Analysis of stakeholders in the sanitation sector on the example of Arba Minch, Ethiopia

Sanitation interventions in Ethiopia involve many stakeholders, including different local, regional and federal government offices, non-governmental organizations, community-based organizations, private sector companies, religious, political and kebele leaders as well as communities. Not only do the relationships in this large network of actors affect the activities of each stakeholder in their functions, but they also influence their interventions as a whole. Interviews with various representatives of stakeholders involved in the sanitation sector in Arba Minch were conducted in order to analyze their roles, share of responsibilities, problems and a potential for better cooperation. In particular, involvement of the private sector in sanitation interventions has been neglected. The planned establishment of a multi-stakeholders regional forum that would gather various actors and enable them to share experience, ideas and cooperate on a regional scale seems to be a good way to start

GREYWATER IN INDONESIA: CHARACTERISTIC AND TREATMENT SYSTEMS

Abstract: Lacking in centralized wastewater treatment plant exist in all Indonesian cities. Drainage and river suffer from domestic wastewater contaminants. It also increases cost of water treatment plant operation if river used as water source. Using of greywater treatment system is believed as new solution. This paper will review application of greywater treatment in Indonesia. Some projects exist but most of them need supports from third party and their initial costs are high. Thus, low cost and reuse system in small community or household are important. Researches showed that constructed wetland is quite promising because the reduction of BOD concentration can reach 60-94%. However, land requirement and greywater generation could be the limitation and Anaerobic Baffled Reactor can be used as an alternative. Key words: domestic wastewater, greywater, reuse, decentralized wastewater treatment system, low cost treatment system, constructed wetland

Terra preta sanitation: a new tool for sustainable sanitation in urban areas?

Terra Preta (Black Soil) is highly fertile soil, which was produced in the Amazon region until around 500 years ago. It is a result of sanitation and biowaste management which can give direction in developing a sustainable future. Ongoing research indicates that addition of ground charcoal and lactic acid fermentation are probably the main components in producing terra preta. These discoveries were used to develop Terra Preta Sanitation, which is not one fixed type of sanitation but rather a set of processes: collection under lactic acid fermentation and transport to a semi-central site for thorough vermicomposting. The addition of lactic acid bacteria and powdered bio-char eliminate faecal smell, facilitate sanitization and increase user friendliness. In this way sanitation can help produce rich soil, which in turn improves water availability, food security and the regional climate. The avoidance of smell and opportunities for business development make TPS an obvious choice in urban contexts

The UPA-Ecosan concept in Uganda: socio-acceptability and hygiene safety

The interdisciplinary PhD research “Potentials and Constraints to the Link of Urban and Peri-Urban Agriculture and Ecological Sanitation” carried out at University of Technology Hamburg-Harburg, TUHH assesses the safe reuse of faeces and urine and the social acceptability of re-circulation of human-derived nutrients. Thus facilitating the interaction of ecosan and agriculture. The research complements already conducted and on-going work. Vital part of the studies is the continuous monitoring of temperature and humidity and the repeated analyses of bio-solids for pH and microbiological parameters over a period of twelve months. Furthermore a study on the survival of Ascaris suum eggs in the faecal matter is carried out while the assessment of the socio-cultural acceptance of human derived nutrients is conducted by interviews. Preliminary results from interviews and observations are presented

Towards sustainable development by creation of green social entrepreneur's communities

Entrepreneurship is a part of economy which is demanded in modern open economies. Structural changes in the society are needed for creation of entrepreneurship. The current situation shows a clash between the economic and the ecological system in global scale which will result in grave ecological catastrophes for the future. In this article, feasibility of shifting with a structural change in order to redefine links between economy, ecology and society through sustainability will be investigated. The goal of this study is to synthesize this interaction especially in development process for reallocation of resources towards a new concept of green social entrepreneur's communities. Based on the fact that humus rich soil is the key production factor for water, food and hundreds of industrial products, entrepreneurs can form communities of between 50 up to around 200 part time poly-productive micro-farms. Cost and energy efficient housing is a starting point for added value, incomes from highly intensive organic farming can cover parts of the income, small scale production another. With a suitable size that makes such a new town development attractive there will be a demand for childcare, schooling, health and old age care offering additional incomes. Such communities will and must improve soil quality and biodiversity, creating a positive footprint

Pretreating stored human urine for solar evaporation by low-technology ammonia stripping

In order to avoid the loss of ammonia during solar drying of stored urine, low-tech stripping is suggested as a pretreatment process for ammonia recovery. The mass transfer of ammonia from stored urine with an initial pH of about 9 was tested in a simple closed vessel operated at 72˚C, 74˚C and 85˚C. The specific urine/gas interface was 16.97 m−1. For ammonia absorption, a beaker with sulfuric acid was positioned in the gas phase of the container. After keeping the stored urine for 73 h at 85˚C, the concentration of free ammonia (NH3) was reduced by more than 99%, and the pH of the stored urine decreased to 6.4 due to ammonia volatilization. Total ammonia (NH3 + NH4+) concentration was reduced by only 83% in the same period. At lower temperatures, the process was slower. Required treatment time can be reduced when specific gas/liquid interface is increased. Because it is known that water can be heated in solar boxes to temperatures above 90˚C, this simple stripping apparatus is feasible to be operated with solar energy in remote areas with suitable climatic conditions where no electric power is available. As the area demand for solar “low-tech stripping” is less than 1 m2 per capita, this process can be looked at as a suitable pretreatment of stored urine prior to solar evaporation

Gestión sostenible del agua y de los residuos en zonas urbanas

El sistema habitual de alcantarillado y las estaciones de depuración aerobia de aguas residuales (EDAR), no deberían considerarse como la única solución posible para el saneamiento. Los sistemas con separación en origen pueden evitar muchos problemas de la tecnología empleada en el vertido, al tener en cuenta las diferentes calidades de las aguas residuales y darles un tratamiento adecuado para su reutilización.Las diferentes calidades de los residuos y de las aguas residuales en los asentamientos humanos, y la tecnología apropiada para su tratamiento pueden ser:heces poco diluidas con o sin orina y residuos biológicos: compostaje o digestor anaerobio (fermentación),aguas grises: planta aerobia con filtro biológico,agua de lluvia: tratamiento y filtración,residuos no biodegradables: reutilización como materia prima.Con el fin de llevar a cabo la gestión de recursos, el material que procede de la agricultura debería retornar al suelo como fertilizante. A esto se añade, y es de gran importancia, la materia orgánica. Ésta contribuye al mantenimiento o la formación de la capa de humus y crea un depósito para el carbono cuando aumenta el contenido de éste en el suelo. También se ahorra energía: el tratamiento aerobio con nitrificación que requiere gran cantidad de energía, queda obsoleto; así como la producción de la correspondiente cantidad de fertilizante artificial.Un proyecto piloto para un nuevo barrio de 300 habitantes en Lübeck, Alemania, demostrará la conveniencia de un nuevo sistema integral con sanitarios al vacío (en vez de los sanitarios con descarga de agua) y tuberías para la recolección de aguas negras. Este agua se mezclará con residuos biológicos triturados y alimentará a una planta semiseparativa de biogás que produce fertilizante líquido sin desecación. Las aguas grises se tratarán con sistemas descentralizados de filtro biológico. El agua de lluvia se recoge, se almacena y se filtra con un sistema de zanjas. De esta manera se pueden evitar en este asentamiento los costosos sistemas centralizados de alcantarillado. El consiguiente ahorro se emplea en la financiación de la infraestructura explicada anteriormente