QU: Are composting toilets legal in cities?
Someone recently came into the centre and asked about whether or not composting toilets are allowed under zoning regulations in major Canadian cities.
Certainly there is at least one composting toilet that I know of in the City of Vancouver: the one at Vancouver's Compost Demonstration Garden in lovely shed made from recycled utility poles. This site is at 2150 Maple Street, Vancouver, B.C. and is open to the public as 230 square metres of intensive pesticide-free agriculture in an urban setting. You can go there to see and learn about:
• outdoor bin and worm composting (workshops for adults and children)
• cob building techniques
• rain water collection and storage systems.
Of course, outside cities, Parks Canada installs solar composting toilets in Canada's parks, and at the University of British COlumbia the C.K. Choi Building has award-winning composting toilets but that doesn't answer whether or not they are in fact legal in the City of Vancouver or other major Canadian cities. Therefore I encourage those with more information or experience to answer this forum.
The advise of WorldWise Stores is: "Check you local building codes first, though, as composting toilets are illegal in some areas." Composting Toilet World notes: "At the present, most authorities forbid their use where a sewage is available, although there are now many who are challenging this and wish to be responsible for the treatment of their own waste." For some basic info on composting toilets, Tree Hugger has a great article on toilet alternatives.
The answer I got from Helen Goodland, Executive Director at the Sustainable Building Centre, is that she believes that they are not illegal, but that they may effectively be difficult to implement as they would be required to meet the local plumbing code. Watch this site for an answer from the City of Vancouver.
Below is a picture of the inside of dual flush technology. We have no pictures of composting toilets on our shared photo site - if you have some, please do add them!
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These rules are made by the
These rules are made by the local government and I think they should be the ones who should be installing toilets in the city. If they are looking for product purchasing with regards to toilets that can recycle water then they should look into the matter.
Keith,
Zimmer Rohde
i think there is enough
i think there is enough advanced technology that we can use plumbing methods to recycle waste water from even toilets and make use of it for some industrial use or watering the public gardens in other cities.
Keith,
Drain clearance
I don't see why so many
I don't see why so many legal documents need to be filed for these. More county and state buildings should have them as well as be composting in general to save energy and resources.
More Legal updates
We have had to install a proper septic system to get our building permit... and it is a waste as we will not be using it.
We have however been told by both our building official and Bob Thompson (from the Building and Safety Office that a composting toilet is not illegal at all if two things are ensured. If there is no plumbing into it and no plumbing out of it then it is not considered a fixture, does not have to be CSA approved.
As a push towards informing policy makers on the use of composting toilets we are holding the "Celebrity Flush" at Eco-Sense in Victoria on April 2nd. At this event we are installing a flush toilet for 1 day to get our occupancy permit. To celebrate this we are having celebrities donate funds and provide input into the toilet. A media event for all.
All funds raised will go to the Highlands Stewardship Foundation to aid their efforts in research and education on ground water protection and preservation.
Gord Baird Gord@eco-sense.ca
uh
Good idea or not I heard that plumbing contractors were hired in various cities so soon we'll see composting toilets. I'm not sure I'd like to see one in the middle of my town.
In some states in rural
In some states in rural areas where there are out houses like in Alaska they just burn the waste which makes no sense when they can just compost it, it's not like people will mind no one is hardly around those areas. Even in areas that are more populated composting is a good way to save energy. We have a regular compost pile for our garden my wife and I are always adding to it. She loves to garden so much for mothers day i am getting her a whole new set of garden tools.
your choices
It seems we have few choices if we chose to use a composting toilet.
If you are planing a new construction the only way to use a composting toilet, and grey water system is to first put in the septic, or city hook ups. After it is all approved you can then go ahead and install your composting toilet and grey water system.
What a waste! You cant even get a building permit with out getting approval from the health authority which has privatized all of its inspections since 2005. Again more money to spend, and the prices I have seen go up more than 5 times what it used to cost for a simple septic system.
If you own a property that is on town supplied water, they can and will deny you of that water if you do not follow their rules even if you pay for the service, justified or not. Ever hear of a neighbor calling the toilet police on someone, well i have.
