Preparatory workshop for the development of Ecosan manual for individual household, school and community toilet for “Total Sanitation Campaign” (TSC)
Workshop Report
26-27 November, 2009
International Youth Centre, New Delhi
Contents
Introduction………………………………………………………………………..3
Speeches/ Addresses……………………………………………………………….4
Day 1 proceedings………………………………………………………………….6
Day 2 proceedings………………………………………………………………....11
Concluding Remarks…………………………………………………………….....17
List of participants……………………………………………………………….....19
Agenda of the workshop……………………………………………………………22
Background document…………………………………………………………….. 25
Draft revised contents for development ………… ……………………………… 40
Introduction
A two day workshop for the development of Ecosan manual for individual household, school and community toilet for “Total Sanitation Campaign” (TSC) was held at International Youth Centre from 26-27 November, 2009. The Workshop was organized by United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) – Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI) for DDWS, GOI.
This workshop seeks to elaborate Ecosan design and options for long term sustainability of created facilities and sustained usage of installations in the context of rural India.
· Construction of Ecosan toilets in geographic areas that normally is not able to support pit latrines or pour flush latrines.
· Recycling of the nutrients present in the urine and making use of human composted faeces into manure, etc.
· To motivate rural households, to make appropriate investments in sustainable sanitation to change behaviour and hygiene practises.
· Identification of strengths/weaknesses of Ecosan model for different geographical region in rural setting based on long-term sustainability.
· Selecting a range of installation designs, i.e. different technological options, for individual households, schools and public places as they relate to various critical zones.
· Suggestions of improvements in designs for individual households, schools and community
· Coming up with suggestions for the drafting of an effective Ecosan manual.
The workshop started as the dignitaries were presented flowers. It was formally inaugurated by Dr. C P Joshi, Honorable Union Minister for Rural Development & Panchayati Raj, Government of India with the lighting of the lamp. The welcome note was given by Ms. Karin Hulshof, UNICEF India country representative followed by others including the Honorable Minister himself.
Speeches/ Addresses
Address and welcome by Ms. Karin Hulshof, UNICEF India country representative
As a UNICEF India country representative, I wish to give you my perspective for the workshop and welcome you all.
The aim of sanitation programme today doesn’t limit itself to accessibility as the decisive factor. In addition to this, the ability to be able to use them is equivalently important. Also, the approach for building the right sanitation systems suited to the right ecological arrangements is necessary. Right to sanitation besides being one of our basic rights has other added advantages as well. It makes one less ill, productivity goes up, fosters concentration in work and studies, leads to empowering of women, and is directly proportional to nutrition. Let me introduce you to the reasons of UNICEF’s commitment to ecosan objectives. Firstly, the likelihood of disease from consuming contaminated water is reduced by ecosan design in regions with a high water-table. Also, ecosan designs require less water for sanitation purposes, which is especially important to regions facing water scarcity. Lastly, ecosan toilets have provided economic benefits to households, and ecological benefits to society.
We as members of a fraternity are committed to the work we do, we work in partnerships, but we also need to think what ‘works’.
In recognition of these benefits, UNICEF is working with various partners on different dimensions of Ecosan – from technical innovations in design, to the promotion of research, dissemination of knowledge and piloting of Ecosan models to show demonstrable results. We support technical innovations in designs of toilets through our collaboration with Indian Institute of Technology at Delhi and Kanpur. For the promotion of research for promoting ecosan in agricultural productivity we support the University of Agriculture Sciences Bangalore and the National Research Center for Banana at Trichy.
The manual that will be developed as an outcome of this workshop will be an important tool in promoting Ecosan. It will also provide information to the central / state governments on a range of issues like the kind of technical options available, aspects to be kept in mind for selection of a model for a specific region and benefits of ecosan to agriculture.
We have all the necessary equipments to deal with the issue-the right kind of alliances, different ecosan models, costing and analysis and the established benefits to agriculture. Therefore, I look forward to get results and commitments from this workshop.
