Manage Human waste with a Bio Digester

In this new series titled Sustainable Home, we will take you through a series of videos on how to build a sustainable home. At Aanandaa, we are building an innovative and creative home, which is as sustainable as possible.
An essential feature of a sustainable house is rooftop rainwater harvesting. In our #sustainablehouse, we have designed a simple #waterharvesting system, which allows us to harvest upwards of 100,000 litres of water each year.
You may not be aware of how much rainwater is falling on your rooftops, and simply making its way to the drains. If you would like to know how much water you are getting, use this simple formula.
Rooftop Area (in sq m) x Annual Average Rainfall (in mm) x Runoff Coefficient of the material used on your rooftop = Total Rainwater you receive annually (in Litres).
In our sustainablehouse, the rainwater makes its way to the drain, which descends down to the ground level, and through many interconnecting chambers makes it way to the rainwater filter.
The rainwater filter is made of alternating layers of gravel and gro textile. The rainwater falls to the bottom of the rainwater filter, and gets cleaned in the process. The clean water rises to the top, and through the outlet pipe, enters the rainwater harvesting tank.
Once the rainwater harvesting tank is full, it pumps this water into the triple tank (which is the larger tank) and in turn, it pumps water into the overhead tanks.
When the tanks fill up to the brim, the overflow finds its way to our ponds. We can see the overflow clearly, indicating to us that the rainwater tanks are FULL.
You will be amazed at how much water is falling on your rooftops. Why don't you calculate an approximate volume, and share it in the comments section. Maybe you can think of a way to harvest the water from your rooftop too?
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[@chriswong8659]

A drawing of how this work or the setup would be nice. Overview of the system from start to finish.

[@safaruddinismail1248]

Yes indeed. Very much obliged if @aanandaa permaculture farm can furnish the info for better understanding. I am in the midst of building a small off grid house. The info is going to be a great help.

[@williamrobinson4265]

I like that in america I am building a family farm in the same manner permaculture and all manner of regenerative agriculture techniques evolving around the world are bring people everywhere back to a common way of existence and, ultimately, values regarding the health of our families and environment solidarity to all small farmers around the world

[@farmaanandaa]

Cheers!

[@williamodela]

This is a sustainable method. Thank you!

[@mittalrekha94]

great spirit MANISHAJI.Thank you so much for sharing sustainable house construction videos

[@MyOrganicVlogs]

Wonderful information Manisha ji , thanks 👍

[@sj9918]

Thank you very much for sharing the information.

[@eo4758]

This is unbelievable. Thank you

[@ppwithaweewee9403]

Wonderful idea and execution. I'm a biomedical student frkm Sri Lanka I'm planning to moving to the environmental side as my career. I have this idea to plan a fully self sufficient home. A huge land with onsite renewable energy production/storage. Produce/Mini garden and a farm. All electronic appliances and a vehicle. So increasing efficiency and reducing wastage even through feaces is a huge issue. Because all the nitrogen, amonia and other minerals are packed in feaces. So i was looking around for a sustainable methodology to do this. You have provided a great starting point for my research. Just got to figure out how to get rid of pathogens and collect this methane. Eventhought it might be a tiny amount. With time it can compound to my carbon/methane footprint. Thank You very much.

[@farmaanandaa]

All the best!

[@shahithashafeeq7643]

Hats off to you ma'am. In this area too ...you are working sustainably.. thanks for the vedios from you.. its really helpful to the people, who wants to live naturally, and sustainably...

[@farmaanandaa]

Glad you find them useful

[@ashse6791]

Truly informative and very important to know. I feel like sincerely looking into this sustainable solution.

