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Even though evidence shows that access to and use of improved latrines is related to healthful families and the public, obstacles to the adoption and use of improved latrine facilities remain. Globally, not many inquiries appear to have been carried out to satisfactorily inform us regarding the multi-level barriers influencing the adoption and utilization of improved latrines facilities. Related studies in Ethiopia are even fewer. Two qualitative data gathering methods, viz., key informant interviews and focus group discussions, were employed to collect data for this study. A total of fifteen focus group discussions were conducted with members of the community in the rural Wonago district of Ethiopia. Similarly, ten key informant interviews were conducted with water, sanitation, and hygiene officers, and health extension workers responsible for coordinating sanitation and hygiene activities. Open code software 4.03 was used for thematic analysis. Barriers to adoption and use of improved latrine facilities were categorized into Contextual factors (e.g. Gender, educational status, personal preference for using the field, limited space, population density, the status of land ownership), Psychosocial factors (Culture, beliefs, attitudes, and perceptions of minimal health threat from children's feces), and Technological factors (inconveniences in acquiring materials and cost of constructing a latrine). There are a series of multi-leveled barriers to the sustained adoption and use of latrines. Providing funding opportunities for the underprivileged and offering training on the engineering skills of latrine construction at the community level based on the contextual soil circumstances could expand the latrine coverage and use. Similarly, taking into account the variability in motivations for adopting and using latrines among our study in Ethiopia and other studies, we implore public health experts to recognize behaviors and norms in their target communities in advance of implementing sanitation interventions.

This study aimed at estimating the sanitizing effectiveness of urea treatment by studying the inactivation kinetics of selected indicator microorganisms. Finished composts from a composting toilet were inoculated with indicator microorganisms and subjected to different urea concentrations (0.5–2% w/w) and temperatures (22, 32 and 42°C). The inactivation kinetics parameters were determined in relation to pH, ammonia content and temperature during treatment time. The results show that urea addition to compost enhanced inactivation of microorganisms. The decline in number of E. coli and Enterococus followed a linear reduction, while that of Ascaris lumbricoides eggs followed a linear reduction plus shoulder. The inactivation rate constants of all microorganisms tested were positively correlated to the increase of NH3(aq) concentration and temperature. The relationship between the inactivation rate of microorganisms, ammonia through urea concentration and temperature were established. Therefore, the best decimal decay of E. coli, Enterococus and A. lumbricoides eggs occurred with 2% w/w urea concentration at 42°C within 0.9, 1.1 and 1.4 days, respectively. E. coli was the most sensitive microorganism to urea treatment, while Enterococcus and A. lumbricoides eggs showed resistance, especially at lower temperatures. Urea treatment has proved to be an efficient option for safe reuse of compost from composting toilets.

Environmental challenges in low-income countries, such as Haiti, persist due to inadequate sanitation infrastructure. This study assesses the environmental impacts of nine on-site sanitation systems to identify those with the least environmental impacts and explore improvement options. Nine scenarios were developed, each representing different systems for managing 1 ton of fecal sludge over 1 year. The ‘Impact World + ’ and ‘IPCC 2013 GWP 100a’ methods evaluated impacts on ecosystems, human health, and climate change. Data sources included interviews, weighing records, and scientific publications. Results show that Scenario 8 (Flush Toilet – Evacuation – Planted Drying Beds) is most impactful on health (1.17 × 10−2 DALY), while Scenario 1 (Composting Toilet – Evacuation – Unplanted Drying Beds) is least impactful (1.77 × 10−3 DALY). For ecosystem impacts, Scenario 2 (Container-based Toilet – Evacuation – Planted Drying Beds) is most impactful (3.81 × 103 PDF·m2·year), while Scenario 6 (VIP latrine – Evacuation – Lagoons) is least impactful (3.52 × 103 PDF·m2·year). Key hotspots include toilet paper, wood shavings, GHG emissions, and water use. The study recommends an integrated approach combining environmental life cycle assessment (LCA) with life cycle cost assessment and social LCA for sustainable decision-making on sanitation systems in low-income countries.

Amid increasing environmental pressures and a growing demand for affordable, efficient housing, the ability of compact houses to support resilient water systems has become a critical area of inquiry. This study explores how such systems are implemented in compact dwellings through a qualitative analysis of curated YouTube video content. The research examines diverse strategies related to water sourcing, filtration, and conservation, drawing on real-life examples of both on-grid and off-grid living. Findings reveal that off-grid solutions—such as rainwater harvesting, composting toilets, and greywater reuse—play a central role in supporting water efficiency and self-sufficiency. Correspondence analysis further highlights distinct patterns between house types and the water resilience technologies they employ. These insights not only underscore the adaptive potential of compact housing but also inform sustainable development strategies, particularly for urban and peri-urban contexts in Indonesia and other regions confronting water security challenges.

