what is eco sanitation, how it works

1. ECO SANITATION TOILETS
CREATED BY: SAM SYMON

2. 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.

3. • 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

4. 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.

5. 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;

6. • 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;

7. 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).

8. 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.

9. • 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

10. • 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.

11. • 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.

12. • 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.

13. • 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.