1. International Standard and Guidelines : Health and Agriculture Aspects 1 Ecological Sanitation Symposium, Syria, 11 -13 December 2005 International Standard and Guidelines: Health and Agriculture Aspects Christine Werner Deutsche Gesellschaft für Technische Zusammenarbeit (GTZ) GmbH ecological sanitation program, Division 44 – environment and infrastructure (Ecological Sanitation Symposium, Syria, 11-13.12.2005)

2. International Standard and Guidelines : Health and Agriculture Aspects 2 Ecological Sanitation Symposium, Syria, 11 -13 December 2005 Contents  WHO Guidelines  1989 version: Guidelines for the safe use of wastewater and excreta in agriculture and aquaculture  2005 version (upcoming): Guidelines for the safe use of wastewater, excreta and greywater  EcoSanRes Guidelines  Guidelines on the safe use of urine and faeces in ecological sanitation systems  Guidelines on the use of urine and faeces in crop production  FAO Guidelines  FAO irrigation and drainage paper 47: wastewater treatment and use in agriculture (1992)

3. International Standard and Guidelines : Health and Agriculture Aspects 3 Ecological Sanitation Symposium, Syria, 11 -13 December 2005 WHO guidelines for the safe use of wastewater and excreta in agriculture and aquaculture (1989) CategoryUse Person / Group exposed Nematodes [Eggs / kg] Feacal coliforms [number / 100 g] A Application to field crop (used for raw food) worker, consumer, public </= 1</= 1000 B Application to field crop (for industrial use, feedstock, trees) worker</= 1 no suggested standard C Local application to field crop of cat. B, without contact to persons nonenot relevant

4. International Standard and Guidelines : Health and Agriculture Aspects 4 Ecological Sanitation Symposium, Syria, 11 -13 December 2005  Upcoming WHO guidelines, update of the guidelines from 1989, publication planned in 2006  3 Volumes:  safe use of wastewater in agriculture  safe use of wastewater in aquaculture  safe use of excreta and greywater New WHO guidelines for the safe use of wastewater, excreta and greywater

5. International Standard and Guidelines : Health and Agriculture Aspects 5 Ecological Sanitation Symposium, Syria, 11 -13 December 2005 New WHO guidelines for the safe use of wastewater, excreta and greywater  Reuse of wastewater, greywater and excreta in agriculture and aquaculture is practiced worldwide on a large scale, however often without sufficient health proctction measures  WHO recognise the importance of reuse of wastewater, greywater and excreta for sustainable food production and improved livelihood  WHO provides guidance on health protection measures for safe reuse  WHO recognise source-separation as a special and valid approach source: GTZ

6. International Standard and Guidelines : Health and Agriculture Aspects 6 Ecological Sanitation Symposium, Syria, 11 -13 December 2005 New WHO guidelines for the safe use of wastewater, excreta and greywater The new WHO-guidelines are:  …based on:  scientific consensus and best available evidence,  health based targets  good practices and a multiple-barrier approach  …to be adapted to local social, economic, and environmental factors  …striving to maximize overall public health benefits and the beneficial use of scarce resources source: GTZ

7. International Standard and Guidelines : Health and Agriculture Aspects 7 Ecological Sanitation Symposium, Syria, 11 -13 December 2005 new WHO guidelines for the safe use of wastewater, excreta and greywater key issue: better methodologies for evaluating risk  previous guidelines were based on actual risks using epidemiological evidence  updated guidelines make use of all available evidence including Quantitative Microbial Risk Assessment (QMRA-models)  data on different pathogens are used to develop  health based targets,  required pathogen reduction and  miocrobial performance targets of wastewater and excreta treatment systems source: GTZ

8. International Standard and Guidelines : Health and Agriculture Aspects 8 Ecological Sanitation Symposium, Syria, 11 -13 December 2005 New WHO guidelines for the safe use of wastewater, excreta and greywater Definition: Disability Adjusted Life Years (DALYs)  DALYs are a measure of population health in terms of the burden due to a specific disease or risk factor.  DALYs attempt to measure healthy years of life lost because of disability or death from a disease  DALYs account for not only acute health effects but also for delayed and chronic effects  different health outcomes (e.g., cancer vs diarrhea) can be compared and risk management decisions can be prioritized.  adopted protection level for wastewater/excreta use in agriculture in the new WHO guideline: tolerable additional disease burden <= 10 -6 DALYs or 1 µDaly per person and year = only one of a million human life years expectancy will be lost due to the potential additional disease from wastewater/excreta reuse = same protection level as used in the WHO guideline for drinking water

