Tag: reuse

RUAF magazine with special focus on productive sanitation

ruaf-magazine-1

The new issue of the RUAF Urban Agriculture Magazine “Water in Agriculture” features a special section on reuse-oriented or productive sanitation systems.

Productive sanitation stands for closing the nutrient loop between sanitation and agriculture to achieve higher agricultural production and improved food security.

The RUAF Magazines can be downloaded here: http://www.ruaf.org/node/101

Issue 20 features among other interesting articles:

  • Page 38: Productive Sanitation: Increasing food security by reusing treated excreta and greywater in agriculture by Robert Gensch
  • Page 41: Ecosan Fertilizers with Potential to Increase Yields in West Africa by Linus Dagerskog, Simeon Kenfack and Hakan Jönsson
  • Page 44: Reuse of Ecological Sanitation Products in Urban Agriculture: Experiences from the Philippines by Robert Holmer and Gina Itchon

UNSGAB chair talks about reuse-oriented sanitation

Dear all,

in his speech for the launch of the UN International Year of Sanitation 2008 the UNSGAB-chair Prince Willem-Alexander from the Netherlands pointed out the importance of reaching the water supply and sanitation MDGs in a sustainable way. Reuse of excreta and wastewater is promoted and the agricultural and energetical value of excreta and wastewater is stressed.

From the educational point of view he named the community-led total sanitation campaign in India as a good approach (well, there are pros and cons about that one – would be interesting to hear your opinion on the total sanitation campaign). From a technological point of view, Urine-Diversion toilets are named as a new innovation (considering that more than a million are installed in China it is not really something novel but good that it was mentioned). Other appropriate systems to reach the MDGs are given with “small-bore sewerage systems, pit emptying facilities, low-cost septic tank sludge treatment methods and the development and marketing of biogas technologies” – addressing bigger problems of low-cost decentralized conventional treatment systems… thinking of climate change, it would make more sense for me to invest into upgrading septic tanks to anaerobic digesters and pit latrines into Urine Diversion Dehydration toilets – then we also fight Methane-emissions… but just some thoughts…

The whole speach can be found at: http://esa.un.org/iys/iys_launch.shtml

Cheers,

sbr