Ecosan in the Ukraine
Festive opening of ecosanitation toilets of school in Gozhuly, Ukraine
27.10.2004 |Annemarie Mohr
The mayor, regional authorities and representative of the Dutch Embassy will take part in the opening festivities. The eco-sanitation toilets for the school of Gozhuly are the first of its kind to be build in Ukraine. Using the eco-sanitaiton method, whereby the urine and feaces are collected separatly and recycled into humus and fertilizer are a great improvement over the previous pit-latrines; there is no more bad smell, the ground-water is no longer polluted with nitrates and feacal-bacteria, and the toilets have been integrated into the school building so that they pupils no longer need to go outside.
Find out more about the project in the Water Working Group, the Agriculture Working Group and on the project page of eco-sanitation Ukraine.
More images from the Ukraine Ecosanitation project. Before and after.
Speech ecosan ceremony school Gozhuli 29.10.2004-10-21
Margriet Samwel
Dear ladies, dear gentlemen, dear children, dear project partner,Thank you very much for giving me the occasion to speak as a representative of women in Europe for a common future and as a partner in the pilot project “Cooperation for sustainable rural development”.
Thank you very much for coming to this exceptional event. I think, this is probably the first time in Ukraine, that new toilets are celebrated with an official ceremony.
Because normally are toilets not so special or not worth to celebrate them: either we have latrines, which often smell bad and pollute groundwater, or we have flush toilets, which use approximately one third of the drinking water consume. In addition after treatment of the flushed excrement, the wastewater contaminates surface waters with mostly high amounts of microorganism and nutrients.
If we assess the new school toilets, built in the scope of the project “Cooperation for sustainable rural development” on the name of the project, we can conclude, that these ecosan toilets meet the goals of the project name.
For the construction the project partners mama-86- University of Hamburg and WECF had to cooperate. But first of all there was a cooperation with the Ukraine authorities, the director and teachers of the school, pupils of the school, parents and of course the constructor of the building. The toilets and building should be accepted by all and should meet the Ukraine standards.
To all, thank you very much for the good cooperation.
The term sustainable can be projected for 100 percent on the new ecosan toilets.
The toilets don’t waste drinking water, don’t pollute ground or surface water, and don’t waste nutrients like nitrogen or phosphorus. After storage and treatment the products of the toilets can be used as a very good and safe fertilizer or as a soil conditioner in agriculture and garden. The cycle of the nutrients in the nature is closed.
The new ecosan toilets meet also the approach of the term rural development.
Rural development is connected with the availability of safe drinking water, which is connected with a good wastewater management and of course with financial and human recourses.
Human resources mean not only the amount of people available, but also their condition, their health are to be taken in consideration. Bad smelling latrines outside in the cold, poor condition of sanitation decreases the health.
Safe drinking water, safe and hygienic sanitation contributes to healthy citizens.
In most rural areas, where no adequate wastewater management is used, the shallow groundwater layers, used for private wells, are often very polluted.
The introduction of environmental friendly ecosan toilets will not clean up directly the groundwater layer from nutrients and microorganism. But it is one step, which contributes to a cleaner groundwater in the future and to rural development.
For this kind of toilets is no expensive and sensible sewage system needed, with a proper use is his function guarantied and the farmers obtain a very cheap fertilizer.
In countries like Germany or the Netherlands are the most rural areas to a central sewage system connected. This doesn’t mean, that it is a sustainable and cheap solution. The systems are constructed during the last 50 years in a time of increasing financial resources. Expensive sewages systems were connected with prestige.
The way back to an environmental sustainable approach is difficult.
I think especially in areas, where sewage systems are not yet constructed or have to been rebuilt, different alternatives of a more ecological sanitation should be taken in considering and if possible implemented.
These new ecosan toilets are just examples and we hope, that in the future other schools and families will copy this example, WE hope, that this new approach will be supported and promoted by the Ukraine authorities.
But especially we hope, that the school children and the teachers are happy with the new constructed ecosan house.
To acknowledge symbolic the Dutch ministry of foreign affairs, who made this pilot project possible, we should like to donate some Dutch flower bulbs, which are like a business card for the Netherlands. The bulbs could be planted in the schoolyard and if needed fertilized with the ecosan products.
Thank you very much for your attention.
