The Terra Preta Household
Re-discovered from an ancient Amazonian civilization
Integrating sanitation, bio-waste and the food soil web

The recent discovery of the bio-waste and excreta treatment of a former civilization in the Amazon reveals the possibility of a highly efficient and simple sanitation system. With the end product that was black soil they converted 10% of former infertile soil of the region: Terra Preta do Indio (black soil of the Indians). These soils are still very fertile 500 years after this civilization had disappeared. Deriving from these concepts, Terra Preta Sanitation (TPS) has been re-developed and adopted to include;


No water, ventilation or external energy is required. Natural formation processes are employed to transform excreta into lasting fertile soil that can be utilized in urban gardening and agriculture. The anaerobic lacto-fermentation of fecal matter is followed by vermicomposting. Results show that lactic-acid fermentation with addition of a charcoal mixture is a suitable option for dry toilets. Hardly any odor occurs throughout the entire cycle. Lactic-acid fermentation with the addition of bulking agents to raise the C/N ratio is creating a substrate that is readily accepted by worms.
Backyard Terra Preta Sanitation Tutorial
tps chart lv