Introduction to Ecological Sanitation - India Water …...Introduction to Ecological Sanitation Ecological Sanitation Symposium, Syria, 11 -13 December 2005 3 Increasing scarcity and

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Ecological Sanitation Symposium, Syria, 11 -13 December 2005 1

Introduction to Ecological Sanitation

Christine WernerDeutsche Gesellschaft für Technische Zusammenarbeit (GTZ) GmbH

ecological sanitation program, Division 44 – environment and infrastructure

(Ecological Sanitation Symposium, Syria, 11-13.12.2005)

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Overview

world wide water and sanitation problemshortcomings of conventional sanitation ecosan principles, concept and strategiesagricultural utilisation of nutrientsecosan benefitsmain challengesconclusion

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Increasing scarcity and degrading quality of freshwater1.1 billion people around the world have no access to safe drinking water2.4 billion people have inadequate sanitation and/or no means of wastewater disposalExpected growth of the global population by another 2 billion people within the next 25 years needing sanitation90 % of wastewater worldwide is either poorly treated or not treated at all at discharge80 % of all diseases and 25 % of all deaths in developing countries can be attributed to polluted water (WHO)

World water and sanitation crises

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Achievement of poverty eradication and sustainable development by rapidly increasing access to basic requirements such as clean water, sanitation, energy, health care, food security and the protection of biodiversity

Set target for water and sanitation:

To halve the proportion of people without access to safe drinking water and to adequate sanitation by 2015

Millenium development goals (MDGs)

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Shortcomings of conventional water carriage sanitation

fertilizer production from finite resources

food

Mixing of flow streams, misuse of drinking water

for transport

90% untreated

waste disposal in water bodies

sewage sludge

overexploitation of groundwater

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The idea, that human excreta are wastes with no useful purpose is a modern misconception. It has led to the develop-ment of so-called “drop and store” or “flush and forget” sanitation solutions, where precious drinking water is used to transport excreta into the water cycle misusing our rivers, oceans and aquifers as a sink for untreated waste. Linear end-of-pipe technology

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Unsatisfactory purification or uncontrolled discharge of more than 90 % of wastewater worldwide

Severe water pollution, unbearable health risks

Consumption of precious water for transport of waste High investment, energy, operating and maintenance costsFrequent subsidization of prosperous areas and neglect of poorer settlements

Loss of valuable nutrients and trace elements contained in excrements due to discharge into waters

Problems with contaminated sewage sludge in combined, central systems Linear end-of-pipe technology

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Retention of solids

Infiltration of liquids

Polluted groundwaterNitrates

Viruses

Pathogens

Shortcomings of conventional „drop and store“ sanitation

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Availability of water worldwide

sour

ce: E

arth

scan

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Water situation in Syria

among 17.38 million population, 79% have improved drinking water , 77% have improved sanitation (WHO/UNICEF), but few wastewater treatment plantsscarce water resourcesgroundwater pollution through nitrateneed for hygienically safe irrigation watercontamination of wastewater treatment sewer sludge through industrial effluents.total yearly water use is 19,162m3, but available water resource only amounts to 14,589m3(FAO publication).87% of water use is for agricultural irrigation. (FAO publication).

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Closing the loop between sanitation and agriculture

restoring soilfertility

treatment / hygienization / energy

recoverywater reuse no waste disposal in

water bodies

rainwater harvesting

food

organic waste

faecesurine

greywater

agriculturaluse

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Ecological sanitation - a new approach

Improves health by minimizing the introduction of pathogens from human excrements into the water cyclePromotes safe recovery and use of nutrients, organics, trace elements, water and energy

Preserves soil fertility and improves agricultural productivity

Conserves resources

Good for decentralised systems and more appropriate, cost-efficient solutions

Promotes of a holistic, interdisciplinary approach

Material flow cycle instead of disposal

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Eco-sanitation concepts and strategies

eco-sanitation…… is not a specific technology, but a new philosophy - based on an eco-system-oriented view of material flows - of dealing with what is presently regarded as waste and wastewater for disposal…considers human excreta and wastewater not as wastes but as natural resources … applies the basic natural principal of closing the loop by using modern and safe sanitation and reuse technologies… opens up a wider range of sanitation options than those currently considered.

