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SANITATION: THE SOUTH AFRICAN EXPERIENCE
In South Africa (as in most developing countries of the world) the most commonly used sanitation technologies are waterborne sewerage at one end of the scale and pit toilets at the other. There are some intermediate technologies, such as septic tanks, but it is a fact that everybody aspires to the top-of-the-range article. This is so despite implications such as high water usage, high operation and maintenance costs, and the advanced technology and institutional capacity required for removal, treatment and disposal of the excreta. Ventilated improved pit (VIP) toilets have unfortunately also acquired the stigma of being a “poor man’s solution” to the sanitation problem, which has tarnished the image of this basically sound technology (Austin and Van Vuuren 2001).
Many community sanitation schemes have been successfully implemented utilising VIP toilets. However, others have been problematic, often due to poor design and construction practices or to social factors such as a lack of community buy-in, or a combination of these. Sufficient attention is not always given to factors such as environmental impact, social issues, water-supply levels, reliability or institutional capacity (Austin and Van Vuuren 2001). The result has often been a legacy of poorly planned and inadequately maintained systems provided by well-intentioned but shortsighted authorities and developers (Austin and Duncker 2002).
South Africa’s GNP classifies it as partly developed and partly undeveloped. It is an unequal economy with large discrepancies in wealth between rich and poor. Some of its inhabitants have a high level of service; others have very little at all. The combination of these factors has brought about resistance to the use of on-site sanitation in the country, centred around issues such as (Fourie and van Ryneveld 1994):
• A perception that the use of on-site sanitation implies “second class”;
• a perception that there is plenty of money in the country for a high level of service;
• a disbelief that waterborne sewerage costs as much as it does;
• a perception that waterborne sewerage is a robust system, whereas it is in fact a fragile system that is sensitive to misuse and the use of inappropriate cleansing materials. Furthermore there is a lack of appreciation of the consequences of failure of such systems;
• a perception that on-site sanitation is unhealthy, that it does not work as well as full waterborne sewerage, and will cause disease; and
• concern that on-site sanitation may pollute the country’s scarce water resources.
At all levels, the problem is related to socio-cultural, educational and institutional issues, with the lack of appropriate facilities and inadequate guidelines being a contributory factor. There is a need for new approaches and technologies that support alternative sanitation efforts (Austin and Duncker 2002).
CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION AND BACKGROUND
1.1 Sanitation in South Africa: Policy and practice
Sanitation, public health and the environment: The case for urinediversion
ecological sanitation systems
1.3 Background to this investigation
CHAPTER 2: ECOLOGICAL SANITATION: LITERATURE REVIEW
2.1 Introduction
2.1.1 Structure of this literature review
2.1.2 Sanitation: The South African experience
2.1.3 The need for alternative sanitation technologies
2.1.4 Urine-diversion technology as an alternative to pit toilets
2.1.5 The environment and public health: The argument for ecological sanitation
2.1.6 Conclusions
2.2 Urine-diversion applications: Examples of current practice
2.2.1 Introduction
2.2.2 Examples from other countries
2.2.3 Examples from South Africa
2.3 Design and management aspects of ecosan toilets
2.3.1 Introduction
2.3.2 Urine management
2.3.3 Faeces management
2.3.4 Dimensions, methods and materials
2.3.5 Conclusions
2.4 Considerations in implementation and marketing
2.4.1 Introduction
2.4.2 A global overview of urine-diversion projects
2.4.3 Gender perspectives
2.4.4 Sanitation is a business
2.4.5 Conclusions
2.5 Agricultural utilisation of human excreta from ecosan toilets
2.5.1 Introduction
2.5.2 Human excreta as fertilisers
2.5.3 Some practical examples of agricultural utilisation of human excreta
2.5.4 Small-scale crop experimentation in Zimbabwe
2.5.5 Nitrogen losses in urine
2.5.6 Conclusions
2.6 Health and safety aspects of urine-diversion ecosan toilets and excreta use
2.6.1 Introduction
2.6.2 Health risks of excreta use
2.6.3 Pathogenic organisms in sanitation systems
2.6.4 Transmission routes of pathogens
2.6.5 Survival of microorganisms in the environment
2.6.6 Existing guidelines for use of excreta
2.6.7 Conclusions 2
2.7 Overall conclusions from the literature review
CHAPTER 3: PROBLEM STATEMENT
3.1 Conclusions from the literature review (chapter 2) relevant to this thesis
3.2 Focus of this thesi
CHAPTER 4: FIELD TRIALS: MICROBIOLOGICAL EFFECTS ON FOOD CROPS FERTILISED WITH FAECAL MATERIAL FROM URINE-DIVERSION TOILETS
4.1 Introduction
4.2 Background and purpose of investigation
4.3 Methodology
4.4 Results and discussion
4.5 Conclusions from this experimen
CHAPTER 5: DETAILED INVESTIGATION INTO VAULT PROCESSES
Abstract
5.1 Background and hypothesis
5.2 Objectives of study
5.3 Methods and materials
5.4 Experimental results
5.5 Overall discussion of temperature and microbiological results and
correlation with other research
CHAPTER 6: RECOMMENDATIONS FOR CONSTRUCTION, OPERATION AND REGULATION OF URINE-DIVERSION TOILETS
CHAPTER 7: RECOMMENDATIONS FOR FURTHER RESEARCH RELATED TO THIS THESIS
BIBLIOGRAPHY
