RE: OFF GRID TOILET...when you don't use a flushing toilet this is what you risk.
I don't think you understand the reason why people are going "off-grid" in the first place. Systems of dependency can and will fail you. What happens when the grid fails, for whatever reason? The public sanitation dept. have no redundancy to guarantee the very things you just mentioned in the post won't happen. I'm originally from Wisconsin, USA. A smaller town in the north, Rhinelander experienced failures in just one pump in their sewage system and it contaminated over 5,000 homes that had to be expensively sanitized before the owners could get occupancy again. So, depending on power to always be available isn't a guaranteed strategy to avoid nasty diseases that untreated human waste can possess.
Composting toilets, however, are very sanitary. In fact, they accomplish the very same process that ALL public sanitation systems do. They efficiently break down human waste through heat and Ultra Violet light exposure and then return the surplus nutrients back to the soil. Do some investigating into where the "sanitized" waste goes when the sanitation departments are done with it. You'll find that it goes into your rivers and onto your farm fields. Off-griders are just cutting out the middle man and doing it them self so that they are not dependent on outside systems of support.
As for your point of Child Protective Services being called on families who choose to be self-sufficient and safely recycle their own waste, what proof do you have of that ever being done? If that was the case, all children in all underdeveloped countries would have to be taken away from their families since most of these third world nations don't even utilize composting technology. I've been to Juarez, Mexico where raw sewage is running in the ditches. It's a city of a population over 1 million people, the vast majority without indoor plumbing. Missionary agencies are actually teaching the people of Juarez to install and use composting toilets.
So, I don't understand your animosity towards those who would like to go "off-grid." I personally am on-grid, but have a composting toilet on the standby in case power ever goes out for longer than I have fuel to run my generator.
Cheers mate!
ok...im only replying out of respect, because everything you just said, made want to take a nap.
First... You made the "typical"( that so many Americans do) mistake of assuming that the post was directed at Americans only. If Americans do get something from the post, all good and well. Its a big world and I'm not American. I'm Australian, that is who the post is primarily directed at. Here in AUSTRALIA, the government can , have and will take your kids away from you if you do not supply the correct sanitation facilities, or any other reason they deem sufficient for that matter. The majority of my follower,subscribers,reader, viewers are AUSTRALIAN. Here in AUSTRALIA, we have many floods, especially in Queensland where I am. We have built "our" sanitary systems to cope with this and that makes it extraordinarily infrequent that there is any kind of malfunction. We have had shut downs but never of more than a few days , and when it does happen the government leaps into action and systematically distributes portable ablution units widely. Yes I am well aware that a large portion of Americans think your county is about to burst into flames at any moment. However I do not agree with that at all. You as Americans, may suffer the odd occasion that your systems go offline and having a backup is clearly a good idea. Australia will never and I meen never have a systematic collapse of primary support mechanisms. We would have to be hit by a bloody asteroid for that to happen. Our systems are new and very well maintained.
Second...Do you really believe that every person that goes "off Grid" in America is a sensible and responsible person that can actually proved the necessary systems to which you speak of ? I don't think so.
Third...I spent a great deal of time in 3rd world countries in south east asia doing Aid work and they have some of the BEST off grid systems I have ever seen. Again as an American you "assume" too much by inferring that people in 3rd world countries are backwards. Shame on you for that. By what you said about where the effluent goes in your county is sounds like your government is irresponsible (another season I am so happy I live in Australia) as here in Australia we put the waste through very stringent methods of removing contaminants from the water. You could almost drink it, though I would not recommend it.
Finally...I have a 40 acre farm that... IS... off grid at the moment, as its under construction. I don't have any animosity towards just anyone who goes off grid, I have animosity for fools that go off grid and bring harm to themselves, others and the environment. Going off grid just because the power or water may get shut off one day is exactly the same as a farmer that doesn't use his horse to plow his fields because it will die one day. Same logic. If I spent all my time worrying about what "if" situations I would never be able to take advantage of the what IS situations. Your country is being systematically regressed into atrophy as a mechanism to remove your participation in the next great leap forward for human civilisation, by making you all believe exiting all that your ancestors have built is worthless and/or not to be trusted or relied upon. I personally love the grid and all the great thing it lets me do, and all the time it save me to enjoy all the great things in life there are to do. Bugger spending all day working my guts out just to get the basics done, but if by some extraordinarily narrow chance that the grid does go down, I have a very good brain and a very capable family that will overcome any such adversity without missing a beat.
One day it will be time for my children to go forward and do their part, offering Aid services to the 3rd world, unfortunately i fear that 3rd would county will be America. Not because your government did it , rather because you all did it to yourselves voluntarily. Hows that grab yu... as some food for thought. ; o)
Cheers.....Mate !
I live off grid, never had any problems with my toilet waste, in ten years it was never emptied. I'm an Asian guy in a third world country. I resent people being mandated to pay for sewage systems, because I'm libertarian. Seems like a big monopolistic scam.