Composting toilets key to global sanitation, say scientists
Government ministers and water experts are meeting to hammer out plans for meeting the UN target of halving the number of people in the world who lack clean drinking water and modern sanitation by 2015. Allowing for population growth, that means connecting 400,000 people every day for the next 12 years.
But scientists at the forum say installing conventional sewer systems that empty into rivers could create a public health disaster, rather than solving one. Instead, they want to recycle sewage from poor villages and shanty towns so it can fertilise fields. [New Scientist]
An interesting article in light of last weeks post on water. The promotion of "modern sanitation" could lead to greater shortages of water through use of potable water and pollution from sewage. Of course, here is the scariest part of the article:
But despite a host of innovative technologies for supplying water and handling sewage, the meeting is dominated by water industrialists pushing for extra investment in large infrastructure projects.
That sounds like a continuation of the "damn the concequences, let's make money" philosophy that dominates Western Capitalism.
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