Synopsis
The need for improved sanitation around the world is becoming a crisis, and the situation is particularly critical in urban and peri-urban areas in developing countries. Here the population is growing rapidly, and where sanitation is provided, the means to treat and dispose of waste safely is neglected, with huge environmental and public health consequences. Sanitation solutions are needed that are safe for the user and interlinked with other urban services which can treat waste as a resource. This book describes an attempt to create modern, multi-storey urban dwellings that incorporate ecological sanitation into their design, resulting in a clean living space, and deriving safe agricultural inputs from human organic waste. The book highlights the experience of implementing the Erdos Eco-Town Project in Inner Mongolia, China. This remains the largest urban project of urine-diversion dry toilets in the world and describes the technical design, daily operation and maintenance, costs and benefits compared to conventional systems, as well as the challenges in achieving acceptability with users. Published in association with Stockholm Environment Institute.
Table of Contents
Prelims (Figures, Acronyms, About the authors, Preface)
1. Introduction
2. Designed to close the loop
3. Operations and maintenance
4. Research and development
5. Social acceptance
6. Lessons learned
Back Matter (Annex 1. Job descriptions of the project experts, Annex 2. Cost-benefit analysis of the EETP ecological sanitation system, Acknowledgements, Notes, References)
Endorsements
‘Project failures can contribute to learning as much as any success stories. The sanitation sector has many failures but these are largely unreported. This book is a courageous effort to help us learn from the Erdos project; what can go wrong, so that we can be wiser for our next project. Thanks for the learning opportunity.’ Jack Sim, Founder, World Toilet Organization
‘Radical sector innovation often encounters great challenges. This book provides a rich and fine-grained account of why and how the acceptance of dry toilet technology in a newly planned neighbourhood in Erdos Eco-Town, China, failed to materialize. It thus contributes important learning for future initiatives in providing more sustainable ‘closed-loop’ solutions for urban areas.’ Chris Luethi, Eawag-Sandec, Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology
‘The Challenges of Urban Ecological Sanitation is an excellent account of the best of intentions, diligently pursued, but still flawed in practice. The book sets out a way forward, and lessons learnt, that are an important addition to the efforts to find sanitation solutions which ‘close the loop’, return nutrients to the soil, save water in scarce areas, and prevent faecal contamination in flood-prone areas. The book is a must-read for those concerned, with social engineering, and lesser known technologies, in the developing world.’ Shantha Sheela Nair, Vice Chairman State Planning Commission, Tamil Nadu, India
