Vermicomposting Toilets: Low-Tech with Incredible Results

Vermicomposting Toilets can turn the black water from regular flush toilets into highly nutritious fertilizer. At Camping Guáimaro in the Colombian Andes, Joep and Julia have built a vermi-composting system out of stones, mud, second hand wood and IBC tanks and some pipes. The results are incredible.
For more detailed information on how this and how to make your own, check out this page: www.vermicompostingtoilets.net/
Thank you Joep and Julia for your awesome work, the entire camp site is an absolute permaculture marvel so if you ever come by visit them:
ioverlander.com/places/59842-...
/ campingguaimaro
If you want to support this channel in inspiring more people to live more regeneratively, find me on Patreon: / teisho
0:00 Intro
1:30 Vermicomposting
2:15 How It Works
3:20 Maintenance
4:33 Leech Field
6:16 Conclusion

[@tvdinner325]

My neighbor has 2 Great Danes. He has no idea I've been pooping in his yard for years.

[@mrmark8603]

Is that 23 Hermann st., 2 Harlequins? If so, those aren't all Dane's! I live at #25.🤭

[@peterswatton7400]

We use a flush toilet that deposits waste on to filter media where tiger worms deal with the waste and make vermicast. The liquids drain through and are pumped to a leach field of 100 meters or so of plastic pipe buried about 200 mm into bark. After 6 years we have had no problems and no smells. We are in NZ and the system is designed for 4 people.

[@hunglikeahamster]

You could completely eliminate the smell using IMO. Just find a wooded area that has leafs on the ground. Turn them over and check to see if white fungus is growing on the bottom. If so, scoop up the leaves and some of the soil and put it in the tanks. Better results can be obtained by feeding it part cooked rice for a week or so until the fungus has grown through it completely. Then scatter it in the tanks. No smell or flies guaranteed, as long as you don't do anything daft like put bleach in there. IMO is short for Indigenous Microorganisms. So don't kill them with chemical cleaning agents.

[@TutuSainz]

Wonderful comment thank you. We use Ecoenzymes for our cleaning product now since we learned about it in 2022 and it works great for laundry and household cleaning. Now we just need a vermicomposting toilet system. 😊🎉

[@karlmccreight8172]

Another way to get rid of the smell: Lactic acid bacteria. Recipes can be found on youtube.

[@ramhornjoe]

Great video, my wife and I have been using a dry composting toilet we built based off the design published by Joseph Jenkins in the Humanure Handbook for over a year now. Love seeing people looking at closing waste streams & using them as valuable resources 💖. Nice post & new subscriber

[@pdloder]

I've had a commercial worm farm septic tank for years and it's ZERO maintenance, no maintenance at all. And it's fantastic.

[@JamesG1126]

Where does the waste go? Do you have any links to your system?

[@CZGHEIB954]

Any more info on that?

[@pdloder]

@@CZGHEIB954 what would you like to know? The model I have actually has two sections; one for (higher flow) grey water and the other for septic. And that's so large volumes of water don't overwhelm the worms - but that's not necessary in most cases, and it was overkill for us too. In appearance it looks like a normal poly septic tank. Mine is on a slope - so gravity does all the work (both, going to, and refuse from the tank) no need for power... And it works perfectly.

[@CZGHEIB954]

@@pdloder so this is a product or did you build it yourself?

[@pdloder]

@@CZGHEIB954 bought product - I think it was about a 3000L poly tank; partially filled with baffling for worms and bacteria to live in. The one I bought was "Wormsmart" and I installed it myself. And because I have a good slope I didn't to run power for a pump. I'm in Australia and I just Googled 'wormfarm septic system' and got plenty of hits, so I reckon they'd be available in most countries these days.

[@danielvonbose557]

I once managed compost operations at a commune I lived at in southern Missouri during much of the 1980s. I put redworms in an old chest freezer and knocked a hole in the bottom for drainage. I used this to compost food waste. After the worms had populated the old freezer, I put some worms so they could get into the piles where I was composting the human waste. Soon there were worms in all the compost piled, especially over the winter as they seemed to look for someplace warm.

