Improving Sanitation for Developing Countries

Improving Sanitation for Developing Countries
Everywhere we go in the states it is completely normal for us to spot a sanitation station, or restroom, at homes or any other functioning building. Unfortunately, for others living in third world countries, this can be a new or foreign concept to have access to a sanitation systems. Sanitation systems serve one simple, but very important, purpose to properly dispose of waste, wastewater and sewage, sometimes for treatment or reuseal.

It is reported that about 2.5 million people do not have access to sanitation systems and that, globally, about 1.5 million children die under the age of five each year due to diarrhoeal disease because of the lack of sanitation. Installing sanitation systems in developing countries are a great way of decreasing the chances of a child being exposed to this disease, in fact, The World Health Organization says sanitation systems can help decrease diarrhoeal disease by 38%. Aside from reducing disease, sanitation systems can also turn waste into a resource rather than simply getting rid of it. Waste and wastewater can be used as fertilizer and a cheaper irrigation source for food. This is especially beneficial for lousy soil.

There are many things being done in order to achieve sanitation in third world countries such as Africa. The Sustainable Sanitation Alliance, which is a great resource for helping create more sanitation systems, was created in 2007 in order to tackle this very problem of lacking sanitation in needy countries. In 2011, the Reinvent The Toilet Challenge was funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, and this program was made in order to provide low-water consumption toilet systems. Other projects are being worked on to improve sanitation in a much larger scale. The processing plant in Dakar, Senegal is a great example of what is being done, which disposes waste in order to obtain potable water, electricity, and fertilizer. We must all do our part in helping others receive the sanitation systems they need that sometimes we may take for granted.

Sources:
https://www.sswm.info/water-nutrient-cycle/wastewater-treatment/hardwares/introduction/sanitation-systems

https://theconversation.com/the-other-benefit-of-sanitation-from-human-waste-to-human-food-10795

https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2015/08/how-do-we-solve-africas-sanitation-problems/