Composting toilets approved to help CZU Lightning Complex Fire victims move back home

SANTA CRUZ, Calif. (KION-TV)- The Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors approved a new composting toilet pilot program aimed at helping some victims of the 2020 CZU Lightning Complex Fire.

Twenty-five people are eligible and will be able to move back to their property faster to participate in the pilot program. Containerized toilets use sawdust and bio bags to stay hygienic. The containers are then gathered and taken to another location for composting.

The pilot composting will be at the Watsonville Wastewater Treatment Facility. This program aims to provide data on the safety and efficiency of composting this way for state agencies, said the County of Santa Cruz.

“On the one hand, rural residents are clamoring for alternatives to the state’s onerous new septic system requirements,” said Supervisor Manu Koenig, who authored the proposal with Supervisor Felipe Hernandez.

“On the other hand, we have to be ready in case a disaster takes out our sanitation systems.” When the Pajaro River flooded in March, there was a moment when authorities feared the levee would break at a second location and bring down the Watsonville Wastewater Treatment Facility. If that had happened, a no-flush order would have been issued, leaving 60,000 south county residents without a flushing toilet. We need a Plan B for people to go number 2,” said Supervisor Koenig.

The Community Development and Infrastructure Department will be back in August to the Board of Supervisors with a draft lease agreement to make the Ben Lomond Transfer Station a temporary collection depot during the pilot program.

Supervisor Hernandez supported the use of this south county facility “there is a demonstrated need for this not just for the fire victims in North County and the flood victims in Pajaro, but also for anyone seeking affordable sanitation options in the rural parts of our county or for their tiny home.”

GiveLove is a California-based nonprofit that has made the Container Based Sanitation systems possible in eight countries. They anticipate the program to begin in late Summer/Early Fall 2023 and to be concluded sometime in Fall of 2024.