Pit latrines are the most common latrine technology in rural Bangladesh, and untreated effluent from pits can directly contaminate surrounding aquifers. Sand barriers installed around the latrine pit can help reduce contamination but can also alter the decomposition of the fecal sludge and accelerate pit fill-up, which can counteract their benefits. We aimed to evaluate whether there was a difference in decomposition of fecal sludge and survival of soil-transmitted helminth (STH) ova among latrines where a 50-cm sand barrier was installed surrounding and at the bottom of the pit, compared to latrines without a sand barrier, in coastal Bangladesh. We assessed decomposition in latrine pits by measuring the carbon-nitrogen (C/N) ratio of fecal sludge. We enumerated Ascaris lumbricoides and Trichuris trichiura ova in the pit following 18 and 24 months of latrine use. We compared these outcomes between latrines with and without sand barriers using generalized linear models with robust standard errors to adjust for clustering at the village level. The C/N ratio in latrines with and without a sand barrier was 13.47 vs. 22.64 (mean difference: 9.16, 95% CI: 0.15, 18.18). Pits with sand barriers filled more quickly and were reportedly emptied three times more frequently than pits without; 27/34 latrines with sand barriers vs. 9/34 latrines without barriers were emptied in the previous six months. Most reported disposal methods were unsafe. Compared to latrines without sand barriers, latrines with sand barriers had significantly higher log 10 mean counts of non-larvated A . lumbricoides ova (log 10 mean difference: 0.35, 95% CI: 0.12, 0.58) and T . trichiura ova (log 10 mean difference: 0.47, 95% CI: 0.20, 0.73). Larvated ova counts were similar for the two types of latrines for both A . lumbricoides and T . trichiura . Our findings suggest that sand barriers help contain helminth ova within the pits but pits with barriers fill up more quickly, leading to more frequent emptying of insufficiently decomposed fecal sludge. Further research is required on latrine technologies that can both isolate pathogens from the environment and achieve rapid decomposition.

Background In Bangladesh, safely managed sanitation (SMS) coverage is low, and diarrheal disease is a significant health problem. This study estimated the inequality in access to SMS facilities at the national and sub-national levels and assessed the prevalence of diarrheal diseases in connection with these improved facilities. Methods Data were extracted from the Bangladesh Demographic and Health Survey, conducted during 2017–2018. SMS was defined as using an improved sanitation facility, which designed to hygienically separate excreta from human contact and include the use of a flush toilet connected to piped sewer system, septic tank, ventilated improved pit latrine, pit latrine with a slab, and composting toilet. The slope index of inequality (SII) and multi-level regression models were used for inequality and risk factors of SMS respectively. Results The national coverage of SMS was 44.0% (45.3% and 43.5% in urban and rural areas, respectively). At the sub-national level, the lowest and highest coverage of SMS was observed in Mymensingh (32.9%) and Chittagong (54.1%) divisions, respectively. The national level SII indicated that wealthy households had access to higher SMS by 60.8 percentage points than poor households. Additionally, greater inequality was observed in rural areas, which was 71.9 percentage points higher in the richest households than in the poorest households. The coverage gap between the rich and poor was highest in the Sylhet division (85.3 percentage points higher in rich than in poor) and lowest in Dhaka (34.9 percentage points). Old and highly educated household heads and richest households had better access to higher levels of adequate sanitation. After adjusting for confounding variables, the prevalence of diarrheal disease was 14.0% lower in the SMS user group than in their counterparts. Conclusion Substantial inequalities in access to SMS exist at both national and sub-national levels of Bangladesh, with the prevalence of diarrhea being lower among SMS users. These findings may help to prioritize resources for reducing inequality and expanding the coverage of improved sanitation in Bangladesh.

There is growing awareness of the contribution of sanitation systems to greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions globally, and hence to climate change. However, there is a lack of comprehensive insight into emission sources disaggregated across the entire sanitation chain. This study presents a detailed review and analysis of emission sources from both sewer-based and non-sewered sanitation systems, with a focus on both fugitive emissions and those related to system operation. Our analysis highlights evidence gaps in several areas in the literature: quantifying emissions from non-sewered sanitation systems, with particular gaps related to technologies like biogas toilets and composting toilets; oversight of contextual factors such as environmental conditions and infrastructure operational status in GHG accounting; a dearth of holistic GHG emission studies across the entire sanitation chain comparable to those in the solid waste management sector; and inconsistencies in GHG measurement methods. By pinpointing these gaps, this review provides a robust reference for planning climate mitigation strategies for sanitation and wastewater management systems, emphasizes the urgent need for the incorporation of climate-smart solutions in the sector, e.g. in the design of new and retrofitted infrastructure, and aims to bridge the sustainable development goals related to sanitation and climate action.

