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One of the most commonly overlooked aspects of preparedness is the question of what to do with excrement after the SHTF. Disaster movies often show people starving to death or killing each other, but one of the most common ways people die during disasters is from diseases like cholera due to a lack of sanitation.
If the next crisis is so serious that the sewage treatment plant is no longer operating and the sewers begin to back up, you’ll have to find another place to do your business. Even if you have a septic system, you’ll still have a problem if the water isn’t running. Unless you have an unlimited supply of water you can use to flush your toilets, you’ll need to find another way to deal with waste.
Of course, you can always go number one outside (assuming it isn’t freezing and you aren’t stuck in a building), but you should be cautious about going number two outside. Even if you bury your waste in catholes, it won’t be long before you start running out of places to bury it, and having that much waste buried in your yard is very unsanitary, anyway.
In this video, City Prepping explains how to dispose of waste during a disasters. He covers the following:
- Considerations in an urban environment.
- Sanitation and disasese.
- Existing options for waste disposal.
- How to build your own disaster toilet for cheap.
- How to properly use your disaster toilet.
- Other options on the market.
Wach the video below to learn more.
Another option that’s cheaper than the composting toilet is a stool digester like a doggie doolie from pet supply places. They make them for 1 to 2 dog families up to 4 or 5 dog count. But it’s a measure to take before things happen or to 31st least have on hand. The small systems go in the ground and aren’t incredibly deep. In a shtf scenario it would be more affordable to buy 4 or 5 of these or one for each family member 5that is larger sized plus one for animal waste. You can buy the enzymatic liquid that literally breaks the feces down and then it is a continuous process. From my understanding it doesn’t cause harm to an area and is very sanitary plus even buying 4 or 5 and gallons of the enzymatic cleaner or a septic treatment product? Still cheaper because they’re wholesale and you’re forking half of the amount of money for the composting toilet to have a discreet “dump” set of sites spread out….the bags? I’d use cleaner then have a separate hole that you could even set up a few of with a wider pic pipe maybe a few feet down and pack the bags down as they’re used…replace the grass on top of them and use a thin layer of cedar or sawdust or litter as every few are disposed of. The doggie dolly systems are very discreet once buried too. Just remember to replace the grass after you’ve installed them…the tp could stay in separate small bags near what is seemingly a regular “compost” area post shtf. The ideas with the bags? Doable…. To? Get the kind that breaks down super fast so they could be in a “compost” area….but the stool digesters work well at kennels. In fact they work better than many of the kennel septic systems and it all goes safely back into the earth once broken down in the digester. Its sounding like a pain but a one time pain to keep illness away is perfect.
If the pumps stop working and the sewage backs up (because LOTS of people won’t have watched that video), you will end up with sewage backing up into your home and trust me, been there, done that, got the T, you do NOT want that to happen. If bad things happen (SHTF) and you even think that the sewage system may be down, be ready and act quickly – here’s how:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0J7S92c-yMg
P.S. If you live in an apartment, you have additional sewage backup problems which may require bugging out to your BOL so be prepared for that possibility.
P.P.S. If you don’t want to take the toilet off of the drain, that rubber ball can be used in the toilet with bracing to seal the opening.
Great video!