In the article you will learn how to make a dry closet for a summer residence with your own hands. Such a design will be indispensable if you do not want to sewer (or there is simply no such possibility). A dry closet is a design that is designed to meet the natural physiological needs of any person. Such designs are ideal for use in places of temporary residence. Therefore, for giving a dry closet will be simply an indispensable device.
Features of dry closet
The peat type of dry closets is very popular among summer residents. They have quite an interesting waste recycling technology. Anyone can make a peat dry closet with their own hands if they are armed with tools and knowledge. Utilization of feces in the structure occurs only in a natural way - no harmful (within reason, of course) substances are emitted. To speed up processing,use organic products. Peat or sawdust is ideal for this purpose.
Bacteria are often used in dry closets - microflora, which is created artificially. Many use bioenzymes - these are substances that are obtained as a result of the vital activity of certain types of bacteria. Dry closets work according to such simple principles. The design is not much different from the standard one, it is installed on a personal plot, away from the places where you usually are. It is advisable to choose a place where there are no drafts, it should be protected from direct sunlight.
How the toilet works
Next, we'll look at how to make a dry closet for a summer residence with our own hands, but first we'll figure out how it works. The essence is simple to disgrace:
- User uses the toilet for a great need.
- The waste product, using a suitable container, must be covered with a layer of peat.
- Composting is activated thanks to aerobic bacteria.
- The resulting compost is still maturing for a certain time.
Fully decomposed compost is a component that is rich in a variety of organic substances. They are very easily absorbed by plants. Therefore, it will be a very effective fertilizer for absolutely any vegetation.
It is worth noting that such dry closets are often installed on railway transport and on airplanes. It differs from ordinary toilets in thatactivator is used - peat. It allows you to process waste products more efficiently, leaving no trace of them.
Varieties of toilets
The construction of such a simple structure can be done according to one of two schemes:
- Without a house.
- With a house.
There are a lot of recommendations that will be useful for using a peat dry closet in a residential building (not in the yard, but inside the dwelling). But if you are too sensitive to smells, then this option will obviously not suit you.
But there are professional models that can be used in homes. They do not emit odors during operation. But we are talking about making a peat dry closet for giving with our own hands. Therefore, placing it in the house turns out to be simply unreasonable - after all, there is a lot of space in the yard, and the device will be used exclusively in the warm season.
Description of structures with and without a house
Without a house - a design that involves the manufacture of a toilet seat and a box for storing powder (peat). This is the simplest solution imaginable. This system can be successfully operated in a summer cottage, but only if its entire territory is securely hidden from prying eyes.
You can protect the dry closet box with three sheets of opaque material - it can be a profiled sheet, slate, board. But it is better, of course, to build a small house with a door. In this case, you will get the perfect place to not onlyto relieve themselves, but also to study ten-year-old local newspapers, social media profiles of friends, even hold important negotiations without interrupting important business.
Tools and materials
And now let's talk about how to make a dry closet in the country with your own hands, and what materials will be needed for this:
- Plywood 10…12 mm thick.
- Edged board 85…110 mm wide and 12…15 mm thick.
- Wooden beam 40x40 mm.
- Door hinges - it is advisable to choose medium-sized models, you need 6 … 10 pieces for the design
- Metal container (preferably stainless steel or galvanized steel). The volume must be at least 10 liters.
You should also have these tools on hand:
- Hacksaw with fine teeth.
- Carpentry knife.
- Machinery hammer.
- Meta measure, screwdrivers, pencil.
- Electric jigsaw.
- Secrets, nails, screws.
- Screwdriver or drill.
Initial stage of work
The most difficult thing is to cut a large diameter round hole on a pre-prepared plywood sheet. Using a hacksaw, the sheet must be cut so that one panel is 50x50 cm in size. This is an average size, the specific one directly depends on who will use the dry closet. After that, it is necessary to cut a round hole on this panel - its diameter should be 250…300 mm.
But when making a country dry closet with your own hands, you canmake a hole not round, but in the shape of an egg. It is recommended that you first make a markup on a sheet of plywood - using a pencil and a ruler, draw the outline of the future hole. This is probably the hardest part of the job.
