prepared by Akira Sakai*, Qazi Azaduzzaman**, Musleh Uddin**, Hidenori Harada*** and Md. Nazmul Ahsan**** *University of Marketing and Distribution Sciences, 3-1 Gakuen-nishi-machi, Nishi-ku, Kobe, 651-2188, Japan (E-mail: akira_sakai@red.umds.ac.jp) ** Japan Association of Drainage and Environment Bangladesh Office, House No.66 (Flat 4A), Road No.8, Block C, Niketon, Gulshan-1, D for Urban Environments in Asia, 25-28 May 2011, Manila, Philippines. organized by International Water Association (IWA).

1. Utilization of Human Excreta Derived Resources for the Benefit of
Urban Poor: An Integrated Approach toward Improved Sanitation
Akira Sakai*, Qazi Azaduzzaman**, Musleh Uddin**, Hidenori Harada*** and Md. Nazmul Ahsan****
*University of Marketing and Distribution Sciences, 3-1 Gakuen-nishi-machi, Nishi-ku, Kobe, 651-2188, Japan
(E-mail: akira_sakai@red.umds.ac.jp)
** Japan Association of Drainage and Environment Bangladesh Office, House No.66 (Flat 4A), Road No.8, Block C,
Niketon, Gulshan-1, Dhaka-1212, Bangladesh (E-mail: aazad013@yahoo.com, mmuparvez@yahoo.com)
*** Graduate School of Global Environmental Studies, Kyoto University, Yoshida-honmachi. Sakyo-ku, 606-8501,
Kyoto, Japan (E-mail: harada.hidenori.8v@kyoto-u.ac.jp)
****Fisheries & Marine Resource Technology Discipline, Khulna University, Khulna 9208, Bangladesh (E-mail:
nazmul_ku@yahoo.com)
Abstract
In most of the urban poor settlements in developing countries, sanitation facilities are insufficient. Even if
public toilets exist, it is usual the number of toilets is limited, some toilets are malfunctioned and defecated
human excreta are seldom managed sanitarily. For example, there is no provision for sludge disposal
despite toilets have septic tanks. Moreover, raw effluents from the septic tanks are directly contaminating
water channels in urban areas. The authors implemented a baseline survey in Khulna city of Bangladesh
to grasp the current situation of water use and sanitation and people’s concern on sanitation. Comparison
to other areas of the city revealed that the most unhygienic environment prevails in the poor settlements
with a high frequency of water borne diseases. The awareness level of residents on sanitation is low.
Improving sanitation in urban poor settlements has been high on any development issues in Khulna city.
Therefore, developing sanitation system with appropriate human excreta management is required urgently.
The authors have developed a model for human excreta management in the urban poor settlements.
Human excreta are treated as follows; urine can be used with organic compost to increase nutrient
concentration whereas feces are decomposed to generate fuel gas through a biogas plant. The effects of
the model have been verified through experiments. The results, up to now, reveal that installing the system,
a community of poor settlement can expect to be provided benefit related to human excreta derived
resources in addition to improved sanitation.
Keywords
Urban sanitation; resource recovery; human excreta management
INTRODUCTION
The number of people living in the poor settlements in urban area of developing countries is increasing
drastically. In most of the urban poor settlements, the sanitation facilities are insufficient. Even if public
toilets exist, the number of the toilets is limited; moreover it is frequent those are broken, malfunctioned and
finally abandoned to use. Even though the toilets are used, defecated human excreta are seldom managed
properly. Up to now, various development projects have been carried out with little, if any, success in
improving urban sanitary situation as far as the sanitary human excreta management is concerned. For
example, although toilets having septic tanks have installed, there is no provision for sludge disposal. Raw
effluents from septic tanks in lack of proper maintenance are directly contaminating water channels inside
the city and rivers.
A baseline survey result in Khulna city of Bangladesh implemented by the authors revealed that the most
unhygienic environment prevails in the poor settlements with a high frequency of water borne diseases.
Furthermore, compared to other areas of the city, the residents have less awareness on sanitation. Improving
sanitation in urban poor settlements has been high on any development agenda in Khulna city.
