FINISH SANITATION CHALLENGE CONTEST By Society for … close the loop in sanitation. It focuses on closing the loop on sanitation by separate collection, containment and sanitation

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FINISH SANITATION CHALLENGE CONTEST By

Society for Community Organization and Peoples Education Trichy-620 003.

Water and Sanitation are so interlinked for hygienic and healthy life that in recent years

there has been increased emphasis on creating awareness among public of the critical role they

play in improving the quality of life of the community. Total sanitation campaign has been the

main plank of the government of India since 1998 in promoting sanitation facility by giving an

incentive of Rs. 1200 for the construction of toilets. The recent decision to increase the

incentive from Rs. 1200 to Rs. 2200 for construction of twin pit latrines is a step in the right

direction and would motivate the public further to build toilets in their homes, on the march to

achieve MDG.

However a recent review of the progress of Total Sanitation Campaign with relation to

MDG achievement has revealed that though there has been an appreciable increase in the

number of toilets constructed in the country the number of families using the same has

increased only marginally leaving as much as 60% of the population without access to toilets.

Failure to impress on the users the link between sanitation and health, absence of sufficient

sustained efforts to make the people use the toilet built for them and failure of the selected

sanitation model (single pit, pour flush toilet) or the public preferred septic tank toilets to work

satisfactorily in different geographical areas are the main reasons for the present situation.

Hence the Government of India has come out with a special programme to fill up the missing

gaps so that, environmentally friendly sustainable sanitation could be achieved expeditiously.

Geo-Physical condition: The popular models of toilets are single pit toilets (promoted under TSC by

the Government) and the septic tank toilets which are mostly preferred by the people in the

urban and peri urban areas and off late by the above

poverty line families in rural areas too. The centralized

underground drainage system is confined only to bigger

cities and towns. However all these models are high water

centered and requires large quantities of water for use. Pit

toilets or septic tank toilets are not environmentally

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friendly. They do not function satisfactorily in high water table areas, coastal and flood prone

areas. They can not work properly in rocky hilly, water scarce areas like deserts. So one has to

look for an alternative model of toilet which will be environmentally friendly, sustainable in

different soil condition, water availability, flood prone areas as well as water scarce, hilly rocky

areas.

Conventional discharges of untreated sewage into

rivers and other bodies of water represent a severe

problem with 90% of towns and cities in developing

countries lacking sewage treatment.. Another acute

problem is contamination of the soil and underground

water by the indiscriminate discharge of septic tank

black water since there is no septic tank sludge treatment

facility in the country.

Ecological Sanitation (Ecosan dry toilet) : Challenge areas :

SCOPE has been working Musiri block of Trichy District through which the river

Cauvery flows. Villages close to the river are high water table areas since water flows for about

8 months in a year for irrigation. Other parts of the block situated 20 kms away from the river

are dry areas where water scarcity fell in summer season.

SCOPE constructed about 20,000 pit latrines in Musiri block under the Total Sanitation

Campaign. But non of the villages close to the river could be selected since they were all high

water table areas where pit latrine will not work. Request of the villagers to construct the toilets

could not be full filled.

Septic tank toilets were costly and there was no proper method of disposal of the

septage. The black water from the septic tanks were discharged in the river or canals which was

very unhygienic, seriously polluted the river and river bed.

Solutions : Ecosan toilets is a sustainable toilet model functioning well in different soil conditions,

flood prone areas, high water table areas and terrains with different gradients. It will also

function efficiently in hilly, rocky and desert regions where availability of water is very limited.

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Ecosan is not just a toilet. It is a new approach to sanitation from just disposal of waste

to management of waste. It saves water, does not pollute the environment and returns nutrients

in human excreta back to the soil. It seeks to re-connect a natural cycle of food-waste-food and

close the loop in sanitation. It focuses on closing the loop on sanitation by separate collection,

containment and sanitation of human waste. It

recovers the nutrients from human waste and used in

agriculture.

SCOPE designed and constructed its first

Ecosan toilet model in Thanneerpandal village in

Musiri block in 2000. Based on the experience on working of the toilet SCOPE replicated the

model in 18 houses in Kaliyapalayam village near Musiri in 2003.

