Humanure Toilets: Developing Countries
Joseph Jenkins, author of “The Humanure Handbook”, and the U.S.-based non-governmental organization GiveLove have introduced humanure toilets to several communities in Haiti following the 2010 earthquake including Santo Village in Leogane, the Amurt School in Port-au-Prince, and Cap-Haitien. Jenkins has also provided training and built humanure toilets in schools, prisons, and villages in Mozambique, Nicaragua, Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, and India (Prafcke 2021) (OurSoil 2022). Throughout the pandemic, GiveLove has shifted to online video conferencing and developed a composting curriculum for communities in need of a sewage treatment program (Prafcke 2021). These non-profit initiatives are intended to provide the most economically disadvantaged communities around the world with basic sanitation facilities. In Mongolia, Jenkins built 12 humanure toilets for less than $6 each using locally sourced materials (Pfacke 2021).
Jenkins-style humanure toilets collect urine and fecal matter in the same receptacle, while most retail humanure toilets feature urine-diversion. Urine-diversion is essentially a funnel at the front end of the toilet that channels urine into a separate tank from the solids. The urine can be used as fertilizer when diluted with water. However, there will be no nitrogen in the humanure compost unless it is added in later. The humanure compost will also require additional moisture, especially in hot arid environments. Humanure toilets that have urine diverters are also more expensive to build because they require additional parts and finer craftsmanship.
In many undeveloped areas, people resort to open defecation or use pit latrines. Pit latrines exude an odor, attract flies, and become a source of groundwater contamination over time (OurSoil 2022). They are also expensive to construct, dangerous to clean, and susceptible to flooding during storm events. Each year over 200 million tons of human waste go untreated, with over 90% of sewage from developing countries released directly into waterways (Weisberger 2018). Only 0.5% of the water on Earth is accessible freshwater. This means that we must use our freshwater resources wisely and only for the most critical human needs. Globally 3.6 billion people lack access to safely managed sanitation services and almost 8% of the population practices open defecation (WorldBank 2021).
There is mounting evidence that access to toilets increases safety, health, and educational and career opportunities. Globally, an estimated 57% of urban residents lack access to toilets that provide a full sanitation service, 16% lack access to basic sanitation services, and roughly 100 million practice open defecation (WorldBank 2021).
Ending open defecation can save children’s lives by reducing disease transmission, stunting, and undernutrition. Diarrhea, stemming from water polluted with human sewage, is the leading cause of death in children under 5 years old (OurSoil 2022). In Haiti alone, with a population of 9 million, 10 children die every day from waterborne illnesses (OurSoil 2022).
A third of women worldwide risk disease, shame, and physical, sexual, and emotional violence because they lack accessible toilets (WaterAid 2012). Women and girls living in developing countries without toilet facilities spend 97 billion hours each week searching for a safe location to openly defecate (WaterAid 2012). Traveling to these remote locations, typically after dark or in the early morning, puts them at risk of harassment and sexual assault (Ahmed 2017). Transgender individuals, people with disabilities, and other marginalized groups are particularly vulnerable to harassment or assault when using toilets. The taboos around defecation and menstruation pervade nearly every culture worldwide. The control of when women can use a toilet facility and demeaning of their personhood forces women and girls to avoid drinking and eating, and delay relieving themselves can cause infections and health problems (Ahmad 2017). Having a humanure toilet in the household can mitigate some of these societal pressures.
Sources:
Ahmed, O. (2017). Water, sanitation and hygiene – A step to end gender-based discrimination. https://deliverforgood.org/water-sanitation-and-hygiene-a-step-to-end-gender-based- discrimination/
OurSoil. (2022). oursoil.org. https://www.oursoil.org/humanitarian-sanitation/
Prafcke, A. (2021). Compost Toilets: A Solution to the Global Sanitation Crisis. https://www.borgenmagazine.com/compost-toilets/
WaterAid. (2012). 1-in-3-women-lack-safe-toilets. https://www.wateraid.org/us/media/1-in-3-women-lack-safe-toilets
Weisberger, M. (2018). How Much Do You Poop in Your Lifetime? https://www.livescience.com/61966-how-much-you-poop-in-lifetime.html
The World Bank. (2021). World Bank Sanitation. https://www.worldbank.org/en/topic/sanitation#1