In this paper, based on the problems identified from the baseline survey result mentioned above, a model of

2. human excreta management, which derives resources from human excreta, will be proposed for the urban
poor settlements, considering social acceptance as well as technological and environmental sustainability.
To make the model in practice, experiments have been done as a preliminary phase. Through the result of
the experiments, application of the model to the urban poor settlements will be discussed.
CURRENT SANITARY SITUATION OF URBAN POOR SETTLEMENTS IN KHULNA CITY
Poor Settlements in Khulna City
Khulna city (Khulna City Cooperation; KCC hereinafter) is the third largest city in Bangladesh, located in
the southwest of the country. It covers 45.65 km2 and has nearly 1.5 million inhabitants. Khulna is an
important river port city and has become center for industrial development. There are 613 slums in KCC
and the population living in slum areas is 227,500 (BCAS, 2005).
The authors have implemented a baseline survey regarding water supply and sanitation in various areas of
KCC in January 2010 and 2011. Total samples are 700, in which slum and colony is defined as the urban
poor settlements. Colony has been a residential area for the workers of factories, for example, but houses
and infrastructure including sanitation facility is dilapidated with the times. Three slums and one colony
have been selected as survey sites. The numbers of samples of slum and colony are 160 and 40,
respectively.
According to the results, types of the toilet in the poor settlements are septic tank (62%), pit latrine (17%)
and other types including hanging latrine and direct discharge into drain (21%). Although the percentage of
septic tank users is relatively high, it is easy to observe malfunctioning toilets regardless the toilet types. Fig
1 shows the answer against the question “Did anybody of your family suffer from water borne diseases
during last one year?” There is a remarkable difference in the occurrence of water borne disease between
poor settlements and other areas. As shown in Fig 2 and 3, people’s concern on sanitation is relatively low
in the poor settlements compared to other areas. On the other hand, although the conditions related to the
living environment are inferior, the willingness to improve their situation is low especially in slum residents
as shown Fig 4.
Suffering from Water borne Disease Do you think your current defecation practise
(Last 1 Year) pollute water?
Slum Slum
Colony Colony
…
Other Other Areas
KCC Total KCC Total
0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100% 0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%
Yes No
Yes Middle No
Fig 1 Frequesncy of disease occurrence Fig 2 Concern on sanitation (1)

3. Are you concerned about your domestic Willingness to Improve your Living Environment
wastewater?
Slum Slum
Colony Colony
Other Areas Other
Areas
KCC Total
KCC Total
0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%
0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%
Yes Middle No
I want to improve it Middle I don't care
Fig 3 Concern on sanitation (2) Fig 4 Willingness to improve environment
Water Flow Surrounding Slum Areas
Fig 5 shows water supply and wastewater flow diagram surrounding slums. These flow rates are calculated
based on total slum population, unit water usage per person and ratio of discharge points of black and gray
waters, which are obtained from the baseline survey result mentioned above. It is assumed that water
quality of canal or drain at downstream of slum areas are polluted, as septic tank is sole treatment facilities
and most of them are not properly maintained, low frequency of sludge removal, for example. Water
quality test result at points of drain receiving discharge from some slums shows pollution of organic matters
and fecal coliform bacteria as shown Table 1.
Fig 5 Flow diagram of water supply and wastewater surrounding slums
Table 1 Water quality test result at downstream of slum areas
Coliform Fecal coliform
DO EC BOD COD SS TDS NH4-N NO3-N PO4-P
Bacteria Bacteria
mg/L μs/cm mg/L mg/L mg/L mg/L mg/L mg/L mg/L MPN/100mL MPN/101mL
5 5
BRAC slum 1.6 3450 166 270 4213 1720 4.4 6.3 0.44 >1.1x10 1.1x10
5 4
Mashjid slum 0.7 3540 162 255 456 1770 4.3 6.1 0.39 >1.1x10 1.5x10
5 5
Ashrat slum 1.3 6750 160 254 4712 3370 4.4 10.8 1.21 >1.1x10 1.1x10
Problem Identification
The Baseline survey result reveals problems related to sanitation in urban slums in KCC. Lack of
appropriate sanitation, that is small number of toilets, insufficient maintenance of toilet and lack of human
excreta management, affects health of the residents themselves and causes various impacts on environment
of surrounding residential areas and natural water resources. Another problem is low awareness level and
low willingness to improve their living environment among the residents, which might hamper the sanitary
improvement and pollution control on water environment. To raise residents’ motivation, along with
awareness program and proper information release, it is necessary to provide some incentive to improve
sanitary situation.
PROPOSAL OF SANITATION SYSTEM APPLIED FOR URBAN POOR SETTLEMENTS
Requirements for Sanitation System Applied to the Urban Poor Settlements
Generally speaking, hygienic situation without bad smell or fly is required for the toilets. In addition, in the

4. context of sanitary human excreta management, utilization of human excreta derived resource is also
attractive way and provides incentive to motivate slum residents.
Working with ecological sanitation in the rural areas of Bangladesh, the authors found that the
socio-cultural concern of using human excreta as fertilizer can be successfully addressed through awareness
program and actual practice (Sakai, et al., 2007). Users of ecological sanitation have been brought the
benefit of using human excreta derived fertilizer for increasing crop productivity (Sakai, et al., 2010). It is
one of key factors that users and rural communities accept ecological sanitation. In contrast, operation and
maintenance of ecological sanitation for public use in urban poor settlements appeared to be unacceptable,
besides unlike the users in rural area, it is not readily apparent for urban residents to use resource by
themselves if fertile value of human excreta is utilized. Human excreta can be used as energy source also,
and hence urban residents can also utilize human excreta derived resource. Therefore, along with using as
energy source, a technology involving on-site treatment of human excreta and off-site use of such resources
generate impetus to motivate urban poor residents to install and manage sanitation facility properly.
Appropriate management ensure a sustainable sanitation solution in the urban poor settlements.
Proposal of Sanitation System
Through a series of consultation meetings and focus group discussions with different stakeholders, the
authors have developed a model for human excreta management in the urban poor settlements as depicted
in Fig 1. As illustrated in the figure, urine will be used with organic compost, which is processed with
various biodegradable solid wastes, to increase nutrient contents. On the other hand, fuel gas can be
generated from accumulated human feces by using a biogas plant. In addition to solid wastes, sludge
materials from biogas might also serve as a raw material for compost. The model proposes an on-site
composting facility thereby negating the transportation issue of raw urine and feces of large volumes for
off-site treatment or dumping. Biogas can be used in a community centre or supplied to some households
near the plant. Processed compost can be a product of organic fertilizer and income might be brought to the
slum community by selling urine collected from urinal. This model aims at community based resource
utilization for the better livelihood.
Urban poor settlement
Public Toilets
Community
Urinal Defecation Center
Bio-gas plant Fuel
Septic Tank
Solid
Waste
Compost Processing Soak pit
(Adding Urine) Sludge
Application
Organic in Rural Area
Matters
Fig 6 Model for sanitation improvement in the urban poor settlements

5. SURVEY ON BIOGAS SANITATION SYSTEM
Description of the plant
In Bangladesh, biogas technology is commonly applying cattle excreta, but practices of applying human
excreta are few. Research on biogas sanitation system is also limited (UNU-IAS, 2005). The plant surveyed
is constructed at a dormitory of Shinomori Islamic School located in KCC. Students use the toilet
connected to a biogas plant. The number of the students is 175. The plant was constructed in 2006. Design
retention time is 20 days. As the effluent from the biogas plant has high concentration of organic matter, the
effluent is treated by septic tank.
Water quality and sludge test results
Water quality parameters at some points of the plant have been analyzed including coliform bacteria and
fecal coliform bacteria. As for sludge, nutrient content was analyzed. Parasites and protozoa test of sludge
has also done. Table 2 shows organic matters are being decomposed and the number of fecal coliform
bacteria is reduced. Reduction of Kjeldahl nitrogen indicates nitrogen is being accumulated in sludge.
Sludge test result shows relatively high concentration of nitrogen and phosphorus. From the test result of
parasites and protozoa, only Ascaris spp. (40 egg/g), Giardia spp. (200 cyst/g) is detected. The results
indicate the biogas plant is capable to make excreta biologically stable, and septic tank is functioning to
reduce organic concentration.
