What To Do with the Composting Toilet at the Beginning of the Season?
Empty…
Empty any compost that had been left in the finishing drawer, and use the rake to clean out the evaporation chamber, paying special attention to the back two corners of the unit (or left hand side if it is a Centrex family unit).
- Your fertilizer is ready
- This is a good time to remove peat debris from the evaporation chamber.
Remove from The Composting Toilet…
Remove additional drawers of compost if there is more than 6 to 8 inches (150-200mm) of compost in the Bio-Drum. This is done by releasing the drum lock, and rotating the handle counter-clockwise to extract compost into the drawer. Since it will have been sitting over the winter and decomposing in the fall and spring, it will be finished and may be removed immediately, without any extra time needed to finish the compost in the drawer. Several drawers may be removed in this fashion if necessary. Be sure to leave 6-8 inches of compost in the composting toilet to start off the season with a “starter batch” of compost.
- Frees space in the drum for the new season’s composting.
Add to the Composting Toilet…
Add 2 litres of warm water.
- Raises moisture level
As an option for optimal composting:
Add Sun Mar Microbe Mix or unsterilized black earth from a garden center. We do not recommend using topsoil as it may contain fly larvae, and may not contain all of the bacterium required. Sun Mar Compost Quick enzyme can also be used as a compost accelerant.
- Even though the compost still has microbes in it, you may want to start the year by replenishing microbes.
- Compost Quick helps to accelerate the action of the microbes