As soon as you make a hole, you can start processing wood - carefully clean it with sandpaper. First you need to use coarse, then finer. Your task is to achieve maximum smoothness of the plywood sheet. To avoid overworking, sand only on one side (you do not need to do this from the inside). If you wish, then cover the entire surface with varnish - in this case, the possibility of splinters getting under the skin will decrease.
How to assemble the body of the utilizer: highlights
After that, you need to assemble the frame of the box. It is inside it that you will install a container for feces. It is placed clearly under the hole in the upper part. The box is easy to assemble - you will need 4 racks of square or rectangular timber, as well as 4 partitions of the same material. Connect all the elements and sheathe the outside with plywood sheets. The height of the structure should be such that it is most convenient for the user to sit on the toilet seat. Average height – 350..400 mm.
From above, the hole in the toilet seat must be covered with a sheet of plywood so that extraneous unpleasant odors do not spread throughout the summer cottage. When repairing the Thetford dry closet with your own hands, you may have to make a new body of the utilizer. How to do it - considernext.
Case making
The essence of the work is to make a wooden rectangular box. It should have dimensions of 1000x500x350 mm. It is necessary to make sure that the frame bars are inside the structure; use wood screws for reliable fastening. A case made according to this algorithm must be divided by a partition inside to get two working compartments.
The upper compartment is covered with a sheet of plywood with a hole, then without it. The second section is for storing peat. It should also be covered with a plywood lid. The lids must be attached with hinges so that they open and close as conveniently as possible.
The final stage is the treatment of the entire structure with antiseptic agents that will prevent the formation of fungi and mold on the wood. In addition, after processing with such means, the wood will not be very interesting for insects. After installing one section of the tank inside, you can start using the dry closet for its intended purpose.
Toilet accessories
To make it more convenient to choose peat, make a small spatula. It can be made from wood, but if you don’t feel sorry for the money, buy it ready-made in the store. On sale you can find various blades - both plastic and metal. The first ones are simple, cheap, but short-lived.
As you understand, there is no flushing with water in the structure - the waste product is simply sprinkled with peat or sawdust. Therefore, after each bowel movement, you will have to pick up a spatula, collect a small amount of peat andsprinkle them with fresh feces.
An ordinary bucket can act as a container for collecting waste, but it is best to use a more capacious and convenient container for this purpose. It is quite practical to use two containers at once - put one inside the box, and the second (clean and empty) nearby, in order to quickly replace if necessary. It is also recommended to always have various toilet cleaning products, antibacterial compounds on hand.
Additional equipment at their summer cottage
This design of a dry closet for a home with your own hands is quite simple, no deep knowledge of plumbing is needed. But the question arises of where to put all the waste. Indeed, there is only more waste in the container, so it is necessary to make a compost pit in the immediate vicinity of the toilet.
It should have at least 10 times the volume of the faeces collection container. In this case, you can slowly collect compost, which will gradually ripen. It is also worth noting that this volume is enough to provide a small plot of 3-4 acres with high-quality fertilizers of our own production.
Open-type dry closets are rarely used in practice. Most often, the owners of summer cottages prefer to build small cabins that are closed from prying eyes. To make a booth you will need material:
- Edged boards.
- Wooden bars.
- Fasteners.
- Door hinges.
Also in such a booth you can make lighting, a ventilation system, put an outlet and connect the Internet. In other words, only your imagination is limited by how the dry closet house will be equipped. In the manufacture of the booth, a small amount of material will be needed, assembly is carried out as quickly as possible. In addition, the design can be redone fairly quickly. Modernization usually consists in the fact that instead of a homemade toilet seat, a ready-made kit from the toilet is placed. You can even install a toilet and replace the peat powder with water.
Peat bedding system
Now you know how to make a dry closet with your own hands, but let's talk about how to upgrade it. And more precisely, then replace the manual peat filling. Any dispenser system can be used for this. But if you are not well versed in technology, then it is better to find a finished design in a store than to try to make it yourself. In addition, for greater convenience, you can put a plastic seat with a cover instead of a wooden toilet seat. In this case, using the country toilet will be even more pleasant.
Please note that there must always be a sufficient amount of powder in the peat compartment. Otherwise, feces that are not covered with a layer of peat will begin to emit a not very pleasant smell that will ruin your stay in the country.
