In the UK, the average domestic water consumption is 141 litres per day, per person. Between 20% and 30% of domestic water consumption is used for flushing the toilet.
The water used for flushing your toilet is drinking quality water and will therefore have been extracted, cleaned, filtered and processed to a high standard, only to be poo’d and pee’d in and flushed ‘away’.
As I write this, the UK is in the middle of a severe drought and we’ve experienced record-breaking heatwaves. But the story is not unique to the UK, most of Europe and many parts of North America, Australia and the rest of the world have experienced extremes of wet and dry weather as old records have fallen.
Experts warn that this is the shape of the future and that we now need to be prepared for more extreme weather patterns each year as a result of climate change.
England drought: Everyone must rethink their water use, experts say
BBC News website 14/8/22 https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-62532620
Whilst there are many small changes people can make to slightly reduce their individual water consumption, (and let’s not get started on the amount lost by the water companies through leakage in poorly maintained infrastructure – around 130 litres per day, per person is lost through leakage!), having a compost toilet will immediately save 20-30% in your personal water use.
Having a waterless toilet will immediately save 20-30% of your personal water consumption – that’s around 35 litres per person, per day, or 1,000 litres a month, per person!
Off the back of that, you’ll also be saving carbon and global energy too – water doesn’t just magically appear at your tap – it needs pumping and before that, cleaning, purifying and processing – all of which are energy intensive operations.
And when you flush – once again, that sewage needs pumping, processing and treating, again, using more energy.
A waterless toilet, preferably a compost or composting toilet is looking like a necessity as we head towards adapting to a warmer, drier climate.
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