Ecosan toilets built by SCOPE are functioning well for the past Five years in Musiri and

Seventhilingapuram, Trichy District (high-water table area due to the River Cauvery on the

banks of which the villages are situated), and in Kameshwaram a Tsunami affected flood prone

coastal village in Nagappattinam District.

SCOPE has also built Ecosan toilets in Nine States of the country in collaboration with

UNICEF and different state governments. SCOPE has constructed a pilot Ecosan toilet in Kaza

a rocky hilly village, of Himachal Pradesh in September 2010.

ECOSAN concept : Human urine contains about 75% of the nutrients excreted by the body and represents

about 80% of the total excreta by volume and is excreted ready for recycling. Treated and

sanitized faeces, composted with organic household wastes is an

excellent soil conditioner. Using these approaches, Ecosan enables

environment-friendly recycling as opposed to conventional, linear

waste-generating systems that risk environmental and human health.

Ecosan proposes sanitation that avoids using water as means

for transporting human waste for disposal. Water is becoming

extremely scares commodity since the demand for the same from

various sector is growing very rapidly, in all countries, states,

districts, municipalities and panchayats. In this context Ecosan is an ideal model since the water

needed for this model is just for body wash. (3 liters of water).

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Individual Ecosan Toilet Design

Note : This design is developed for 5 + 1 member of a family. If the number of family members are more the height of the chamber should be increased.

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Sub structure : Ecosan toilet is built above the ground level with brick

or hollow block. It has two chambers and each will be used for

about ten months alternatively. The floor of the chamber is

paved with concrete to prevent water or soil coming into

contact with the feaces.

• Ecosan urine diversion mounted toilets can be built for

physically handicapped and elderly persons with a ramp

with gentle slope in the place of the steps.

• Size of the Ecosan pan for children is reduced, to make it

user friendly.

• A toilet with an outlet for used sanitary pads can be

attached to an incinerator with a chute.

Each chamber is provided with pre fabricated concrete squatting slab and slab has

a drop hole in the middle, a urine bowl in the front and a wash bowl at the rear. The drop hole

remains closed all the time with a lid and it is removed only during defecation.

For better aesthetic sense and feeling of comfort the squatting slab made of

concrete can be decorated with red oxide or ceramic tiles, needing additional investment.

Similarly the urine bowl and wash bowl with the drop hole in the centre can be covered with a

FRP pan or ceramic.

One of the four walls of the compost chamber is a detachable concrete slab with a

handle for removing the compost after it is fully dehydrated over a period of ten months.

Urine collection:

The urine is taken out by pipe connected to the urine

bowl and drained into a mud pot with holes.

It is buried in the earth outside the toilet, adjacent to the

chamber wall. The urine can be used for raising a kitchen

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garden when it comes out through the holes in the mud pot.

It could be collected in jerry can so that urine could be taken to a distant place for raising crops

or the Urine Bank.

Wash water filter bed: Wash water is collected from the wash bowl by a pipe

and drained into the filter bed constructed outside the chamber.

In the filter bed with sand, charcoal, and blue metal of

different sizes. Cana indica or other reeds are planted which

will absorb the left over fecal mater in the wash water.

Fixing of doors: Three steps or more are provided to enable the user to enter the toilet. The toilet door

can be of tin sheet or plastic or any locally available appropriate material.

Super structure : Super structure is made of brick or hollow blocks or any other

locally available materials like bamboo, coconut leaves, Gunny bags, tin

sheets etc.

To ensure ventilation and free flow of air inside the toilet, window

or jolly work opening can be provided on the side or rear wall of the super

structure. A gap of five inches should be provided between the top of the door and the lintel.

The gap between the bottom of the door and toilet floor should be minimal.

A vent pipe is fixed in the middle wall of the compost chambers to enable the air

from the chambers to go out. At the top of the vent pipe a cowl is fixed to prevent rainwater

entering the chamber and the cowl is covered with mosquito net. ( Painting the vent pipe black

will quicken the dehydration process)

Roof : The roof can be made of corrugated tin sheets, concrete slab, Ferro cement slab, tiles or

also locally available materials like coconut thatched leaves, palm leaves, dried reeds, grass etc.

