Waterless toilets: what the Third World needs now

For millions of people living in third world countries, access to basic sanitation facilities is limited or non-existent. In many of these areas, the lack of running water means that the same rivers that are used for bathing and cooking water are also used for defecation and garbage disposal. The biggest problem with such pollution is the threat of waterborne diseases, one of the leading causes of death among infants and children in impoverished countries. One of the best possible solutions to this problem is waterless toilets.

Waterless toilets are not a new invention; in fact, they have been around for decades. One of the biggest barriers to its use and integration in third world nations is education. Groups like the Peace Corps and UNICEF routinely go to those countries to promote better sanitation by making flush toilets available and educating people on how to use and maintain them. Unfortunately, there are many more areas that need such assistance than there are volunteer groups and funds to provide it.

There are various types of waterless toilets available today, and some are more feasible than others for use in third world countries. Probably the most widely used is the sawdust toilet due to its extremely simple design. Consisting of nothing more than a five-gallon bucket fitted with a toilet seat on top, sawdust toilets are very inexpensive to build and distribute on a large scale. All that is required to maintain the system is an ample supply of sawdust, peat, sand, or any other fine-particle substance. This material is used to cover the waste inside the toilet after each use, in order to avoid bad odors in the bathroom area. In arid climates with lots of sandy soil, these systems are quite feasible for people to maintain. However, sawdust toilets are a good solution only for people who live in remote or rural areas, because they require some land in an area of ​​at least fifty yards from the main residence. This piece of land should be a place where the compost pile can be kept and where the bins are routinely emptied as they become full. Obviously, in densely populated urban areas, this would not work.

A better alternative for urban areas is waterless composting toilets. These are professionally manufactured systems that are designed to contain all waste and compost it in-house. The main problem with this solution is the cost. Waterless composting toilets are often prohibitively expensive and require grants or donations from generous benefactors to implement on a large scale. The advantage of composting toilets is that they do not require a lot of land space, since all the waste is handled within the same toilet. They are very simple to use and maintain; however, they require a continuous supply of bulky material, such as peat and wood chips. This filler must be added to the toilet daily to maintain the correct balance of carbon and nitrogen within the compost. This will help the waste to break down quickly and without creating unpleasant odors. Access to such volumetric material may be limited in some urban areas and it may also be financially unfeasible for people to purchase it, and this could create another potential barrier to its use. Ideally, if an urban municipality could supply bulky material to residents at minimal cost, this hurdle could be overcome.

One way or another, better sanitation facilities are desperately needed in third world countries. Millions of people get sick and thousands die each year from diseases caused by contaminated water supplies. Flushless toilets would allow residents of these countries to dispose of their waste in a hygienic manner without wasting or contaminating their limited freshwater resources.