For World Toilet Day, the American National Standards Institute (ANSI), the U.S. member body of the International Organization for Standardization (ISO), highlights the efforts of ISO project committee (PC) 305, dedicated to the development of an international non-sewered sanitation systems standard at a time when billions of people across the globe lack access to clean and safe toilet systems.
Developing countries around the world share the same toxic problem: unsafe toilet systems. In light of World Toilet Day on November 19, ISO recently released two articles that highlight the magnitude of the global situation and ISO's work in progress, intended to reinvent the toiletand reverse the unsafe sanitation trend.
ISO reports that in Sub-Saharan Africa, about 90% of the urban population does not have access to a sewer system. For this population, and the cumulative 4.5 billion across the globe who also live without sanitation, the situation is dire, and can lead to a health epidemic. Unfiltered wastewater can lead to disease and crime.
One of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals is effective sanitation. ISO efforts include the ISO 16075 series (parts 1, 2, 3, and 4) on wastewater reuse in agriculture to help farmers safely utilize safely processed waste, a cheap and nutrient-rich resource for irrigation projects. ISO reports that poor farmers and those living in areas of water scarcity will benefit the most. ISO 24518, Activities relating to drinking water and wastewater services Crisis management of water utilities, offers a solid crisis management system for water utilities, while ISO 24521 Activities relating to drinking water and wastewater services Guidelines for the management of basic on-site domestic wastewater services, will help service providers safely collect and process waste.
ISO has released a video that features ISO/PC 305 chair Doulayne Kone, who explains that 6 out of 10 people do not have access to flush toilet systems, and only about 40% of the global population have access to what can be qualified as 'safe sanitation systems.' Mr. Kone also notes that for almost 200 years, there has been no change in toilet technologies, which can be very expensive for developing countries. He explains that the work of ISO/PC 305 is geared to creating a standard that's aiming to make the toilet safe for everyone.
Additionally, ISO reports on the efforts related to the development of ISO 30500, Non-sewered sanitation systems - Prefabricated integrated treatment units - General safety and performance requirements for design and testing, which seeks to provide general safety and performance requirements for the product design and performance testing of non-sewered sanitation systems for prefabricated integrated treatment units.
Developed from experts from 31 countries worldwide who represent stakeholders from industry, government, academia and non-governmental organizations, the standard will apply to any integrated sanitation system that is not attached to a sewer.
ISO 30500 is expected to be published in 2018.
About ISO PC 305
Formed in May 2016, ISO PC 305 is dedicated to the development of an international non-sewered sanitation systems standard. In an effort toward that goal, an International Workshop Agreement (IWA) was published on September 1, 2016, serving as the basis for the development of the new international standard. The standard will be applicable to individual and community sanitation systems that are self-contained, meet defined discharge requirements, and aim for sustainability. The U.S. holds leadership of PC 305, with Doulaye Kone of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation serving as chairman, and ANSI serving as twinned secretariat alongside ASN, Senegal's member body of ISO.
See ISO's articles: