Title | Sustainable toilet technologies bring dignity to women and reduce disease risks |
Publication Type | Conference Paper |
Year of Publication | 2009 |
Authors | Pathak, B |
Pagination | P. 11-18; 6 fig. |
Date Published | 2009-08-16 |
Keywords | excreta, excreta collection, excreta treatment, excreta use, household hygiene, human excreta, india, public toilets, rural areas, toilet hygiene |
Abstract | In India, the sanitation scenario, till the late sixties was dismal. In rural areas no house had a toilet. In cities there were no community toilets and bucket toilets were cleaned by ‘human scavengers’ or ‘untouchables’. In 1970, I decided to start a silent revolution for the removal of untouchability through their liberation. I invented, innovated and developed two technologies: one for individual houses – Sulabh Shauchalaya – and the other for public places. The biogas digester connected to a public toilet recycles human excreta to biogas which can be put to various uses. The effluent discharged is treated through Sulabh Effluent Treatment technology by which it becomes colourless, odourless and pathogen-free and can be discharged into rivers/water bodies without polluting them. These on-site, sustainable technologies help to reduce global warming, economise water-use and produce bio-fertiliser. The Millennium Development Goal on sanitation can be achieved by use of these technologies. [authors abstract] |
Custom 1 | 822 |