Sewage gases from toilets post shtf

[Geordie_Rob]

I couldn't find any post on it so thought I would start a new one.

Has anyone who is bugging in thought about sewage gases entering their home once the power goes off?

To my knowledge, the ubend (where goldfish make the last swim to fish heaven) is there as a water trap to stop the gases entering the property. Once there is no pumped water & this evaporates there is nothing stopping the gases entering & you certainly don't want to be pouring drinking water down the pan. The last thing I want in my house when we're trying to survive is another unpleasant odour, there'll be enough of those from not washing as frequently & lack of rubbish collections.

My only solution I can think of is to block the toilet with plywood & sealant.

Has anyone else given this much thought? If not, what's your thoughts on it now I've raised the subject?

Cheers

Rob

[bigpaul]

guess there are going to be lots of exploding toilet pans then? once i've bugged out i dont really care, if its THAT bad i'm bugging out i'm probably NOT coming back anyway!

[Geordie_Rob]

I've googled sewage gas & allegedly normal gases aren't dangerous, just smelly. It's when they get into higher concentrations (I'm assuming by rotting away in pipes rather than being treated as they are now) that it becomes dangerous. The sulphide gas (smells of rotten eggs) normally measured in parts per billion. If it gets to the concentration of more than 300 parts per million its usually fatal. If not, can give you all sorts of lovely things like pneumonia (taken from wiki).

If where you're bugging out to has a toilet connected to the mains sewerage, you're still gonna have the problem BP.

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I know it's not a great subject, just I think it's something we're going to have to face upto post shtf if an event happens.

[bigpaul]

If where you're bugging out to has a toilet connected to the mains sewerage, you're still gonna have the problem BP.

nope, its a farm cottage, not on the mains-got a septic tank, we'll be composting it anyway, no use in just flushing it away!

[Geordie_Rob]

I'm planning on composting toilets as well. Already got the wine fermenting buckets, spare loo seats & timber ready to go. These toilets make the most sense IMO.

[Digger]

From Lizzie's article To flush or not to flush, on the main SUK site:

....I will put two heavy gauge trash bags, one inside the other over my hand and arm and shove them as far as I can into the s bend at the bottom of the toilet bowl. The bags will be pressed to the sides of the toilet bowl and starting as low down as I can I will fill them with expanding foam like that used to fill gaps around pipes. I will work backwards, stopping four inches down from the top of the bowl. When it has settled and set anything above the bowl will be trimmed off, the remainder of the bags folded over the top and it will be duct taped into place. The seat and lid will be closed and that will also be sealed with duct tape....

This doesn't cover the issue of explosive gasses completely. You've identified something I hadn't considered, and its important. Maybe the best bet would be to pour a bag of cement into the remaining water in the U bend, letting it set and hoping that would seal out gasses.

Exploding sewer gas is humorous to consider, but extremely dangerous. I once saw a 3ft diameter x 8" deep cast iron Man hole cover be blasted 50 feet in the air by such an explosion. It was on the Euston road in London. Amazingly no-one got injured.

A spare bag of cement is certainly going on my shopping list sometime soon!

Thanks GR good post.

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I'm planning on composting toilets as well. Already got the wine fermenting buckets, spare loo seats & timber ready to go. These toilets make the most sense IMO.

DITTO

[Geordie_Rob]

I hadn't thought of exploding gases. More for keeping the sh*tty smell out. However we will be using a lot more exposed flames than we do now so it does need considered.

I would hang fire for the cement as if it turns out to be a small scale event, you need to buy a new bog or will be stuck burying your poop while everyone else is flushing again

[Digger]

I hadn't thought of exploding gases. More for keeping the sh*tty smell out. However we will be using a lot more exposed flames than we do now so it does need considered.

I would hang fire for the cement as if it turns out to be a small scale event, you need to buy a new bog or will be stuck burying your poop while everyone else is flushing again

Yes, a short term event would prove a bit expensive with this technique. But as you said at the start the problem would arise not when pumping of sewerage stops, but when the material starts to ferment in the sewers. I guess this would take a little while to happen, depending on ambient temperatures, so it will be possible to wait a while before sealing off the bog once and for all.

[Metroyeti]

Turn the water off is the first thing im doing, but the gases building up is a very good point considering how many people will still be trying to use there toilets post event.

[Luci_ferson]

modern buildings should have a stand-pipe that gos up to the roof to vent out.
so as long as you block up the toilet you shoild be okey as it wont build pressure, it should flow away up the stand pipe.
im not sure if all houses are same, but mine does on one toilet, but the other dont, so no idea what il do with this one.