Toilet Tips: For when you must build your own. It happens.

"About 60 percent of (Christchurch) residents have access to a flushing toilet but breaks in the system were causing sewage to leak into the ground. Residents were advised to make use of more than 1400 portaloos around the city, with 1160 more due to arrive this week. More than 30,000 chemical toilets have also been ordered" ODT, Thu, 10 Mar 2011

Word is that Christchurch has exhausted the world's supply of chemical toilets because their sewer pipes have either been broken by unstable ground or blocked by silt.

Who woulda guessed it? What will the next shortage be? Invest now!

What would you use for a toilet if your sewer pipes were twisted, busted or blocked and you weren't likely to get resolution for days or weeks?

Kiwi Ingenuity to the fore!

Long Drop Tips can be found at Show Us Your Long Drop, a site set up to showcase how clever Cantabrians have been since the earthquake that rocked their city, killed over 166 people, toppled their cathedral spire, and crippled their sewage system.

What would you use for a seat?
What to stabilise the whole thing?
What about privacy?
What about going outside to use the new garden feature in the rain, in the dark?

Learn-as-you-go is often the rule.
Many added a bit of flooring just in front of the seat so trousers didn't get dirty. Others figured out ways to keep the loo paper dry.

What of the odor?
You can sprinkle ashes, fresh pine sawdust or kitty litter on, but built in ventilation was a much appreciated feature when I lived in Africa and commonly used such long drops.

"The vent pipe needs to be about 100mm diameter and extend straight from the pit to 500mm above the roof. If you put it on the sunny side and paint it black it'll improve the vent performance." Write to paul.lewthwaite@livelearn.org for an instruction guide.

Would you put the surplus on your garden as fertiliser? Many do, and not just after earthquakes. I'd suggest composting it first and thoroughly. Instructions pdf

Peter commented on the Long Drop Tips page saying, "This number 8 fencing wire mentality is still alive and well."