Review of global sanitation development

Abstract

The implementation of the United Nations (UN) Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) has resulted in an increased focus on developing innovative, sustainable sanitation techniques to address the demand for adequate and equitable sanitation in low-income areas. We examined the background, current situation, challenges, and perspectives of global sanitation. We used bibliometric analysis and word cluster analysis to evaluate sanitation research from 1992 to 2016 based on the Science Citation Index EXPANDED (SCI-EXPANDED) and Social Sciences Citation Index (SSCI) databases. Our results show that sanitation is a comprehensive field connected with multiple categories, and the increasing number of publications reflects a strong interest in this research area. Most of the research took place in developed countries, especially the USA, although sanitation problems are more serious in developing countries. Innovations in sanitation techniques may keep susceptible populations from contracting diseases caused by various kinds of contaminants and microorganisms. Hence, the hygienization of human excreta, resource recovery, and removal of micro-pollutants from excreta can serve as effective sustainable solutions. Commercialized technologies, like composting, anaerobic digestion, and storage, are reliable but still face challenges in addressing the links between the political, social, institutional, cultural, and educational aspects of sanitation. Innovative technologies, such as Microbial Fuel Cells (MFCs), Microbial Electrolysis Cells (MECs), and struvite precipitation, are at the TRL (Technology readiness levels) 8 level, meaning that they qualify as “actual systems completed and qualified through test and demonstration.” Solutions that take into consideration economic feasibility and all the different aspects of sanitation are required. There is an urgent demand for holistic solutions considering government support, social acceptability, as well as technological reliability that can be effectively adapted to local conditions.

Improvement in municipal wastewater treatment alters lake nitrogen to phosphorus ratios in populated regions

“…For instance, nitrogen (N) produced by human excreta accounts for ∼15% to 20% of total anthropogenic production of reactive N per year (4), while phosphorus (P) produced by human excreta represents ∼25% of worldwide P demand (4,9). Many developing countries are tackling the problem of excess nutrients by increasing municipal wastewater treatment capacity (10)(11)(12)(13), which is often more achievable than reducing nonpoint nutrient sources through reducing fertilizer application rates and watershed conservation practice (7,8,14). China, with an annual municipal wastewater discharge of ∼60 × 10 9 m 3 , is a case in point (15).…”

Parameter optimization of environmental technologies using a LCA-based analysis scheme: A bioaugmentation case study

“…In recent years, increased demand for clean aquatic environment has driven rapid development of emerging technologies for wastewater treatment (Ahmed et al, 2017;Grady Jr et al, 2011;Zhou et al, 2018). Bioaugmentation has been intensively investigated to enhance biodegradation and the removal of targeted pollutants with the addition of specialized microbial strains (Liu et al, 2018;Nguyen et al, 2019;Stephenson and Stephenson, 1992;Zang et al, 2020).…”

Strategic Approach for Prioritising Local and Regional Sanitation Interventions for Reducing Global Antibiotic Resistance

“…Despite some technological innovation, a gap in global sanitation still persists, because most of the leapfrog options are not ready to be rolled out or require too much maintenance to be useful in LMIC contexts [21], and an overarching strategy to guide decisions on the "next-most-cost-effective" sanitation options is still needed. This gap is critical to addressing AR because places with inadequate sanitation are often places with the most rapidly increasing AR [10,22].…”