courtesy  :  the better academy

5 Eco-friendly & Affordable Bio-Toilets That Can Bring On a Sanitation Revolution In India

In India, nearly 600 million people lack access to adequate sanitation, increasing the risk of groundwater contamination. According to the World Bank, diseases like diarrhea kill approximately 800,000 children under age five every year and leaves millions more malnourished and stunted. In an effort to address this absence of sanitation, which is especially acute in rural areas that lack access to water and sewage infrastructure, the Indian government has set the target of 100% sanitation by 2022 and is working to boost cleanliness and end open defecation in the country.

However, while building toilets across the country is the need of the hour, it is also important to pay attention to environmentally-friendly set ups and local conditions.

An inexpensive and easy-to-operate alternative to traditional waste disposal, eco-friendly toilets are a great way of meeting new Sustainable Development Goals while supporting the Indian government’s vision of a cleaner, healthier society.

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It’s innovative thinking like this that can help increase the number of people who have access to toilets – and perhaps even change the way the world uses them. Here’s a look at eco-friendly toilet designs that can play an important role in the battle for better sanitation for 600 million Indians who defecate in the open.

1. Bio-digestor Toilets

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Bio-digester toilets are designed to convert human waste into gases and manure. The zero-waste biodigester technology uses psychrotrophic bacteria like Clostridium and Methanosarcina (these microbes can live in cold or hot climate and feed on waste to survive) to break down human excreta into usable water and gas. Once applied, the bacteria can work for a lifetime.

Waste from toilets are sent to a giant underground bio-digester tank where anaerobic digestion takes place. Methane gas produced in the tanks can be used for different purposes, including firing up gas stoves and generating electricity while the leftovers (popularly called Humanure or ‘Human manure’) can be used for gardening and farming. It does not have any geographical or temperature limitation and also does away with the need to set up large sewerage networks.

The technology was originally developed by the Defence Research Development Organization’s (DRDO) research lab in Gwalior to meet the sanitation requirements of soldiers serving in the high altitudes of Ladakh and Siachen (Earlier, the waste was collected from deep pits and then incinerated which required energy and labour). The best feature of this toilet is that it totally does away with manual scavenging, is low on maintenance and installation cost and can be adapted to any geo-climatic conditions of the country.

For example, the chambers increase retention time of the waste in places where water table is high, like in Lakshwadeep or homes and offices where people flush frequently. In glaciers where the temperature is as low as -40°C, the toilet is fitted with solar panels of 240 watt to keep the excreta warm for processing. Design changes are also being worked for toilets in houseboats in Srinagar to avoid water contamination. One major achievement has been its installation in India Railways, whose trains are referred to as the “largest open defecation system in the world”.