An outdoor bathroom is generally one where there is no running water, and subsequently no ability to flush away waste. People consider getting an outdoor bathroom when there is a difficulty in hooking up running water due to remoteness or lack of funds. Setting up an outdoor bathroom is generally not something to be taken lightly as there are certain concerns.
One of the things to consider before putting up an outdoor bathroom is the odor. For the most part, outdoor toilets tend to have an unpleasant odor due to there not being any means of flushing away human waste. Thus, a person considering doing so might consider the proximity of the outdoor bathroom to the house, for example. On the one hand, you don’t want it too close due to the smell, but on the other you don’t want it to be an expedition every time you have to use it.
Another thing you may want to consider if you are considering putting up an outdoor bathroom is the legality of doing so. Depending on where you want to put that bathroom, there may be rules and regulations regarding outdoor bathrooms, and they may be outlawed specifically. You’d need to check with your local officials.
Something else you may want to think about is the amount of work involved in digging the pit that goes under an outdoor bathroom. If you have heavy equipment or have access to some, you might be fine, but if you will need to dig the hole yourself, you ought to consider how much work that will involve and whether you are up to it. The job could be especially difficult if your location is rocky.
And speaking of work, you really ought to give some thought to what you are going to do about the waste once it fills the hole you dug. This will depend largely on how big the hole is you dug and how much the bathroom is used. What people normally do is buy bags of lime and throw some down there each time the facility is used to keep down the odor and to promote decay. As some point, the hole will fill and your most likely option is to dig a new hole somewhere nearby and cover the old one over.
Finally, you may want to consider using some of the chemicals that are available for us in outdoor bathrooms. These are designed to help the waste decompose and to reduce or even eliminate odor even more than lime does. While these products might come in handy, they might also cause problems if they leak into the environment. Again, you’d need to check with your local officials to see if it is okay to use them.