Human excrement composting (HEC) is a sustainable strategy for human excrement (HE) management that recycles nutrients and mitigates health risks while reducing reliance on freshwater, fossil fuels, and fertilizers. A mixture of HE and bulking material was collected from 15 composting toilets and composted as 15 biological replicates in modified 19-liter buckets under mesophilic conditions with weekly sampling for one year. We hypothesized that (i) the microbiome of 1 year old compost would resemble that of a soil and/or food and landscape waste compost microbiome more closely than the original HE; and (ii) the human fecal indicators, Escherichia coli and Clostridium perfringens, would be undetectable after 52 weeks using qPCR and culturing. This investigation identified unique successional trajectories within buckets (i.e. biological replicates) and significant shifts in microbial communities around 25 weeks across buckets, with reductions in fecal-associated taxa and increases in environmental taxa indicating effective composting. We present a comprehensive microbial time series analysis of HEC and show that the initial gut-like microbiome of HEC systems transitions to a microbiome similar to soil and traditional compost but that pathogen risk assessment is important if thermophilic temperatures are not achieved. This study also produced the highest resolution composting microbiome data to date, establishing a baseline for HEC optimization and thermophilic composting studies while serving as a resource for bioprospecting for enzymes and organisms relevant to upcycling waste.

Dry sanitation systems (waterless or composting toilets) have been used since the 1970s. Their use has received acceptance in rural regions of Europe and the United States. Some of the advantages of dry sanitation systems include their waterless nature, their low energy requirement and the creation of fertilizer as an added value product. Moreover, the use of such a system is a sustainable sanitation approach that may reduce the burden on infrastructure and provide sanitation to the 2.5 billion people worldwide who do not currently have access to it. The critical factors when choosing a dry sanitation system and their optimum parameters include aeration, moisture content (50%–60%), temperature (40–65 °C), carbon to nitrogen ratio (25–35), pH (5.5–8.0) and porosity (35%–50%). The temperature–time criterion approach is the most common method used to evaluate the stability and safety of the compost as a fertilizer. The risks of handling the waste after 12 months of composting have been calculated as low. Here, we have reviewed and assessed the features of dry sanitation systems currently available, focusing on those designed for and operated in remote areas such as national parks and tourist destinations and, more importantly, in rural areas in developing countries or refugee shelters where water/sanitation may be scarce.

The Himalayan composting toilets (CTs) offer a sustainable solution for converting human faeces (HF) into compost, supplementing the low-fertile land of the region. However, CTs face challenges such as delayed composting processes (6–8 months), increased heavy metal content, and foul odour. Therefore, the current study evaluated biochar-amended psychrotrophic bacteria for HF degradation under low-temperature conditions (10 ± 2 °C). Out of 153 psychrotrophic bacteria isolated from HF compost, 17 bacterial strains were selected based on highest and two or more hydrolytic activities. Furthermore, considering the isolation source, bacterial strains were examined for haemolytic activity, biofilm formation, cytotoxicity and seed germination assay. In total, 14 potential strains belonging to Pseudomonas, Microbacterium, Arthrobacter, Streptomyces, Glutamicibacter, Rhodococcus, Serratia, Exiguobacterium, and Jeotgalicoccus genera were considered safe for both human handling and plants. The composting process was conducted in modified plastic drums at 10 ± 2 °C for 90 days through two treatments: Treatment 1 (T1) involving HF, non-immobilized biochar and cocopeat, and Treatment 2 (T2) involving HF, consortium-immobilized biochar and cocopeat. The consortium-immobilized biochar (T2) degraded HF within 90 days with hemicellulose and cellulose degradation ratios of 73.9% and 62.4%, respectively (p ≤ 0.05). The compost maturation indices like C/N ratio (16.5 ± 1.85), total nitrogen (2.66 ± 0.07), total phosphate (0.4 ± 0.005), total potassium (1.8 ± 0.05) also improved in T2 treatment (p ≤ 0.05). Additionally, T2 was more effective in achieving safe levels of faecal coliforms (< 1000 MPN g−1) and reducing heavy metal content compared to T1. 16S rRNA amplicon-based analysis demonstrated an enhancement of bacterial community diversity in T2, with the presence of Rhodococcus, Pseudomonas, Arthrobacter, and Streptomyces at the end of the composting period promoting HF degradation. Furthermore, T2-fertilized soil showed a germination index (121 ± 0.4, p ≤ 0.05) and stimulated root, shoot and yield by 110%, 45.2%, and 288%, respectively, in pea (Pisum sativum var. AS-10) compared to T1 (49.6%, 19%, and 5.8%, respectively) (p ≤ 0.05). In conclusion, the developed biochar-based formulation proved effective in degrading HF at low temperatures, mitigating foul odours, reducing heavy metals, and enhancing the agronomic value of the final compost. This study presents a promising approach for the sustainable management of HF that can supplement the non-nutritive soil of high-altitude regions.