Ecosan - in search of a sustainable sanitation solution

Abstract

ECOLOGICAL SANITATION I t is not news that the pathogens and parasites found in excreta are widely responsible for a variety of illnesses in rural and peri-urban areas, including cholera and diarrhoea. The majority of pathogens can be found in human faeces. Therefore, the main risk lies in the contamination of the environment by faeces spread near places where people and animals live and next or into drinking water sources. The most basic type of ‘improved’ sanitation applied in South Africa is the ventilated improved pit (VIP) latrine. While it has brought safe sanitation to thousands of households, it is not always practical. Many areas have high water tables, or difficult terrain, making the construction of VIPs impractical. And what happens to these toilets once they are full? Ecosan is not so much a technology than a sanitation philosophy. It can be viewed as a three-step process: containment, sanitation and recycling of human excreta.

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