Table 2 Water quality test result
Coliform Fecal Coliform
BOD5 COD EC TDS TSS TKN
pH Bacteria Bacteria
mg/L mg/L µs/cm mg/L mg/L mg/L MPN/100m MPN/100mL
L
Influent 7.01 6780 15594 9480 3400 1245 2874 >1.2x104 >1.2x104
Digester 6.43 1556 3180 5570 2680 369 780 >1.2x104 1.1x104
Septic tank 6.46 778 1379 4150 2225 198 326 >1.2x104 7.5x102
i fl 4
Effluent 6.47 482 631 1385 2255 106 152 >1.2x10 2.1x102
Table 3 Sludge test result
Moisture TKN T-P K
Sludge 85.63% 2.81 g/100g dry 1.42 g/100g dry 0.16 g/100g dry
Biogas production and benefit
Biogas volume was measured at the terminal point in the kitchen of the school, where biogas is used for cooking
in the morning and noon time, for 3.5 hours totally. According to the school, about 70% of wooden fuel is saved
by using biogas. In the experiment, water is heated by biogas using 20L pan. Calories provided by biogas were
measured from the change of water temperature and volume. Gas volume was measured using measuring
cylinder. The rate of calorie supply is constant for about 3 hours, then fall down rapidly. The experiment result is
summarized in Table 4. The result corresponds to what hear from the school. From the calorie per biogas
volume and estimated gas volume, it is expected for every toilet user to get 450mL of hot water.
The well maintained biogas plant provides benefit to the school. It is said a household buys 20BDT
(Bangladesh Taka) wooden fuels for cooking purpose. Assuming the same percentage of wooden fuel
saving as the school, a household saves around 5,000BDT annually. Biologically stable sludge might be
useful as a source of nutrient rich organic fertilizer. Not only monetary benefit, through the reduction of
organic matters, water environment is expected to be improved.

6. Table 4 Biogas generation relating information
No. of users 175 persons
Gas flow under steady state 15.88 L/min
Calorie supply under steady state 31.9 Kcal/min
CH4 Concentration 48 ％
3
Calorie per gas volume 2008 Kcal/m
Total supplied calorie 5890 Kcal
Estimated gas volume 2.93 m3/day
Calorie loss (assuming 5500 Kcal/CH4m3) 24 ％
Calorie per user 33.7 Kcal
Equivalent to boiling water （25 - 100°C） 449 mL
EFFECT OF URINE ON VEGETABLE YIELD
Outline of the experiment
Use of excess chemical fertilizer has brought various problems; low organic content in soils of farm is a
typical example of its impact. Although organic fertilizer is recommended; sometimes nutrient contents are
low for sufficient yield. On the other hand, urine is nutrient rich and many of the ecological sanitation users
have obtained increased harvest in crops and vegetables by applying urine as fertilizer. The authors have
implemented an experiment to know the effect of mixed use of urine and compost as a preliminary phase to
develop a technology to produce urine added compost.
The experiment has been done at a farm which locates in the peri-urban area of Khulna city. Tomato was
selected as a crop to grow. Four treatments were set for the experiment as shown in the Table 5. For each
treatment five plots are prepared, having area of 3.81 x 2.14 (8.16 m2) and 30 seedlings were planted for
each plot. Period of experiment is from November 2010 to March 2011. The soil test result of the
composite sample from multiple points of the experiment plots indicates low content of organic carbon
(1.1%) and nitrogen, medium content of phosphorus and high content of potassium. Nutrient content of
compost and urine applied is shown in Table 6. The compost consists of poultry litter, bone meal, cow dung,
water hyacinth, mustered oil cake, Azolla sp., saw dust and ash.
