The Mogami Area General Branch Administration of Yamagata Prefecture has installed two outdoor lavatories that utilize locally produced biomass such as sawdust, one each in Mamurogawa and Kaneyama towns.

Next to the Nonomura Tameike reservoir in Mamurogawa Town, a vault toilet with an easily maintained and managed water flush system has been installed. Once every week or so, special microorganisms are sprinkled into the sewage in the pipe that connects the toilet with the cesspool. These microorganisms are called "WAHKOM," having been developed by the WAHKOM Agricultural Research Institute, Inc., located in the town. They act as a fermentation accelerator for compost, etc. They have a deodorizing effect, and thus are used to get rid of the odor of the sewage.

In Kaneyama Town, a bio-toilet has been installed at the Yugakuno-mori Forest for visitors who come to experience nature and for forest-related education programs. This toilet does not require water or removal of the sewage. Discarded beds from commercial mushroom-raising facilities and sawdust, both of which are produced in large amounts in the surrounding Mogami area, are thrown into the toilet tank. The temperature in the tank is maintained at 60 to 80 degrees Celsius by solar- or wind-powered motors that also stir the tank, and this activates bacteria in the tank that decompose the sewage.

The processing capacity of the Kaneyama bio-toilet is 100 to 150 flushes a day. The mushroom beds must be changed two or three times a year, half at a time. Organic matter produced in this process is to be used as fertilizer for trees near the facility, realizing a resource recycling system.




Posted: 2004/02/19 09:06:07 AM
Japanese version

TAG Ecosystem , Energy , Food/Water , Local government , University/Research institute