[@RajeevBAgarwal]

Thank you, Manisha ji - for sharing your initiative of this Bio-digester for human excreta. Helpful indeed. For my proposed off-grid sustainable house I was planning for a composting toilet - where the excreta and urine both are directly collected in a drum made of wicker or thin bamboo etc. However that can be a bit uncomfortable for visitors and those not used to it. Had heard of this bio-digester earlier too, but I'm a bit skeptical on whether all solid material will be digested/converted into liquid effluent (which is of course nutrient rich). Anyways you have confirmed, it does. I will further talk to the manufacturers/suppliers.

[@vaishalyrb1114]

Thankyou so much for sharing this...This is very educational and informative video, i truly wish to use when i construct my house or have a farm...

[@PlugInCaroo]

*It's best if the gas can be captured in a BioGas baloon to be used for burning, cooking, powering Electric Genset or even CNG cars* For using it in car it will need to be compressed into a cng-cylinder using a simple compressor which is used to fill car Tyre (with air). Many people have a mental block of using poop-gas (biogas) for cooking... (just like putting rain water back in borewell is considered unclean) but that is how nature produces Methane Gas... by decomposed organic matter.

[@estebancorral5151]

You are backward and not safety conscious. The compressor for methane has to have special coatings or fittings to avoid build up of friction which will cause an explosion with inflamable methane.

[@riturajsandhupeasant4885]

Nutrient rich Human Manure. 💫 Thanks for providing information.

[@farmaanandaa]

Absolutely! You are welcome

[@Mindy56743]

I have seen the bio gas systems that people people feed the system kitchen scraps and animal poop. They use the gas for cooking and the liquid to fertilize gardens. I have seen in India that they are using them in dairy farms and they are huge

[@farmaanandaa]

Yes, but i think the human waste is not connected to it

[@Mindy56743]

@@farmaanandaa they should! It is amazing how they turn waste into such good products. I have thought about it so much but in the USA the cost is extremely expensive.

[@midhunca6092]

thanks maam

[@UshaRani-st5fc]

Good information mam

[@satyaanjaan6068]

After long days medam please keep updating regularly 😊

[@swatipawar9610]

Mam is Methane gas a one of the green house gases...so can u explain how it is safe to let it go in d environment...also to avoid this can ve keep tank open to have aerobic reaction....can u explain

[@namelessanonymous5216]

We can even recycle the black waste water into reasonably clean form for irrigation or filling ponds. Just need a few more tank chambers for sedimentation, aerobic digestion, filtration media, sterilisation & aeration etc process.

[@farmaanandaa]

Sure you can do that. There is always a trade off between effort/expense and output.

[@naturalgardeningart9614]

Very informative 👏

[@farmaanandaa]

Glad you think so!

[@sivakrishna8]

All your videos are truly informative and you are always an inspiration mam! 🙂👍🏻

[@farmaanandaa]

Thats so nice of you to say

[@suyeshak]

Thanks Manisha ji this is going to be very useful for me as construction is going on at my farm ,Take care

[@farmaanandaa]

Happy to hear that

[@aleenaprasannan2146]

There are some microbes that consume methane. They are known as methanotropic microbes and they are seen in wetlands and paddyfields. Since methane had an extremely high warming potential in atmosphere, wouldn't it be better, if the gas from the system is run through a bioremediation step with some wetland plants inoculated with methanotropic bacteria?

[@farmaanandaa]

Sure that sounds like a good idea 💡

[@vaishalyrb1114]

One thing, which i have seen at my grandparents place in a village that they used to throw rotten potatoes and tomato and flush it , when asked they said it helps in breakdown of waste...i'm not sure about this though, 😊

[@aasobe]

Can we use bio digester for animal waste. Cats and dogs at home?

[@ThreeBooleans]

This is so cool! Thank you I wonder if the effluent is safe to use on edible crops. Also, what is the amount of methane released? It's not polluting amounts right? I'm also curious what happens if biodigester food is lower for a while, if the amount of bacteria automatically lowers so it doesnt die completely

[@farmaanandaa]

Yes the effluent is safe for gardens and crops. Methane quantities are small. Thr bacteria population can decrease and then increase again. So no worries on that account.

