Bio-toilets Sustainable solution to India’s sanitation challenge

1. Bio-toilets: Sustainable solution to India’s sanitation challenge

2. Bio-toilets: Sustainable solution to India’s sanitation challenge • Sanitation facilities in India are alarming, with over 600 million people (half of India’s population) having no access to toilets. As a result people are forced to defecate in the open. This poses health hazards, raises environmental concerns, and leads to water contamination.  • These impacts are further enhanced by the Indian Railways open-chute toilet system; were human waste drops onto rail tracks below. • Untreated human waste and fecal matter lying in the open is a grave threat to the well-being and good health of society and the environment.

3. A BioLoo story • Sitamma stays with her family in Rudraram village, on the outskirts of Hyderabad, a state capital city in southern India. Many houses in this small village don’t have toilets and family members defecate in the open. • In March 2013, members of the student chapter of Engineers Without Borders (EWB), studying in Gitam University, situated close to Rudraram, decided to try to change this. • EWB partnered with Banka BioLoo, a bio-digester technology licensee to install bio-toilets. Five families were selected, based on the eagerness of the families, availability of land to install the bio-toilet, as well as financial ability etc. • These families now lead a healthier life; the members don’t go out to defecate and women have a greater sense of security and dignity. • In 2014, the EWB-Banka BioLoo partnership provided bio-toilets to 20 families.

4. BioLoo system design • The bio-toilet consists of an easy to install super-structure and a multi-chambered matriced bio-tank that holds the bacterial culture and supports the treatment of human waste. • The system does not need any external energy for treatment, and produces pathogen-free effluent water that is appropriate for gardening and similar purposes. • The bio-digester technology was initially developed for defence personnel by the Defence Research and Development Organisation. • Bio-digester technology treats human waste at the source. • A set of anaerobic bacteria has been formulated and adapted to work at temperatures as low as -5°C and as high as 50°C. • The anaerobic process inactivates the pathogens responsible for water-borne diseases. • The special design of the bio-tank can be customized as per the requirement and need of the end-user, and these toilets provide a zero discharge human waste solution.

5. Advantages of the BioLoo • There are many advantages of the BioLoo, as shown in Table 1.  • Chief among these are that the BioLoo hygienically disposes of human waste in areas with little infrastructure, and it is easier and cheaper to install and operate than traditional waste disposal systems. • Further, it does not require external energy inputs.

6. Conclusion • It is not easy to promote toilets in India, and bio-toilets are subject to additional challenges. • Generally, people are accustomed to defecating in the open and many are comfortable with that, as has been demonstrated in a number of surveys. • Further, the bio-digester technology is fairly nascent, and it has required substantial effort to educate people about its benefits compared to conventional systems. • An additional technical factor is that BioLoo users have shown a tendency to throw rubbish and other waste down the toilet. This can severely interfere with operation of the bio-digester, which relies on bacteria to conduct the treatment process. • To address situations such as this, Banka BioLoo is attempting to develop a sieve-like sheet to stop foreign material from entering the tank.

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