Sowmya,
Any update on your model...................?

Dear Sowmya,
could you send me the design, features, brochure, video & installation process.etc to start in odisha ?

Waiting.

Hi, thank you very much for your interest. Since this post last year, I have made several improvements to the product design but this has also meant that I am not yet ready to present the toilet model. Will do so at the earliest possible.

Warm regards,
Sowmya

Dear XY in Odisha, pls write me an e-mail to <This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.> and I shall send you architectural drawings for a UDDT. We have built 55 of the type in a settlement near Tindivanam, Tamil Nadu; 29 in operation, 26 going into operation presently. Rgds, Lucas

-- Dr. Lucas Dengel Executive EcoPro Aurosarjan Complex, Auroshilpam Auroville - 605 101 Tamil Nadu, India web: www.ecopro.in tel.: 0091-(0)413-2622469 / -2906482

Hi,
It is interesting. I am now working in SBM(Gramin) in Odisha. So, could you send me the design, features & installation process ?


Waiting for your feedback.

Dear Dr. Jha,

Thank you so much for your message and interest. I am very excited about the kind interest that everyone is having - it's so wonderful to be part of an enthusiastic community.

Regarding the technology, it is not similar to a bucket latrine with composting at a secondary site. The entire process happens onsite, within a fairly compact apparatus. There is complete pathogen destruction, it is hygienic and requires little manual intervention. I am lagging behind on my list of action items but will make a more detailed presentation at the earliest. My apologies for the delay.

Regarding use of human urine in agriculture, technologies do exist (for reducing volume) such as the Onsite Volume Reduction System (OVRS). I have not read the complete publications but just listing them here (with apologies to all my teachers and professors for not following any accepted citation style - they taught me better and it feels like sacrilege but no choice if I am going to send a quick reply at all):

1. Book title: Design of onsite volume reduction system for human urine
Book author: Muhammad Masoom Pahore, Naoyuki Funamizu, Ryusei Ito
ISBN-10: 978-3-8473-3899-4
URL: www.lap-publishing.com/catalog/details//...stem-for-human-urine

2. Article: Long term operation of onsite volume reduction system to evaluate water evaporation efficiency of the gauze sheet
URL: www.smallwat.org/web/uploads/comunicacio...ad_masoon_pahore.pdf

3. Fate of nitrogen during volume reduction of human urine using an on-site volume reduction system
URL: www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/0959...=tent20#.U3Cgm4GSySo

4. Performance evaluation of an on-site volume reduction system with synthetic urine using a water transport model
URL: www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21882549

Regarding nutrient recovery from human urine:
1. Presentation: Fertilizer products from human urine
By: Zsofia Ganrot, PhD, Melica Environmental Consulting, Goteborg, Sweden
URL: www.jki.bund.de/fileadmin/dam_uploads/_k...ltic21/26_Ganrot.pdf

There are other research publications as well but since your question related to liquid waste, I just listed my favorite.

Thanks and regards,

Sowmya

Dear Sowmya

Your statement "...the solution is to convert solid / liquid waste into humanure quickly because that time saving results in lower requirement for space - and if the conversion is quick enough, there is no need for pits or connection to sewer system".
Your reply to Dr Lucas' query does not highlight any method that you developed. Is it like a bucket latrine still used in some parts in India, cleaned by manual human scavengers? There is no known technology yet requiring no PIT for making compost from human wastes free from pathogens. Interestingly you mentioned liquid waste also.
Will be thankful to have some details about your methodology.
PAWAN

Dear Marijn,

Thank you so much for your interest and message. I have sent you an email. Our website is under construction, will send the URL in a few days' time.

Thanks and regards,

Sowmya

Dear Sowmya,

Thanks for you introduction, could you share a link to your organization's website? And could you share some more details regarding your toilet design with us?

Kind Regards

Marijn Zandee

Dear Dr. Lucas,

Thank you so much for your message. Got to learn about EcoPro's work as well as BDAI and Demeter. Would love to speak with you today.

(1) The key point in the toilet design was simply that any "mainframe" design of waste management & recovery will require massive resources (natural resources, human, financial) for infrastructure creation as well as O&M. Hence, technology has to be decentralized. Working from that point, the solution is to convert solid / liquid waste into humanure quickly because that time saving results in lower requirement for space - and if the conversion is quick enough, there is no need for pits or connection to sewer system.

(2) Why humanure and not other uses / waste recovery methods? The choice was between sustainable agricultural practices and fuel (both of which are critical global issues). We can always find better, more cost-effective sources of energy (for instance, IDE is working on using mirrors in solar panels instead of lens) but agriculture being a process involving living organisms and complex nutrients, it is harder to replicate nature. Hence, humanure.

It is ideal from the perspective of sustainable use of non-renewable resources also. For instance, use of potassium (K) in synthetic fertilizers is likely to deplete global potassium reserves in 150 years at current pace of agricultural production. While there is high variation depending upon diet etc., the amount of one person's excreta per annum approximately equals the fertilizer quantity required to produce cereals for that individual for a year. Given the real possibility of permanent degradation of soil quality with repeated agricultural use, the only sustainable solution is to return the soil nutrients to agricultural land and thereby close the nutrient-loop.

To place this in context, India is completely dependent on imports for potassium resources to meet the fertilizer requirements in the country - which has only increased over time. The annual consumption of fertilizers (in terms of NPK) has increased from 0.07 million MT in 1951-52 to over 28 Mn MT in 2010-11 and per hectare consumption has increased from less than 1 Kg in 1951-52 to the level of 135 kg at present.

Again, the only long-term feasible solution is to opt for humanure as the waste recovery product. The design considerations for the toilet were along the above lines and I would love to have your feedback / comments / suggestions.

Thanks and regards,

Sowmya

Dear Sowmya, your statement feels like an advertisement teaser. You have succeeded. I would like to have some more info on this. (Am working in Villupuram District of Tamil Nadu.) Thx & regards, Lucas

-- Dr. Lucas Dengel Executive EcoPro Aurosarjan Complex, Auroshilpam Auroville - 605 101 Tamil Nadu, India web: www.ecopro.in tel.: 0091-(0)413-2622469 / -2906482

Hi SuSanA community,

We have developed a toilet that does not need connection to pits, sewerage and water supply pipes while having all the features of a modern, contemporary toilet. It is at the prototyping stage and the cost is anticipated to be comparable with other low-cost ecosan solutions.

As founder and inventor, I have just joined this group and am very excited about using the Technology Applicability Framework as a guiding document in how we plan and execute the technology deployment.

Looking forward to working with the SuSanA community,

Warm regards,

Sowmya