Introduction To Ecological Sanitation
An ecological sanitation (ecosan) viewpoint sees human waste and wastewater as an opportunity. When properly designed and operated, ecosan systems provide a hygienically safe, economical, and closed-loop system to convert human wastes into nutrients to be returned to the soil, and water to be returned to the land. Alternatively, solid wastes are converted into a biofuel. The primary application for ecosan systems has been in rural areas where connection to a sanitary sewer system is not possible, or where water supplies are very limited.
The main objectives of ecological sanitation are:
- To reduce the health risks related to sanitation, contaminated water and waste
- To prevent the pollution of surface and ground water
- To reuse nutrients or energy contained within wastes.
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