Ecosan Systems - Highland 1 2 3 4
3. The indoor, dehydrating toilet in Ladakh, India
Ladakh is a dry highland region in the western Himalayas at an altitude of 3,500 m. Most traditional houses have an indoor toilet on the upper floor. Due to the dry climate it is possible to dehydrate the faeces without prior diversion of urine.
On the floor of a small room next to the kitchen/living room there is a thick layer of soil from the garden. In the floor a drop hole leads to a small groundfloor room. This room can only be reached from the outside. People excrete on the soil which is on the floor. Then they push soil and excreta together down the drop hole. Urine goes the same way. Ashes from the kitchen are added from time to time. The household members bring loads of soil into the room when necessary. For the long winter a supply of soil is piled into one corner of the toilet room upstairs. A spade or shovel is also kept in the room. Normally there is no anal cleaning. The decomposed excreta are removed in spring and at the end of summer and spread on the fields.
