This
special contains five reports on Ecological Toilet Systems:
The Blair Necessity - Zimbabwe, Divide and Spray - Sweden,
The Drain Gang - Pakistan, Sewage and Sunshine - India,
Worm's Eye - Ireland
The
Blair Necessity - Zimbabwe
The Bikita project set out to provide safe drinking
water supplies in an area of Zimbabwe where water
shortages are common and has, so far, resulted in
more than 400 new or upgraded water sources. As part
of the programme, the importance of improved sanitation
is promoted through a network of health clubs in which
some 9,000 members participate regularly in weekly
meetings.
The Government of Zimbabwe has selected the Blair
Latrine as its standard technology for rural sanitation
projects. There has been a good demand for this latrine
in Zimbabwe and 220,000 have already been built under
the country's National Rural Water and Sanitation
Programme.
Divide
and Spray - Sweden
The use of human waste in agriculture has a long
history. For example, the Romans used waste as a fertiliser.
More recently, Sweden has taken the lead in recycling
and reusing human excreta. The city of Stockholm has
supported the introduction of ecological sanitation
in middle class housing areas where the urine is centrally
collected, stored and spread on farmland as fertiliser.
A project funded by the Swedish International Development
Cooperation Agency, Sida, and carried out by the United
Nations Development Programme is promoting further
development of ecological sanitation.
The
Drain Gang - Pakistan
In Karachi, the capital of Pakistan, treatment plants
only process one sixth of the sewage generated by
the city's population of ten million. However, in
one neighbourhood, known as Orangi, a group of citizens
have been tackling the problem of sewage and sanitation
systems themselves.
Orangi is a low income, unplanned settlement on the
periphery of Western Karachi. It is a large township
consisting mostly of katchi abadis which are
squatter settlements. It has a population of about
one million people and, unlike most of the city, it
has clean streets.
Sewage
and Sunshine - India
In the South, a tradition of using wastewater in
ponds for growing fish is known to exist in many places.
These wetland systems work effortlessly with the help
of the knowledge of local farmers who are excellent
performers in recovering wastewater nutrients to grow
food. The fish ponds improve the quality of wastewater
and act as stabilisation ponds for reducing biological
and chemical toxicity of urban wastewater.
Untreated municipal waste is a serious cause of environmental
concern. It can cause major pollution to the rivers,
lakes or coastal areas in which it is disposed. Everyday
17 million gallons of sewage water pours out of Calcutta
but none of the 11 million residents have to pay for
sewage treatment because it is subsidised by a natural
biological practice. A series of canals channel the
water into the East Calcutta wetlands where a wastewater
system, initially created by local fish farmers anxious
to improve their yields, has revolutionised the concept
of sewage treatment.
Worm's
Eye - Ireland
Approximately ten per cent of homes in the Irish
countryside still use underground septic tanks to
deal with their household sewage. The biggest drawback
to the tanks is that they have to be emptied two or
three times each year. It is also important to site
the tanks carefully to ensure that the contents cannot
leak into the ground water supply.
As a solution for storing human faeces and urine,
the Irish Earthworm Company has developed a household
wormery for composting domestic waste. The prototype
sewage tank is made of recycled plastic and can be
adapted to any size. Once harvested, the vermicompost
can be used in the garden or pot plants. It has a
high nutrient content and a granular structure which
is beneficial to plants, soil and crops. Worms eggs
will also be present in the vermicompost and, once
hatched, these worms will continue their good work
around the garden.
Further
Reading
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