Ecological Sanitation
How is the use of ecological sanitation used in agriculture? |
A human being almost produces the amount of nutrients that is needed for growing his or her food. If separated, urine can easily serve as a fertiliser and faeces after hygienization as a soil conditioner for agriculture, returning a significant part of the nutrients and trace elements to the soil. |
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Source: Werner, Ch., Mang H.-P., Klingel, F. Bracken, P. (2004): General overview of ecosan. PowerPoint-Presentation. Deutsche Gesellschaft für Technische Zusammenarbeit (GTZ) GmbH ecological sanitation programme. |
The human excreta which is rich in organic matter and nutrients, mostly Nitrogen and Phosphorus, can be collected, treated (for instances, through composting) and applied directly as fertiliser and soil conditioner in agriculture. |
Urine is generally believed to contain more nutrients than faeces and requires less time for treatment (by storage) as faeces. Urine is rich and typically contains more than 50% of the Nitrogen, Phosphorus and Potassium content of whole human waste, therefore it is widely considered as good as or even better than commercially-available chemical fertilisers or stabilised sludge from sewage plants. Urine can be either applied directly in farming as nutrient enrichment, or as part of composting to increase the Nitrogen content, aid the composting process and increasing its final nutrient values. |
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The remaining treated greywater may be used for irrigation and also for recharging the local aquifer, closing local cycles, helping to improve food security and to conserve soil fertility. |
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| Definition of ecological sanitation |
| What is sanitation? |
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How is the use of ecological sanitation used in agriculture? |
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Scavenging is the demeaning practice of manual cleaning of human excreta from service/dry latrines. |
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Services Overview
Training Services Education on ecosan by ESF is to enable the people to develop, plan and implement eco-sanitation systems that are hygienically safe, socially acceptable, economically feasible, environmentally sound and technically appropriate.
Promotional Activities ESF partners different organizations in bringing sanitation to limelight, and thus giving true meaning to the word advocacy - “the process of managing information and knowledge strategically to change and/or influence policies and practices that affect the lives of people – particularly the disadvantaged”.
ProjectsThe concept behind ecological sanitation (ecosan) is that sanitation problems could be solved more sustainable and efficiently if the resources contained in excreta and wastewater were recovered and used rather than discharged into the water bodies and the surrounding environment.
Consulting ServicesThe Consulting unit has the mission of supporting individuals, industrial, commercial, residential, educational and governmental partners with the implementation of ecological sanitation systems to manage communal water in their premises.
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