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Arapiles new toilets vandalised 13-Apr-2012 At 9:45:25 PM kuu

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On 4/04/2012 nmonteith wrote:
>I really can't see why anyone would have a political issue with a toilet,
>but I do remember Baxter's beat-up in Rock mag when the original pit toilets
>were installed in the Gums! Ohhhh the controversy....
>
Well Neil, I don't think I was ever seen as an apologist for Chris Baxter's views, but sadly he's gone now and so can't explain why he had a problem with those toilets in the Gums.

However, I suspect his objections were more to do with their elevated prominence rather than with their intended function.

And the enduring myth is that they were intended to function as 'composting toilets' NOT as pit toilets. But apparently due to the design, or the environment, or the level of patronage, they failed to live up to expectations. So the result was that the 'containers' underneath that elevated edifice needed to be emptied more frequently than expected -- a process that by it's nature inevitably raised Occupational Health and Safety concerns.

The new Gums toilets are neither a composting system nor a septic system (as in the "old" flush toilets serving The Pines campground) but instead utilise a holding tank that's designed to be more simply pumped out as necessary and the contents carted away for treatment and disposal.

But to anyone who thinks that climbers' shit doesn't stink, I'd suggest they volunteer to give a helping hand when the guy come to pump out the holding tank! ;-)