ABSTRACT
The composting of organic refuse with nightsoil or sewage sludge is a method of preparing them for application to the land as fertiliser and soil conditioner, rendering them more beneficial to the soil while killing any pathogens present. Composting may be aerobic or anaerobic. The chief advantage of aerobic over anaerobic composting is its higher temperature, which causes greater speed of digestion and effective pathogen destruction. A variety of more or less mechanised techniques exists for composting. A widely applicable technique is to form long mounds, called windrows. Composting can be carried out with simple equipment and very little training, and is well suited to many tropical environments. The scientific principles which apply to the composting of municipal wastes also apply to individual composting toilets. There are a number of projects where hundreds and even thousands of households seem to have opted for composting toilets, but these can be deceptive.