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Ecosan principles

NUTRIENTS NUTRIENTS

closing the loopbetween sanitation

and agriculture

FOODFOOD

Pathogen destruction

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composting, anaerobic digestion

organic waste

soilimprovement,

biogas

treatment

utilisation

substances faeces(brownwater)

anaerobic digestion,

drying, composting

biogas, soil

improvement

constructedwetlands, gardening,

wastewater ponds, biol.treatment, membrane-

technology

greywater (shower,

washing, etc.)

irrigation,groundwater-

recharge ordirect reuse

urine (yellowwater)

liquid or dry fertiliser

hygienisation bystorage or

drying

filtration,biological treatment

rainwater

water supply,groundwater-

recharge

Separation of substances

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0

20

Organicskg COD/ (Person·year)

12.3

3.6

14.1

VolumeLiter / (Person·year)

10.0

00 –

200.

000

l

500 l 50 l

sour

ce: O

tterp

ohl

0

6

Nutrient contentkg N,P,K / (Person·year)

N

PK

0.8

5.3

1.0

Composition of household wastewater

greywater urine faeces

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Climate protection

Flood protection

Resource conservationBusiness and labour

promotion

Food security

HealthSustainable agriculture

+Conservation of soil fertility

Integrated Water ResourcesManagement

Ecosan is a cross-sectoral approach

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(Saskatchewan Interactive, 2002)

Trend of fertilizer consumption

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World demand for phosphate fertilizers continues to expand in relation to increased world population and food requirements.

For the period 2003-07, world phosphate consumption is forecasted to increase by 2.6% annually.

Within about 60 years, all reserved phosphate are expected to be mined.

Future conflicts on the access to phosphate are likely, due to the limited reserves and the concentration of significant minable resources in a very small number of countries.

sour

ce: U

S G

eolo

gica

lsur

vey,

200

3

Phosphate

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One person can provide enough nutrients for:200 m2 to 400 m2 agricultural production area, depending on soil and plant type, but:

Agricultural utilisation of nutrients

1. a multi-barrier concept is recommended for securing hygienic safetyin the reuse of human faeces and urine in agriculture:

Awareness raising and education on hygiene and reuse aspectsProper pre-treatment (storage, drying, composting, anaerobicdigestion, heating, filtration, irradiation with UV etc.)Suitable „handling“ (with security measures) Limitation to specific vegetables and field crops, or to specificvegetation periods, depending on pre-treatment

2. the crops nutrient needs have to be respected (no over-fertilisation) with respect to crop quality and environmental concerns

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Wastewater and excreta are a valuable resource

0

25

50

75

100

125

150

global mineralfertilizer

consumption

global fertilizerequivalent inwastewater

million tons per year

(as N + P2O5 + K2O)135

50

ww

w.fe

rtiliz

er.o

rgfarmers around the world yearly require 135 Mio tons of mineral fertiliser for their crops, while at the same time conventional sanitation dumps 50 Mio tons of fertiliser equivalents from so called wastewater flows into our water bodies - nutrients with a market value of around 15 Billion US dollars.

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• recovery of energy content(covering about 20% of cooking energy needsfor a typical family in a developing country)

• energy savings in fertilizerproduction & wastewater treatment

Wastewater and excreta are a valuable resource

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sour

ce: D

rang

ert,

1998

Fertilizer Equivalence of Yearly per Capita Excreted Nutrients and Fertiliser Requirements for Producing

250 kg of Cereals

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

N N P P K K

Nut

rient

(kg)

cerealrequirements

faeces

urine

Fertilizer potential of human excreta

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Characteristics of substances

of no major hygienic concernvolumetrically the largest portion of wastewatercontains almost no nutrients (simplified treatment)may contain spent washing powders etc.

