University of Massachusetts Amherst ScholarWorks@UMass Amherst Masters Theses Dissertations and Theses March 2016 Developing An Ecological Sanitation Transect Ian Kolesinskas University of Massachusetts Amherst Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.umass.edu/masters_theses_2 Part of the Bioresource and Agricultural Engineering Commons, Environmental Design Commons, Environmental Engineering Commons, Food Security Commons, Urban, Community and Regional Planning Commons, and the Urban Studies and Planning Commons Recommended Citation Kolesinskas, Ian, "Developing An Ecological Sanitation Transect" (2016). Masters Theses. 327. https://doi.org/10.7275/7975054 https://scholarworks.umass.edu/masters_theses_2/327 This Open Access Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Dissertations and Theses at ScholarWorks@UMass Amherst. It has been accepted for inclusion in Masters Theses by an authorized administrator of ScholarWorks@UMass Amherst. For more information, please contact [email protected]. DEVELOPING AN ECOLOGICAL SANITATION TRANSECT A Thesis Presented By IAN JAMES KOLESINSKAS Submitted to the Graduate School of the University of Massachusetts Amherst in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of MASTER OF REGIONAL PLANNING February 2016 Master of Regional Planning Program DEVELOPING AN ECOLOGICAL SANITATION TRANSECT A Thesis Presented By IAN JAMES KOLESINSKAS Approved as to style and content by: Robert Ryan, Chair Wayne Feiden, Member Mark Hamin, Member Elisabeth Hamin, Department Head Landscape Architecture and Regional Planning DEDICATION For my grandmother, Audrey Schurmann. Rest in peace. iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to thank my committee chair, Robert Ryan, for his guidance and interest in my research. Thank you to Wayne Feiden for being a member of my committee as well as a planner to look up to. Mark Hamin, thank you for being my advisor and mentor during my time in the MRP program and for recruiting me into Environmental Design in the first place. I want to thank Elisabeth Hamin for running a fantastic department. Thank you to all the MRPs, PhDs, and MLAs that I got to know so well at UMass. You opened my mind and really taught me the meaning of hard work. A special thank you to Traci Laichter for supporting me and my loving family for always encouraging me. iv ABSTRACT DEVELOPING AN ECOLOGICAL SANITATION TRANSECT FEBRUARY 2016 IAN JAMES KOLESINSKAS, B.S., UNIVERSITY OF MASSACHUSETTS AMHERST M.R.P., UNIVERSITY OF MASSACHUSETTS AMHERST Directed by: Robert Ryan A sanitation problem exists for people across the globe: basic human waste collection and treatment is inaccessible to much of the world’s population; and the status-quo gray infrastructure system of sanitation is unsustainable and unsuitable for widespread application. A paradigm shift is needed: this thesis makes the case for developing an Ecological Sanitation Transect to bring back the closed loop that connects consumption, waste excretion, sanitation, and food production. The Ecological Sanitation Transect is a synthesis of ecological sanitation, where human excreta is reused, and the urban transect, where development density is conceptualized along a continuum from rural to urban. Current literature related to transects, sanitation, and the links between them is investigated. An analytical overlay of ecological sanitation strategies onto the transect framework with accompanying visualizations is the resulting integration of these ideas. Case studies from across the transect are detailed. A concluding discussion is followed by directions for future research. v TABLE OF CONTENTS Page ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS .......................................................................... iv ABSTRACT ................................................................................................. v LIST OF FIGURES ................................................................................... viii CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION ..................................................................................... 1 1.1 A Brief History of Sanitation ........................................................... 1 1.2 The Problem .................................................................................. 3 1.3 A Solution ....................................................................................... 5 2. LITERATURE REVIEW .......................................................................... 7 2.1 The Transect In Planning ............................................................... 7 2.2 Adapting the Urban Transect ....................................................... 11 2.2.1 Green Infrastructure Transects ....................................... 13 2.3 Sanitation Systems ...................................................................... 16 2.3.1 Latrines ........................................................................... 16 2.3.2 Septic Systems ............................................................... 17 2.3.3 Sewer ............................................................................. 17 2.3.4 Biosolids ......................................................................... 18 2.5 Ecological Sanitation .................................................................... 19 2.5.1 Collection ........................................................................ 21 2.5.2 Treatment ....................................................................... 22 2.6 Ecological Sanitation and Density ................................................ 23 3. DEVELOPING AN ECOLOGICAL SANITATION TRANSECT ............ 27 4. RESEARCH QUESTIONS .................................................................... 29 5. METHODOLOGY ................................................................................. 30 5.1 Case Studies ................................................................................ 30 5.2 Visualizations ............................................................................... 30 6. THE ECOLOGICAL SANITATION TRANSECT .................................. 32 vi 7. CASE STUDIES ................................................................................... 41 7.1 T1- Natural Zone: Patos Island, Eastsound WA .......................... 41 7.2 T2- Rural Zone: Rich Earth Institute, Brattleboro VT ................... 43 7.3 T3- Peri-Urban Zone: Cobb Hill Cohousing, Hartland VT ............ 45 7.4 T4- Suburban Zone: Sand Creek, Aurora CO .............................. 47 7.5 T5- Urban Zone: Bullitt Center, Seattle WA ................................. 49 7.6 T6- Urban Core Zone: Battery Park City, New York, NY ............. 52 7.7 Discussion ................................................................................... 58 8. CONCLUSION ...................................................................................... 59 8.1 Implementation ............................................................................ 59 8.1.1 Inter-Zone Flows ............................................................. 60 8.1.2 Growth Management ...................................................... 61 8.1.3 Monitoring ....................................................................... 63 8.1.4 Regulations ..................................................................... 63 8.2 Directions for Future Research .................................................... 64 8.2.1 Retrofitting (Converting From Gray To Ecological) ......... 64 8.2.2 Centralized versus Decentralized ................................... 65 8.2.3 Taboo/acceptance .......................................................... 65 REFERENCES .......................................................................................... 67 vii LIST OF FIGURES Figure Page 1: The Valley Section. Patrick Geddes. 1909 ........................................................ 8 2: The Growing Siedlung. Leberecht Migge. 1932 ................................................. 9 3: Urban Transect. Andrés Duany. 2008 ............................................................. 10 4: Agrarian Urbanism Transect. Duany Plater-Zyberk & Company. 2009 ....................................................... 12 5: Agri-Urban Spectrum. Stephens Planning & Design. 2011 ............................. 12 6: Identification of GI Policies. Abunnasr and Hamin. 2012 ................................. 14 7: Horizontal & Vertical Integration. Abunnasr and Hamin. 2012 ......................... 14 8: Green Infrastructure Transect. AECOM Design + Planning. 2010 .................. 15 9: Conventional Sanitation. Werner et al. 2009 ................................................... 20 10: Ecological Sanitation. Werner et al. 2009 ...................................................... 21 11: Layout of the Chosen Systems in Hillerød. Magid et al. 2006 ....................... 25 12: Assessing the Key Role of Water, Energy, and Sanitation. Rockstroem et al. .......................................................................................... 26 13: The Ecological Sanitation Transect ............................................................... 33 14: T-1 The Natural Zone ..................................................................................... 34 15: T-2 The Rural Zone ........................................................................................ 35 16: T-3 The Peri-Urban Zone ............................................................................... 36 17: T-4 The Suburban Zone ................................................................................