ECO SANITATION TOILETSCREATED BY: SAM SYMON

DEFINITION

• ECOLOGICAL SANITATION, COMMONLY ABBREVIATED TO ECOSAN (ALSO SPELLED ECO-SAN OR ECOSAN), IS AN APPROACH WHICH IS CHARACTERIZED BY A DESIRE TO SAFELY "CLOSE THE LOOP" (MAINLY FOR THE NUTRIENTS AND ORGANIC MATTER) BETWEEN SANITATION AND AGRICULTURE. ECOSAN SYSTEMS SAFELY RECYCLE EXCRETA RESOURCES (PLANT NUTRIENTS AND ORGANIC MATTER) TO CROP PRODUCTION IN SUCH A WAY THAT THE USE OF NON-RENEWABLE RESOURCES IS MINIMIZED.

• WHEN PROPERLY DESIGNED AND OPERATED, ECOSAN SYSTEMS CAN STRIVE TO PROVIDE A HYGIENICALLY SAFE, ECONOMICAL, AND CLOSED-LOOP SYSTEM TO CONVERT HUMAN EXCRETA INTO NUTRIENTS TO BE RETURNED TO THE SOIL, AND WATER TO BE RETURNED TO THE LAND

OBJECTIVE

• THE MAIN OBJECTIVES OF ECOLOGICAL SANITATION ARE TO REDUCE THE HEALTH RISKS RELATED TO SANITATION, CONTAMINATED WATER AND WASTE; TO PREVENT GROUNDWATER POLLUTION AND SURFACE WATER POLLUTION; AND TO REUSE NUTRIENTS OR ENERGY CONTAINED WITHIN WASTES.

ECOLOGICAL SANITATION - WHAT IS IT?• ECO SANITATION WORKS ON THE PRINCIPLE THAT

URINE AND FECES ARE NOT SIMPLY WASTE PRODUCTS OF THE HUMAN DIGESTION PROCESS, BUT RATHER ARE AN ASSET THAT IF PROPERLY MANAGED CAN CONTRIBUTE TO BETTER HEALTH AND FOOD PRODUCTION AND REDUCE POLLUTION.

• ECO-SANITATION LATRINES:• STORE AND PREPARE FECES FOR USE IN

AGRICULTURE BY ENCOURAGING THE FORMATION OF HUMUS BY THE ADDITION OF WOOD ASH AND/OR SOIL;

• ARE DRY SYSTEMS THAT MAKE CONTAMINATION OF

GROUNDWATER EXTREMELY UNLIKELY• ALLOW THE APPLICATION OF URINE AS FERTILIZER

IN AGRICULTURE, IN CASE URINE IS SEPARATED;• REMOVE FECES AND URINE FROM THE IMMEDIATE

ENVIRONMENT THEREBY CONTRIBUTING TO BETTER HEALTH;

AN OLD PRACTICE REVISITED• SINCE  EARLY CHINESE HISTORY, HUMAN EXCRETA

WAS COMMONLY USED IN AGRICULTURE TO COMPLEMENT FARM MANURE IN IMPROVING SOIL FERTILITY. FARMERS OWNED ‘OUTHOUSES’ WHERE THEY INVITED VISITORS TO LEAVE BEHIND THEIR ‘VALUABLE’ EXCRETA. IN EARLY EUROPE, GREEK AND ROMAN SOCIETIES COLLECTED HUMAN EXCRETA AND USED IT AS FERTILIZER. THE ROMANS FOUND THAT URINE CONTAINED HIGH VALUE NUTRIENTS AND COLLECTING IT WAS A GOOD BUSINESS. EMPEROR VESPASIAN INTRODUCED A ‘URINE TAX’ ALONG WITH THE PROVERB PECUNIA NON OLET (MONEY DOES NOT SMELL).

