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Ecological sanitation, or EcoSan, is a

The concept behind ecological sanitation (ecosan) is that sanitation problems could be solved more sustainably and efficiently if the resources contained in excreta and wastewater were recovered and used rather than discharged into the water bodies and the surrounding environment.
The end-of-pipe sanitary systems that are used today are based on the modern misconception that human excreta are simply wastes with no useful purpose and must be disposed of. - Ecological sanitation closes the loop between sanitation and agriculture, GTZ (German government aid organization)

The resources in wastewater are:

  • Nutrients, which can be used for agriculture.


Energy is another resource which may be obtained which can be accessed through biogas or other techniques - see Energy from wastewater. This is often not a focus of EcoSan


The UNDP lists the principles of ecological sanitation as follows:

Prevent disease - must be capable of destroying or isolating faecal pathogens;

Protect the environment - must prevent pollution and conserve valuable water resources;

Return nutrients - must return plant nutrients to the soil;

Culturally acceptable - must be aesthetically inoffensive and consistent with cultural and social values;

Reliable - must be easy to construct and robust enough to be easily maintained in a local context;

Convenient - must meet the needs of all household members considering gender, age and social status;

Affordable - must be accessible to all households in the community. Template:Stub

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