Usine du Trésor NoirUser’s manual

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Temple of Holy Shit Usine du Trésor Noir is a public waste installation with dry toilet, whose purpose is to convert the bio-waste produced by the park and its visitors into rich ter-ra-preta soil for the gardens in and around the area. During the festival, a series of ‘rituals’ will take place that will initiate

the participants to the miracle of life-making.

Temple of Holy Shit Usine du Trésor Noir has been selected for Parckdesign2014 which is a biennial dedicated to public space planning initiated by Brussels Environment and the Brussels Ministry for Environment, Energy and Urban Ren-ovation. Parckdesign2014 will take place near Thurn&Taxi transforming urban wasteland into a temporary Farmparck creating an opportunity to test another method of citymaking.

Team:

the following members of COLLECTIVE DISASTER

Andrea SollazzoLouisa VermoereValentina Karga

Pieterjan Grandry

We want to thank Ayumi Matsusaka, Dr. Haiko Pieplow and Zinneke for their contribution of expertise to the project, as well as the volunteers, people of the Parckfarm and people from the neighborhood for their help with building and main-

tenance.

Temple of Holy Shit Usine du Trésor Noir wouldn’t have been realised without the support of the following companies: Rose’s natural homes, Rotom, VG plastics, Agriton, Lochten

& Germeau.

www.collectivedisaster.org

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INDEX

Terra preta and biochar

DIY terra preta

General Information

Cleaning the toilets

Checking the levels

Replacement of the barrels

Making Biochar & EM brine

Composting

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WHAT IS TERRA PRETA AND BIOCHAR

Terra preta, literally “black earth” or “black land” in Portu-guese) is a type of very dark, fertile anthropogenic soil found in the Amazon Basin. Terra preta owes its name to its very high charcoal content, and was made by adding a mixture of charcoal, bone, and manure to the otherwise relatively infer-tile Amazonian soil. It is very stable and remains in the soil for thousands of years. It is also known as “Amazonian dark earth” or “Indian black earth”. In Portuguese its full name is terra preta do índio or terra preta de índio (“black earth of the Indian”, “Indians’ black earth”).

Terra preta is characterized by the presence of low-tem-perature charcoal in high concentrations; of high quantities of pottery sherds; of organic matter such as plant residues, animal feces, fish and animal bones and other material; and of nutrients such as nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), calcium (Ca), zinc (Zn), manganese (Mn). It also shows high levels of microorganic activities and other specific characteristics within its particular ecosystem. It is less prone to nutrient leaching, which is a major problem in most rain forests.

Biochar is a name for charcoal when it is used for par-ticular purposes, especially as a soil amendment. Like all charcoal, biochar is created by pyrolysis of biomass. Biochar is under investigation as an approach to carbon sequestra-tion to produce negative carbon dioxide emissions. Biochar thus has the potential to help mitigate climate change, via carbon sequestration. Independently, biochar can increase soil fertility, increase agricultural productivity, and provide protection against some foliar and soil-borne diseases. Bio-char is a stable solid, rich in carbon and can endure in soil for thousands of years.

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DIY TERRA PRETA

Today, Do-It-Yourself methods have been developed for mak-ing terra preta. You can produce biochar by burning organic trimmed woods in specially designed ovens that you can also built yourself. Then you can crush the biochar and pro-duce charcoal-dust. Charcoal, due to its molecular structure, provides more space for good microorganisms to develop and live longer. The biochar-dust, mixed with a special brine from Effective Microorganisms (EM) - please find more info in page 18 - can be then mixed with compost either from hu-manure, animal manure, or kitchen waste, increasing in this way soil fertility for many years.

Experiments of producing biochar out of wood-dust.

Toilet seat with separator (blue element)

Water tap with natural soap

Shovel for Biochar

Urinal

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GENERAL INFORMATION

* Dont throw anything else than urine, feces, toilet paper and bio-char in the toilet hole.

* Dont throw bio-char or toilet paper in the urine hole.

* Don’t use the toilet in case you have taken antibiotics in the last 6 weeks. (The antibiotics kill the micro-organ-isms that will activate the needed fer-mentation process to purify and trans-form the bio-waste)

The toilet only works when you are seated. The separator makes sure the poo goes through the big hole in the back and the pee goes through the little hole in the front. This toilet separates the feces to avoid smells, to maximise the capacity in time and to divide the weight of our feces to make sure the containers where the feces arrive are trans-portable without the necessity of strong muscles. The smell of pee is ten times worse than the one of poo. To avoid smells or insects on the Solid waste you cover your poo with Biochar which is a mixture of charcoal and mirco-organisms.

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Toilet seat with separator (blue element)Liquids go in the small hole, solids in

the big hole.

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CLEANING THE TOILETS

What do you need:

• small brush• spray with brine of micro-organisms.• bio-cleaning product• natural tissues • big brush• mop and bucket filled with water• small bucket filled with water• stickers

The separator (the blue element), urinoir and sink should be cleaned with the micro-organism brine and after wiped with a paper towel which can be thrown in the solid hole of the toilet.

The seats can be cleaned with a tissue with bio-cleaning product.

The OSB floor and walls should first be brushed throughout and afterwards they can be mobbed with water and bio-cleaning product.

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Clean the pipe

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LEVEL CHECK

Urine• Clean the pipe: take the garden hose and put some water

in the Urinoir and pee holes so to empty the pipes from the remaining pee.