9. International Standard and Guidelines : Health and Agriculture Aspects 9 Ecological Sanitation Symposium, Syria, 11 -13 December 2005 New WHO guidelines for the safe use of wastewater, excreta and greywater  Pathogen reductions achievable by various health protection measures for wastewater use in agriculture Control measure Pathogen reduction (log units) Wastewater treatment1−6 Localized (drip) irrigation (low-growing crops) 2 Localized (drip) irrigation (high-growing crops) 4 Spray drift control (spray irrigation)1 Spray buffer zone (spray irrigation)1 Pathogen die-off0.5−2 per day Produce washing with water1 Produce disinfection2 Produce peeling2 Produce cooking6−7

10. International Standard and Guidelines : Health and Agriculture Aspects 10 Ecological Sanitation Symposium, Syria, 11 -13 December 2005 New WHO guidelines for the safe use of wastewater, excreta and greywater

11. International Standard and Guidelines : Health and Agriculture Aspects 11 Ecological Sanitation Symposium, Syria, 11 -13 December 2005 Verification monitoring of wastewater treatment for the various levels of wastewater treatment in Options A−G: E.coli

12. International Standard and Guidelines : Health and Agriculture Aspects 12 Ecological Sanitation Symposium, Syria, 11 -13 December 2005 Health-based targets for treated wastewater use in agriculture: helminth eggs

13. International Standard and Guidelines : Health and Agriculture Aspects 13 Ecological Sanitation Symposium, Syria, 11 -13 December 2005 Example: agricultural use of wastewater, Peru  Coastal region of Peru: extremely arid  Wastewater treatment in stabilisation ponds  Irrigation with treated effluent for restricted crops source: Saniplan

14. International Standard and Guidelines : Health and Agriculture Aspects 14 Ecological Sanitation Symposium, Syria, 11 -13 December 2005 Example: greywater recycling through sub- surface application, India  Use of greywater in mulch trenches Mulch filled trench or pit source: GTZ

15. International Standard and Guidelines : Health and Agriculture Aspects 15 Ecological Sanitation Symposium, Syria, 11 -13 December 2005 Guidelines on the safe use of urine and faeces in ecological sanitation systems (EcoSanRes)  public health issues of agricultural reuse of urine and faeces

16. International Standard and Guidelines : Health and Agriculture Aspects 16 Ecological Sanitation Symposium, Syria, 11 -13 December 2005 guidelines on the safe use of urine and faeces in ecological sanitation systems (EcoSanRes)  focuses on the treatment and handling of faeces and urine, provides current information on risk management and assessment of source separation strategies  technical and behavioural barriers against disease transmission, sanitation treatment methods, reuse in agriculture  the scope of guideline is limited to products from urine diversion devices and dry collection systems for faeces.

17. International Standard and Guidelines : Health and Agriculture Aspects 17 Ecological Sanitation Symposium, Syria, 11 -13 December 2005 Guidelines on the safe use of urine and faeces in ecological sanitation systems (EcoSanRes) Recommendations for urine treatment and use:  The main risks in the use of excreta are related to the faecal fraction and not the urine fraction.  Technical constructions should be done in ways to minimize faecal crosscontamination.  At household level the urine can be used directly.  Urine should, in large-scale systems, be stored for one month at 20°C before use.  A withholding period of one month between fertilization and harvest should be applied.  Urine should be applied close to ground and preferably mixed with or watered into the soil. Urine strogae in Sweden (Gebers)

18. International Standard and Guidelines : Health and Agriculture Aspects 18 Ecological Sanitation Symposium, Syria, 11 -13 December 2005 Guidelines on the safe use of urine and faeces in ecological sanitation systems (EcoSanRes) Recommendations for faeces treatment and use:  Faeces should be treated before use as fertilizer.  Primary treatment (in the toilet) includes storage and alkaline treatment by addition of ash, lime or urea.  1-2 cups (200-500 ml; enough to cover the fresh faeces) of alkaline material should be added after each defecation.  Faeces should additionally be mixed into the soil in such a way that they are well covered.  Faeces should not be used for fertilization of vegetables, fruits or root crops that are to be consumed raw, excluding fruit trees. Dried faeces (GTZ))

19. International Standard and Guidelines : Health and Agriculture Aspects 19 Ecological Sanitation Symposium, Syria, 11 -13 December 2005 Guidelines on the safe use of urine and faeces in ecological sanitation systems (EcoSanRes) TreatmentCriteriaComment Storage (only treatment) at ambient temperature 2-20°C 1,5-2 years Will eliminate most bacterial pathogens, substantially reduce viruses, protozoa and parasites, some ova may persist Storage (only treatment) at 20- 35°C >1 yearAs above Storage and alkaline treatment pH >9 during > 6 months Temperature 25° or lower pH will prolong the time for absolute elimination  Recommended storage time and treatment for faeces

20. International Standard and Guidelines : Health and Agriculture Aspects 20 Ecological Sanitation Symposium, Syria, 11 -13 December 2005 Guidelines on the use of urine and faeces in crop production (EcoSanRes)  Agronomic issues of agricultural reuse of urine and faeces

