The Rules of Poo and Pee in Antarctica

The subject of poo and pee is not one for the dinner table, so if your munching on food right now....! It is not something that everyone wants to talk about, but it does present a few challenges whilst your here because of the environmental issues that it can pose. We have to return all human wastes, including grey water from field huts and trips into the field to the station for disposal. Its the same for astronauts in space.This also includes female sanitary products. So how does one poo and pee in a freezing climate.Its very easy, very quickly, with no newspaper reading time available. You pee into your own little pee bottle or larger black plastic drum for larger groups, take it back to the "poo" farm back at station and pour it down a specially designed waste management unit. For the girls, peeing into a little personal pee bottle also presents its own little challenge. But wait, you get a specially designed funnel. Yes very dignified I'm sure. For the poo department,also civilized. A 20 litre drum which is double lined with garbage bags and a wooden toilet sit . Once you've pooped, you cover your poop with talcum powder

 which dries any unexpected runs,  and gives a far more

pleasent smell. Once all is done the bags are

 knotted and taken back to station. The best thing is at these temps poo freezes. Pee also freezes when left over night. A personal rule of mine with the personal pee bottles, always empty it into the larger plastic drums whenever possible. There's nothing like having a full frozen bottle of pee in the morning and you have to go again.But I digress, the best part is the poo is burnt in the plastic bag without having to handle it. This is done in a "Warren" incinerator on station after believe or not being weighted. If you think you can hold onto your pee and poo until you get back to station, well, some if these trips are a number of days in duration. Holding onto you pee and poo can lead to tract infections.The bottom line is that  for the blokes there are no trees to pee behind and bare bums in this climate can lead to other issues. The station toilets are the same as home.So, get over being squeamish about the poo and pee department, and get on with enjoying Antarctica...!

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See also my other blog "A Toilet With a View."