Source control in urban sanitation and waste management: ten systems with reuse of resources

This paper is a follow up of one presented by Otterpohl et al. (1997) in Water Science & Technology. This extension emphasises the responsibility of the professionals in waste- and wastewater management for future development. It shows a lists of 10 technological options for sanitation with source control.

The political discussion about future sanitation systems seems to lack input of those working on further development. Even Agenda 21 is a complete failure in this respect - sadly, in a core subject for survival of future generations. The main task of sanitation besides highest hygienic standards is to keep soil fertile.

Sanitation with the mixing up of food and water cycles washes all those substances out to the seas that are extremely harmful there (accumulation) and extremely necessary on the land (depletion of fertility and fossil resources). New integrated sanitation and waste management systems will mostly have to respect different qualities of matter from human settlements: blackwater with biowaste, greywater, stormwater runoff and non-biodegradable waste.

Based on this distinction, nine differentiating and one mixing systems with resources management are presented. Some of them require careful examination in selected pilot projects.