[@vaidyanathansubramaniam4656]

Many of these bacteria are facultative. When they have adverse conditions, they go into a cocoon state and revive back to life when their ambient conditions get back.

[@balunatarajan]

Thanks for video... how to maintain rainwater for longer time in tank? will it cause any health issue?

[@farmaanandaa]

Keep it circulating a bit across the tanks. For drinking purposes use a water filter in the kitchen

[@balunatarajan]

@@farmaanandaa Thanks

[@MsMjmj77]

I was not convinced on replacing septic tank with digester.. we do inoculation in septic tank as well... most important topic u missed is the use of Harpic and of it's kind.. what is the impact of them on the digester.. do we need to inoculate after harpic?

[@farmaanandaa]

Apparently toilet cleaners are ok to use with a bio digester. Do check woth your supplier. To us it doesnt matter because we have no plans of using toxic cleaners like harpic.

[@PlugInCaroo]

You can try Patanjali herbal washing powder soap instead of harpic. Anyhow you will need to use the brush so just mildest of soap should do. As long as the organic content is much more than the soapy content the bacteria will keep feeding.

[@statusworld-do7rl]

@@PlugInCaroo पतंजलि हर्बल इस चुटियापा प्लीज रीड इट्स इंग्राइंडे

[@neerajprajapati3852]

@@PlugInCaroo you know most of their products are herbal by name only but I think we can use reetha after dipping it in water for a day

[@kouthasridevi3709]

Why don't you think think for a eco friendly alternative for these chemical cleaners ? There is a eco friendly alternative for these chemical cleaners that is bio enzyme which we can make in our home only with a simple process.

[@vikasd1475]

Did you also explore twin pit toilet? Since it's much more economical, does not need inoculum and produces direct fertilizer..I am thinking to introduce it in my project

[@farmaanandaa]

We wanted to keep the bathroom experience satisfactory for visitors. Hence kept modern toilets and added a bio digester

[@vishalnayak5348]

To clean the toilet we use chemical based toilet cleaners (like domex or Harpic) atleast twice or thrice a week. Is they are not harmful to bacteria? And they may kill all bacteria. What to do in that case?

[@farmaanandaa]

According to the manufacturer of these bio digesters, you can safely use toilet cleaners without harming the bacteria. However, it is always a good idea to shift to non toxic safe cleaners.

[@briane5140]

Its a shame the methane isn't collected and used as it is a much more dangerous greenhouse gas than CO2

[@farmaanandaa]

We dont think the quantity is much. And good thing is we can capture it anytime by piping it.

[@MayeenulIslam]

Thank you so much for the information. In most of the bio digester eventually the slurry is taken out as a fertilizer. But with a buried bio digester with a solid base (having no connection to the earth beneath) what happen to the solids left behind? Is that a worry for sometime in future, or we're okay with the solids being inside the digester, as they will eventually be broken into water? Can you please shed some light on it?

[@farmaanandaa]

The solids are all broken down into liquids

[@MayeenulIslam]

Thank you so much

[@green.frugal.minimalist1316]

Hi dear, very informative and nice video. Can we use concrete septic tank (already existed or new) instead of pvc and then use anaerobic bacteria. Generally septic tanks are also fully closed and air tight. And if it is possible how to construct the tank? Generally nowadays there are 3 chambers in septic tank with or without a sock pit. And where we can buy the anaerobic bactrias? Thank you.

[@farmaanandaa]

You will have to check with the bio digester company

[@estebancorral5151]

Yes, you can. And since you are so progressive incorporate Vermiculture along with your biodigester.

[@green.frugal.minimalist1316]

@@estebancorral5151 thank you

[@ManishKumar-yr4wd]

what if we don't use pvc tank,and use a pit without walls,only top will be covered,will this work than?

[@farmaanandaa]

No, because the anaerobic bacteria needs an environment without air.

