Terra Preta Sanitationfull reuse in sanitaton and

bio-waste-management

Learning from successful ancient cultures…

Prof. Dr. Ralf Otterpohl

Initial remark on Public Health• Parasites (Salt! removal of most parasites with

increased uptake of pure NaCl salt over 6 weeks, combne with Vitamin C like fresh fruitalso traditional knowledge)

• Flue (bird, swine, what is next?)why did this normal flue lieke swine flu become a WHO pandemy? Keep Vitamin D up! All flue can be treated with high amounts of vitamin D or A, check levels

• A really dangerous could come…(who will belive WHO then? see above)

• Keep the immune system strong: zink!(trace element, „ammunition of the immune system“, often too low)

Initial remark on Public Health

Selling bottled water for 30 40 0r 50 cents per litre to the poorest people in the world…

… is brutal misuse of power, killing babies and small children(can those who run this sleep well at night?)

A price of 5 cents for water in a bag is possible

Source: Prof. G. Teodorescu, Stuttgart

The 3 dimensions of Innovation

Concept Innovation

Technical Innovation

Formal Innovation

Vo

lum

el/(

P*y

ea

r)

Urine ~ 500

Feaces~ 50

(option: add biowaste)

Greywater 25.000 -100.000

N ~ 4-5 ~ 3 % ~ 87 % ~ 10 %

~ 34 %K ~ 1,8 ~ 54 % ~ 12 %

P ~ 0,75 ~50 % ~ 40 %~ 10 %

COD ~ 30 ~ 41 % ~ 12 % ~ 47 %

Reuse / Water Cycle

Treatment

Fertiliser

Biogas-PlantComposting

Treatment

Yearly Loadskg/(P*year)

Soil-Conditioner

S, Ca, Mg and traceelements

Geigy, Wiss. Tabellen, Basel 1981, Vol. 1, LARSEN and GUJER 1996, FITSCHEN and HAHN 1998

Flushwatercan be saved6.000 - 25.000

Low/Non-diluting toilets are the key for new sanitation concepts

1. Blackwater and integrated systems design

2. Dry sanitation / Low Cost solutions

3. Urine-Diversion with flush sanitation

The 3 main Development lines

Here: Dry sanitation and a pathway for the furture:

• Urine diverting dry toilets have been a major step forward (first from Sweden)

• Over 1 Million installations, fast growing

• Many different toilets have been developed, good but not excellent

• Treatment pathway for faeces and urine needs to be improved

….Urine Diverting Dry Sanitation: Developed from Sweden

ROSA, EU 6th FP

Neue Schultoilette, Ukraine (TUHH/WECF)

NGO WECF Women in Europe and TUHH

Major drawbacks in modern dry sanitation:

• Urban, peri-urban areas are still difficult to be served

• Multi storey houses not well solved

• Ventilation is not an option for large scale, otherwise the whole region will smell bad

• An ancient system offers new perspectives: Terra Preta Sanitationas evaluated by Dr. haiko Pieplow, Germany

Bio-Systems Design:

• If there is one problem, look for other problems and solve them together

• Waste of one system is food for others

• Solutions are searched until no waste is remaining

• No Waste equals Zero Emissions

• Multiple added value

according to Gunter Pauli, ZERI

If there is one problem, look for other problems and solve them together:

Problem:Lack of efficient low cost sanitation

Other Problems:

Water scarcityWeak soils, erosion, depletionMissing food securityLack of incomeToo little jobs

Waterless Soil production

(Urban) gardening

Jobs with the systems, greywater in gardening, black soil makes water, health

Soil degradation is stupid, future generations will need land, too…

Poor soil can become highly fertile withclever management of biowaste and sanitation

Naturally verypoor tropicalsoil

degrades verysoon withlack of organicmatter

The samesoil:highly fertileand carbon rich over manygenerationslong ago with- lactofermentedvermicompostedbiowaste andfaecal matter- 10% charcoal Terra PretaPoor soil can become highly fertile with

clever management of biowaste and sanitationfrom: Günther F. (2007). Carbon sequestration for everybody

Terra Preta:- 2000 – 7000 years old

- around 10 % of the Amazon Region

- 16. century millions of people,

today 350.000

- up to 20 meters deep, partly hills

- fertile without adding fertilizer

- multiple yield

Composition: around 10 % ground charcoal, processed biowaste and feacal matter (lactofermentation and vermicomposting),bones and broken earthware

Glaser, B. (2007). Prehistorically modified soils of central Amazonia: a model for sustainable agriculture in the twenty-first century,Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B. 362: pp 187–196

from: Günther F. (2007). Carbon sequestration for everybody

GEO, March 2009

Historic Amazon: Forest Argriculture in three layers GEO 3/2009

An ancient pathway for today:

