The Carousel and the History with EcoTech

A popular Norwegian batch composting toilet technology was introduced to the United States in 1978 by a California company. Since its introduction thousands of units have been sold and the satisfied owners insured the long-term success for the technology.

In 1980 NSF developed Standard 41 to test and evaluate what has become Non-Liquid Saturated Treatment Systems Standard. David Del Porto, now a member of the NSF Joint Committee on Wastewater Technology, co-authored this standard and is also the co-author of The Composting Toilet System Book, the definitive treatise on unsaturated aerobic biological treatment technologies.

The Standard Performance Evaluation Method for Composting (Containment/ Biological) Devices under the proposed NSF Standard 41 for Wastewater Recycle/Reuse and Water Conservation Devices. The testing for The Carousel 80A was initiated in October 14, 1979 and continued until April 13, 1980. The Carousel passed this rigorous testing process and was granted certification. The Carousel 80A was listed by NSF and received Seal Number 8543. NSF published this listing on January 12, 1981.

In 1986, the California company ceased operation and so allowed the NSF certification to lapse for lack of payment of the annual listing fees that NSF charges to maintain the listing. No technical deficiencies had ever occurred since its initial listing in 1980.

The Carousel 80A was supplied to local dealers from Norway by the manufacturer, although the importing costs were very high. Many states had grandfathered approval of the Carousel, and because no reports of deficiencies were ever reported, the market slowly developed.

David Del Porto, recognizing that the Carousel was an exceptional composting system with the highest customer satisfaction according to two studies, founded EcoTech to bring the technology back to the United States. The original fiberglass production tools were shipped to Massachusetts and production commenced. EcoTech began fabrication of the Carousel and resumed NSF listing, despite the high cost ($4,000 for an annual cursory inspection but NSF International did not update lists it publicized, so regulators were unsure of what systems were listed).