[@AdlerMow]

I use a system for both urine and poop. A small concrete chair with toilet seat and a big can of paint (18 liter/6 gallon) under it. Fill 1 inch with a mixture of 4 parts of sawdust to 1 part of woodash. Every time you poo, cover it with one cup of this mixture and put the lid of the can back on. After after its full, empty it in the composter pile. The ash reacts with the urine, keeping the Ph towards neutral, capturing the N2 and help with the smell, while also adding potassium and phosphorus to make a organic npkc super fertilizer.

[@thatguychris5654]

Urine starts off acidic (6-6.5 pH), but with time and bacteria, it slowly turns alkaline (ammonia reaching pH 9) without any other inputs. I do a similar mixture but replacing ash with fine raw charcoal bits. It soaks up smell like a pro.

[@christineplaton3048]

Please someone can you tell us how to compost cat urine n solids safely? Can they be broadcast in woods or only buried near trees?

[@mobuildsstuff]

@@christineplaton3048 As long as you are not using any clay or silica based cat litter you should be fine. Just mix it with some old compost and a little bit of charcoal to dilute the ammonia smell

[@christineplaton3048]

@@mobuildsstuff hi, so anything like wood shavings or natural pellets etc. I'm not sure how to deal with the smell and wanted to compost if possible

[@thatguychris5654]

@christineplaton3048 Cat excrement is high in bacteria and virus pathogens. The safest way to use it is by composting it in a hot pile. The heat will kill these pathogens. Same concept as human waste, needs heat sterilization.

[@katipohl2431]

Am having vermicomposting with all waste including poop here in Germany. In winter I bring the temperature up with horse manure otherwise worms would freeze.

[@freethoth]

Great idea. Would like to have seen more construction details.

[@lis819]

I read long time now about a national park in Canada/US that was trialing vermicomposting in a park toilet…great success, apparently…

[@zion4176]

Great vid, gotta save this vid for when I start my own farm 👨🏽‍🌾

[@inthehouse9062]

You can process humanure in ventilated five gallon buckets too. They produce a lot of worm castings which plants love

[@pollyjazz]

I like this guy's awe and enthusiasm but this is not new. Vermicomposting toilet systems have been around for decades and it's relatively easy to find information and even building plans to make your own. Plus loads of KZbin videos with different builds and tweaks. If I lived in the country this would definitely be what I would do. Depending on the area I might want to investigate more on dry systems which are more work but definitely better for areas hit by drought.

[@vortexgen1]

This is absolutely brilliant.

[@alexeyglebskiy7157]

Cool! Thanks for the info! 🙏

[@barnabyvonrudal1]

Nice system!

[@jakegolding8388]

Nice video. But you didn’t say until the very end that you were in Columbia. You gave the local name, but I didn’t know whether you were in the Philippines or India or South America.

[@Evolutivity]

Haha, you are right, I'll keep that in mind for the next time.

[@kenea3226]

Liked(loved) and subscribed.

[@jaybirdgarden]

Very cool that is rainwater powered and that it feeds the plants. It’s basically like an outhouse that flushes?

[@Evolutivity]

Pretty much, yeah

[@honorata1935]

Wow what a great idea. Thank you for sharing.

[@planecrazyish]

Amazing 👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏

[@michaelhudson4171]

I designed almost exactly that system on our foundation guest houses 10 years ago. But the chambers were stone. Funny how common sense takes over in similar climates. We are in Venezuela.

[@subash15]

Great idea .. thank you so much for sharing 🙏🙏👍🌾

[@johnslaymaker]

Great report, thank you. Subscribed. I've used red wriggler worms for several years for composting kitchen waste & they are excellent. Great to know they can be employed in these other ways too!

[@remittanceman4685]

You can use them to process dog poop as well. Just keep the farm for that separate and use the castings and leachate away from veggies, especially root veggies. Trees and ornamental plants love it though.