[@ManishKumar-yr4wd]

@@farmaanandaa thanks for the information and your time.

[@sivasankarrajan2080]

Thanks for the video. where do we get that bacteria to implement bio digester?

[@farmaanandaa]

From the manufacturer of the bio digester

[@Ella-nn9pl]

Hello! I am a student at Parsons School of Design and I'm doing a project on homebiogas. I was wondering if I could ask you a few questions!

[@farmaanandaa]

Yes of course! You can email us on [e-mail]

[@taniamukherjee6215]

How to contact you Manisha ji.....if I am willing to make exactly what you are suggesting.....

[@farmaanandaa]

Pls visit www.Aanandaa.com

[@ganeshpawar3442]

Does the outlet water of the bioseptic tank have no smell? Yesor No plz more informazion

[@farmaanandaa]

No smell at all

[@peterpiper5300]

I wonder if this could be done above ground.

[@farmaanandaa]

Yes it can be. It does not need to be buried

[@peterpiper5300]

@@farmaanandaa what were your considerations to make it below ground?

[@farmaanandaa]

Sewage pipes are at ground level. They go into the bio digester so that had to be lower than ground

[@timgiles9413]

Please read the book The Humanure Handbook by Joseph Jenkins. It is the Bible for Humanure.

[@farmaanandaa]

Sure will try

[@indygo513]

Can the dead bacteria be replenished? engineersingh uk

[@farmaanandaa]

Which dead bacteria?

[@air870]

I presume that Toilet paper is No No in a bio digester. Also, if there happens to be a over three months break in the feed, what is the work around?

[@farmaanandaa]

A cow dung slurry can be fed instead

[@AlhadMahabal]

Methane is a greenhouse gas. Is it not better if you capture it too and probably use it for cooking as an LPG alternative than just let it out and possibly contribute to global warming?

[@farmaanandaa]

Yes someone else raised that too. We think the quantity is too less for us to capture, as we are not adding cow manure or kitchen waste to this bio digester. It is only human waste. But in future if we feel the quantity is a lot, we can always pipe it somewhere for use. Thanks for the suggestion

[@babarocks5949]

Hi mam! Can we able to store this gas for cooking as Nigerian are doing it!

[@farmaanandaa]

I have not tried. But you can ask the Biodigester companies, and they may be able to explain.

[@Norbingel]

Hi! Would you happen to know if the waste slurry can still be fed to composting worms?

[@farmaanandaa]

No you. And wondering how you will extract the slurry as the output is only digested liquid, not a slurry

[@Norbingel]

@@farmaanandaa Isn't there a point of saturation where the output becomes a slurry at least at some point? Other videos I've seen show a slurry coming out. Are they able to digest everything of the solid mass into liquid form? Thanks for taking the time to respond!

[@farmaanandaa]

Yes they digest everything into a liquid. It may be different for other bio digesters which are not commercial solutions, but more like a septic tank. And cow dung is the main input

[@Norbingel]

@@farmaanandaa I see. I saw a vermicomposting system for humanure and I thought that putting it into a biodigester first then to the worms might be better. Ah well, on to other possible solutions! Ty again!

[@estebancorral5151]

@@Norbingelyou are correct, and are a progressive thinker. Y

[@vaibhavguntuk8278]

Can we make solid fertilizer too using this technology?

[@farmaanandaa]

Don't think so

[@vaibhavguntuk8278]

@@farmaanandaa Can we use Vermicompost instead for solid fertilizer?

[@ajayayyappan2522]

Happy Independence day ✨🇮🇳🙏

[@farmaanandaa]

Wish you the same!

[@Ultimatefitness360]

आपने कहाँ से खरीदा ह इस digester को ?? Google पर कोई vendor मिल ही नही रह इसका

[@farmaanandaa]

Elefo biotech

[@shirishthakare9842]

What abt removal of solid residue from the tank?

