Sustainable sanitation technology options for urban slums

A. Y. Katukiza*, M. Ronteltap, C. B. Niwagaba, J. W.A. Foppen, F. Kansiime, P. N.L. Lens

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalReview articlepeer-review

149 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Poor sanitation in urban slums results in increased prevalence of diseases and pollution of the environment. Excreta, grey water and solid wastes are the major contributors to the pollution load into the slum environment and pose a risk to public health. The high rates of urbanization and population growth, poor accessibility and lack of legal status in urban slums make it difficult to improve their level of sanitation. New approaches may help to achieve the sanitation target of the Millennium Development Goal (MDG) 7; ensuring environmental sustainability. This paper reviews the characteristics of waste streams and the potential treatment processes and technologies that can be adopted and applied in urban slums in a sustainable way. Resource recovery oriented technologies minimise health risks and negative environmental impacts. In particular, there has been increasing recognition of the potential of anaerobic co-digestion for treatment of excreta and organic solid waste for energy recovery as an alternative to composting. Soil and sand filters have also been found suitable for removal of organic matter, pathogens, nutrients and micro-pollutants from grey water.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)964-978
Number of pages15
JournalBiotechnology Advances
Volume30
Issue number5
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Sept 2012
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • Excreta
  • Grey water
  • Sanitation
  • Slums
  • Solid waste
  • Technology

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Sustainable sanitation technology options for urban slums'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this