10 years WECF and Ecosan - A film for those who don't know Ecosan
From Romania to Kyrgyzstan: 10 years WECF experience with ecosan toilets in Eastern Europe, the Caucasus and Central Asia.
21.05.2013 |WECF
A film by WECF about the operation and benefits of ecosan or urine diverting dry toilets (UDDT) in areas without reliable water supply.
In 2003, the first ecosan toilet was constructed in Garla Mare, Romania, which is still working well and is appreciated by the children, teachers and the community. Since we had no experience, it was an outdoor urine diverting dry toilet constructed in the yard of the school. With growing expertise, we realised that the UDDT can indeed be operated hygienically without smell so that many indoor toilets followed which provide the same comfort than a flush toilet. The toilets can be well combined with a shower receiving warm water from a solar collector like it was often realised in Georgia.
Since 2003, more than 1000 ecosan toilets have been built for households and more than 50 for schools and kindergartens by WECF in cooperation with the local partners. The movie gives an impression how the ecosan toilets function and quotes the voices of the users. It shows how to apply the urine and faecal compost in the garden as well. In spite of much scepticism in the beginning, especially women and girls appreciate the hygienic and comfortable ecosan toilets. In the last years, benefits have become apparent to a wide number of populations due to the demonstrations however there is still a lack of prioritising sanitation not only by households, but also by municipalities, authorities and governments.
After successful demonstration of the UDDT in many parts of the region, WECF´s focus is now on enabling the right frame conditions for promoting sustainable sanitation, e.g. pushing for a social micro credit line in Kyrgyzstan and promoting school sanitation.
Please see a number of publications around the topic here.
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