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(it should ensure that they are water proof and should be inspected at regular intervals to

ensure that rain water do not seep in to the toilet).

Component of toilet – Squatting slab (seat): Ecosan toilets in vogue in other countries like China, Japan, Singapore and European

countries like Netherlands, Germany, Sweden are basically for users who are wipers (using

tissue paper). Since Indians are basically washers this model mounted toilet with only a drop

hole and a urine bowel cannot be used. To suit the Indian condition SCOPE have to design a

new Ecosan slab.

Innovations: Two - in - one model :

SCOPE first designed and constructed a 2-in-one model. It had a drop hole for feaces.

Urine and wash water were taken out side the toilet by a channel on the squatting slab. The

user had to get up after defecation and wash his body. So that the wash water will join the urine

channel and go together out side the toilet where it will be collected with a mud pot with holes.

The kitchen garden will be raised near the mud pot and urine

will be irrigating the plants. The first Ecosan toilet built in

Thanneerpandal, the training centre of SCOPE in 2000 was

used 4320 times before the chamber got filled. The number of

times it was used was marked on the doors of the toilet to help

determine the capacity of the chamber for future constructions. The compost was taken out

from the chamber on 18th September 2002.

The same model was replicated in 18 houses in Kaliyapalayam village and in

Seventhilingapuram village both on the banks of the River Cauvery.

Three – in - one model : Study of the literature on Ecosan and participation

in National and International seminar resulted in SCOPE

understanding the fact that urine was much more important

for use in agriculture than feaces which was transformed

into a ideal soil conditioner in about 10 months after toilet

chamber was closed. Hence SCOPE decided to change the

design (3-in-one) and to collect the wash water and urine separately (an improvement over the

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2-in-one design). In this toilet model urine was collected through the urine bowl in the mud pot

and wash water collected in the filter bed. The urine bowel was in front of the drop hole and the

wash bowel in the rear of the drop hole.

Problems faced and new design: The pipes connecting the urine bowl and the wash

bowl were just beneath the squatting slab. After a period of

time it was found that the ash applied over the faeces in the

drop hole spilled over in the wash and urine bowl and

clogged the pipes. Attempts made by users to remove the

clog at times resulted in puncturing the tube and the wash

water or urine getting into the compost chamber with dangerous consequences.

After many trials, now the urine and wash water pipes from the bowls are connected

above the squatting slab, so that the problem is solved.

STRUCTURES FOR WASTE COLLECTION:

Urine: Urine is collected in the mud pot for raising kitchen

garden or if it is to be used in different places in a jerry can (10

liters) with a very tight lid mechanism. In community UDDTs

or in school toilets it is collected in a air tight syntax tank. A

filter arrangement (with sand and charcoal packed in two big

cans) can be made to remove the odor and color of urine.

Faeces : Feaces is collected in the two chambers which are to be used alternatively. Ash is

applied by the user every time after defecation.

Wash Water : Wash water is drained into the filter bed constructed outside the toilet and filled with

four equal layers of sand, charcoal, and blue metal of two sizes (20 mm and 40 mm).

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TREATMENT OF WASTE: Application of ash over the faeces accelerates the process of dehydration, destroys the

bacteria and in about ten months the faeces will be turned into

ideal soil conditioner which can be used in raising any crop.

Addition of dry leaves, urea, EM solution, etc would enhance

the nutritional value of the compost.

Shovel can be used to manually spread evenly, the faeces inside the compost chamber.

A mechanical device also can be used.

Instead of ash, other materials like fly ash, saw dust, lime, sand, or fine soil could be

used for application over faeces. However since soil and sand etc will take a longer time for

dehydrating the faeces , the capacity of the chamber also should be taken into account.

Urine collected will ensure faster growth of plants in the kitchen garden or in the farms.

There is no need for using any other manure for kitchen garden. And in the case of UDDT it

reduces the cost of chemical fertilizers to the extent of 60%,

according to the study conducted by farm scientist of

Agricultural University, Coimbatore, and National Research

Centre for Banana, Trichy with research funding from

WASTE, Netherlands, SEI, Sweden and Department of

Drinking Water Supply, Government of India.

