You can see images from case studies we discussed in our powerpoint and watch the whole presentation. We focused the talk on toilets and graywater solutions that can work within and around our existing sanitation infrastructure of septic tanks and sewers.

Psu Jan 25th Ppt (Opt)

If you’ve been looking for an at-cost balloon kit for aerial mapping, this kickstarter is to help PLOTS open up an online store to sell you one.

Our SHIT lab at PNCA has spent the last two months putting together a publication on emergency sanitation. Right as I was headed out the door to go to our final critique I got an email from Carol McCreary of PHLUSH about a survival guide on shit put out by COLORS (yes as in United Colors of Benetton). Mathew snatched up a copy before class to show our students. At first we were pretty bummed that someone had beat us to press on a book about sanitation, but now I’m just in awe of the beauty and depth of this publication. It also has a very different purpose than our students’ hands on guide. I thought Rose George‘s book A Big Necessity was very well done, but this publication is even better. It’s beautifully put together with great art direction and attention to detail. I’m so glad someone put together a compendium on the current status of sanitation here on earth in to a digestible graphic format for a general audience. Thanks Rose George!

We’re talking at noon on Sunday for our friends at Research Club. It’ll be their 19th Brunch and the first oen featuring composting toilets

I had the good fortune of being able to attend the 2nd Eco-Toilet Summit in Falmouth, Massachusetts on July 16th. The event was a follow up to the 1st EcoToilet Summit held on March 19th (Read Mathew’s previous post on PHLUSH’s blog). The goal of the event was to inform citizens of Falmouth of the environmental problem caused by poorly operating septic tanks and current waste management practices and introduce them to off the shelf affordable solutions like composting toilets and marine aquaculture.

The Problem in Falmouth:
Falmouth is located on Cape Cod and contains four polluted estuaries. Falmouth is a town of about 31,500 people living on glacial sands in a unique marine environment. The sandy soils mean liquids can travel quicker through the soil than soils containing clay. The town is potentially facing $468 to 595 million in sewer construction costs, connection fees, design and operation and maintenance unless another plan can be created. This comes to a connection fee per household of $2,000-5,000 plus operation and maintenance of $500 per year.

Current Status:
Currently the town is assembling a committee to oversee the creation of an alternative nutrient & water management plan with a budget of $2.2 million for creating the plan. They’ve allocated a mere $500,000 for sewer design. For a more detailed account of what they’re planning (includes shellfish aquaculture and nitrogen reduction demo projects!) check this out.

The Coalition of Actors:
The EcoToilet Summit was organized by Earle Barnhart and Hilde Maingay of the Green Center with support from Clean Water Action, Falmouth Climate Action Team, Green Cape, Nature’s Circle, Cape & island Group Sierra Club, Water Alliance and many enthusiastic volunteers.

How they’re approaching the issue:
While the goal is to make sure human excrement and wastewater is managed responsibly, the Summit focused on how to use this problem to create economic returns for the community.

How the Eco-toilet Summit was run:
The Summit was run on a shoestring budget by Earle and Hilde who organized speakers to provide a full days worth of educational workshops led by experts from Pennsylvania to Vermont, farm fresh snacks and time for informal discussions.

Presenters highlight upcoming issues, not just for Falmouth but the whole country:
The keynote speaker was senator Jamie Eldridge. Senator Eldridge highlighted the looming reality that federal funding for sewer projects is decreasing but regulatory standards for waste treatment are rising. He also suggested that in the near future the EPA will be regulating not just wastewater but also storm water. Communities will need to find creative ways to finance their programs and reduce costs like charging per square foot for impermeable paving in order to generate funds for decentralized sanitation networks.

On the social side, participants pointed out that sewering changes the composition of a town by allowing for increased density. On the financial side, the construction of sewers is an incredibly energy intensive activity which disrupts businesses for long periods of time while tearing up roads and sidewalks.

Earle Barnhart’s presentation was a fantastic summary of the current wastewater treatment proposals for Falmouth and encouraged us to think not just about the ecosystems carrying capacity but also our social carrying capacity. How can we create sanitation systems that manage nutrients and are acceptable?

Don Mills, Sales Director of Clivus Multrum, gave a rousing talk on “How We Got Hooked on Sewage and How We Can Break the Habit.” If you haven’t heard Don talk, it’s awesome to hear someone give a full lecture on the history of human waste management from cave men to astronauts.

