This workshop is part of the Circular Sanitation Challenge. On Thursday 9. June we will set up and improve prototype I and build a second prototype for a pop-up composting toilet that can be tranported by cargo bike to any event where you want to show such a toilet and inform about the phosphate cycle and the need to recycle nutrients.
Prototype I (Tested 2015 at an Allan Kaprow re-enactment happening in Berlin)
Auswertung unseres 1. Testlaufes:
- Das Paket ist für den Transport etwas lang, der Rest ist leicht zu transportieren und das Gewicht ist super
- Auf- und Abbau haben super geklappt
- es riecht wirklich nicht und ist angenehm zu benutzen
- der Sitz und die Kabine sind schön stabil und regensicher
- Leute sind skeptisch und brauchen Ermutigung und Informationen, damit sie die Toilette betreten
- wir müssen die Tür verbessern, damit sie so schließt, dass sich die Leute in der Toilette ausreichend geschützt fühlen
- die Nutzer hatten Bedenken, weil ihr Schatten auf der hellen Folie zu sehen sein könnte: mehr Sichtschutz nötig
- die Verbindung von Eimer und Toilette passte noch nicht ganz
- für die Befestigung der Schraubzwingen sollte man Handschuhe anziehen
- die Informationsblätter waren verständlich, denn es gab dazu keine Fragen
- die Fermentation vor der eigentlichen Kompostierung hat nicht funktioniert. Wir versuchen es dieses Jahr im wärmeren Sommerklima nochmal.
Results from the 1. test run:
- The package is a bit long for transport, the rest of the stuff was easily transportable and the weight perfectly fine
- setting up and dismantling worked very well
- it doesn’t smell and is easy and pleasant to use
- the seat and the cabin are nicely stable and rain proof
- people are sceptical and need encouragement and information to enter the toilet
- we have to improve the door to make it shut properly so people feel protected enough inside
- people want a less transparent bottom part so their shadow doesn’t show on the white/ light coloured foil
- the connection between seat and bucket needs improvement
- you need gloves for fastening the vices at the bottom
- the information leaflet was understandable: no questions were asked
- the fermentation before the compostation did not work, let’s try again in warmer temperatures this summer
Educational leaflet for prototype I in German and English
CycelooExplain.compressed.pdf (309.0 KB)
Label for the toilet seat DE-EN
Materials list for prototype I in German
CycelooMaterialDE.compressed.pdf (228.8 KB)
Future plans for prototyping
Cyceloo also plans to do a Hack-a-Dixie-happening later this year at the Emergent Berlin Fest in September where we turn a conventional Dixie-toilet (brand name, in Germany synonymous for chemical building site toilets) into a composting toilet.
Cyceloo on facebook: https://www.facebook.com/cyceloo
The Cyceloo @ OSCEdays2016 in Berlin:
Results of this test run:
Setting up was easy, people were happier to try the loo as we chose a less prominent/ exposed location. The capacity of the bucket was soon reached with only one cyceloo, especially when the conventional toilets broke. The organizers tried to use our instructions for building more loos but failed: we need to improve them, especially concerning the wood chips & hygiene part, but also building the seat to match different sizes of buckets: there was a gap under the seat so there was a mess on the floor which was hard to clean as there were no gaps between floor boards like you get them with the Euro-pallet (they put them into the normal toilet cabins). The users didn’t add enough wood chip and some inandequate high-resin wood types were used (remains from carpenter workshop). The buckets used did not all have identical lids so some were mixed up and didn’t close properly, causing the urine to react with air oxygen and develop stinky ammonia. We will now have to find a solution for storage and compostation of unexpected amounts of collected unrine-faeces-mix. The original cyceloo survived the reality check quite well, only the door ‘hinge’ ripped (still need a better solution there).
Iteration/ Prototype II
Started to use the 3x3 grid from Mifactory on 13.6.2016 during OSCEdays Berlin, pictures will be uploaded soon.
Next plans:
A) use the Berlin grid to build another prototype that can be tested @ a showroom event with OSCE sponsor Veolia.
B) do the Hack-a-Dixie @ Emergent Berlin Fest in September
C) try out fermentationwith EM (Effective Micro-organisms) on the collected urine/faeces-mix + coordinate with Dycle project and/or EcoToi for compostation trial
D) build a mirco-methanizer and/or a pee-ponics plant @ OSCEdays 2017