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CONSTRUCTION COST OF INDIVIDUAL ECOSAN :

Cost of Ecosan pan : 2 Nos. Each cost Rs. 1200 = Total Rs. 2400/- (Optional)

Abstract Estimate Sl No Description Oty per Rate Amount

1

Earth work excavation in all kind of

soils except hard rock requiring plastering etc.,

complete. 5.35 cum 110.00 588.95

2

Supplying and filling the clear river sand for

foundation and basement including watering and

ramming and consolidating etc., complete. 0.76 cum 100.00 76.49

3

P.C.C 1:5:10 using 40mm size watering and

curing etc. complete. 0.76 cum 750.00 573.65

4

R.R Masonary IN C.M. 1:5 using bond stone

and rough stone up to basement. 1.15 cum 900.00 1032.58

5 Roof Concrete 0.59 cum 3000.00 1784.70

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4.5" Bricks Work in cm 1:5 mix using well burnt

bricks for superstructure etc. complete 1.87 sqm 900.00 1682.72

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Inner wall plastering with c.m. 1:3 mix using

10mm thick. 12.94 sqm 65.00 841.19

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Outer wall plastering with c.m. 1:3 mix using

10mm thick 12.29 sqm 65.00 798.91

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Preparing and painting the Inner surface of the

walls with two coats color wash. 8.90 sqm 75.00 667.40

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Preparing and painting the outer surface of the

walls with two coats color wash. 12.29 sqm 60.00 737.45

11 Toilet doors fixing. 1.79 sqm 400.00 715.61

12 Wash and Urine collection 1 1/4pipe 22.00 Rft 30.00 660.00

13 Urine collection pot L.S 75.00

14 Wash water filter bed L.S 200.00

15 4" Air vent pipe L.S 280.00

16 Chamber cover slab L.S 300.00

Total Rs 11014.67

(Rupees Eleven Thousand Only)

Rounded

off 11,000/-

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Need for IEC Sustainable Sanitation should address the social, technical, environmental, institutional

and economic challenges posed by local geographical and climatic conditions. It is therefore

essential that these factors are taken into considerations.

Social:

• Appropriate IEC strategy : Sanitation is given

unfortunately the last priority not only by the policy

makers, implementing agencies (the governments

and local bodies) but by the community as well as

the householders. To bring about behavioural

change is one the most challenging task in the field

of sanitation. Thousands o f toilets built under the Total Sanitation Campaign (TSC) are

not properly built and also not used. Even the government has admitted certain gaps in

the implementation of TSC and recently has given it re-orientation.

• Due to the low priority of sanitation in rural areas

people generally construct pit latrines, advocated

even under the TSC. This model will not work

satisfactorily in high water table or flood prone

coastal areas. And hundreds of pit latrines constructed

at Akkaraipettai, near Nagappattinam in Tsunami

relief centers were demolished under the orders of the then District Collector, since the

entire area polluted by the overflowing waters from the toilet complexes.

• The most popular form of toilets in the country today in urban, peri urban and among

the middle class in rural areas is the septic tank model. However very few septic tank

toilets constructed in the country according to the specifications given by the public

health engineers and the majority of the septic tanks with defective construction do not

have proper soak pits, and pollute the water sources nearby. Much worse is the practice

of removing the septage from the septic tank and discharging it in a dangerous and

unhygienic manner into the rivers and riverbeds or tank beds or deserted spots.

• Lack of suitable knowledge in IEC activities prevent the general public both in urban

and rural areas to select the models which are hygienic and result in heavy investments

and medical expenses.

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• Ecosan toilet on the other hand is environmentally friendly will give returns to the

family by helping him to re-use human waste and also much less expensive in the long

run. Different appropriate IEC methods have to be employed to educate the public first

on the advantages of Ecosan and harmful effect of other model toilets. Once the family

understand the merits of the Ecosan it will quickly accept it and adopt the different type

of usage practices.

• Sugathara Pongal scheme highlighting the need for

sanitation and toilets while celebrating the Pongal

festival in Tamil Nadu launched b y SCOPE in its area,

later was advocated in the Tsunami hit villages and is

now a part of government IEC programme in Tamil

Nadu.