One of the most useful parts of the summit for homeowners was a series of workshops on specific off the shelf technologies that were on hand that day for the public. Carol Steinfeld spoke of Ecovita’s urine diverting toilet and carousel toilets. Abe Noe-Hayes of Vermont introduced how Phoenix composting toilets work allowing participants to look inside and see for themselves. Jack Doyle showed off Pacto Packaging Toilets as a socially acceptable low cost solution. The Pacto toilet packages excreta into a continuos sheet of plastic for easy disposable in a bin. The bags are now available in biodegradable plastic that degrades in 1-2 years. The Pacto received a lot of attention for being the first sanitation system up and running in Kobe, Japan after the earth quake in 2000.

Ron Zweig, a former New Alchemists and aquaculture specialist, did a great presentation on using oyster cultivation as a means to uptake the nutrients in Falmouth’s waterways. Zweig pointed out that over 40% of the operating costs for aquaculture is from providing feed, and in Falmouth that cost would be eliminated since the waters contain such high nutrient levels already.

The Summit furthered the conversation and deepened everyones knowledge of the issues. I was very inspired by the mindful work of Earle and Hilde in organizing such an informative event that got to the heart of people’s questions and concerns. Waste as a resource is a difficult thing to talk about but for those of us at the Summit that day it felt like a new wave of opportunity was beginning.

Guenther was interested in understanding the demand for water and sanitation for people with precarious access to such services. For those of us who have consistent access to clean water and adequate sanitaiton it is hard for us to understand the the drivers of the water and sanitation market in developing areas. I particularly appreciated her presentation because it confirmed one of my long standing beliefs that people with the least amount of money make the most rational decisions. I know for me, I make better financial decisions when my bank account has the least amount of money in it.

High Discount rates for the very poor

Guenther pointed out that the primary issue with those with the least amount of money is that they have incredibly high discount rates. Meaning that their needs today are so high that ten dollars today to get water and food is worth SOOO much more than twice or even four times as much money next week. Why wait for more money next week, if you die of dehydration while waiting?


When stuck in a hard place, people choose water over sanitation

Changes in the price of water to not have a large impact on the demand for water, people must have water everyday (the price is inelastic of demand). However, if the price of sanitation increase a little, people are much less willing to pay. Guenther found that the mean willingness to pay for sanitation was about 1% of one’s yearly income. Here in Portland the median household spends 1.3% of it’s income on sanitation, making sewer fees the #2 complaint in the Mayor’s Office.

Amortization

The longer people will benefit from their investment, the more they will invest. If you don’t know how long you’re going to be somewhere (because of a sketchy contract with a landlord or refugee situation) it’s hard to tell whether you’ll get your investment back for installing sanitation and water infrastructure.

Positive Externalities of good W+S systems discourage personal investment:

Since improved sanitation and water benefit everyone, it’s difficult to get everyone to participate. If 75% of a town improves sanitation there will be health benefits for everyone (Guenther).

The Benefits of Sanitation are not What We thought

So Guenther wanted to find out WHY families are more willing to invest in water than sanitation infrastructure. Aid groups prioritize funding wells and water programs, but what do local households prioritize? What are the perceived benefist of improved sanitation over improved water? (link to study results

Advantages of water systems for households:
41% Easier to Use
38% Cleaner Water/Environment
33% Time Gains
28% Health
19% More Water
0% Privacy
0% Prestige

Advantages of improved sanitation systems for RURAL households:
56% Cleaner Water/ Environment
37% Health
29% Privacy
15% Easier to Use
14% Prestige
0% Time Gains

The Advantages of improved sanitation systems for URBAN households
47% Privacy
44% Easier to Use
34% Cleaner WAter/Environment
26% Health
14% Time Gains
3.8% Prestige

Now of course, aid groups aren’t funding pit latrines in order to meet local desire for privacy and status, they want to reduce deaths from diarrhea (currently the #1 killer in the world). What I liked about Guenther’s presentation was it highlighted the importance of assuming that all people (even the poorest stuck in refugee camps) are rational actors and if we want to provide water and sanitaiton for them we must meet NOT the perceived needs but the actual needs of the community if we are to find lasting solutions. Her favorite method of intervention to promote good water and sanitation is a method called Community Led Total Sanitation. CLTS is an idea where by locals educate their community about the risks of open defecation and let the community decide how to solve their water and sanitation problems.

How do we increase access to sanitation? Lower costs of toilets, AND increase the cost of not using toilets
Guenther’s favorite case study was a Community Led Sanitaiton project in Bangladesh where the community increased toilet use by raising the price of open defecation. Yes, we can try to make sanitaiton systems cheaper, but we often forget that we can also raise the price of the other options to change behavior. In this village children went around marking community members who continued to openly defecate after the educational session about the dangers of this practice. “Shame” increased the cost of open defecation..