[@johnslaymaker]

@@remittanceman4685 Wow. The potential benefits from this are vast....more people should talk about it! In addition to a huge amount of potential fertilizer, there must be hundreds of tons of dog waste that otherwise end up in plastic bags in landfills. Thank you!

[@remittanceman4685]

@johnslaymaker Learned it from a guy on a KZbin vermicomposting video. Equal amounts of dog poop and torn up newspaper or cardboard. The only issue is, as I say, keeping it away from anything you're going to eat because you can't be sure the worms will destroy any pathogens or parasites.

[@sebastienloyer9471]

Nice work for the south.

[@TutuSainz]

This is a great video and a great idea. I want to do this too. Thank you for sharing this I’ve known for a while that our waste is important in the system. We eat from the garden our urine is the highest in NPK fertilizer and our poo is just as good probably as chicken poop

[@user-jn9rj7hm6u]

normally, it lasted about 3 months composting it mixed up w/ compost until it smelled like forest soil

[@mansett89]

congratulation, here in argentina, atacama desert we are doing prety the same with our poop, and its the best fertilizer for out plants❤

[@DJ-uk5mm]

Just what we should all be doing … I would just add a bio digester to the system, and then you’ve got free gas for cooking or boiling the water to be sure there are no pathogens

[@Iamam313]

a how to make it detailed video step by step would be great...I cannot tell how to make this just from that

[@Evolutivity]

www.vermicompostingtoilets.net/design-construction/ here you will find more detailed information :)

[@xszl]

lol, I was holding my breath.

[@michaelfoort2592]

Makes very good sense and could be done on a city scale to support forest growth

[@inthehouse9062]

would love to see that globally just think how much better that would be for food production. I have a vegetable garden like that

[@estebancorral5151]

You are culturally biased. It is required in Brazil to take your compostable to a vermiculture center. I got this from a Paraguayan veterinarian who was chewed out by apartment supervisor for not taking his compostable to the vermicenter . What was more fantastic is that his apartment complex had there own vermicenter on site.

[@SoloRenegade]

if you only eat the same things as other animals (no processed foods, garden grown homecooked food and unprocessed meats), why is human waste any different from animal waste?

[@YSLRD]

Human waste carries disease and parasites that are contagious to people.

[@matty8920]

We had this system in Holland but Dutch government does not allow it so we have to remove it. All the houses will get a vacuum sawage system costing the municipality of Almere more than € 60 million euro's.

[@EctoMorpheus]

Almere is not in Holland, it's in Flevoland

[@matty8920]

@@EctoMorpheus And Flevoland is a province in the Netherlands.

[@EctoMorpheus]

@@matty8920 indeed!

[@matty8920]

@@EctoMorpheus I know Holland is officially only the provinces of north and south Holland. And the Netherlands is the whole country. Even the tourist information wants to stop the word Holland and seems to steer communication toward "the Netherlands".

[@estebancorral5151]

I am still upset at the Dutch for burning all reeds after they had dried the polders. They are so smart in some respects but so fanatically stupid in others.

[@Peeta-wn4hh]

Too bad there isn’t something like this that works in the winter.

[@CZGHEIB954]

Just have to insulate the chamber.

[@newfutureideas]

There are some other methods that dont need worms (which are hard to keep alive in some areas). We are collecting these techniques and have a huge plan with it. Let's connect, can we? :)

[@jiniyogini364]

I have struggled to keep worms alive in Northern England. But my friend here has a very successful business promoting vermicomposting. I haven't given up. What do you use?

[@CZGHEIB954]

I think the most important thing is keeping them warm where you're at.

[@joxxxyalpharius2008]

thank you. have you consider using charcoal to have more durable carbon in the process ?

[@mariusmuller699]

Wow! Thank you for this great Video! I like the idea very much. Just some Feedback for improvement. Maybe you find some tricks for dealing with the like. For Example the Interview with Joep. I liked the background, but the light from the left made it a bit to bright for me and reduced the nice colors of the wood. And at the end you stood before a brighter background, because of that your face was a bit dark. Keep it up and great - just great! Thank you very much again!

