Why nobody talks about unique Dry Toilet Technology of Spiti valley in Himalayan state of India, while Japanese toilets are discussed at length?
I can understand that lot of you may not like talking/reading about toilets. That's certainly a weird topic, but recently in one of the online blogger meetups, I was discussing with a blogger friend how stay during travel influences travel experience. Like-wise toilets have a role to play how your day goes at a new place. During the conversation, I could recall the memory of Dry Toilet I used in one of the home-stays in Spiti valley of India. In this blogpost, we shall why Spiti Valley needs dry toilets and how do they maintain hygiene appropriately. Along with that we shall share a little about hi-tech toilet sheets used in Japan, which is discussed a lot if anyone has traveled to Japan & tried these.
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Above video gives a glimpse of how dry toilets look like. Before going into details of the toilet, let's understand why dry toilets are needed and successful in Spiti valley of Himachal Pradesh.
Spiti valley is a dry place, which hardly gets rain but gets snowfall during winters. The water sources are at distance and hence it's very challenging to maintain good water supply. Most of the villages in Spiti valley get limited water supply and lot of families have to get water tankers to fill their containers with water to use that water for weeks. Toilet consumes lot of water, so that lead to invention of this new model in Spiti Valley.
During our week long drive around various parts of Spiti Valley, we also spent a night at Dhankar village. This village is located a pretty high place. When we were searching for the home-stay, we reached this homestay which didn't have modern toilet. Usually home-stays arrange modern toilets for guests, but here we had to manage with the traditional toilet. Almost all of us were not really comfortable with it, but it was too late and we were tired. So we finalised to stay there and had wonderful home cooked meal with Spiti flavours.
Next morning, we were not sure how to use this toilet and we were feeling odd to discuss it or ask the process from homestay owners. Anyways, let me explain how this toilet looks like and how to use it.
1. This Dry Toilet has a hole which means that tank is just below this hole and the tank usually is very deep.
2. Around the corners of the toilet you would see soil, cow dunk or ash with a rake. And a bucket of water with mug is placed around one of the corners. Ensure that bucket has water, before you start with next steps.
3. You are supposed to sit on top of this hole and complete the process.
4. When done, use the rake to drop the soil into the hole. Use the water to clean yourself.
5. Now that you are done with the process inside the toilet, come out and typically you will find a tap outside with soap on the side. Use this space to clean your hands.
When I followed this process for the first time, there were lot of questions in mind about finer process and they are still unanswered. I wish I had courage to clarify those with our host. Things like, how much soil you are supposed to put into the hole?
The photograph of this Dry Toilet may not look neat but let me share that there was no stink. That tells me that some science has gone behind it to ensure that it works well for longer period of time, without high demand of water.
Now that you know about Dry Toilets of Spiti Valley in India, check the video below to know more about hi-tech toilet sheets used in Japan.
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