[@farmaanandaa]

There is no solid residue

[@shirishthakare9842]

@@farmaanandaa thanks

[@priyeshgupta224]

Mam, can you share your experience using this BDSTank?? Is it really so efficient that we don't need to clean it periodically and can we use Harpic to clean toilets?? Please reply.. it will help me to make decision. Thank you in advance 🙏

[@farmaanandaa]

We are having a good experience so far. Yes you can use tissues and harpic, both. Pls speak to company officials for more information

[@priyeshgupta224]

@@farmaanandaa thank you

[@priyeshgupta224]

@@farmaanandaa mam, just one more request.... Can u tell whether this is turning waste into water efficiently..? I am planning to buy one but since I never seen any such BDSTank in my area so i am scared that i don't have to regret letter if it gets filled and doesn't work as it is supposed to do?? And i have to suffer. (Mam i am asking because u r user ... And if I ask such things from company they will never tell the truth(negative aspects of it).

[@gobhatia123]

Yayy. Another video. Are you ok with sharing how much did this cost you? and also, in case of an extended "digester drought" and loss of bacteria, is it possible to add another batch of bacteria to restart the process. I am thinking of having a dedicated entry to be used only for this emergency.

[@farmaanandaa]

You can check with Elefo biotech about pricing. We believe we can get another batch of bacteria in case the existing bacteria dies.

[@estebancorral5151]

It would not be a bacteria drought. It would a bacteria murrain.

[@anshubamney9833]

This is great! Glad to see how you are using everything in a sustainable way.. I sometimes wonder how you manage between work and Ananda?

[@farmaanandaa]

Now, Aanandaa is the only work I do!

[@MrRad019]

Can we put tissue in bio digestor

[@farmaanandaa]

Yes you can

[@ragaashish33]

Can you share the company name of this biodigester.

[@farmaanandaa]

Elefo biotech

[@jayeshpatel2101]

Manisha Ji very Nice, Price kya hai?

[@farmaanandaa]

Aap company se check kariye. It depends on size

[@balachandrareddy2421]

Mam, I want to install, please suggest whom to contact.

[@farmaanandaa]

Kindly google

[@RightOne1]

This is nothing but a compressed septic tank.

[@thanushri4648]

How to reach you

[@farmaanandaa]

[e-mail]

[@jenna7675]

Why not burn the methane and use it for cooking? This is what most people do with this, and letting methane into the air is NOT good - very powerful GHG.

[@farmaanandaa]

That's a good point. We believe this quantity of methane is very less. We will try to calculate how much gas is released before finding a use for it.

[@swatipawar9610]

Anaerobic bacteria will creat methane na?...its not environmental friendly

[@farmaanandaa]

Depends on how much is released.

[@bhanuprakash-qm3im]

Methane is not offensive? It's a greenhouse gas.

[@farmaanandaa]

Well, the quantity is miniscule

[@estebancorral5151]

Water vapor is a green house gas, but it is the least offensive. Man must limited the more offensive in a proper priority.

[@neerajprajapati3852]

This is not fare you should upload videos at least twice in a week

[@rtv.623]

Hindi video

[@pramilapriyadarshini3500]

Too much work....just use a bucket system and compost like normal with lots of dry matter I've also seen alternating pits made by Indian NGOs....the pits are scooped out once in 6 months

[@farmaanandaa]

Is that what you use in your own home?

[@georgerosanglien]

Lalrothang haoginlal revival eldrin hmingchunghnung

[@farmaanandaa]

Cannot understand your comment

[@estebancorral5151]

45% of gas of biodigester is carbon-dioxide. There is a waste for which you have not even addressed. I would grow algae, duckweed, or azolla.

[@sheepseven7588]

The bible says don't do this

[@farmaanandaa]

Unfortunately we live in a different world now

[@annekabrimhall1059]

And hand sanitizer is available so we don’t make ourselves sick