Sanitation Updates

Three years ago, residents of coastal and upland villages in San Fernando City polluted their drinking water with their own excreta. Today, they take pains to practice safe hygiene and sanitation. An innocent looking dry toilet (UDDT - urine-diverting dehydration toilet) and an untiring city mayor propelled this shift through a 2-town ecological sanitation pilot project that has evolved into a citywide movement. Can the city carry the momentum forward to the entire province and neighboring towns?

Read more: ADB, Mar 2008

A big housing development project is bringing ecological sanitation toilets that do not require water, to a water-scarce municipality in the northern region of the People’s Republic of China (PRC). The largest urban project of its kind in the PRC, the project also boasts of an onsite eco-station complete with greywater treatment and thermal composting of organic materials. Will there be enough takers to ensure the sustainability of this project and the concept of ecotown?

The Erdos Eco-Town Project (EETP) - a collaborative enterprise of the Dongsheng District of the Erdos Municipal government, Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI), Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA), and a private real estate developer (Daxing Co. Ltd.)- is the world’s first major attempt to build an entire town with onsite ecological sanitation (ecosan).

Read more: ADB, Apr 2008

Ecological management of human excreta and urine would not only help keep the environment clean and the people safe from many diseases but also meet the entire need of fertiliser for agriculture, a workshop on water supply and ecological sanitation was told in Dhaka yesterday.

The workshop, organised by the Bangladesh Water Partnership (BWP) in observance of the World Water Day 2008, at the LGED auditorium, was attended by leading water experts and representatives of government, non-governmenal organisations and international agencies involved in the water sanitation sector.

Read More - The New Nation

“Ecological Sanitation: Concept to Practice” is the first course offered by ENPHO (Environment and Public Health Organization) in the SHIT series. This three day course runs from 26-28 March 2008 in Kathmandu, Nepal (application deadline 22 March). Four other courses are planned: Constructed wetlands; Solid waste management; Biogas for sanitation; and Total sanitation campaigns. Costs are Rs. 3,000 per person, students Rs 2,000, international participants US$ 100.

For more information contact:

ENPHO Resource Centre
Tel: 977-1-4468641, 4493188
Fax: 977-1-4491376
Email: rc[at]enpho.org

Dr. Håkan Jönsson from the Stockholm Environment Insititute’s (SEI) EcoSanRes Programme receives this award for his work on the development of sustainable sanitation systems in Sweden and abroad. The prize, a travel grant and a diploma, will be presented during the National Conference on Wastewater and Recycling on March 4-5 in Linköping, Sweden

Read more: Avloppsguiden.se, 12 Feb 2008

A seminar was held at IFAD Headquarters in Rome Tuesday 29 January 2008 with participants from IFAD and The Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI).

The main objective of this learning event was to share knowledge and experiences on the best ways of optimizing human waste or nutrient recycling, using productive sanitation systems. The event also highlighted the economic benefits of recycling nutrients as fertilizer in terms of improved soil condition, reclaimed water, increased agricultural productivity, employment generation, and health improvements and the reduction of environmental and public health costs.

The following presentations are available:

* The role of productive sanitation in global environmental sustainability
* Key linkages between agriculture and sanitation
* The MDG Sanitation challenges. Examples of productive sanitation projects in various regions
* Best practices optimizing nutrient recycling. Examples of ongoing projects
* A global pro-poor policy and capacity development programme on sustainable sanitation

Follow up:

The President of IFAD has declared his interest in investigating further opportunities for collaboration with institutions researching the role of productive sanitation in adaptation to adverse climate change effects.

A concept note will be developed linking climate change adaptation, productive sanitation systems and water management at the small-scale farmer level.

Current IFAD pilot initiatives related to productive sanitation systems will continue to be scaled up based on potential results. Several Country Programme Managers at IFAD have already shown an interest in testing those approaches in current projects (in Rwanda, Burundi, China, India and Swaziland and South Africa for example).

IFAD will also support different activities on productive sanitation systems during the International Year of Sanitation with partners such as the Sustainable Sanitation Alliance, SEI, UN agencies ( UNICEF) and private foundation.

Read more

CSE / Down to Earth, 22 Jan 2008

Soon it will be possible to have flush toilets with minimal wastage of water. Led by Prof. Vinod Tare, researchers from the environmental engineering department of IIT Kanpur have developed a toilet that will reuse the water that goes into flushing rather than discharging it along with the excreta. This will be possible by not allowing water and solid waste to mix.

Indian Railways has approved the design and Unicef will be involved in pilot project involving community toilets.

A basic toilet should not cost more than Rs 5,000.

Source: Down to Earth, 22 Jan 2008

Programme Organiser: The EcoSanRes Programme at Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI)

The programme has three parts: a 3-week course in Sweden, a period between courses for project work back home, and a 2-week course in the region. The language requirement is English. Costs are covered by Sida. The deadline for applications from Africa and Latin America is 1 April 2008. The deadline for applications from Asia, Eastern Europe and Central Asia is 1 May 2008.

ITP 99a “Ecological Alternatives in Sanitation” - for Africa and Latin America:

• For all Africa and Latin America participants: a 3-week course in Sweden from 11-29 August 2008
• For Africa participants: a 2-week course in South Africa in February 2009
• For Latin America participants: a 2-week course in Mexico in March 2009

ITP 99b “Ecological Alternatives in Sanitation” - for Asia, Eastern Europe and Central Asia:

• For all Asia and Eastern Europe and Central Asia participants: a 3-week course in Sweden from 15 September - 3 October 2008
• For Asia participants: a 2-week course in Asia in April 2009
• For Eastern Europe and Central Asia participants: a 2-week course in the Ukraine in May 2009

Full information

21 Jan 2008, Source South Asia

Members of the Solutions Exchange Water Community in India were asked to share their experiences in the promotion of ecological sanitation (ecosan). A compilation of responses was produced, including suggestions on how to scale-up ecosan in India.

Read more 

“Waste not Waste”, the latest film in TVE’s Earth Report series, is all about ecological sanitation.

The premiere of “Waste not Waste” on BBC World will take place on:
Friday 25th Jan - 20:30 (GMT) with repeats at 10:30 on Monday, 15:30 on Tuesday, and 02:30 and 08:30 on Wednesday.

Directed by Joshka Wessels, the film takes us from waterless urinals at schools in Germany to Breskens in the Netherlands where Mr. Sietz Leeflang has installed dry toilets in his house. After Europe, Tunisia and Morocco are visited to show how ecological sanitation has been introduced in dry areas.

A toilet demonstration in school causes some embarassment (TVE / Joshka Wessels).

Visit TVE web site for more information and to view a QuickTime clip of the film

You can provide feedback on the film at: http://www.bbcworld.com/Pages/ContactUsDepartments.aspx