Thermal treatment of human feces is an effective means of managing both volume reduction and pathogen kill. In this work, a detailed combustion profile of fecal solid waste was measured using micro-combustion and bomb calorimetery. Sample sets from multiple locations were obtained from both point of source (toilet – India, United States, South Africa) and pit latrine (Kenya). Results include heat release profiles, volatile, char, and ash mass fractions, and the caloric content of volatiles and char. These data allow for the optimization of current thermal processes and advances technologies where thermal remediation is core to processing fecal solid waste.

The forthcoming international standard for fecal sludge treatment units, ISO/PC 318 requires technologies to exhibit energy neutrality and satisfaction of pathogen threshold values. Research and development efforts at Biomass Controls focus on compliance with this standard. This involves the development of an energy flow analysis and research into the time-temperature relationships required for complete pathogen inactivation. The results of these efforts have yielded that thermal treatment units should be capable of achieving energy neutrality in steady state using only the energy contained in fecal sludge and that pyrolysis/combustion temperatures are adequate for complete pathogen inactivation.

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Reinvent the Toilet (RT) program aims to “bring sustainable sanitation solutions to the 2.5 billion people worldwide who don’t have access.” Duke University and partners have developed a modular, on-site waste processing system that seeks to provide safe and reliable treatment of all inputs that exceed the metrics set by ISO 30500. Currently, sub-systems are being evaluated and re-engineered to reduce complexity, reduce energy reliance, and develop strategies for productization. To further the development of such transformative technologies, field prototypes have transitioned from the laboratory to field testing sites (Ahmedabad and Coimbatore, India and Durban, South Africa).

Innovators in the water and sanitation sector are focused on closing the sanitation gap in developing countries. The sanitation sector is challenged to deliver improvements that meet the practices and preferences of all genders. This presentation shares survey research with a set of global research and development (R&D) teams that are in the midst of an innovation drive for leap-frog sanitation treatment and resource recovery technologies. Findings suggest a majority of teams incorporated gender into their work, though the incorporation was generally limited in scope and not deep in understanding gender dynamics. Teams designing elements of a user-interface were more likely to incorporate gender disaggregated elements. Waste-processing technology was often assumed to be gender-neutral, not requiring differentiated thinking on how various genders interact with the novel technologies. This work fills a gap in R&D and technology adoption in how to evaluate and foster a gender lens into R&D activities in the international development water and sanitation sector.

Menstrual hygiene management (MHM) is a neglected topic in the water and sanitation sector, with waste disposal often absent in most MHM programming. This work illustrates that the integration of private and safe disposal mechanisms for menstrual absorbents into sanitation facilities is valued. It brings many co-benefits in health and dignity, and safeguards community environmental health and protects toilet facilities. The integration of MHM, including waste management into WASH investments furthers SDG goals for access, empowerment, dignity and public environmental health.

Building Smart Sanitation Solutions

The benefits of data capture are clear, as data answers critical questions on user interactions with sanitation products and solutions: how is our equipment being used? When is it being used? Who is using it? What is the condition of our equipment? Is it operating as expected? New and exciting sensor technology is constantly appearing. Sensors for civil engineering, pollution, lighting, medical data, and security to name a few have become universally available. However sensors are only valuable if the data they capture is made available and can produce useful information upon which decisions are made.

A seminar led by Myles F. Elledge, Executive Director for Health and the Environment with Biomass Controls LLC, on the global challenge of providing urban sanitation services and how new technology approaches may contribute to better sanitation containment and treatment.

Population demographic trends in the developing world show rapidly growing urban populations and the exploding geographic size of its urban areas. This rapid growth is causing the gap for under-served with unsafe sanitation to continue to expand. And while access to toilets is growing in many areas, sanitation treatment lags far behind. Continued focus on centralized sewerage systems and simple on-site sanitation appear to be not timely, technically feasible or financially viable given projected urban growth patterns.

The global challenge of providing urban sanitation services in emerging market’s urban areas highlights the need to change the paradigm for sanitation planning and service provision. International research teams are in the midst of an innovation drive for the development of leap-frog technologies that change the paradigm for waste treatment to be on-site, with decentralized treatment approaches delivering effective treatment, reduced input requirements along with resource recovery elements.

This presentation draws upon the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation’s “Reinvent the Toilet Challenge” technology development portfolio to reflect on how new technology approaches may contribute to better sanitation containment and treatment, and where policy measures will be important to enable technology adoption.

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Speaker: Myles F. Elledge

Myles F. Elledge is the Executive Director for Health and the Environment with Biomass Controls LLC. Myles has 28 years of experience in development policy and planning in over 30 developing markets. He has a passion for environmental health and is active in technology innovation and adoption initiatives in water, sanitation and clean energy.

This article was written by Valeria Lvovna Gelman and originally published here on the website of the World Resources Institute.