• Close the toilets to make sure nobody uses it while the barrel is unplugged.

• Unplug the pipes from the barrels.• Slide out the barrel.• Open the top and look inside to check the level of the

urine NOT FULL: put the barrels back and plug the urine pipes FULL: replace the barrels ( point B1 ). The burrell should not be full until the top, leave always 5-8% empty.

Feces• Slide out the barrels.• Look inside the level of the feces.

NOT FULL: put the barrel back. Make sure the poo barrel sits perfectly under the big fixed tube before closing the door. FULL: replace the barrel (p. 13). The barrel should not be full until the top, leave always 5-8% empty.

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Unplug the pipes from the barrels

checking the level of the urine

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checking the level of the feces

once the barrel is full close the lid and put a date on

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brush the rails to avoid stones

slide the closed barrel along the rail inside the feremation room

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REPLACEMENT BARRELS Urine• Take an empty barrel in the fermentation room. (blue barrel

with two small lids).• Place a sticker with pee and that says date.• Replace the lids from the full barrel to the empty one and close

the full one with the lids of the empty one.• Brush the rails to make sure no little stones can block the

doggy• Slide along the rails the full barrel into the fermentation room• Take it off the trolley, write the date on the full barrel and leave

it in the fermentation room for 1 month.• Fill the empty barrel with 10% micro-organism brine which is

6L• Put the new barrel on the trolley, place it under the toilets and

reconnect the pipes.• Be sure to place it correctly. (check the “FRONT” text)

Feces• Take an empty barrel in the fermentation room. (barrel with big

round lid with metal ring) • Slide the barrel gently to the front so you can close it with the

lid that lays next to it.• Brush the rails to make sure no little stones can block the

doggy• Slide the full barrel along the rails into the fermentation room• Take it off the trolley, write the date on the full barrel and leave

it closed in the fermentation room for 3 months.• Put the new empty barrel on the trolley, place it under the big

grey pipe. • Be sure to place it correctly. Just under the grey big pipe

(check the “FRONT” text)• Cover the bottom of the empty barrel with Biochar after re-

opening the toilet.

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BIOCHAR & EM BRINE

Image brine + Ph test strip:Biochar = Charcoal powder + microorganismsWe use Effective Microorganisms (EM) which are good mi-croorganisms, similar to the ones that for example live in the brine of sauerkraut or, in general for the fermentation of edible products. This EM brine is a result of water, sugar cane molasses and the micro-organism. A week after mix-ing them and leaving them in an anaerobic environment (closed blue barrel) the chemical process of fermentation has taken place. The EM brine has from then on a PH of 3.5. This process is the result of the microorganisms that eat the sugar cane molasses. For this reason we need to add over time sugarmolaces to the brine to keep the PH leveled and the microorganisms alive. It is totally harmless, even if consumed.

How to prepare the Biochar: • mix 15% EM brine + 85% charcoal in a blue barrel. Make

sure it feels like wet sand.

How to prepare the EM brine: There is products of EM1 and of sugar cane molasses in 1 Liter bottles in the fermentation room. What you need to do is to make EM-active from EM1 by mixing it with sugar cane molasses and water and allowing them to ferment in a sealed vessel for 7 days at +25°C in the following analogy: To make a 60 L blue barrel you need to mix it with 1 Litre EM1 and 1 Litre sugar cane molasses. The EM-active you just made needs to be used within a month after the 7 days of fermentation, so you have to label it with the date of pro-duce. For making 1 Lt EM-active you need about 30ml EM1 and 30ml sugar cane molasses.

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NOTE: If you don’t use the whole bottle of EM1, you need to squeeze the air out of it, so that it keeps.

Refil the pipes;Mix the charcoal with the EM in a blue barrel (½ of it)Fill a small bucket with the fresh biochar From top of the roof open the pipes and fill them with the bio-char

diluting in water sugar cane molasses and EM1 from bottles

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Making the EM brine into a 60L blue barrel

Mixing biochar-dust and EM brine to make something like wet sand

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Placing the wet biocar inside the pipes from the top, using a bucket

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COMPOSTING

The 3 lines of compost• Urine• Feces• Bio waste

Empty the barrels in the compost boxes.

Urine: after 1month of anaerobic fermentation in the fer-mentation room, connect the hand pump to the barrel and water the box with the wood chips. Cover with soil to prevent from smelling.

Feces: after 3 months of anaerobic fermentation in the fer-mentation room, empty the barrel in the in the compost box:• Make a layer of soil.• Put some worms.• Make a layer with the dry solid waste• Mix every couple of weeks

NOTE: The heaps need to be turned over every single week to make sure the micro-organisms and the worms inside stay alive if not the heap will heat up to more then 65° which will kill all the live in your heap but not the bad bacterias.WHERE TO FIND WORMS?: After the bridge (away from the farmhouse) you can find under the shrubs and trees card-board. Take some of it and make sure worms are all over the piece. By adding this piece to the compost heap you will make sure the compost will be formed. The moment no more worms are present in the heaps, the compost will be ready for fertilizing the gardens and the park.

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MIXED SOIL AND FERMENTED SHIT + CHARCOAL

FERMENTED SHIT + CHARCOAL

SOIL

FERMENTED SHIT + CHARCOAL

SOIL

SOIL

TERRA PRETA

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NOTES

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NOTES