THE CASE FOR ECOLOGICAL SANITATION IN SOUTH AFRICA

• SANITATION IN SOUTH AFRICA REMAINS A SERIOUS ISSUE IN 2016. ACCORDING TO THE SOUTH AFRICAN HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION, 1.4 MILLION HOUSEHOLDS IN SOUTH AFRICA STILL DO NOT HAVE ACCESS TO ‘ADEQUATE SANITATION’. FURTHERMORE, OF HOUSEHOLDS WITH ACCESS TO SANITATION, AROUND 26% (3.8 MILLION HOUSEHOLDS) DO NOT HAVE ACCESS TO SANITATION FACILITIES THAT MEET THE APPLICABLE MINIMUM STANDARDS.

• THIS IS HAVING SERIOUS CONSEQUENCES ON,

AMONGST MANY OTHER CONCERNS, THE HEALTH OF THE NATION. FOR EXAMPLE : 88% OF DIARRHEAL DEATHS GLOBALLY ARE ATTRIBUTABLE TO UNCLEAN WATER, INADEQUATE SANITATION AND INSUFFICIENT HYGIENE. IN 2013, 15,760 DEATHS (3.4% OF ALL DEATHS IN SOUTH AFRICA) WERE ATTRIBUTED TO DIARRHEA AND GASTROENTERITIS OF PRESUMED INFECTIOUS ORIGIN THIS IS EQUIVALENT TO 29.54 DEATHS PER 100,000 PEOPLE, A RATE THAT IS ALMOST A THIRD HIGHER THAN THE INTERNATIONAL AVERAGE OF 20.9 DEATHS PER 100,000 PEOPLE

• IT IS CLEAR THAT WE NEED TO RECONSIDER HOW WE DO SANITATION IN SOUTH AFRICA. IN PARTICULAR, THERE IS A VERY REAL NEED TO CONSIDER MAKING DRY AND/OR ECOLOGICAL SANITATION TECHNOLOGY THE DOMINANT FORM OF SANITATION PROVISION FOR BOTH THE WEALTHY AND THE POOR IN ALL NEW AND REFURBISHED BUILDINGS IN SOUTH AFRICA.

• THIS FORM OF SANITATION IS CHEAPER SINCE IT IS MANAGED BY THE HOUSEHOLD, SUBSTANTIALLY REDUCING THE SANITATION PROVISION AND WASTEWATER TREATMENT BURDEN THE STATE EXPERIENCES. IN ADDITION, IT CAN SUBSTANTIALLY REDUCE THE WATER USED FOR SANITARY PURPOSES, AND DECENTRALIZES THE MAINTENANCE OF SANITATION TO THE HOUSEHOLD, THUS REDUCING THE AMOUNT OF WASTEWATER TREATED BY THE MUNICIPALITY AND THE NUMBER OF PIPES THAT NEED TO BE MAINTAINED. FURTHERMORE, IT PROVIDES THE MAIN BENEFIT OF FLUSH TOILETS, NAMELY CLEAN AND HYGIENIC DISPOSAL OF HUMAN WASTE, AND A REDUCTION IN DIARRHEA RELATED DEATHS.

• ALREADY, A MAJOR PORTION OF SOUTH AFRICA IS

USING DRY SANITATION OF SOME FORM OR ANOTHER: 11.3% OF HOUSEHOLDS IN SOUTH AFRICA ARE USING SANITATION THAT IS A NOT FLUSH TOILET, BUT WHICH MEETS THE MINIMUM APPLICABLE STANDARDS. HOWEVER, THIS IS PRIMARILY THE POOR AND NOT THE WEALTHY, WITH MORE THAN 99% OF HOUSEHOLDS EARNING MORE THAN R600, 000 A YEAR IN THE METROPOLITAN CITIES OF SOUTH AFRICA USING FLUSH TOILETS, ACCORDING THE 2011 CENSUS.

• FOR THIS TECHNOLOGY TO BE ACCEPTED, IT IS

NECESSARY THAT BOTH THE POOR AND THE WEALTHY USE IT. THIS WILL REMOVE THE STIGMA OF DRY SANITATION AS BEING A ‘SECOND RATE’ TYPE OF SANITATION, THUS ENCOURAGING GREATER ACCEPTANCE OF THIS TECHNOLOGY BY THE POOR.

Constructing an ecosan toilet -- A film from UNICEF.webm

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