Looked down through the hole, and there were two dead rats in there. Yike: I wouldn't want to go the way they did. They had to have gotten into the barrel through the pipe. I suppose they could have gotten into the pipe through an open clean-out, but more likely they jumped down the toilet flange from inside the cabin.
M said, "Cool! You've got your own built-in rat trap."
Yeah, if all goes well there'll be a toilet sitting on top of it by the end of the week.
5 comments:
Didn't you have a big plastic thing in that hole instead of two barrels?
No. A long time ago I talked about burying a 300-gal plastic cistern, but that would have been an expensive and probably disastrous experiment. Too much force against the sides. Decided not to.
What was the tin can for? Emergency communications for those in the pit?
I'm actually thinking about doing something like this which is, or was, the norm here for many, many years. Problem is, they will no longer drill a water well around here without a permitted, inspected, legal-type septic. I still have access to many springs around the property, and a shallow well is still not out of the question. Just not quite sure which way to jump. I still have an outhouse with a compost toilet so I'm not desperate. Just have to make a commitment one way or another. What made you decide this instead of a sawdust toilet, which could have yielded some much needed compost?
Hey, the rats will jump start the bacteria which will break down the waste. I've actually heard of folks dropping rats, mice, or small rabbits down into the septic tank to keep things flowing...
The tin can was an experiment: I need to make covers for the two open bungholes, and I wondered if tin cans would fit when cut to length. Not quite.
I originally considered a composting toilet, but the one I've gained experience with isn't something I'd care to share a small cabin with. Not out of the question for an outhouse, but they're not any sort of improvement over a flush toilet. So when running water became a reality, all thoughts of composters left my mind.
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