[@Evolutivity]

Thank you very much for taking the time to write this feedback. I really appreciate it :)

[@tomliordos8633]

Holy shit!

[@michasosnowski5918]

Great system. I just wonder how can you do that if you life in flat area, and dont have so much area to begin with? You could do that for few houses, but also you need some slope.

[@inthehouse9062]

check out vermicomposting in ventilated five gallon buckets There is a guy here on youtube that will show how to build them. if interested I will find you the link

[@TonyM540]

Very interesting. I’m not an expert in this field but my understanding is that human waste can not or perhaps should not be directly applied to plants for human consumption. However it could be applied to plants that are for animal consumption…..and then consume the animals.

[@christineplaton3048]

Suggested books? Companies like Clivus Multrum offer units. What about in Northern colder climates? This would limit the number of composting months unless the material was warm enough in the unit.

[@andanssas]

Horse manure stays hot for a long while, it could be mixed in to _worm_ it up...

[@one_field]

The original flush vermicomposting toilet system was designed and installed by Anna Edey decades ago. She has two books on that topic (alongside greenhouse gardening for cold climates and other subjects). Her home and the restaurant where she installed another such system are far north and very cold. The worm bin does need insulation. It's also worth looking at the design built by Quinto de Vale in Portugal; they use rainwater for the flush water. It's well tested by this point and they have detailed instructions on their website.

[@andanssas]

@@one_field Thank you for pointing to Wendy's Quinta do Vale, her permaculture efforts seem amazing.

[@christineplaton3048]

Do you have a cistern?

[@timgiles9413]

Read the book "The Humanure Handbook" by Joseph Jenkins. I have used his system for 5 years and love it. I would never use this system on this video.

[@philcoppa]

no smell unless you're directly downwind? that doesn't sound very encouraging.

[@goldmiiind]

Approved septic systems tend to have a smell downwind as well 🤷‍♂️

[@MarkO-im7lc]

Outhouse would be the same smelly. Smell is not un hygienic, just unpleasant to some.

[@joelaichner3025]

Holy Manorganite Batman ! What’s this Shit ? Don’t touch that Robin ! Why ? Your Shittin’ me Batman ! No Robin , I’m not !

[@sparkymarkcincy]

Hey guys I really like your channel and what you are doing, I am a permaculture designer and I'm familiar with the potential of human waste or humanure but I have a different question, I am interested in using humanure as a grow medium for dung loving mushrooms. Any thoughts on that would be appreciated, keep up the good work

[@estebancorral5151]

Thermocomposting first to destroy pathogens and decompose medicines taken by humans. Add powdered lime because mushrooms require calcium. Then inoculate.

[@barnabyvonrudal1]

The vermicompostingtoilets link is incorrect and doesn't work, should just be http

[@Evolutivity]

Fixed it, thanks for telling me :)

[@Norbingel]

I was planning on using a biodigester for our poop. Would you happen to know if the worms can still feed off the slurry afterwards? Or would the anaerobic bacteria already have consumed all the nutrients? Would be great if this could work. You get fuel off the biodigester then the worms can have the more easily digestible slurry afterwards.

[@estebancorral5151]

Your using the digestate will greatly increase worm production. Also plan to capture the CO2 gas to grow duckweed, azolla, or algae. These are high protein feeds for animals. If nothing else, you could always feed back to the worms.

[@jolanda9947]

north korea did done that

[@howardchambers9679]

As long as you use dry soil to cover the poop and don't plant root vegetables for at least two years, humanure is a great soil improver. The longer you leave it in your garden, the better.

[@howiedeklerk2950]

Is there a way that one can collect biogas using a system like this?

[@estebancorral5151]

You would need a biodigester for the methane. However, the effluent could be fed to the worms.

[@wojomojo]

I think in the Humanure system they wait a good while before they use the composted product, and mostly not on edible plants. Is this direct system safe for food production?

[@Evolutivity]

For vegetables definitely not. That's why they only use fruit trees in the leach field to have that extra level of filtration.

