21.5 Bucket toilet (two buckets)

It is the system recommended by emergency management agencies and the Oregon State University extension for days or weeks without a sewer. It uses two 5-gallon (19 L) buckets: one for urine and another for feces and paper.

Materials needed

• 2 buckets of 5 gal (19 L) with lids, labeled “URINE” and “FECES” (or “1” and “2”)
• Snap-on bucket seat (sold at camping stores) or an old toilet seat
• Heavy 13-gal bags: 3 to 5 mil thick (42-gal “contractor bags” work as the outer bag and for storage)
• Carbon-rich absorbent material: wood shavings or sawdust, wood pellets, clumping cat litter, peat moss, or shredded paper
• Toilet paper and a separate bag or container for feminine pads and wipes
• Disposable nitrile gloves, zip ties or tape to seal bags
• Spray bottle with bleach solution (see below), hand sanitizer, and soap
• Large container with a tight-fitting lid to store the full bags

How to set it up

1. Put it in the bathroom, so the odor and cleanup stay in one place. Keep the handwashing station there (section 21.8).
2. Feces bucket: put one bag inside another, fold the edges over the outside of the bucket, and set the seat on top. Put a base layer of absorbent in the bottom.
3. Urine bucket: it can go without a bag. If only one person uses the system at a time, a funnel helps. Women can urinate in the feces bucket if separating is difficult; you'll just use more absorbent.

How to use it

1. After each use of bucket 2, completely cover the feces with half a cup of absorbent material (Oregon State University). If it is still visible or smells, add more.
2. Toilet paper: into bucket 2, never the urine bucket.
3. Always cover it. The lid should close well to keep flies out, but not airtight: the contents need to be able to dry out a little.
4. Change the bag when it is half full, no more: a full one is too heavy and tears. In hot weather, change it sooner if there is odor or flies.
5. To seal it: wearing gloves, press out the air, tie the inner bag, then the outer one. Put in a new double bag right away.
6. Wash your hands when you finish, every time.

Urine

• The urine of a healthy person has almost no germs; that's why it is separated. What makes the toilet dangerous and smelly is the feces.
• Empty the urine bucket when it reaches a quarter full, or before it gets too heavy.
• If the sewer works, pour it into the toilet. If it doesn't, dilute it with water (it can be the used water from washing your hands) and pour it over soil or grass, changing the spot each time, away from wells, creeks, sidewalks, and entrances. In the complex, follow what management and the authorities say.
• An adult produces about 1.5 liters of urine per day (it varies with heat and what they drink). With several people it builds up fast (4 people produce about 6 liters, more than 1.5 gallons). Plan to empty the bucket once or twice a day.

Disinfectants: bleach yes, quicklime no

• Bleach solution: 1 part unscented liquid bleach to 10 parts water (Seattle Public Utilities; Wayne County). Spray a little over the contents of bucket 2 to reduce odor and use it to clean the seat and the bucket. Make it fresh every day.

• Don't put bleach in the urine bucket. Bleach reacts with the ammonia in urine and can release irritating gases. For the same reason, never mix bleach with ammonia or other cleaners.
• Don't use dry powdered bleach or chlorine products made to be diluted in water: dry, they are caustic.
• Lime: it isn't necessary. If you use it, it must be chlorinated lime, never quicklime (calcium oxide): it is highly alkaline and corrosive, burns skin and eyes, and heats up when it gets wet. Absorbent and diluted bleach are enough.
• Portable RV toilet chemicals work for odor: use them according to the label.

Where to store the full bags

1. Outside the apartment if it is safe to go out: a large trash can with a tight-fitting lid (metal or rigid plastic) in the yard, in the shade, away from the door, the windows, and the air conditioning unit. Label it “HUMAN WASTE.”
2. Separate from regular trash and from food, water, pets, and visiting children. The container keeps out flies and rats.
3. If you can't go out (sheltering at home for a chemical or nuclear emergency, chapters 15 and 16): keep the closed container inside the bathroom or in the room farthest from where you eat, and keep the door closed.
4. Final disposal: wait for instructions from your city or county. Agencies differ: some allow throwing them out with household trash only during emergencies (Seattle); others ask you to hold them until the system is repaired (Oregon State University). Don't bury or burn feces in the complex.

Amounts for 2 weeks, per person

Estimate from this guide based on the rules above (half a cup of absorbent per use, bag changed at half full). Buy with a margin: it's cheap and doesn't expire.

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