

How No-Flush Toilets Can Help Make a Healthier World - ceeK
http://e360.yale.edu/feature/how_no-flush_toilets_can_help_make_a_healthier_world/2581/

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SageRaven
This is my thought on the modern flush toilette:

[http://makeameme.org/media/created/skeptical-third-world-
kid...](http://makeameme.org/media/created/skeptical-third-world-kid-so-you-
have.jpg)

I lived in what was essentially a rural cabin for 5 years. We had no indoor
plumbing and stored water for cooking and bathing in barrels. We used a
composting toilette (see "The Humanuer Handbook"). After moving back to a
"real" modern house in the city, I am daily reminded of the tragic waste of
potable water that modern plumbing endorses.

~~~
Retric
There is not a global shortage of potable water, in most areas flushing a
toilet uses well under 1 cent of water and if it was not flushed it would
simply end up in the ocean anyway. There are regional shortages, but in the
vast majority of cases that's a corruption and infrastructure problem.

PS: Now sewage treatment is often far more expensive than the water it's self,
but that's really a separate issue.

~~~
AndrewKemendo
> There are regional shortages, but in the vast majority of cases that's a
> corruption and infrastructure problem.

This can also be said for most things which the globe has major problems with:
Food, Education, Electricity etc...

Don't forget, that 1C of potable water also took quite a bit of electricity
and infrastructure to make clean (assuming we are discussing most modern
western water systems based on water treatment and not pure well water).

It is worthwhile, to examine how necessary aspects of our consumption are, in
order to be more efficient and use fewer resources.

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brudgers
One of my professors, the late David Crane, FAIA, had a rule of thumb for
determining the suitability of sanitary systems for poor communities on a
global scale - suitability is inversely proportional to pipes.

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Nux
<http://img.nux.ro/3rF-refilling_bowls_of_water.png> !

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expralitemonk
The conventional flush toilet requires a massive water treatment system with
pumps every few miles to push the wastewater through the pipe. But the costs
are hidden from the payer, which makes everyone happy.

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lifeisstillgood
I like the way the world (seems) to be turning - towards putting effort into
solving the worlds problems based on evidence and rational thought as opposed
to bureaucratic incentives or popular votes.

One can hope

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delinka
The only problem I have with these things is it teaches me that I don't need
to flush. I've stepped away from many flush toilets only to be reminded
moments later that I need to depress the handle.

Outfitting flush toilets with automatic flush devices is a decent stopgap ...
unless the one on the sit toilet is misaligned and causes flushing every time
I lean a little - then my butt cheeks get wet :-(

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contingencies
I would like to point out the subtle but present contradiction between the two
statements endorsed by the article, namely _Everyone needs a toilet!_ and
_Decentralized waste treatment is superior!_

In addition, this article didn't mention the long-recognized composting
principle that separating urine and feces largely removes any bad smell.

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crististm
Who would have thought? The human mind seems to unbounded in both directions!

