What if a critical solution to healthier soils and seas is already flowing through us? At Ocean Hour Farm, our attempts to build a composting toilet have taken many twists and turns, but they have led us to educating ourselves and others on an age-old farming technique: harnessing the power of pee.
At the start of his employment, our facilities manager, Jason Howell, was tasked with a request he had never encountered: to explore how the farm could move toward a more sustainable (human) waste system.
“My journey began by looking at established sites using composting toilets, which led me to Rhode Island DEM’s Parks and Recreation facilities. We took a road trip to Beavertail Lighthouse, where a Clivus composting system is in operation. I reached out to Clivus New England to learn more about their systems. They recommended I begin working with a waste systems engineer to design a site-specific composting toilet facility.”
Jay quickly got to work with an engineer and our design team to develop plans. If only it were that easy!
“The first major hurdle was that composting systems typically require the composter to sit directly beneath the toilet — but our chosen site had no basement. This added significant cost and complexity, but was needed to be ADA-compliant.”
“The second big challenge — and the one that led me down the path of urine diversion — was what to do with the system’s wastewater. The Office of Water Resources regulations state that effluent can be mixed with greywater, but it must go through a traditional septic tank and leach field. Our site couldn’t support that, and building a new septic system would significantly increase costs. Even worse, it felt counterintuitive: we were trying to move away from centralized sewer dependency, but regulations would have required us to hire a pump truck to haul effluent to a wastewater facility — essentially defeating the purpose of going off the grid in the first place.”
In researching alternatives for urine diversion, Jay found the Rich Earth Institute and attended their annual summit. There, he found a wealth of knowledge from the organization that operates the US’s first and largest community-scale peecycling program, which has been in operation since 2012.
Rich Earth is now working to support other communities, including those in Paris, France, Vermont, and Cape Cod, Massachusetts, in adopting and adapting urine recycling practices. Their team came to Ocean Hour Farm to share why we need a global movement for circular sanitation and how we can reimagine waste and explore strategies for transforming our food and sanitation systems from linear flows of extraction and pollution to cycles of abundance.
Earlier this year, we hosted the team from Rich Earth to lead an educational convening, initiating community conversations about opportunities and barriers to alternative waste pathways in Rhode Island, to encourage collaboration and cost savings.
At this point, you might be wondering why a farm is talking about human waste. First and foremost, our mission at Ocean Hour Farm is to highlight the critical connection between land and ocean health.
The most significant point (meaning we can pinpoint the exact source) of nitrogen and other excess nutrients in coastal waterbodies is wastewater and septic systems. Additionally, the largest non-point source (meaning there is no single source) of nitrogen is fertilizer runoff from lawns, gardens, and farms.
Regardless of the source, we know that excess nitrogen and phosphorus in our water lead to harmful algal blooms, which can result in the shutdown of swimming and shellfishing areas and cause significant illness to animals and humans that encounter polluted waterways.
Beyond environmental impact, urine and fertilizers share a crucial characteristic: their rich content of nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium. Urine cycling proposes that instead of sending these resources out to sea, polluting it, and then mining for fertilizers that runs off into the sea, polluting it further, we can capture the resource and use it to grow plants, all while minimizing the impact of shipping, manufacturing, and transportation.
At our workshop, Jay also shared his personal story, explaining why the mission of building a composting toilet became more than just a work assignment.
“We are surrounded by water, whether it’s in the Bay or out front on Rhode Island Sound. As an Ocean Stater, we tend to recreate and work alongside the water. I, for one, run a small commercial and charter boat operation in my hometown of Narragansett. I also surf, so I know firsthand the need for us to solve the water pollution that affects us every day. I can’t tell you how many times I had an ear infection when surfing inside a sewer outflow pipe. That’s right, we have two in Narragansett, and they are situated off two premier surf breaks. I also have fished and harvested the ocean’s bounty all my life. I can’t tell you how many times during the summer we have had over-nitrification of our salt ponds and bay, where the quahog (our name for clams) die off, productive beds are closed, and fish kills are commonplace year after year. So, as an Ocean Stater, I am thrilled to find some resolutions to our water woes!”
Urine cycling has been done for thousands of years, and it is still common in many countries. But it’s not quite as simple as peeing on your plants. As the Rich Earth Institute shares, when urine is used to fertilize produce for public consumption, sanitation guidelines are recommended by the World Health Organization.
In the US, most regulations governing commercial food production and public health currently prohibit or restrict the use of human waste, including urine, on plants for human consumption. That’s why the Rich Earth Institute is working to demonstrate the benefits and share knowledge on how we can divert urine safely while showcasing the ecological benefits.
The Rich Earth Institute offers a wealth of information and resources to help you learn more about this topic. A few of our favorites include:
