Helping Sanitation Enter the Era of Sustainable Development
Sustainable sanitation concepts are quickly finding their way into the water and sanitation sector both from the point of view of planning but also in terms of technology options. Arno Rosemarin, Nelson Ekane, Ian Caldwell, Elisabeth Kvarnstrom, Jennifer McConville, Cecilia Ruben and Madeleine Fogde from Stockholm Environment Institute discuss the sanitation situation and the efforts being made towards achieving sustainability.
That water and sanitation were accidently left off the list of Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) in 2000 by the United Nations (UN) never made headlines. That it was added to the list two years later following campaigns by the Water Supply and Sanitation Collaborative Council (WSSCC) at the World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD) in Johannesburg never made headlines either. Water resources did make it to the international sustainable development agenda with the World Water Forum in The Hague in 2000 - some seven or eight years after the world signed the major conventions like those for climate, biodiversity and desertification. But sanitation never saw the light of day and is still waiting for its first major entrance into the centre court. It turns out that the sanitation target is the largest in terms of population of all MDGs, double that of the poverty targets like water supply and malnutrition and dwarfing any of the health targets like malaria, HIV/AIDS and TB (tuberculosis). The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) featured water and sanitation in the Human Development report of 2006 and the UN declared 2008 as the International Year of Sanitation (IYS). Slowly, sanitation is finding its way into the mainstream as a central question in sustainable human development. But this entrance is not a red carpet one and most of humanity fails to see or fully understand this issue of urgency.
- Sanitation Pays for Itself
- SuSanA and the SEI and IWA Pathways Report
- The Present State of Affairs is Debilitating
- What then is Sustainable Sanitation?
- Planning Systems and Options
- Potential Fertiliser from Sanitation Systems
- Declining Agricultural Productivity
- Socio-cultural Challenges Surrounding Reuse of Human Excreta
- Resources
- References
- Related Articles
Sanitation Pays for Itself
The cost to meet the MDG for water and sanitation using low-cost water and sanitation services is estimated to be around $18 billion per year to 2015 which is only about one-fifth the amount of money spent on bottled water in the world. The economic gains of providing sanitation average around ten-fold from the point of view of health and social benefits alone. The benefits to the environment and food security further increase this ratio, especially for countries that pay high rates for fertiliser. Many of the other MDGs cannot be properly met if the water and sanitation target itself is not first achieved.
A lesser acknowledged mega-challenge for the sector however is the cost for maintenance of existing services which runs at about $50 billion per year. These costs are not being met and are a major reason for dysfunction especially within the sanitation sector. The element of sustainability is lacking basically throughout and this is the subject of this article.
SuSanA and the SEI and IWA Pathways Report
The Sustainable Sanitation Alliance (SuSanA) (www. susana.org) was formed in 2007 to provide insight and guidance into the sanitation sector prior to and during the IYS 2008. Some 100 organisations joined together to formulate a number of vision documents on the topic of sustainable sanitation and to set up a dozen thematic working groups to build and spread knowledge. One of the background documents that was produced for the SuSanA visioning work is the 'Pathways for Sustainable Sanitation -Achieving the Millennium Development Goals' a report by a group from Stockholm Environment Institute and released by IWA Publishing in November 2008.
The Present State of Affairs is Debilitating
Some 2.5 billion people lack basic sanitation systems and most of these must resort to open defecation. Some 5000 children die each day due to waterborne diseases related to lack of sanitation. Some 700 million people in 50 countries are consuming foodstuffs that have been irrigated with untreated sewage. And half the world population is parasitized by organisms linked to poor sanitation conditions affecting food, water and the living environment. Business as usual cannot continue and there is an extreme need for new and innovative approaches.
What then is Sustainable Sanitation?
SuSanA has developed the following definition of sustainable sanitation: 'The main objective of a sanitation system is to protect and promote human health by providing a clean environment and breaking the cycle of disease. In order to be sustainable, a sanitation system has to be not only economically viable, socially acceptable, and technically and institutionally appropriate, it should also protect the environment and natural resources. Sustainable sanitation is context¬dependent and stakeholder-influenced.' Sustainable sanitation is a general term for all approaches that are aiming at improving the overall sustainability of sanitation systems. This can also include a change of paradigm from purely disposal-oriented to rather reuse-oriented sanitation. A new term has developed productive sanitation which addresses both sanitation and soil productivity. This opens up a new alliance between the sanitation and agricultural sectors, and promotes the recovery of resources. Productive sanitation is a central issue in addressing food security for the world's ca. two billion smallholder farmers in the poorest parts of the world. But as the finite phosphorus reserves dwindle and the cost to produce ammonia from natural gas increases, productive sanitation systems will become a global necessity. The World Health Organization (WHO) Guidelines published in 2006 on the safe reuse of human excreta and greywater in agriculture lay the ground for this development. Ecological sanitation is essentially synonymous with productive sanitation and includes both rural and urban systems whereby urine, faeces and greywater are source-separated much like present-day solid waste systems. Ecosan systems are also a more suitable technical option to common pit latrines in areas with shallow bedrock or high water tables.
Planning Systems and Options
A key element in developing more sustainable systems is the element of planning and the process of choosing the best options. Participatory and holistic approaches to sanitation planning can increase the potential for a sustainable system through better management of the numerous risk factors and capacity development within the local domains for successful operation and maintenance of the systems.
Potential Fertiliser from Sanitation Systems
An average human produces 500 litres of urine and 50 litres of faeces per year. This is equivalent to about 5.5 kg of nitrogen, potassium and phosphorus (4 kg of nitrogen, 1 kg of potassium and 0.5 kg of phosphorus) per capita per year varying from region to region depending on food intake. Most of the nitrogen (70-80%) and potassium are contained in the urine. Phosphorus is equally distributed between urine and faeces. One year's urine from one human is sufficient to support the growth of crops on 300-400 m2 arable soil.
Declining Agricultural Productivity
At present, the Earth is losing some 25 billion tons of nutrient-rich topsoil annually which results in considerably reduced productivity, and decreased food security. Globally some two billion hectares of vegetated land have been degraded since 1945, which is equivalent to 17% of the worldwide productively used land and 75-80% of Africa's farmland is degraded. Africa loses 30-60kg of nutrients/ ha/yr, which is the highest rate in the world. Chemical fertilisers are not affordable to most smallholder farmers. Productive sanitation systems will significantly contribute to improve soil fertility and agricultural production. For sub-Sahara Africa, such systems are sufficient to replace the present level of use of chemical fertiliser.
Socio-cultural Challenges Surrounding Reuse of Human Excreta
Despite the numerous advantages described above, and the hundreds of trials now being carried out around the world, cultural barriers do exist to the implementation and scaling up of productive sanitation systems. People's perceptions and beliefs about the handling and use of human-derived nutrients, especially in crop production and the perception that human excreta is a waste to be disposed of, are development challenges in both the developed and less developed parts of the world. The shift towards widespread reuse systems needs to take into account the prevailing social contexts and physical environment. To mainstream the development of nutrient reuse, concerted efforts are needed in the policy arena of national and local governments, in particular within the sectors of health, environment and agriculture. Also the whole area of awareness-raising among consumers about sanitation systems is necessary in order to create a better understanding and greater demand for more sustainable solutions.
Resources
The issues in this article are covered in the book, Pathways for Sustainable Sanitation: Achieving the Millennium Development Goals, published in 2008 by IWA Publishing.
The report is a product arising from the work of the Sustainable Sanitation Alliance which was initiated prior to the International Year of Sanitation in 2008 in an attempt to inject sustainable development ideas into the sanitation sector. It functions as a vision document for those policymakers, researchers and practitioners that are striving towards fundamental reform and improvements within the sanitation sector in both rural and urban populations in all countries of the world. It reviews the global progress being made towards achieving the Millennium Development Goal (MDG) target on sanitation. A literature review is presented on sanitation provision including human health impacts and the estimated costs and benefits of achieving the MDG target.
The report also provides a critique in that the UN has not yet introduced the concept of sustainability into the MDG programme in general and in particular into the sanitation sector which is highly dysfunctional and suffering from limited political leadership at both the local and global levels. It introduces the various sustainable sanitation options available and what approaches can be taken to improve sanitation systems – not just toilets which are only a small part of the overall system of food, nutrients and water cycles.
The study estimates the numbers of urban and rural households, including slum populations that are being targeted in all world regions. It also evaluates the historic trends in morbidity and mortality linked to diarrhoea arising from lack of functioning sanitation services comparing these to the UN data on sanitation coverage. The report estimates the potential fertiliser replacement capacity that reuse of human excreta can have for all world regions. Finally it provides a vision for future development within the sector where more sustainable options like source separation and reuse are promoted giving positive environmental or “green” impacts but also catalysing greater involvement and understanding on the part of individuals in society.
About the Authors:
Arno Rosemarin, Nelson Ekane, Ian Caldwell, Elisabeth Kvarnstrom, Jennifer McConville, Cecilia
Ruben and Madeleine Fogde are involved with the EcoSanRes Programme, Stockholm Environment Institute
References
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