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Ecological sanitation can be viewed as a three-step process dealing with human excreta: (1) Containment, (2) Sanitization, (3) Recycling. The objective is to protect human health and the environment while limiting the use of water in sanitation systems for hand (and anal) washing only and recycling nutrients to help reduce the need for artificial fertilizers in agriculture. An essential step in the process of sanitation is the containment of pathogens that can cause disease. Without containment and sanitization, a vicious circle develops where the pathogens in excreta are released back into the environment, re-infect people through consumption of contaminated water or food, and are then excreted again, only to begin the cycle over. Ecological sanitation systems are designed around true containment and provide two ways to render human excreta innocuous: dehydration and decomposition. The Ecosan concept is based on following principles:
Ecological sanitation is an alternative to the linear approaches to carry waste (excreta, soapy water, etc.) to water bodies. It is based on an ecosystems approach. The nutrients and organic matter contained in human excreta must be considered as a resource and properly treated for its contribution to food production systems. Systems typically work with urine-diverting dehydration toilets (often with soil-'flush'), flush-urine-diversion toilets and blackwater systems for example based on the vacuum toilets connected to a biogas plant.
One person produces about 500 litres of urine and 50 litres of faeces per year, and, if using water for flushing, produces about 10,000 to 20,000 litres of wastewater, depending on the local situation. About three billion people worldwide lack safe sanitation today. In most developing countries, more than 90% of the sewage is discharged without treatment, polluting rivers, lakes and coastal areas, thus, causing serious problems of pollution and public health. Conventional sanitation is currently offered by two models, namely "pitsan" (by using pit toilets) or "flushsan" (by using flush toilets). Although conventional sewage systems transport excreta away from the toilet user, they fail to contain and sanitize, instead releasing pathogens and nutrients into the downstream environment. These systems mix faeces, urine, flush water and toilet paper with grey water, storm water and industrial effluents, usually overtaxing the design capacity of the treatment plants, if such a facility exists, as very few communities in the world are able to afford fully functional sewage systems.
Far more common than flush sanitation is the pit toilet, primarily because it is inexpensive and requires little or no infrastructure. This method fails to contain and sanitize human excreta since pathogens and nutrients seep into the groundwater. Deep pit latrines also fail to recycle since the excreta is too deep for plants to make use of the nutrients. Pits are prone to periodic flooding, causing them to spill their contents. In general, pits are smelly, are often infested with flies,and in most parts of the world are poorly maintained and continue to be a source of disease and pollution.