Those that have chosen a more rural property, away from subdivisions, who wish to provide their own power and water, will have a much easier time. Free to build as they want, where they want, as they can afford and naturally. Choosing to answer to no one but their own hearts.
If you have an existing dwelling and wish to convert it to a composting toilet etc... My advise is just do it, If you ask you will be told NO!
If you want to build a new natural dwelling and use composting toilets etc, green building techniques, find a plot of private land with your own water source, and build it. Remember if you apply for a permit you must follow their regulations.
Still waiting on changes???
I wanted to let you know of my recent dealings in regards to having composting toilets used as a legal alternative to standard septic systems.
For the last month and a half it has been quite a battle working on this matter. With much help from Gord of the Sun-Mar Corp, I have been informed the current Standards Practice manual will be revised to allow for composting toilets.
Gord and I have talked with numerous officials, and he recently spoke with Greg Baytalan from the central office of the ministry of health. The result is that Greg Daytalen will be having his lawyers revise the manual to allow the use of composting toilets.
I also highly recomend Sun-mar composting toilets, for all thier support on this matter.
http://www.sun-mar.com/
Updates...
Well its been a couple months and the answer is still a big no, Im not holding my breath. All we can do is keep on pushing the issue.
composting toilets
Has anyone heard of updates to having composting toilets? Greywater systems are part of the builtgreen initiative and LEEDS, both approved by NCRA. What is up with that?
Not currently legal in the City of Vancouver
Currently, the short answer we have been given from the City of Vancouver's Plumbing and Gas Inspections Department is that "The way the bylaw is written composting toilets would not be allowed." However, we are waiting on an answer to our next question, which is "you can give us clear direction on what steps an applicant would need to take to get a variance?"
Stay tuned!
Steps you can take to get a variance for composting toilets
Below is courtesy of the City of Vancouver's Chief Plumbing Inspector. Thank you David Pope for this clarification:
"Composting toilets would fail to meet 7.4.2.1.(1) of the Vancouver Building By-law 1999 which states "Every fixture shall be directly connected to a sanitary drainage system, except that" sentence goes on to parts a - e for items that may be indirectly connected or connected to a storm drainage system. This same sentence is in both the National Plumbing Code of Canada 2005 and the British Columbia Building Code 1998. The composting toilet would meet the requirement of a fixture for installation and as such would need to meet the Code requirements for fixture certification to an appropriate standard as all plumbing fixtures are required to meet..To install a composting toilet an applicant would have to submit an equivalency under Section 2.5 Equivalents of the Vancouver Building By-law 1999 where the application would be reviewed based on the information submitted in the equivalency and a decission would be give for this paticular job and all of the mitigating features."
David A. Pope
Chief Plumbing Inspector
Composting Toilets
Searching the BC Government sites it is doubtful if they have ever heard of composting toilets or the concept of treating grey water separatly from sewage - this despite their pretence of environmentalist credentials.
Please correct me if I have missed the relevent BC Gov site but it looks as though even remote homes are required to have a septic field even it they have composting toilets and grey water treatment or recycling systems like the C.K. Choi Building at the University of British Columbia.
There is a lot of information on the web and the Clivus Multrum site is a good place to start they did the Choi Building and as they say "No discharge No Polution" -
http://www.clivus.com/
and there are some more pics here -
http://jscms.jrn.columbia.edu/cns/2005-04-05/mccandlish-composttoilet
Please follow up if you have any news!
Composting toilets
We are building a house in Victoria and have publicly and repeatedly publicized our grey water system and homemade composting toilet system. The Municipality is completely aware of our toilet and grey water system. The inspector has been OK with it all, but despite him knowing our intentions the code has required us to put in the infrastructure for septic. With all the tours we have through the more borrowed literature is "The Humanure Handbook" by Joseph Jenkins. Pictures of our composting tilets are on his website. Also as a final note Joseph Jenkins will send his book out free to any city official free of charge upon request.
Gord Baird
Gord@eco-sense.ca