Scaling up Off-Grid Sanitation

为了保护人类健康和环境，卫生系统必须将人与其排泄物分开并进行处理。这不仅涉及技术，还必须考虑金融、政府政策和人类行为等其他方面。下水道和废水处理厂可以帮助提供安全的卫生设施，但它们的建造费用昂贵且具有挑战性，特别是在人口稠密的城市地区或人们没有自己居住的土地的地方。事实上，世界上只有45%的城市人口安全地管理了卫生设施；这就是人类排泄物在处置之前得到处理的地方。这些人中的许多人转而使用离网的卫生选择，如坑式厕所和化粪池。这些地方在物理上很难清空，特别是在人口密度高的地区、陡峭的山坡上或地下水位高的地区，并构成严重的健康危害。收集的垃圾经常被非法倾倒，经常被倾倒到水源中。只有妥善考虑垃圾的收集、处理和处置，离网解决方案才能安全地管理垃圾。这项研究将集中于一种新兴的离网卫生选择，即集装箱卫生(CBS)，在四个城市背景下，CBS的提供和监管由不同的组织完成。在海地角(海地)，CBS由一个非政府组织提供；在利马(秘鲁)，由一家私营公司提供；在开普敦(南非)，由市政府提供；在卡库马难民营(肯尼亚)，由一家与非政府组织合作的私营公司提供。难民营被包括在内，因为在未来，气候和其他因素驱动的难民将占世界城市人口的很大比例。将与哥伦比亚广播公司的工作人员以及他们密切合作的其他组织进行访谈，例如当地政府、自来水公司和监管机构。为了捕捉使用哥伦比亚广播公司厕所的人以及使用其他离网卫生选择(如坑式厕所)的人的感受和意见，将使用一种新颖的智能手机数据收集。参与者每周将完成几次简短的调查，以了解他们的精神健康状况。此外，收集的数据将揭示当前的法规和政策是否支持CBS，以及CBS是扩大还是缩小差距。例如，没有永久基础设施的CBS是否会使用户感到更容易被驱逐，收集集装箱是否会成为负担？或者，它让原本无法使用厕所的人可以使用厕所？该项目还将研究与其他部门的联系，特别是垃圾、能源、交通和固体废物，就像哥伦比亚广播公司的覆盖范围扩大一样，这些服务将受到影响。例如，哥伦比亚广播公司依赖公路运输，造成了额外的交通流量。但CBS的使用阻止了将废物倾倒到河流中，从而使供水更清洁。该项目的经验教训将与其他正在考虑实施CBS的城市分享，以及与正在研究如何“离网”提供服务的其他部门分享。CO-I已被确定为在城市服务方面拥有卫生以外的专业知识，结果将被链接并在GCRF城市风险抵御中心展示，以更广泛地审视非电网城市的经验教训。

To protect human health and the environment, sanitation systems must separate people from their excreta and treat it. This does not just involve technologies but other aspects like finance, government policies and human behaviours must be considered. Sewers and wastewater treatment plants can assist in providing safe sanitation, but they are expensive and challenging to build, particularly in dense urban areas or where people do not own the land that they live on. In fact, only 45% of the world's urban population have safely managed sanitation; that is where human waste is treated before disposal. Many of these people are instead using off-grid options for sanitation, such as pit latrines and septic tanks. These are physically difficult to empty, especially in areas of high population density, on steep slopes or with a high water table, and pose significant health hazards. The collected waste is often dumped illegally, frequently into water sources. Off grid solutions can only manage waste safely if the waste collection, treatment and disposal is properly considered. This research will focus on an emerging off-grid sanitation option in the form of container-based sanitation (CBS) across four city contexts where the provision and regulation of CBS is done by different organisations. In Cap Haitien (Haiti), CBS is provided by an NGO, in Lima (Peru) it is provided by a private company, in Cape Town (South Africa) it is provided by the municipality and in Kakuma Refugee camp (Kenya) it is provided by a private company working with an NGO. A refugee camp is included as in the future, refugees driven by climate and other factors will make up a significant proportion of the world's urban population.Interviews will be conducted with the staff working for the CBS provider as well as other organisations that they work closely with, e.g., local government, water utilities and regulators. To capture the feelings and opinions of the people using the CBS toilets, as well as people using other off-grid sanitation options like pit latrines, a novel smartphone data collection will be used. Participants will complete a short survey several times a week to capture aspects of their mental well-being.In addition, the data collected will reveal whether current regulations and policies support CBS and whether CBS increases disparities or decreases them. For example, does CBS without a permanent infrastructure make users feel more vulnerable to eviction, and is the collection of the containers a burden? Or does it give access to people who would not otherwise be able to use a toilet?The project will also look at the links with other sectors, specifically waste, energy, transport and solid waste, as if CBS coverage is increased these services will be impacted. For example CBS relies on road transport and cause additional traffic. But the use of CBS stops the disposal of waste into rivers so water supplies are cleaner.Lessons from the project will be shared with other cities who are thinking about implementing CBS, and with other sectors who are working out how they might deliver their services "off-grid". Co-I's have been identified that have expertise beyond sanitation in urban services, and results will be linked and presented at the GCRF Urban Risk Resilience Hub to look more broadly at lessons for off-grid cities.