From S. Janakarajan, Madras Institute of Development Studies (MIDS) Chennai
Posted 5 June 2007
I work with the Madras Institute of Development Studies (MIDS) in Chennai.
In recent years, there is a growing emphasis on promoting Ecological Sanitation (ecosan) due to a number of factors:
- Wider realisation that modern sewage-based sanitation uses up a tremendous amount of drinking water quality water for flushing, and requires large costly plants for treatment.
- Mixing of faeces and urine makes treatment difficult, as both these need different treatments.
- Wastage of urine and faeces, which could be a rich source of fertiliser. Proper management of these will reduce treatment as well as fertilizer costs.