3. Greywater(from washing, shpwering etc.)

less hygienically critical - almost sterilecontains the largest proportion of nutrients available to plantsmay contain hormones or medical residues

2. urine

hygienically critical - many pathogensconsists of organics, nutrients and trace elementsimproves soil quality and increase its water retention capacity

1. faeces

characteristicfraction

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Sanitising faeces

Temperature

pH

Ammonia

Dryness

Solar radiation

Competition

Nutrients

Oxygen

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cosa

nRes

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not relevantnot relevantnoneLocal application to fieldcrop of cat. B, without

contact to personsC

no suggestedstandard

</= 1workerApplication to field crop

(for industrial use, feedstock, trees)

B

</= 1000</= 1worker,

consumer, public

Application to field crop (used for raw food)A

Feacalcoliforms[number /

100 g]

Nematodes[Eggs / kg]

Person / Group

exposedUseCategory

WHO guidelines for agricultural use of treated water (1989)

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• e.g. separate collection of urine or blackwater

• centralized nutrient processing facility

• centralized greywater sewer system and treatment

• centralized sewer system and treatment

• recovery of nutrients and water e.g. through reuse of wastewater

Partially decentralizedCentralized Fully decentralized

• small-scale closed cycles of water and materials

sour

ce: L

arse

n, 2

001

Centralised and decentralized systems

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Projected costs for sanitation service for 5000 inhabitants, Germany

Vacuum urine-diversiontoilet

sour

ce: B

erlin

er W

asse

rbet

riebe

Conventionaltoilet (WC)

Composting urine diversiontoilet

Time (year)

Cos

t

Cost comparison: ecosan vs. conventional

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Benefits of ecological sanitation

safe sanitation

sour

ce: w

ww

.virt

ualm

useu

m.c

a

sour

ce: J

ohan

nes

Hee

b

ecosan-toilets in Bangalore, India

healthy environment

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Benefits of ecological sanitation

restored soil fertility throughnutrient reuse

sour

ce:V

inne

rås,

200

3

improved soil quality throughreuse of organics

urinefaeces & urine none

compostimproved soil untreated soil

after one week without water

sour

ce: P

ette

rJen

ssen

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Examples of ecosan technologies

biogas plant

sour

ce: w

ww

.abr

-w.d

e

urine-separating dehydration latrine

sour

ce: A

ussi

e Au

stin

constructed wetlands

membrane technology

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Main challenges

increasing awareness

integration of reuse into water supply and sanitation planning

revision of legal frameworks & technical standards

establishment of full cost analysis and risk and benefit comparisons

finding innovative investors and adapting financing instruments

implementation of large scale urban projects so

urce

: Pet

terJ

enss

en

Greywater treatment in Norway

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To promote the development and pilot application of holistic ecologically, economically and socially sustainable recycling- based wastewater and sanitation concepts in developing countries

To contribute to the global dissemination and application of ecosan approaches and establish these as state-of-the-art techniques – in both, developing and in industrialized countries

Aims of the GTZ – ecosan programme

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GTZ – ecosan programme

knowledge management and networkinge-newsletterecosan website www.gtz.de/ecosan

ecosan source book (in progress)

ecosan-project data sheets (in progress)

ecosan-technologies data sheets (in progress)

brochures, posters, professional articles, films, etc.

conferences & workshops

cooperation in the field

national & international working groups

ecosan pilot research and demonstration projectsbaseline and feasibility studies for sanitation systems, treatment and reuse systemsadvocacy and decision making workshopstraining workshopstechnical and operational advice for implementationaccompanying research upscaling of projects and dissemination of experiencesmore than 40 pilot projects worldwide

Key activities of the GTZ-ecosan programme

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conclusion

“business as usual“ will not allow us to meet the MGDs, as conventional systems have failed

we cannot continue to waste our non-renewable resources

ecological sanitation must be recognized and introduced as the new promising holistic and sustainable approach to provide safe and decent sanitation, reduce poverty, contribute to food security, preserve our environment and maintain our natural basis of life on earth

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Thank you!

www.gtz.de/[email protected]

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Documents

Introduction to Ecological Sanitation - India Water …...Introduction to Ecological Sanitation Ecological Sanitation Symposium, Syria, 11 -13 December 2005 3 Increasing scarcity and