ReThink: Cities Without Sewers
Photo: Caleb Alcénat/Labelimage for Project #WasteNot (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0).
“Where conventional sanitation is out of reach, old methods paired with new science can get human waste safely back in the ground, with environmental benefits and more. A project in Haiti is leading the way for cities without sewers.”
As part of a reporting project dedicated to uncovering solutions for nutrient recovery from urban waste, environmental journalist Chelsea Wald spent time in Cap-Haïtien with SOIL late last year to better understand the nuts and bolts of our regenerative urban sanitation service.
In the newly published feature piece in ReThink, Chelsea explores SOIL’s history, the challenges we face working to expand EkoLakay, and why we think we’re poised to change the sanitation game for rapidly growing settlements in Haiti and beyond.
SOIL’s Executive Director Sasha Kramer shared with Chelsea that not long ago “we were just seen as very small players doing something new and potentially wacky.” But now, Chelsea writes, “as this upstart idea finds its foothold amidst Haiti’s formidable challenges, SOIL is helping people worldwide think outside the sewer.”
To read the full article on ReThink, follow this link.
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Anonymous
April 12, 2019 (4:45 pm)
EkoLaY toilets may be healthier for everyone. From Business Insider:
You really should put the toilet seat down.
And while it may also put some household arguments to rest, the real reason to close the toilet lid is a phenomenon known as a “toilet plume.”
When you flush a toilet, the swirling water that removes your waste from the bowl also mixes with small particles of that waste, shooting aerosolized feces into the air.
Low-flow toilets have decreased this risk — they don’t gush or blast as much as other types of johns — but countless old toilets are still in use today and can really spew.
Philip Tierno, a microbiologist at New York University, says that aerosol plumes can reach as high as 15 feet.
“It is a good idea to lower the seat, especially if the bathroom is used by multiple people,” Tierno told Tech Insider.