Study On The Feaslibility Of Using Corn Stalk As A Matrix Of Bio-toilet Instead Of Sawdust

The two kinds of traditional toilets, flush-toilet and no water flush-toilet, are proved not fit for resolving the sanitation problems of developing countries, certainly including China. Sawdust can create an ideal environment for aerobic bacteria to thrive, decompose, and distinguish biomass wastes into carbon dioxide and water. Bio-toilet has a lot of merits such as (1)conservation of resource, (2)reduction of environmental pollution, (3)recovery and recycle of nutrients and (4)free of odor. So bio-toilet has very good foreground in China.Sawdust is the crucial element in bio-toilet. But there is lace of sawdust in China. China has abundant com stalk and much of it was burned. Com stalk has some characteristics like sawdust. The components of com stalk are the same as sawdust, com stalk also has high porosity, high water retention and high drainage. Because of above reasons, using com stalk as the matrix of bio-toilet more adapts to Chinese actuality.This paper compared the decreasing rate of com stalk with sawdust. The rate of total weight reduction of feces-com stalk mixture is higher than feces-sawdust mixture. The results are 79.7% and 70.2 % respectively.And more compared the nitrogen, phosphorous and organic mater content in feces-com stalk mixture with feces-sawdust mixture. The rate of nitrogen losing was 33.8% and 28.7% respectively. But the last result in com stalk mixture was higher than sawdust mixture, because the nitrogen in com stalk was higher than sawdust. On the thirtieth day, nitrogen in two mixture systems is 81.76g/kg and50g/kg respectively.Phosphorous content of feces-com stalk was higher than feces-sawdust mixture. Lastly, feces-com stalk mixture's phosphorous content was 9.5g/kg and feces-sawdust mixture's was 8g/kg.Accumulation and decomposition of organic mater in two mixtures are take place at the same time. The change of organic mater in com stalk mixture was not apparent because accumulation and decomposition kept balance. The amount of organic mater in sawdust mixture was increment because the rate of accumulation is higher than the rate of decomposition. On the thirtieth day, organic mater in com stalk and sawdust mixture is 776g/kgand 815g/kg respectively.PH in the feces-com stalk mixture changed from 6.14 to 6.74, which is lower than feces-sawdust mixture. Afterward PH in the feces-com stalk mixture changed from 7.55 to 8.25, which is consistent with feces-sawdust mixture basically.Com stalk matrix is an ideal environment for aerobic bacteria to thrive, and todecompose human feces as sawdust. The remains of feces-corn stalk mixture has enough nitrogen, phosphorous and organic mater. PH condition can inhibit giving off ammonia.