Honey bucket
Encyclopedia
A honey bucket is a bucket that is used as a toilet
in communities that lack a water-borne sewage
system. The honey bucket sits under a wooden frame affixed with a toilet seat
lid and may be lined with a plastic bag. These are often the same type of plastic five–gallon (19 litre) buckets used for shipping many paints, cleaners, and solvents, as well as institutional quantities of food products. honeywagon
is the traditional general term for a cart, wagon or truck for collecting and carrying excrement or manure.
villages in the state of Alaska, such as those in the Bethel area of the Yukon
–Kuskokwim
Delta in Alaska
, and are found throughout the rural regions of the state. Honey buckets are used especially where permafrost
makes the installation of septic systems or outhouse
s impractical.
They were also relatively common in the Yukon
, Northwest Territories
and Nunavut
of Canada, but by now have mostly been replaced with indoor plumbing and sewage pump-out tanks. They are still found in summer cabins where the use of a sewage tank is impractical.
The bucket is emptied when it becomes full or smelly, usually once a day for large families and about once a week for smaller families, by carrying it by way of boardwalk
or road to a nearby honey bucket well or hopper, or directly to a lagoon or sewage waste dumping location. A honey bucket well is a hole in the ground, capped with a raised wooden enclosure or none at all. A hopper is a metal container, which is removed by the city/village authority to a larger dumping area, such as a sewage lagoon.
. The South African government hoped to replace this through rollout of comprehensive sanitary sewer
system by 2007, but as of 2009, this had not yet been completed.
Toilet
A toilet is a sanitation fixture used primarily for the disposal of human excrement, often found in a small room referred to as a toilet/bathroom/lavatory...
in communities that lack a water-borne sewage
Sewage
Sewage is water-carried waste, in solution or suspension, that is intended to be removed from a community. Also known as wastewater, it is more than 99% water and is characterized by volume or rate of flow, physical condition, chemical constituents and the bacteriological organisms that it contains...
system. The honey bucket sits under a wooden frame affixed with a toilet seat
Toilet seat
A toilet seat is a hinged unit consisting of seat and lid which is bolted onto a toilet bowl for a flush toilet. A toilet seat consists of the seat itself, which may be contoured for the user to sit on, and the lid, which covers the toilet when it is not in use.If the toilet is located in a home...
lid and may be lined with a plastic bag. These are often the same type of plastic five–gallon (19 litre) buckets used for shipping many paints, cleaners, and solvents, as well as institutional quantities of food products. honeywagon
Honeywagon
"Honey wagon" is a facetious traditional general term for "a wagon or truck for collecting and carrying excrement or manure", such as a cesspool emptier, which serves as a sanitation system including at campgrounds and marinas. The operator connects a hose to the discharge outlet on the...
is the traditional general term for a cart, wagon or truck for collecting and carrying excrement or manure.
Honey buckets in North America
Honey buckets are common in many ruralRural
Rural areas or the country or countryside are areas that are not urbanized, though when large areas are described, country towns and smaller cities will be included. They have a low population density, and typically much of the land is devoted to agriculture...
villages in the state of Alaska, such as those in the Bethel area of the Yukon
Yukon River
The Yukon River is a major watercourse of northwestern North America. The source of the river is located in British Columbia, Canada. The next portion lies in, and gives its name to Yukon Territory. The lower half of the river lies in the U.S. state of Alaska. The river is long and empties into...
–Kuskokwim
Kuskokwim River
The Kuskokwim River or Kusko River is a river, long, in Southwest Alaska in the United States. It is the ninth largest river in the United States by average discharge volume at its mouth and seventeenth largest by basin drainage area.The river provides the principal drainage for an area of the...
Delta in Alaska
Alaska
Alaska is the largest state in the United States by area. It is situated in the northwest extremity of the North American continent, with Canada to the east, the Arctic Ocean to the north, and the Pacific Ocean to the west and south, with Russia further west across the Bering Strait...
, and are found throughout the rural regions of the state. Honey buckets are used especially where permafrost
Permafrost
In geology, permafrost, cryotic soil or permafrost soil is soil at or below the freezing point of water for two or more years. Ice is not always present, as may be in the case of nonporous bedrock, but it frequently occurs and it may be in amounts exceeding the potential hydraulic saturation of...
makes the installation of septic systems or outhouse
Outhouse
An outhouse is a small structure separate from a main building which often contained a simple toilet and may possibly also be used for housing animals and storage.- Terminology :...
s impractical.
They were also relatively common in the Yukon
Yukon
Yukon is the westernmost and smallest of Canada's three federal territories. It was named after the Yukon River. The word Yukon means "Great River" in Gwich’in....
, Northwest Territories
Northwest Territories
The Northwest Territories is a federal territory of Canada.Located in northern Canada, the territory borders Canada's two other territories, Yukon to the west and Nunavut to the east, and three provinces: British Columbia to the southwest, and Alberta and Saskatchewan to the south...
and Nunavut
Nunavut
Nunavut is the largest and newest federal territory of Canada; it was separated officially from the Northwest Territories on April 1, 1999, via the Nunavut Act and the Nunavut Land Claims Agreement Act, though the actual boundaries had been established in 1993...
of Canada, but by now have mostly been replaced with indoor plumbing and sewage pump-out tanks. They are still found in summer cabins where the use of a sewage tank is impractical.
The bucket is emptied when it becomes full or smelly, usually once a day for large families and about once a week for smaller families, by carrying it by way of boardwalk
Boardwalk
A boardwalk, in the conventional sense, is a wooden walkway for pedestrians and sometimes vehicles, often found along beaches, but they are also common as paths through wetlands, coastal dunes, and other sensitive environments....
or road to a nearby honey bucket well or hopper, or directly to a lagoon or sewage waste dumping location. A honey bucket well is a hole in the ground, capped with a raised wooden enclosure or none at all. A hopper is a metal container, which is removed by the city/village authority to a larger dumping area, such as a sewage lagoon.
Honey buckets in South Africa
The "bucket system" is used in rapidly developing parts of South AfricaSouth Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
. The South African government hoped to replace this through rollout of comprehensive sanitary sewer
Sanitary sewer
A sanitary sewer is a separate underground carriage system specifically for transporting sewage from houses and commercial buildings to treatment or disposal. Sanitary sewers serving industrial areas also carry industrial wastewater...
system by 2007, but as of 2009, this had not yet been completed.