Focus on closing the loop on sanitation
The Ecosan approach enables environment friendly recovery of nutrients and water. This should be compared with water-borne sewer systems that blend water-mixed human excreta with greywater, storm water and industrial effluents into a hazardous mix, including human pathogens and toxic compounds. Most cities are unable to cope with such a mega-sized water treatment problem. Pit latrines, septic tanks and cess pits often contaminate drinking water. By comparison, the ecosan household or community source-separates human excreta into urine, faeces, household organics and greywater. Each fraction is contained and handled separately. Human urine contains about 75% of the nutrients leaving the body and represents about 80% of the total excreta volume. The nutrient content of urine is comparable to commercial fertilizers. Sanitized faecal matter, composted with household organics, is an excellent soil conditioner. Ecological sanitation represents an approach to sanitation where human excreta is contained, sanitized and recovered for use in soil systems to enhance agricultural production. This closes the loop on the nutrients cycle.
Implementation
Ecosan initiatives are currently operating in developing and developed countries, including: Bangladesh, Bolivia, Burkina Faso, China, Côte d’Ivoire, Denmark, El Salvador, Ethiopia, Germany, Guinea, India, Kenya, Mali, Mexico, Mongolia, Mozambique, Nepal, Norway, Palestinian Territories, Peru, Senegal, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Sweden, Switzerland, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda, Vietnam, and Zimbabwe. Evaluations reveal considerable achievements and demonstrate that ecosan is viable as a decentralised infrastructure application in diverse socio-economic locations in both rural and urban contexts, enabling equitable services for men, women, children, and the elderly.
The EcoSanRes programme
Sweden, through Sida and the SEI administered EcoSanRes Programme, is one of the major international actors promoting and developing the ecosan approach. Other international actors include: GTZ, WASTE, UNDP, Water and Sanitation Programme of the World Bank, WHO, UNICEF, WaterAid, EU, CREPA (West Africa), EAWAG and the Norwegian, Austrian, Dutch, German and Swiss bilateral agencies. The cornerstones of the EcoSanRes Programme include:
- Global institutional networking and policy development
- Capacity building, training and awareness raising
- Methods development, studies and evaluation
- Implementation in pilot projects, especially in urban and peri-urban areas
The worldwide EcoSanRes network of experts is engaged in policy promotion, capacity building, institutional development, technical innovations, and applied research in developed and developing countries. Urban ecosan pilot projects include: Erdos Eco-town (Inner Mongolia, China); Tepoztlán (Morelos, Mexico); and Kimberley and Buffalo City (South Africa). There is also an international discussion group, where scientific, technical and socio-economic ecosan-related issues are debated. For references, research findings, links, debate and announcements of the EcoSanRes Programme, please refer to www.ecosanres.org. To participate in the discussion group, please visit: groups.yahoo.com/group/ecosanres/.
|
|
