1() 7 IDRC-I02e Low-Cost Technology Options for Sanitation A State-of-the-Art Review and Annotated BibliOgraphy ~ Witold Rybczynski,Chongrak Polprasert,and Michael. McGarry The International Development Research Centre is a public corporation created by the Parliament of Canada in 1970 to support research designed to adapt science and technology to the needs of developing countries. The Centre's activity is concentrated in five sectors: agriculture, food and nutrition sciences; health sciences; information sciences; publications; and social sciences. IDRC is financed solely by the Government of Canada; its policies, however, are set by an international Board of Governors. The Centre's headquarters are in Ottawa, Canada. Regional offices are located in Africa, Asia, Latin America, and the Middle East. ©1978 International Development Research Centre Postal Address: Box 8500, Ottawa, Canada K1G 3H9 Head Office: 60 Queen Street, Ottawa Rybczynski, W. Polprasert, C. McGarry, M. IDRC, Ottawa, Ont. CA IDRC-102e Low-cost technology options for sanitation: a state-of-the-art review and annotated bibliography. Ottawa, Ont., IDRC, 1978. 184p. I IDRC publication I . Review and annotated I bibliography I on the I technical aspect I s of I sanitation I , I water treatment I and reuse, and I waste disposal I in I developing country Is. UDC: 016:628 ISBN: 0-88936-155-X Microfiche edition available IDRC-102e Low-Cost Technology Options for Sanitation A state-of-the-art review and annotated bibliography ~· 29176 Witold Rybczynski, Chongrak Polprasert, and Michael McGarry Microfiche copies of many of the original documents listed in this bi~1iography are available for examination in the IDRC Library. Please see the Reference Librarian. This publication is the result of a joint effort by the International Development Research Centre and the World Bank. Contents Foreword . 3 Preface . 5 Part I Choosing Waste-Disposal Technologies . 7 Options for Excreta Disposalin Hot Climates. 12 Techniques for Reusing Human Wastes . 23 Waste Disposal/ Reuse Options for Cities and Towns . 31 Part II State of the Literature . 40 Part III Subject Scope and Contents of Bibliography . 47 Bibliography. 48 1. Deposition devices . 48 2. On-site collection and treatment . 51 2.1 Pit latrine. 51 2.2 Compostingprivy ....................................... 62 2.3 Septic tank and aqua-privy . 71 3. Collection and off-site treatment . 83 3.1 Cartage . 90 3.2 Waterborne ............................................ 95 3.3 Ponds ................................................. 103 3.4 Composting ............................................ 113 3.5 Aquatic weeds .......................................... 118 4. Reuse .................................................... 121 4.1 Irrigation .............................................. 121 4.2 Aquaculture ........................................... 133 4.3 Algae ................................................. 139 4.4 Fertilization ............................................ 143 4.5 Biogas ................................................ 146 5. Greywater ................................................ 153 6. Water saving .............................................. 157 Keyword Index ................................................... 164 Author Index .................................................... 173 Authors' Corporate Affiliation Index ................................ 179 Glossary ........................................................ 183 2 Foreword Foul water may well rate as the greatest single source of human disease and misery. It is, therefore, encouraging to see it moving towards the head of the world's priority list of basic needs. Habitat, the United Nation's Conference on Human Settlements, proposed that all nations should seek to extend clean water and sanitation to their people by 1990. The United Nations Conference on Water endorsed this proposal. The U.N. General Assembly has officially espoused this policy and the 1980s have become the International Drinking Water and Sanitation decade. However, the emphasis on "clean water" carries with it a risk. It can allow policymakers to neglect the equally urgent need for sanitation. Supplying water to villages or squatter settlements can have more direct political appeal. It is also usually cheaper and easier to install and maintain. But, without basic sanitation (and the kind of health care that instructs the community in personal hygiene), the full benefit of "clean water" will not be achieved. The investment will have been made, the money spent. But disease will continue. Moreover, conventional "Western" methods of waterborne sewerage are simply beyond the reach of most communities. They are far too expensive. And they often demand a level of water use that local water resources cannot supply. If Western standards were made the norm, some $200 billion alone would have to be invested in sewerage to achieve the target of basic sanitation for all. Resources on this scale are simply not in sight. So, do we face a painful dilemma- the desperate need for "clean water," the impossibility of getting a needed base for it in sanitation? Happily, there exists a wide range of effective alternatives between the unhygienic pit privy and the Western waterborne sewerage system. These systems are generally far cheaper. Most of them do not demand a heavy use of water. And many make creative use of the nutrients in human waste to fertilize fields and fish ponds or to contribute to biogas production and they can do this without serious risk of returning pathogens to human food or drinking water. The chief problem is that these alternatives are not widely known to the policymakers and engineers in charge of sewage and sanitation programs. To begin to break down this wall of ignorance, the World Bank in l976launched a worldwide search to identify the various immediate technologies between the most primitive and Western sewerage systems. The IDRC coll~:~.borated in this search and has compiled a short, concise, and very informative technology review for policymakers to which it has added a very extensive bibliography. This is another step in IDRC's much expanded program in the area of water and sanitation and for countless millions of suffering human beings, it may also prove a first step to better health. Barbara Ward President International Institute for Environment and Development 3 Preface This comprehensive technology review and bibliography describes alternative approaches to collection, treatment, reuse, and disposal of human wastes.l It is designed to describe to the policymaker, the administrator, and the engineer the broad range of approaches to human wastes management available today. This document forms part of an informal series of publications resulting from research and demonstration activities supported through the International Development Research Centre's and the World Bank's research funding programs in water supply and sanitation. This study was based upon an extensive search of the published and unpublished literature. Relevant documents were undoubtedly missed, and because of printing schedules late acquisitions could not be included in the publication. Over 20 000 references were considered and approximately 1200 documents reviewed. As a result, 531 documents were selected for abstracting and were used to produce the bibliography. Emphasis has been placed on technological issues, but institutional, behavioural, and health-related aspects of excreta disposal were also considered. This review and bibliography can stand alone but its usefulness is limited if the documents and the knowledge upon which it is based are not made easily accessible. In response to the ever-increasing demand for information in this field, the Asian Institute of Technology (AIT) in Bangkok, Thailand, is in the process of creating an International Rural Sanitation Information Centre to become operational in late 1978. Relevant material collected for this study will form the initial information base for the new information centre; documents appearing in this publication will therefore be available from AITon request in early 1979. It is also likely that regional focal points for the collection and dissemination of relevant information materials in the field of environmental sanitation will be established, thus forming the basis for the continued exchange of information between regions. Special thanks are due to Marcel Mercier, Senior Program Officer, Information Sciences Division, IDRC, who monitored the literature search and the preparation of the bibliography; to John Kalbarmatten, Water and Wastes Advisor for the World Bank; and to Charles Gunnerson, Consultant to the World Bank. We would also like to thank the many people and institutions who have contributed to the preparation of this review, in particular the following: Eric Carlsson, Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm; Balfour Hepher of the Agricultural Research Institute, Israel; Duncan Mara, The University, Dundee, Scotland; Alexander Morse, Washington, D.C.; M. B. Pescod, University of Newcastle-upon-Tyne, U.K.; John Pickford, University lA companion volume to this bibliography, entitled Health Aspects of Excreta and Sullage ManagementbyR. G. Feachem, D. J. Bradley, H. Garelick, and D. D. Mara is available from the Energy, Water and Telecommunications Department of the World Bank, 1818 'H' Street, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20433, USA. 5 of Technology, Loughborough, U.K.; David Donaldson, Pan American Health Organization,