Sanitation facilities in India are alarming, with over 600 million people (half of India's population) having no access to toilets.1 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. The absence of sanitation is more acute in rural and peri-urban areas, which have a very high prevalence of open defecation.
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. They undertook a project to help provide sanitation facilities in the village.
EWB partnered with Banka BioLoo, a bio-digester technology licensee to install bio-toilets. Five families were selected, based on the family composition, eagerness of the families, availability of land to install the bio-toilet, as well as financial ability to share a small proportion of the bio-toilet cost. Using a combination of student efforts, work input from family members, sponsored funds, and contribution from beneficiary families, Banka BioLoo, in partnership with EWB, installed five bio-toilets.
These families now lead a healthier life; the members don't go out to defecate and women in the families have a greater sense of security and dignity. The families don't depend on government or external authorities to collect/transport the waste and treat it. The unique technology provides on-site treatment of human waste.
In 2014, the EWB-Banka BioLoo partnership provided bio-toilets to 20 families. This student group is keen to develop a 10 km radius around the university as an area free from open defecation. Banka BioLoo is committed to environmental improvement and social uplift by working to eradicate the malaise of open defecation. By providing eco-friendly bio-toilets (or BioLoos), the enterprise is helping meet the Millennium Development Goals (Target 7.C which aims to halve, by 2015, the proportion of the population without sustainable access to safe drinking water and basic sanitation)2 and is actively supporting the Indian government's vision of a society free from open defecation.
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 system also produces biogas that can be used for cooking or heating. The system meets all of the regulatory and environmental compliance requirements. 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. These act as inoculums (seed material) to the bio-digesters and convert the organic human waste into water, methane and carbon dioxide. 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.
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.
Lessons learned
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.3 For many people, a toilet is relatively low on the ‘wishlist' — with cell phones and television being higher priorities, for instance. 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. Any foreign material can interfere with the treatment process. In one case where bio-toilets were installed for a construction company, the labourers threw many sachets and beedi (akin to cigarette) butts into the tanks. The tanks had to be opened, fully cleaned, and injected with fresh bacteria. To address situations such as this, Banka BioLoo is attempting to develop a sieve-like sheet to stop foreign material from entering the tank.
