How to Make an Evapotranspiration Toilet

The evapotranspiration toilet is a self-cleaning, eco-friendly sanitation solution, best suited to sunny climates. It provides an on-site sanitation system for the chemical and biological treatment and reuse of household blackwater. Building one isn't as hard as it sounds.

Part 1
Part 1 of 3:

Building the Backstand Pipe

  1. The evapotranspiration toilet has an impermeable, underground tank filled with layers of materials, decreasing in size with each rising, successive layer. Together the substructure layers use the anaerobic digestion, capillary action, evaporation, and transpiration processes to filter, release and absorb the waste matter.
    • Anaerobic digestion converts a portion of the human excreta into biogas, exiting out the pipes. The digested matter travels up and out the tank through capillary action. The nutrients leave the system by incorporating into the plants’ biomass through mineralization and absorption by the plants’ roots, while evapotranspiration removes the liquid, either transpiring through the plants or evaporating at the surface from the soil.
  2. Collect 15 recycled tires (size 12-13 or with a 2-foot diameter), and make a 4-inch hole in one tire. Cut one piece of pipe to 4 feet 6 inches and insert this pipe into the tire with the hole. No need to use sealant.        
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  3. Cut one piece of 2 feet, One piece of 2 feet 6 inches, and two pieces of 1 foot each.
  4. Next, connect the 1-foot pipe on the other side of the elbow with the sealant.     
  5. The top of the T connects to a one 1-foot pipe, using sealant. The middle of the T connects to the 2-foot pipe with sealant.
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Part 2
Part 2 of 3:

Digging the Hole for the Tank

  1. Make it 9 feet long, 2 feet wide and 5 feet deep. Make sure not to dig the hole near a water source and not to dig the tank too wide, so that the width of the tank holds the tire in place. Confirm the location of the toilet seat at the beginning to properly align the toilet seat with the pipes and tires.
  2. Use either with ferrocement, cement, a thick plastic sheeting, and/or two to four layers of slurry. One option is to create a plastic lining in the tank that completely covers the tank. Cut three pieces of plastic sheeting that are 3 meters long and 1.5 meters wide, and two pieces that are 1 meter long by 1.5 meters wide.
    • Slurry lining option:
    • Plastic lining option:
    • Brick lining option:
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Part 3
Part 3 of 3:

Finishing the Tank

  1. For example, you can use broken bricks.
  2. Start loading the tires from the front side of the tank. The one foot pipe connected to the elbow goes into the tank – into the tire duct. Use a jute bag, or some variation, to cover the tire’s hole and the front pipe. Secure with big porous stones / broken bricks.
  3.  The second to last tire is the backstand pipe (tire with hole and large pipe).   
  5. Cover and fill around the tire duct with broken bricks, around the border to secure the tires’ position.
  9. Make the land even.
  10. For example, use five Banana Plants, three Money Plants, and two Chia Plants. Choose any compatible, tall, large-leaf, high water plants. Do not grow any vegetables low to the ground, like spinach, etc.
  11. Once your plant layer has matured, it should look like this.
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      Warnings

      • This setup is not viable in areas with high-water tables, near bodies of water, or flood prone areas. It's best suited to sunny, dry climates.
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