[@estebancorral5151]

⁠@@Evolutivitythermocompost partially first. Worms pH 6.8-7.2. The only way to get to get there quickly is through thermo composting.

[@AllGrowing]

Impressive design! But won't work in area with cold winters?

[@Evolutivity]

The key is keeping the worms warm enough. So cold winters might really be a problem. With enough insulation you might get lucky though.

[@AllGrowing]

Right, will try and figure that out, thanks!@@Evolutivity

[@JS-jh4cy]

Shit goes along way

[@jigold22571]

Run a bacteria t on your effluent. I guarantee you'll revise this design..

[@billybethel]

can that system treat the poop of 15 people if each person eats a little less?

[@arijitpal166]

What they use to clean the toilet seat?

[@estebancorral5151]

Vinegar is both a solvent and an antiseptic against bacteria and fungus.

[@Nathouuuutheone]

There is a reason people don't fertilize with human poop. And this system only avoids the issue by fertilizng trees instead of a conventional garden. I clicked on the video because I was hoping the system had a solution for pathogens. You seriously should have addressed this.

[@CZGHEIB954]

That is a valid solution. If there are pathogens, they are filtered in the end by the trees.

[@juntjoonunya9216]

Wait, so how many worms per poop of an average person? Don't want to over poop my new verm farm

[@christineplaton3048]

I believe only the trees can be fertilized with solid composts. But worm castings are different. Urine by itself can be used as a form of fertilizer. The video needed to be more explanatory about proper use and precautions. Remember people can be harmed by improper methods of human waste composted and usage ... so you have a responsibility when you share info to give all the needed links or information pertaining to the subject. A citation or article or book list. Thank you.

[@JS-jh4cy]

Use the gas toilet

[@yasmincastro892]

What kind of worms are those?

[@Evolutivity]

Red Wigglers (eisenia fetida), the world's most common composting worms :)

[@johnslaymaker]

@@Evolutivity This is phenomenal. I already have about a million red wigglers who handle my kitchen waste etc. May have to experiment further.

[@gyorgyangelkottbocz9766]

does this work in cold climates?

[@estebancorral5151]

Yes. Think of a well insulated shelter.

[@gyorgyangelkottbocz9766]

@@estebancorral5151 thanks!

[@SeverusFelix]

Who came up with this idea? Jules Rivera?

[@Pietruska17]

I can see all that e coli from Finland

[@HCEndgame]

Why not just do a biodigester? What's the advantage here?

[@Evolutivity]

That is actually a really good question. I think a biodigester would be a very viable option as well. This system takes up a bit less space maybe and I honestly always feel a bit unsure about the durability of the plastic of the tank with the digesters that I have seen, but fundamentally they make for a good alternative. We have a few here around Barichara as well and they work great!

[@1978rayking]

People would love a KZbin instructed video and or to purchase a playstore instructor or buy a paper instruction manual.

[@thatguychris5654]

I hope none of your guests are on medication like hormones, antibiotics, etc. Those chemicals will pass thru the worms, into the leech water, into the tree tissues and fruit, and right back into your body. Aside from this modern problem, the system is perfect 👍

[@KB-2222]

Forever chemicals

[@thatguychris5654]

@@KB-2222 Yup, PFAS and the like too

[@Nathouuuutheone]

There's still the issue that pathogens aren't completely eliminated so if someone decided to recreate the system and use it on their garden they could get sick

[@thatguychris5654]

@Nathouuuutheone Exactly! Which is why you must heat compost humanure in order to kill all the pathogens (bacteria , viruses and parasites). In the old days, they would make and use this "night soil", but if it wasn't done with heat, the pile was left to sit 2 years or so to let nature do it's thing (I still wouldn't feel safe)

[@cannabico6621]

Hydrothermal csrnonization of poop to sterilize it under 20 atm and 400 degrees celcius, turn it into syngas for power and hydrochar for nitrógen bacteria to thrive and make the soil mechanicamly more fertiles.

