The composting toilets are almost completely waterless (they use only five gallons of water per day; 1,825 gals. per year) and are remarkably odor free. Compromised of a 200 cubic foot composting chamber filled with wood shavings, the unit evaporates all liquids and composts the solids over a year-long composting cycle. The compost, which is changed out once a year, can be bagged and landfilled.

Designed specifically for high-use recreational facilities, the composting toilets at Fort Carson can handle 560,000 visits annually. If they were standard water-equipped devices, the toilets would use about 900,000 gallons of water per year and generate over 1,000,000 gallons of wastewater.

The facilities at Ironhorse Park also have a treatment system for water used for hand washing. This soapy water is fed to a raised evapotranspiration bed where the water is used by grass and flowers. Furthermore, one of the units at the park requires no electricity. Instead, it is completely powered by a grid of solar cells that provide all the energy needed.

The only problem Fort Carson has encountered with the composting toilets was a fire that damaged one of the units. Apparently, someone dumped live charcoal into the composting chamber of one toilet and caused thousand of dollars of damage. Users of the park are now advised, through posted instructions, that no cans, bottles, cigarette butts or other foreign objects should be disposed in the composting toilets. The composting toilets at Fort Carson are the first facilities of this type to be installed at a regular Army installation. (Similar composting toilets are located in Colorado at several Pikes Peak reservoirs, Green Mountain Falls, Aurora and Union reservoirs and at the Vail and Aspen ski areas; composting toilets can also be found at the Jackson Hole, Wyoming, ski area.)