TERRA PRETA(black soil)

Production of super-fertile soils, discovered in the Amazon from ancient cultures, still highly fertile today

Composed of biowaste, feacal matter, bones and charcoal

Production through lactofermentation (start e.g. by EM or Sauerkraut-liquid) followed by vermicomposting

Four design options forTerra Preta Sanitation:

• Siple bucket systems with separate urine collection

• Adapted urine diverted dry toilet

• 1st Class urine diverting dry toilet(to be developed)

• If the flush is needed: urine diverting flush toilet, collect solids in an lacto-acid sieving unit

Terra Preta Sanitation was mainly inspired by Dr. Haiko Pieplow, Ministry of the Environment, Germany

NO-COST-Sanitation can be highly efficient and feasible with some change of habits

1.) Teach users of pit-toilets to divert urine in any way,after learning about fertilising value many people with some space will do thisvery dense population: urine collection and usageshould be organisedthen no urine, no water into pit, add some charcoaland lacto-acid-bacteria (like in lacto-sauerkraut,pickled foods)

2.) Same procedure, but instead of ‚normal‘ pit do 2 alternate shallow pit, put worms into idle pit

3.) Use simple bucket system with a lid that closes air-thightotherwise like above

Pippinette

First step: Keep Urine separate opt 1.) to 3.)

Norway

The most simple approach, personal collector,female / male version

Urine collection,male version like in hospitals

Second step: Feacal matter collection opt. 3.)

Example: Mobile-toilet „toa-standard“with a closing lid for the bucketafter usage: cover with ½ cup of a mixture of2,5 kg ground charcoal, 1 kg dolomite-lime, 1:100 EM Aor leachate of lacto-acid-fermented sauerkraut (pickled), some stone-dust

Dry toilet shop, Hamburg:www.bergerbiotechnik.deTerra preta / EM-Shop:www.triaterra.de

operation ok when smell is ok leave lactofermenting for minimum 3 weeks to some month, then vermicomposting in aerobic composter,Process is simple and robust,

A good starting pointfor a luxury version

Separett Villa, Sweden

Cover lid

Cild seat

Terra preata toilets need to close the bucket air-tight after usage,no ventilation needed

(EcoSan Res/A. Rosemarin 2005)

Breakthrough in solids treatment at TUHH(BMBF / IPSWaT)

Integrated urban bio-systems

Win-Win-Win-Situation• Sanitaiton makes soil• Soil makes fuel and food• Watering with underground pipes

is greywater treatment• Operation and gardening creates

local jobs• Better health, less violence through

good nutrition• House design follows requirements,

beautiful homes, good climate

Zentrale der Commerzbank, Deutschland, Frankfurt am Main, 1994-1997"Wie kann man Arbeit und Natur in den Grenzen eines Bürogebäudes miteinander in Einklang bringen?" fragt Foster.

http://www.architektur.tu-darmstadt.de/powerhouse/db/248,id_21,s_Papers.fb15

Reuse through productive bamboo systemslocal regenerative energy, cost recovery throughcarbon trading and charcoal around 10m²/Person,feed only once a day, distribute well www.tuhh.de/aww

PHYTOREM,France

Sorting-Toilet(Gustavsberg, Sweden)

Waterless Urinal(Keramag)

Wasserfreie Urinsammlung ist inzwischen in Urinalen relativ problemlos möglich(Fa. Keramag)

From Dr. Haiko Pieplow, Ministry of the Environment, Germany

Lacto-acid bacteriaare added

Rottebehälter /Pre-composting tanc2 filterbags usedfor 6 month alternatelythen vermicompostingwith biowaste andslice-shred wood (optional)

• Empty bags all 6 month(3-month intervals or even 1 month can be tested)

• Compost bag contents with vermi-composting, optional addition of biowaste and slice-cut-woodchipLimited amounts of urine can be added according ot C:N ratio

From Dr. Haiko Pieplow, Ministry of the Environment, Germany

Conclusions

• The pathways for modern dry sanitation where found in ancient civilisations

• A very simple model can serve people who care for virtually no costs

• Luxury dry toilet models for littel money are feasible

• Added value trough less water consumption, fertile soil, local gardening options

Thank you for your effortsThank you for your effortstowards a better future!towards a better future!

and for listening…and for listening…further info on further info on www.tuhh.de/aww

IWA SG www.ecosan.orgIWA SG www.ecosan.org

Old Amazonian cultures

• All they left was highly fertile soil and beautiful earthware

• They could produce food with a very low footprint

• 3-storey agriculture (trees, scrub, ground)• They gave us a key element for the future

of our societies:urban and peri-urban agriculture can be combined with biowaste utilisation and sanitation