What Is a Composting Toilet & How Is It Different From a Bio-Toilet

The global sanitation crisis remains a pressing issue, with over 4 billion people, i.e., more than half of the world’s population, lacking access to clean water at home as of 2024.

This deficiency in safe drinking water contributes significantly to health problems, including the spread of diseases such as diarrheal illnesses, which are particularly fatal among young children.

Inadequate sanitation facilities, especially in regions with limited water resources, exacerbate environmental pollution and public health risks.

Traditional flush toilets, prevalent in many parts of the world, consume substantial amounts of water.

For instance, in the United States, toilets account for approximately 33 gallons of water usage per person daily.

This high water consumption is unsustainable, particularly in areas facing water scarcity.

Even the sanitation situation in India has been grim for a long time.

According to a 2023 report by UNICEF, approximately 19% of rural households in India still lacked access to basic sanitation facilities in 2022, leading to open defecation and contamination of water sources.

Additionally, urban wastewater treatment capacity stands at just 37%, meaning a large portion of untreated sewage still pollutes rivers and groundwater.

Lack of proper toilet facilities, waste disposal mechanisms, and shortage of water in different parts of the country has caused multiple problems, such as open defecation and, subsequently, water and soil pollution.

Moreover, poor sanitation has led to the spread of diseases among communities and a countless number of deaths.

In areas where toilets are available, communities have faced another problem.

On average, a single individual uses the toilet at least five times a day and flushes water thousands of times a year.

An estimated 4000 liters of water per person are wasted annually through conventional flushing systems.

This is where composting toilets and bio-toilets are innovations that have emerged in the recent past that can help solve sanitation situations.

What is a Composting Toilet?

In simple words, composting toilets reduce 90% of waste and turn it into useful, nutrient-rich compost.

The composting toilets use living microorganisms like aerobic bacteria to break down the organic waste, which is similar to the normal composting process done outdoors.

Carbon-rich sources such as sawdust, peat moss, coconut coir, shredded leaves, or bark mulch are used as additives to boost aerobic decomposition in the presence of oxygen after every use.

It is also known to minimize odour issues and improve the carbon-nitrogen ratio.

The longer retention time for organic waste in the composting chamber helps eliminate pathogens as well.

Once the decomposition process is completed, you will find the compost or humus as the end-product.

Composting toilets are also known as dry toilets because, unlike conventional toilets, these do not use water for flushing.

As far as composting toilet design is concerned, there are generally two types: Self-contained and Remote.

In the first type, the whole system is placed beneath the toilet bowl.

Such types are most commonly used at homes, boats, etc.

The second type often directs the human waste to a remote composter placed away from the toilet.

A large number of toilets can be connected to such systems.

In both types, any liquid is drained to an absorption trench.

Also, as the piling of waste happens, compost is moved to a humus chamber through a sloping floor by gravity, which can be collected for use.

The advantages of using composting toilets include less or no waste use, being environmentally friendly, and the compost being used as manure, which is best suited for non-edible plants.

In addition, it can be used in rural areas and regions which have water scarcity.

How Is It Different From a Bio-Toilet?

A bio-toilet, as the name indicates, uses a biological process to degrade human excreta as well as waste.

Similar to composting toilets, a bio-toilet utilizes powerful living bacteria to act on the waste.

However, there is one major difference between the two types of toilets.

The bacterial community in a bio-toilet is anaerobic and works in the absence of oxygen.

Moreover, the biological process in a bio-toilet converts waste and gives end-products such as methane gas and water.

Biogas can be prepared with this system and used as a renewable energy source.

Advantages of a bio-toilet include water conservation, no odour, no bug infestation, and minimum maintenance requirements.

Thus, as you can see, both toilet types can be used in rural areas and many other places such as schools, public places, trains, temporary living structures, bus stands, construction sites, etc.

They are easy to install, cost-effective, and environment-friendly.

Organica Biotech is one of the leading companies with advanced solutions transforming sanitation in India and the world.

The Bioclean Bio-toilets have been recognized and awarded by the Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation, Government of India.

It has also been considered the best sustainable solution to meet sanitation objectives in India.