Waste Treatment

Disconnecting from the city sewer will give you a sudden new appreciation for the expression "in deep sh*t." Human excrement is dangerous stuff when untreated and while it may not be the first thing we think of when making plans to be off-grid, it is one item that has to be done right or you will find yourself in, well, you know.

The processing of human excrement is a potentially a health hazard, so some education and care is advised. Excrement, when mixed with water as is common in standard plumbing, produces what is called "black water." Other waste water sources, such as showers, washers, and sinks, produce a lesser hazard called "gray water."

Composting Toilet

A straight forward approach to human waste is composting. This works just like the pile next to the garden. In fact, it might be the pile next to the garden! See The Humanure Handbook by Jenkins. The process relies on the natural decomposition of the waste over a period of weeks or months (depending on temperature and other conditions). Properly managed, a composting toilet is not only a safe solution to the disposition of human waste, but is in fact far more ecologically sound than a septic system. Septic systems are silent unseen ecological disasters.

Gray Water

There are many different approaches to disposing of gray water. Since these waste sources are not as biologically dangerous as black water, little more is required than providing an environment that will allow natural processes to proceed to completion. The most basic of approaches is the filtration bed.

Such a filter allows the gray water to percolate slowly through a bed of soil, sand, and gravel with lots of exposure to air to breakdown the biological substances in the water.

Methane Digester

Where a large quantity of manure, human and animal, is available, an anerobic composter can be used to produce methane gas for cooking and heating while simultaneously converting the waste into a high quality fertilizer.

The Humanure Handbook

This is the book on human waste disposal chemistry. I don't personally subscribe to the author's primitive engineering, but his research is impeccable. Whatever septic solution you choose, you should understand the underlying bio-chemistry. This is the book.

Buy it at Amazon for $15.20

Wells and Septic Systems

This is the canonical book on "code approved" water and waste water systems. The authors cover every phase of septic system planning, design and implementation from the percolation test, selecting the style of tank, various construction methods and excavation and piping. Quoting from the introduction, "This book describes and explains how these systems work, how to do much, if not all, of the work yourself,..."
They also provide a good introduction to water wells, but the better book is "The Home Water Supply" reviewed above.

Buy it at Amazon for $15.16