Address by Ms. Rajwant Sandhu, Secretary, Department of Drinking Water Supply, Government of India
I am very pleased and honored to be here and share the dais with the Honorable Minister for Rural Development and Panchayati Raj, Dr. C P Joshi.
Among the many concerns there are many quantitative and qualitative aspect of TSC. Some of the concerns include- inadequate coverage of weaker sections especially the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes community, unsatisfactory creation and management of facilities, increasing the involvement of Panchayati Raj Institutions and adoption of appropriate technology in critical areas.
I am glad to inform that our new guidelines for the Panchayati Raj Institutions are ready which is easily comprehensible for semi-literate people.
Along with the need to create better sanitation facilities, the urgent concern is the ecological disposal of the existing stock. We can take inspiration from some of the indigenous effective traditional mechanisms in use in the states of Jammu & Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh.
Regular propagation and discussion of ideas is crucial. Most of the current manual on sanitation advocates for the two pit system. The shift from the two-pit to ecosan is definitely required in difficult hydro- geological region. I am looking forward to the presentations which will discuss the advantages and disadvantages of the ecosan model suitable for a particular region.
Address by Dr. C P Joshi, Honorable Minister for Rural Development and Panchayati Raj, Government of India
I am not an expert in the field, but, I am indeed very glad for the initiative being taken by DDWS and UNICEF for organizing this workshop. While, most of the technical and fine points have been covered by others, I wish to suggest exploring the possibility of dovetailing TSC with NREGA (National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme).
Habitation settlement is very different in each village, and this aspect needs to be taken care of. Similarly, even in the category of below the poverty line families, sanitation issues will be disparate for the urban as well as the rural slums. The problem of space is always there in the urban context which may not be there in the rural one. All of this does bear a crucial link with the facet of health and nutrition.
I am aware of the daily troubles being faced by people in the rural areas and sanitation remains one of them. I welcome any positive endeavor in this path and remain committed to any kind of contribution that I can make in this sector.
Mr. T M Vijay Bhaskar, Joint Secretary, Department of Drinking Water Supply, Government of India
I am very glad that a workshop of this kind could be conceived. While numerous attempts have been made in the sanitation sector with many individuals, non government organizations working alongside the government, a collective comprehensible manual is definitely needed. This manual should further lead to the translation of vision and thoughts into reality.
I thank the Honorable Minister of Rural development & Panchayati Raj for his commitment for the improvement in sanitation. The urgent need of the hour is the conversion of the existing toilets into sanitary ones. The suitability of a design factor comes next, as there should be an appropriate ecosan model for every kind of area ranging from cold deserts to high rocky terrains.
The ecosan drive should also cover urinals. The aspect of ‘urine diversion’ is an important one. The development of the manual should keep in mind the aspect of all-inclusiveness and simplicity as the manual should come handy for masons, local engineers, and people from the panchayats.
I once again thank EcoSanRes, UNICEF and SEI for jointly organizing the workshop and promoting ecosan in India. It has been a pleasure to be able to imbibe the views of people having done extensive research and practical exertion in the sanitation sector.
Day 1
Overview of ecosanitation & further suggestions:
Key outcomes
In the light of ecological sanitation, it seems that the need for sanitation service delivery in rural India is still considerable. In an age where most of us have faced water woes or anticipate water shortage, it becomes important to look at our two main sources of water –groundwater and freshwater resources. Freshwater resources are increasingly becoming scarce and even where they are abundant, conventional sanitation systems, including pit latrines and water-born sanitation, commonly degrade surface fresh water resources, increase risks of groundwater pollution and threaten public health. There is water used and flushed every time one goes for the washroom. This water along with the urine and other waste water gets lost into the drainage system without being used in any beneficial way, whereas, there can be multiple uses to it. Thus, the first session on day one provided us with the essential definitions of the concepts and their implementation aspects. It also took into account the key features of cost effective ecosan designs and various models. It started with Dr. Arne Panesar, GTZ, who gave a brief presentation introducing SuSanA and its key messages. SuSanA is a coordination platform which contributes to policy dialogue through a collection of resource materials. Most importantly, it works towards sanitation systems, technology options, hygiene and health. Arne presented with key points towards economically viable and acceptable solutions of sanitation. Interestingly, he brought the idea of using a brand name, like getting a Hindi movie star for an advertisement campaign as well as to build desirable or pretty toilets to popularize and achieve the goal of ecosanitation in India.
