work right away.

The finished product.. in place.

The sawdust is in a burlap bag that was once used for chook food, along with a handy scoop. The bucket sits neatly under the seat, very snug indeed. We've colour coded the bucket (it's black!) to avoid any confusion as to what the bucket is to be used for. So far, so good. It's working out very nicely. The whole room smells of pine.

This last visit we found that just hooking up the water tank to the plumbing let enough water push through to wash our hands in the sink. No pump required, at least while the tank is full.

We're working on the water situation - we need a header tank for the tank stand (which is about 4.7 metres high) and a pump to get water up there. It's all new to us, so we'll be researching and asking advice before jumping in. We then need to get the water into the kitchen somehow! :)

We've already made a few mistakes. The first one was to only have 2 buckets for the loo to start with. We're going to need at least a few more, until we get the composting part of the system set up. Last time we visited, we had to use the old outhouse - which isn't nearly as nice.

Otherwise, we've got solar power and batteries to research. It's probably the next priority so we can get some refrigeration happening.