[@BryanKirch]

It’s called a septic tank

[@Kyle_Spivis]

Ah night soil

[@ph8632]

Humans eat really bad food. I wouldnt want to use the waste from humans for composting. I am a big fan of vermicomposting though.

[@johnslaymaker]

Those of us inclined to try these things almost certainly eat better than everyone else, though. We are already pre-selected for organic, pesticide-free, MRNA-free, and seed-oil free. Cheers~

[@ph8632]

@@johnslaymaker I am taking that into account. I still would not use human waste. If I had run out of better options, then yes, I would have to process the human waste.

[@AutoNomades]

You take it from the wrong side @@ph8632 Human Waste IS PRODUCED. So now, lets do the best so that it is nor harmfull after, and even, good ressource to use. Dogmatism never help to find solutions..

[@kiranreilly4916]

@@johnslaymaker Another consideration is that your medications WILL still be present in your waste

[@user-ep2es1mp5r]

The reason human waste isnt good fertilizer is drugs and chemicals. Thats the main issue. No real prep fixes that toxicity without degrading its value. Veggies grown will eat those chemicals

[@sebastienloyer9471]

😂 Try that in Alberta Canada. You ass will freeze 7 months of the year 😅

[@Evolutivity]

Haha, yeah temperature is key here.

[@TrickleCreekFarm]

Checkout ‘Gridlessness’ and learn what system they designed for their family in Canada.

[@johncollins3391]

All for organic gardening but i draw the line at useing human waste,ornamental plants maybe but not for vegetables.

[@TrickleCreekFarm]

That’s why these systems are exclusively used to feed orchards - trees, not annuals/vegetables.

[@williambrandondavis6897]

If you like high amounts of heavy metals and pharmaceutical residues in your soil go for it!

[@milobem4458]

Vermicomposting doesn't sterilize the sewage. You should never use it directly in food production. This is asking for E.coli or other disaster.

[@Evolutivity]

As Joep says in the video, the only productive species in the system are fruit trees. Do you think this provides enough filtration to make them edible? That is at least what I have heard. With vegetables, I 100% agree.

[@milobem4458]

@@Evolutivity ah, that makes sense. Fruit trees should probably be ok. but I'm not an expert, I only do hobby scale vermicomposting of kitchen scraps mostly. He mentioned someone drinking the water that came from the system, which if true, would be extremely bad idea.

[@Evolutivity]

@@milobem4458 Yeah there are two different systems. The biofilter, which somebody drank from accidentally, and was fine! And the vermicomposting system which is only for fruit trees.

[@s-c..]

⁠@@EvolutivityI thought the biofilter was the second stage of the vermicomposting system, so had the same initial input. No?

[@kumaragurusubramanian581]

This is not a good idea, use a septic tank instead, and once it got filled up after few years, use that thing to fertilize the fields. The thing that is sitting inside the tank for few years will lose almost all kind of pathogens and biochemicals that are harardous.

[@CharlesNewkirk-lb6uh]

People poop!!!!🎉

[@robertmeliet4301]

That's not a good idea? Wake tfu? It's totally unsanitary?😊

[@racebiketuner]

If you work your ass off, do you still need a toilet? 😉

[@kazparzyxzpenualt8111]

Just stop eating. End of problem

[@billgreen576]

Yeah but then you can't eat the worms

[@jimyost2585]

How to make human poop usable? Are you suggesting a way to transform Washington politics?

[@kingmasterlord]

a way to make money from shit? nobody tell the Irish!

[@iamwarren219]

I would never eat the food produced from this

[@supereight9221]

Cool story

[@osamedennadi6309]

Me either

[@senatorjosephmccarthy2720]

That's Disgusting. Anyone who can't find cattle or other cosher animal manure can get a few chickens. Pig and Human manure are nasty and forbidden by the Almighty Creator. Leviticus 11.

[@0Dighs]

Nobody cares about your religion. Follow it if you want but don't impose your antiquated views on others.

[@FuckNewWorldOrder]

Ay off the exaggerated hand simafores.