Im looking to Turbocharge my Composting Toilet, that I use at my weekender shed, I have been told compost worms will be fine for use in a toilet.
would worms from a garden place be ok to use?
Composting Worms, what type to use in a Composting Toilet ?
(6 posts) (3 voices)-
rsigmund
MemberI cannot talk to much about the specifics of a composting toilet as I have never had one but do have a vermicompost...But would love to hear how you go
Addressing the question "would worms from a garden place be ok to use"
In general probably not unless your garden has a lot of organic matter added to it (and worm species adapted to that type of material)...You would best off choosing a species of worm which can handle the high nitrogen ratio you would get in such as compost worms like 'Eisenia fetida' the red riggler
Very simply compost worms are NOT what are commonly known as earth worms. Compost worms are as I understand it - segmented worms that inhabit the leaf litter in rainforests and other rich composting environments. These are the species
Garden worms do not (as I have read) do well in composts and probably would not do well in a composting toilet.
This link has pretty good genral information http://www.wormpost.com/worms/biology.html
Posted Monday 3 May 2010 @ 4:19:32 am from IP # -
WormsRUs
MemberYou need compost worms to manage human waste. Also you need to age the human waste before placing human waste on your compost heap. Using fresh human manure may be too hot for the compost worms to consume immediately. If you have an existing compost heap, you can put the human manure that's been aged in your composting toilet on that, so long as you add shredded paper, untreated sawdust, leaves, store-bought compost/peat etc... This will help balance it out and kill smells. You can buy worm farms to help composting of human and animal waste.
Posted Friday 6 May 2011 @ 2:49:02 pm from IP # -
WormsRUs
MemberJust be careful with composting human manure. There is a view that human manure should not be composted for use on edible plants, such as vegetables, fruit, herbs etc... It's thought that organisms in compost with human faces can cause illness and also accumulation of heavy metals could be transferred to edible plants, so its best to only use such compost on plants that you don't eat and even then make sure it's well aged. Perhaps a few months.
Posted Sunday 8 May 2011 @ 2:03:53 pm from IP # -
WormsRUs
MemberFrom what I can ascertain so far, worm farms can also be used to help compost 100% biodegradable nappies. The question of how many nappies per day is less certain. Indications so far are that the bigger worm farms we have like the 500 litre Worm Habitat Grande, might be able to process that many nappies each day. I imagine you would need quite allot of compost worms though. Also good mix of other organic matter and sawdust. We are currently looking further into this.
cheers,
WormsRUs AU
Posted Thursday 12 May 2011 @ 6:01:55 pm from IP # -
WormsRUs
MemberThere are many variables in the process of composting, so it's difficult to offer a firm indication. Suffice to say that the bigger the system, the more it can compost, given you have a sufficient mix of compost worms and other organic matter. It would not be a simple case of just putting biodegradable nappies in your compost system. The organic balance of your compost / worm farm is important.
cheers,
WormsRUs CoM AuPosted Friday 13 May 2011 @ 2:54:55 pm from IP #