Dry toilet

[2] One important source states that the term dry toilet should only refer to the user interface and not the subsequent storage and treatment steps.

[citation needed] Additionally, groundwater or surface water can also get into the pit in the event of heavy rains or flooding.

Sewerage infrastructure costs can be very high in instances of unfavorable terrain or sprawling settlement patterns.

[3] It can be a suitable system in areas that face growing water scarcity due to climate change such as Lima, Peru.

Dry earth closets were invented by English clergyman Henry Moule, who dedicated his life to improving public sanitation after witnessing the cholera epidemics of 1849 and 1854.

Impressed by the insalubrity of the houses, especially during the Great Stink in the summer of 1858, he invented what he called the 'dry earth system'.

His system was adopted in private houses, in rural districts, in military camps, in many hospitals, and extensively in the British Raj.

[7] Ultimately, however, it failed to gain public support as attention turned to the water-flushed toilet connected to a sewer system.

Brisbane, Australia was largely unsewered until the early 1970s, with many suburbs having a dry toilet (called a dunny) behind each house.