The economy has risen and there is no dearth of various design models and plans in place to achieve total sanitation, but, for some reason the goals are not yet accomplished. The collective thrust has therefore, been on getting maximum number of rural households under the systems of sustained sanitation. Under the Ecosan model of sanitation, the sustainability issues of the TSC campaign are:
· Effective solution to sanitation in areas of critical hydro-geological and climatic conditions
· Recycling of natural resources and thereby contributing to environmental sustainability
· Reduces the use of chemical fertilizer for food production
· Improves both soil fertility and reduces economic dependence on phosphate and other chemical fertilizer
· Minimizes pollution of water bodies
This was followed by the presentation by Prakash Kumar, Senior Sustainable Sanitation Expert, UNICEF-SEI, Delhi that made us familiar with the designing and contents of the ecosan manual. He provided a rough outline to proceed. The introduction to ecosan contained TSC mission, vision and impact followed by a chapter on ecosan concepts which will also provide for mainstreaming the ecosan with the TSC framework and introducing background of modern ecosan toilets in India. Part three of the manual will have Ecosan techniques, definition, process, practice, additives, activators, tools & implements, norms, range of designs and the costs and advantages over the conventional system of sanitation. The advantages won’t limit to UDDT (Urine Diverting Dehydrating Toilet), but would aim for a complete package. Next the manual will aim at giving suitable and appropriate ecosan design options for households, Aanganwadis, Balwadis and schools and ecosan community toilets. The manual will also delve into aspects such as recycling of nutrients present in human excreta; hygiene, operation and management; implementation framework and capacity and successful examples of ecosan toilets in India. Finally the manual will also include examples and references from other countries all over the world.
Session two forwarded the realization that human waste both liquid and solid could actually be used positively in addition to contributing healthily to environment and saving on energy resources. Discussion for the benefits of the Dry Compost Toilets was initiated by the first presentation by Paul Calvert. Calvert charted out a neat history of the emergence of ecosan systems and the shift in the structures. The issue of ‘flush toilets to ecosan’ being intricate than ‘zerosan to ecosan’ were also comprehended.
M Subburaman of SCOPE highlighted that subsidies (for hardware as well as education and information); incentives (pre, during and post construction) is needed for the promotion of ecosan and schemes (For example, the one in Musiri, where one gets paid for using the toilet) is required for generating awareness for the ecosan and recycling nutrients found in human excreta. He cited examples of government institutions and Non Government Organizations trying to attract the rural population through sponsored schemes. Instances such as payment by women themselves for the building of ecosan were brought into light. Reasons included ranged from economic factors, financial incentives to securing the safety of their daughters.
It is an agreed thought that a populated nation like India can direct its human resource in a more constructive way. Need for incorporating schools, school children and women self help groups was stressed on. To understand the merits of involving children (6-14 years) in schools in the importance and maintenance of toilet systems, experiences from BLESS initiatives in promoting ecosan in schools and SHGs in Cuddalore district, Tamil Nadu were taken into account. Antony Samy of BLESS in his presentation explained how their 2005 study reflected many shortcomings of the existing toilet systems, and the follow up in building more than 900 ecosan toilets. Apart from the statistical inputs, it was gathered that the acceptance was not very immediate, and that there were some inhibitions. They are:
· Men did not use it.
· Children were hesitant to use it because of the fear of not sitting in proper place for the excreta to drop directly into the chamber.
· Children were confused with the system where separate provisions made for urinating and washing their bottom; some used the same tray for both.