The Bethel City Council has postponed an amendment that would allow city residents to install individual sewer systems in homes.
Bethel’s energy committee proposed changing the Municipal Code to give residents more options for waste disposal. Incinerating toilets and composting toilets were the new options discussed. Jody Drew chairs the committee.
“We saw this opportunity to permit composting and incinerating toilets to reduce the amount of water that needs to be produced distributed, treated, collected, disposed of, treated again, and released. Anything that we can do to reduce the city's costs in that way results in an energy savings and a money savings. So that was our primary consideration," said Drew.
Council member Leif Albertson expressed his concern that disposing of the waste from composting toilets might pose a problem.
“My understanding of what I was told was, and my understanding of what is in state statute, align with our city attorney's understanding, which is that you can’t transport [waste]," said Albertson.
Albertson called the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and he says that the EPA agreed with the city attorney. Albertson also says that the proposed change could create the same problems that the city is trying to solve. Albertson worries that composting toilets don't solve any problems because the waste still has to go to the lagoon, and the city still has to get it there. He also worries that people might not maintain the units.
“This isn’t an abstract problem for me. As a firefighter and an EMT, I spend a certain amount of time in nonconforming homes. I’ve been on the wrong end of honey buckets before…" said Albertson.
Incinerating toilets would require no collection because the waste is burned, but Albertson doesn't see people using them.
Another big question is the cost. Jody Drew compared the cost of installing plumbing to the cost of composting toilets, which are around $900 per unit, and use peat moss and other organic materials to break waste down. Ms. Drew’s research indicates that it would cost tens of thousands of dollars to install a plumbing system in a currently nonconforming home. The residents, who are often from low-income households, would have to cover that cost as well as pay for monthly service from the city. This creates a large barrier for those already out of compliance.
The council voted to postpone the final vote on the amendment until the next council meeting.
The meeting began at 6:35 p.m. Council members Alisha Welch and Mayor Rick Robb were absent.
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