Jimmy’s Farm and Wildlife Park unveils composting toilets provided by WooWoo Waterless Toilets

A Suffolk wildlife park has introduced what it sees as ‘radical’ new facilities it hopes will protect waterways and boost soil quality.

Jimmy’s Farm and Wildlife Park, in Wherstead, near Ipswich, has unveiled new ‘waterless’ composting toilets.

The team hopes these new loos, which do not flush waste away as they are not connected to plumbing or water systems, will help fertilise soil while also preventing waste being dumped into rivers or streams.

Jimmy Doherty, the park’s owner, said he was on a mission to not only protect wildlife but ‘the microscopic organisms beneath our feet’, with there being more living things in a teaspoon of soil than there are people on the planet.

He felt waterways were under threat from pollution, agriculture and degradation and that healthy soil and clean water nourished life on a fundamental level.

Jimmy said: “Healthy soil is crucial for carbon sequestration and biodiversity.

“The impact we have on the environment shapes the way Jimmy’s Farm moves forward.

“By installing these waterless toilets we can move closer to our green goals.”

The new amenities were provided by WooWoo Waterless Toilets.

Martin Doyle, from the firm, said: "Composting is natural and efficient, offering significant environmental benefits for future generations.

“Ultimately, many people install these because it’s cheaper than laying pipes for plumbing in remote areas, but the benefits are far greater for ecology than the cost saving element alone."

A spokeswoman for WooWoo Waterless Toilets said the park wished to ‘revisit the wisdom’ of Victorian-era priest Henry Moule, who filed a patent for dry earth toilets in 1860, following cholera outbreaks.

She described it as a ‘radical new approach to boosting soil quality’ which was ‘a relatively new trend in the UK’.

Stevie Sheppard, the park’s director, said the new facilities had been tested, with excellent feedback from visitors.

Jacob Andersen, owner of WooWoo Waterless Toilets, said its mission was to change people’s attitudes towards composting toilets.

He added: “The technology we have access to now is simply unparalleled and provides the same comfort and sanitation you’d expect of a water based system.

“Few people get excited about the toilet industry but these Kazuba units, as seen at Jimmy's, are causing quite a stir."