• Seeing is believing : An exposure visit to Ecosan villages will help substantially in

changing the mindset of the people in favour of this toilet model.

• Short films, folk drama, street plays etc could be effectively use to educate public on the

need for good sanitation system and also the usage practices.

Toilet Beauty Contest :

• SCOPE had launched a novel beauty contest for toilets

in association with FIN Trust in Kameshwaram village

where about 250 Ecosan toilets built.

• Ecosan IEC should be more sustained since it has a

different usage practice. The use of the two compost

chambers, application of ash, ensuring that faeces in the compost chamber is not mixed

with wash water or with urine, closure of the filled up compost chamber opening of the

same for removing compost and application of same on farm needs some special

attention.

• Since Ecosan is a holistic and integrated approach to sanitation line departments like

health, education, water supply, family welfare, woman and child welfare, pollution

control, district administration, local administration should be associated with the

programme.

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• Not only the mind set of the Ecosan toilet user but of the policy makers and

implementers at various levels have got to be changed. It is heartening that in June 2010

Government of India has included Ecosan as one of the model in Total Sanitation

Campaign.

Technical : The critical and delicate part of Ecosan construction is the slope of the pans and fixing of

the urine and wash water pipes. Masons should be given special training by experience

Ecosan masons before they undertake Ecosan toilet construction.

Gender :

• The need for toilets and privacy is felt much more by woman than men. Hence it is

suggested that woman are closely associated during

awareness campaign and other activities related to Ecosan

toilet construction.

• Menstrual hygiene management practices could go hand in

hand with Ecosan awareness creation and proper used

sanitation napkin disposal method should also be taught.

Ecosan Toilet Usage :

The successful functioning of Ecosan toilet depends on proper usage which ensures that

water or urine is not in any way enters into the drop hole are gets mixed up with the feaces in

the chamber. Hence intensive awareness programme on usage

practices is crucial.

A) 1. The drop hole will remain closed with lid all the time

except during defecation. Open the drop hole by

removing the lid.

2. Sitting position should be proper so that the feacal matter

is dropped right into the drop hole without falling in the

sides of the drop hole or urine bowl and wash bowl.

3. Ash is kept in a bucket with a cup. (100 gms) inside the

toilet.

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4. After defecating move one step backward and sprinkle a cupful of ash (100gms) or saw

dust or lime powder over the fecal matter

5. Close the drop hole with lid

6. Wash your body with minimum water kept in a small bucket 5 liters. Special care

should be taken to ensure water is not entering into the drop hole.

7. Wash your hands using soap after using the Ecosan toilet in the bucket in the water kept

outside the toilet. (tap should not be provided inside the toilet).

8. The floor and the pan of the toilet can be wiped and cleaned with mile soap solution

with a mop once in a week.

9. Phenyl and other chemicals should not be used.

B) Usage by the householders should be monitored on a daily basis for the first fifteen

days, a weekly basis up to two months and corrected if necessary.

C) Closure of the chamber and compost removal:

1) The family should be met by the monitoring staff every month and until the first

chamber gets fully filled up. The used chamber should be sealed and the family

advised to use the second chamber.

2) After six months the staff should inspect the condition of the compost in the first

chamber. By about 10th month when the feaces would have become a good soil

conditioner the family should be helped to open the chamber and remove the

compost. The chamber should be kept free for about 15 days and ash should be

sprinkled on the floor and the chamber closed with light mortar so that it will be

ready for use again.

Conclusion:

The Ecosan toilet model is a good model for closing the loop. It environmentally

friendly. It helps to overcome the problems of other models. It will also help eradicating the

evil practice of manual scavenging, a major social challenge. Since it is a new model the

importance of IEC method to change the mind set of the different stake holders can never be

over emphasized. Equal importance should be given for post monitoring activities for a period

of one year from the commencement of use of the toilet. Of course it is worth it.

SOCIETY FOR COMMUNITY ORGANISATION AND PEOPLES EDUCATION

(SCOPE) P/17, 6th Cross Ahmed Colony Ramalinganagar, Woraiyur, Tiruchirapalli – 620003

Contact person: Mr. M. Subburaman, Director, Mobile No.94431 67190 Office 0431-2774144 E-mail: [email protected], [email protected]