Research Station Saving Water & Money with Composting Toilets
Churchill Northern Studies Center, a facility designed to feed and lodge researchers while they conduct northern scientific research, is located 23 km east of Churchill, Manitoba on Hudson Bay. In accordance with their vision “to understand and sustain the North” the new building which should open next month was designed to LEED Gold standards.
Clivus Multrum composting toilets contribute to LEED points and allow the facility to significantly reduce water for flushing and allow waste management to be contained neatly within the footprint of the building. In the dormitory area, four waterless toilets and 2 mid-sized composters provide restroom facilities for up to 90,000 uses per year. Twelve flush toilets are also installed in other areas of the building.
Composting toilets should prove a big savings for the research station. Last year they spent $25,000 in trucking fees to have sewage moved to a treatment facility.
Polar Bear visits were not uncommon on the construction site so a watch dog named Silver was always nearby to give a warning when one stops by. Whenever the big white visitors were present workers found secure lodging until the bear moved on.
