On June 28-30, in Singapore, the American National Standards Institute (ANSI), with support from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, held an International Workshop Agreement (IWA) meeting on sustainable non-sewered sanitation systems. The workshop, intended to facilitate the development of a globally relevant consensus standard for safer, cleaner reinvented toilets, united 65 attendees, who reached a consensus for an IWA, with its anticipated publication in September.
The development of this international standard will ensure safety aspects of next generation or "reinvented toilets," devices which remove pathogens and do not require traditional infrastructure, such as sewer, water connection, or electricity. Such sanitation fixtures are ideal for developing countries that can benefit from safer, cleaner, and more cost efficient toilet alternatives, as an estimated 2.5 billion people live without access to safe and clean toilets—an unsanitary and often dangerous problem.
The IWA workshop, which included representatives from 17 countries, emphasized how an international standard for reinvented toilets would ensure that treated discharged products pose no user, operator health, or environmental risks. Such an international standard would be applicable to individual and community sanitation systems that are self-contained, meet defined discharge requirements, and aim for sustainability. ISO PC 305, which was formed in May of this year, will be meeting for the first time in October. Any US interested parties who wish to be involved in this work going forward should contact Kristen Califra ([email protected]).
See more about ANSI's efforts and related coverage.