21. International Standard and Guidelines : Health and Agriculture Aspects 21 Ecological Sanitation Symposium, Syria, 11 -13 December 2005 Guidelines on the use of urine and faeces in crop production (EcoSanRes)  Requirements regarding re-using of excreta for agricultural purposes, including plant growth, nutirents in excreta, hygiene treatment of urine and faeces, etc. are discussed.  Recommendations on using excreta in cultivation are given.  It emphasizes that urine and faeces are complete fertilizers. Urine is rich in nitrogen and faeces are rich in phosphorous, potassium and organic matter.  guideline is limited to products from urine diversion devices and dry collection systems for faeces. source: GTZ

22. International Standard and Guidelines : Health and Agriculture Aspects 22 Ecological Sanitation Symposium, Syria, 11 -13 December 2005 Guidelines on the use of urine and faeces in crop production (EcoSanRes) Recommendations for use of urine in cultivation:  Urine is a quick-acting nitrogen-rich complete fertilizer. Best effects from prior to sowing, up until two-thirds of the period between sowing and harvest.  Recommended application rate and time should be based on the desired nitrogen application rate (based on local recommendations for chemical nitrogen fertilizers)  Rule of thumb: apply the urine from one person during one day (24 hours) to one square metre of crop. (= 300-400 m 2 per person and year) Fotos: Urine reuse in Havanna, Cuba (GTZ)

23. International Standard and Guidelines : Health and Agriculture Aspects 23 Ecological Sanitation Symposium, Syria, 11 -13 December 2005 Guidelines on the use of urine and faeces in crop production (EcoSanRes) Recommendations for use of faeces in cultivation:  Faeces should be applied and mixed into the soil before cultivation starts. Local application in holes or furrows close to the planned plants allows for economic use  The application rate can be based on the current recommendation for the use of phosphorous-based fertilizers (low application rate with little improvement due to the added organic matter)  Faeces can also be applied at much higher rates for improving structure and water-holding capacity of the soil Fotos: Compost from faeces in Havanna, Cuba (GTZ) source: GTZ

24. International Standard and Guidelines : Health and Agriculture Aspects 24 Ecological Sanitation Symposium, Syria, 11 -13 December 2005 Beneficial effects of agricultural use of urine and faeces  restored soil fertility through nutrient reuse source: Vinnerås, 2003  improved soil quality through reuse of organics urine faeces & urine none compost improved soil untreated soil after one week without water source: Petter Jenssen source: GTZ

25. International Standard and Guidelines : Health and Agriculture Aspects 25 Ecological Sanitation Symposium, Syria, 11 -13 December 2005 Covers health aspects and agronomic aspects of reuse of wastewater in agriculture  Draws on the WHO Guidelines (1989) for health protection measures FAO irrigation and drainage paper 47: Wastewater treatment and use in agriculture

26. International Standard and Guidelines : Health and Agriculture Aspects 26 Ecological Sanitation Symposium, Syria, 11 -13 December 2005 FAO irrigation and drainage paper 47: Wastewater treatment and use in agriculture  FAO guidelines define use restrictions with respect to salinity, trace elements, nitrogen, etc. in order to not produce negative effects on productivity and yields.  Blending conventional water with treated effluent, or using the two sources in rotation is possible.  This means that nutrients elimination in wastewater treatment is not necessary if reclaimed water can be blended with normal irrigation water. source: GTZ

27. International Standard and Guidelines : Health and Agriculture Aspects 27 Ecological Sanitation Symposium, Syria, 11 -13 December 2005 FAO irrigation and drainage paper 47: wastewater treatment and use in agriculture unitsDegree of restriction on use none Slight to moderate severe Potential irrigation problem Salinity (Ec w 1 )dS/m< 0.70.7 - 3.0> 3.0 Na, surface irrigationme/I< 44 - 10> 10 Na, sprinkler irrigationm 3 /l< 3> 3 Nitrogen (NO 3 -N) 3 mg/l< 55 - 30> 30 pH Normal range 6.5-8  Water quality guidelines for maximum crop production (example)

28. International Standard and Guidelines : Health and Agriculture Aspects 28 Ecological Sanitation Symposium, Syria, 11 -13 December 2005 FAO irrigation and drainage paper 47: wastewater treatment and use in agriculture ElementRecommende d maximum concentration (mg/l) Remarks Cd0.01Toxic to beans, beets and turnips at concentrations as low as 0.1 mg/l in nutrient solutions. Conservative limits recommended due to its potential for accumulation in plants and soils to concentrations that may be harmful to humans. Cu0.20Toxic to a number of plants at 0.1 to 1.0 mg/l in nutrient solutions. Zn2.0Toxic to many plants at widely varying concentrations; reduced toxicity at pH > 6.0 and in fine textured or organic soils. Pd5.0Can inhibit plant cell growth at very high concentrations.  Threshold levels of trace elements for crop production (example)