Solid Waste Solutions in Rural Alaska::
Additional Success Stories from Rural Alaska:

Chefornak Compost Toilet Project

The Chefornak community contact for this project is:
   Billy Chagluak
   907/867-8306
   billychagluak@yahoo.com

The Zender Environmental contact for this project is:
   Simone Sebalo
   907/277-2111
   ssebalo@zender-engr.net

Chefornak's honeybucket lagoon is 6 years past its designed closure date, and elders and the community are very concerned about the frequent flooding to the nearby creek. Therefore, Chefornak decided to test compost toilets as a honeybucket alternative. This is a demonstration project that started in 2006 working with Zender Environmental and will continue through 2007. One toilet is being tested in the community store and four toilets are being tested in households. The project funds a local operator in Chefornak to monitor the toilets and teach the households how to operate and maintain them. The toilets are straightforward to use - they require adding a cup or so of peatmoss each day, pulling an aerator bar a couple times a week, and adding a natural microbe accelerator every 2 weeks to help speed up the composting process. Fans and a small heater help to evaporate any liquids out through a vent pipe. Every couple months, compost is produced and can be emptied out from the bottom of the toilet. The compost can then be used for gardening projects (flowers, plants, etc.) or as cover for garbage at the dump.

Zender Environmental is the technical consultant for the compost toilet project and communicates daily with the local operator to help monitor the project, troubleshoot any problems, and get feedback from the operator and households. Initial funding for the project is through a Central Council of Tlingit and Haida Indian Tribes EPA Special IGAP Grant, and Zender has been providing a large amount of additional volunteer time in project planning, analysis, installation, and in securing funding for additional toilets to continue and broaden the scope of the project, so that more residents are able to switch to them. From this effort, Envirolet and SunMar are now providing a free toilet each.