Table 5 Treatments of the experiment
Treatment fertilizing condition
T1: control -
T2: compost 6.5 kg/plot, applied 3 times
T3: urine 165 L/plot, applied 3 times
T4: urine + compost 165 L and 6.5kg/plot, applied 3 times
Table 6 Nutrient contents of applied urine and compost
N P K
urine 4710 mg/L 645 mg/L 1580 mg/L
compost 17.5 mg/g 9 mg/g 6 mg/g
Fertile Effect of Urine
Fig 7 shows average yield of tomato among five plots for each treatment. Difference between T1 and T2
does not show statistical significance. However, difference between T1 and T3 shows significance at 5%.
Differences between T4 and other treatments show statistical significance at 1%. The result indicates both
organic matter and nutrients are necessary for the satisfactory production in the low organic content farm.
Comparing T2 and T4, assuming the increased yield is brought by urine application and price of tomato is
10BDT/kg, 1L urine is equivalents to 2BDT. Compared to the previous survey (Takahashi, et al., 2009),
this amount is bigger.

7. 6
Yield of Tomato, kg/m2
5
4
3
2
1
0
Control Compost Urine Urine +
Compost
Fig 7 Differnce of tomato yield for each fertilizing condition
PROVISION OF IMPROVED SANITATION FOR THE URBAN POOR SETTLEMENTS
The sanitation system proposed in this paper aims at improved sanitation with appropriate human excreta
management, deriving resource from human excreta to utilize it both on-site and off-site, which is intended to form
incentive among residents in urban poor settlement. To make it in practice, a scheme shown in Fig 8 is
recommended. The scheme consists of following steps; 1) awareness raising on sanitation among the community
members, 2) problem identification under participation of the community, 3) forming willingness to improve
sanitation, 4) selection of technical option and site selection of the necessary facilities, 5) establishing community
based organization (CBO).
Fig 7 Implementation scheme of the sanitation system
Installed toilets and facilities are expected to be continuously maintained by CBO independently. Roles of CBO are
not only to conduct facility maintenance, but also to cover overall management of the sanitation system, which
consist of followings;
1) To determination cost sharing for contribution by the community
2) To set-up management rule and make it familiarize among the community
3) To make securing of financing for management: initial deposit, monthly charge and/or fee per usage

8. 4) To maintain toilets and facilities
5) To serve biogas to the community or common use at a community center near the biogas plant
6) To manage selling or utilization of urine: invitation of compost factory near the settlement or establish such
factory by themselves
7) Accounting
CONCLUSION
Outcomes
Based on the baseline survey, the authors have discussed the necessity to improve sanitation of urban poor
settlements. As an incentive might be necessary to form willingness to improve current sanitary situation, and a
model was developed to utilize human excreta derived resources as shown Fig 1. To make the model practical,
function of a biogas plant and the effect of urine when it is used with organic compost ought to be ascertained
preliminarily. Based on the experiment results, following outcomes are obtained;
1) Well-maintained biogas plant brings sanitary improvement and reduction of pollutants, in addition to deriving
biogas from human excreta which is available as fuel.
2) Applying organic compost and urine as fertilizer has brought increased yield of tomato.
3) Implementation scheme and roles of community based organization are considered.
Subjects for the next step
To make the model feasible, various subjects including technical and social aspects still exists as follows;
1) To develop a technology to produce urine mixed compost and verify its effect
2) To confirm the stability of biogas generation based on a continuous survey of biogas plant function
3) To develop measures to utilize sludge from biogas plant as resources
As a final target of the research, the authors intend to implement a case study based on actual slum area, to
estimate overall benefit of the proposed sanitation system.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
This study was implemented as a part of research named “Sanitation constraints classification and
alternatives evaluation for Asian cities”, supported by the Japan Ministry of Environment, Grant #K22047,
2008-2011. The authors would like to express gratitude to the following persons; Mr. Rahman, G. M. T. of
Environment Friendly Agricultural Development Foundation (EFADF) for his positive
involvement especially for set-up the experiment plot and providing organic compost. Mr. Md. Ibrahim, the
school master of Shinomori Islamic School, for offering various conveniences for the survey of the biogas
plant. Mr. Md. Wahiduzzaman, an engineer of Local Government Engineering Department, Bangladesh,
for his effective suggestion on biogas plant survey. Various survey practices have been done with dedicated
support of staffs of Khulna University and Japan Association of Drainage and Environment (JADE).
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