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*3, . .- ENSIC Translatioh Cohmittee I

HUMANFAECES, URINE AND THEIR UTILIZPTIO1J : . From the Vietnamese Dung", authored by Viet (Agricultural Publishing English translation Center, Asian Institute book entitled "Phan Tieu, Nuoc Tieu va Cach Su by "Nha Xuat Ban Nong Nghiep" Chy and published 1.978. House), Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, published by Environmental Sanitation Information P.O. Box 2754, Bangkok, Thailand. of Tenhnolngy, by International of Technolo,v. Development, Research Center, Centre, Asian

Financially supported Canada; and Asian Institute

SCRIPT/370 VERSION 3 processed Institute of Technology. Suggested -Key-terms: -

at Regional

Computer

COMPOSTINGPRIVY / 'COMF'OSTINGPROCESS ! EXCRETA / FERTILIZATION / NUTRIENT CONSERVATION / SANITATION / WASTE REUSE /

TSRN

Q7h-~?fln-W-l

HUMAN FAECES, URINE AND THEIR UTILIZATION ***t*************************************

ENSIC Translation

Committee

Translators: V.A. Tuan D.M. Tam Editors: Chongrak Polprasert B.N. Lohani C.B. Chan Reviewer: Richard Feachem

May, 1981

7 N7XODUCTZON

Thin iA a vehbatim ~av&aaXon Atorn -the VieA-zmene 06 tie book Phan Tieu, Nuoc Tieu Vu Cach Su Dung. The .tianblaio~ have &cd to convey the ebdence 06 -the oCgina.l, do that LLM!e hti bee11 dew 20 pnoduce a mohe poLAhed pub.Liction. 0~ b&eve -that the intetre& in XL.4 publication .kXeb in the &act A%& A%.& A a book meant Xo be tread, and tied a?5 a "manual 06
pactice by V.ktnam~e &wunuu.

Though the book may deem $0 be a 4Uhpd&g iA &e.nti&ic knot&edge and p~cticat advice, compoGAion which maked Xhe book 06 intehtit -to
h(QI&frA.

mix&&e 06 ~3 .thti veq non-V.ie&mmene

ENSlC ThanAka%on CormmXtee

VIETNAMESE PUBLWfERS

PREFACE

Human baecti md tine (exc&eXal (trte common 6elttieizeti which have been used in AeVetrd couuttniti 6oh many yeti. The metho& 06 cok2kckio n, phoceAAing and app&ction 06 the exche..ta di66e&, depending c,* the eevel 06 lsc.ienXi&ic knotiedge in ach countrru. Fo& mny yea44 Viehamebe ~@JWIA have ubed exclreti ab &vraUizetr to inmm5e the &&i 06 chop.

At pmsent, in agticu.t.hhdT phodution tostneb a# vege&b&A

eapeciaUy

inohgtic Limi&d.

ohderr to meek the planned tcvrgef* 06 4.8 mi.Vion 12f mAXion .tomm5 06 cetreaf, and QuuX5) Xhe demand 6~ 6etLtieizeh3, tiogen (emS.Lizti, .d veq high, w&.iZe Xhe amouti 06 &s.XiLire~ p eitcze~ importted 04, kZoca&?y p&oduced, C(RC

Howevetr, id we can 6Uaay collect and uAi.Li.ze human 6aeceb and tie aa $zvdiLizm, &en Xhe amoun2 06 tiogen 6entieizm in tie excneta L3 nmny tie.4 grredten than in locally produced otl impotied
inoqanic 6~~~Xitizenb.

Tkin book ffumn Faecen, Utine abed Thti ULXiztion LA bac,ed on the book Phun Bat, Nuoc Giai vu Cach Su Dung, w&Zen by Nguyen #Lieit LZK! publ!Ahed in 1365. lt ha/A been wmp~e&kZq kevtied and updated by Engineeh Viet Chy. We csince.tceLq kecotnnend &IA book it LA a book which can be cltidied, to au &mwm; and the knowledge gained QtLt@Xy applied. The Pub.& hti

*Tang&

06 Five-Yeatr Plan 1975-1980 (TRANSLATORSNOTE).

CONTENTS

CROPS WITHOUT FERTILIZERS

IMPOVERISH FARMERS . . . . . . . . . .l

NITROGEN - THE MOST IMPORTANT NUTRIENT . . . . . . . . . . . . .3 HOW CROPS ABSORB NUTRIENTS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5 HOW UTILIZATION OF HUMAN FAECES AND URINE HELPS TO CONTRIBUTE TO A CIVILIZED LIFE, A CLEAN VILLAGE AND FERTILE FIELD. . . . .9 THE HYGIENIC SEPTIC BIN. Floor..........................12 Faeces Compartment ................... 13 3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

Roof..........................1

THE DOUBLE SEPTIC BIN : LOW-COST AND EASY TO BUILD . . . . . . 13 PROCEDURES FOR THE HYGIENIC USE OF A SEPTIC BIN. COMMUNALLATRINES. . . . . . . . 14

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

HOW TO COMPOST HUMAN FAECES TO PREVENT A LARGE LOSS OF N-NUTRIENT. . . . . , . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 THERMOPHILIC COMPOSTING. ................... ON-SITE COMPOSTING ...................... CLOSED (MESOPHILIC) 21 22

COMPOSTING . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24

DRIED FAECES POWDER. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ? . . . . . 26 EFFLUENTS FROM VAULTS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27

PRECAUTIONS TO TAKE WHEN COMPOSTING AND APPLYING HUMAN FAECES. 28 Management Pathogen and Distribution. Destruction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28

. . . , . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29

Temperature. Nutrient

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29

Conservation.

URINR............. HOW TO CONSERVE THE FERTILIZER

. . . . . . . . . . . . . ...30 VALUE OF URINE. . . . . . . . . 32

CHARACTERISTICS OF COMPOSTED HUb!AN FAECES AND URINE FERTILIZERS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36 THE APPLICATION OF HUMAN FAECES AND URINE COMPOSTS TO DIFFERENT CROPS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38 To Rice To Potato. ToMaize........... To Vegetables. Paddy. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..40 , . . . . . . . . . ...41 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42 OF HUMAN FAECES , . . . . ...46

EXPERIENCES GAINED IN THE COMPLETE UTILIZATlON ANDURINE..................

Regions Where Human Faeces and Urine Have Been Collected and Utilized. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47 Regions Where Human Faeces and Urine Have Not Been Collected and Utilized. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49

HUMAN FAECES, URINS AND THEIR UTILIZATION ----_---__---------------------------------------------------------

*****s:***********************************
HUMAN FAECES, URINE AND THEIR UTILIZATION

************x******><**************$*******

ENSIC Translation

Committee

CROPS WITHOUT FERTILIZERS At units Not only is also the the present manufacture time,

IMPOVERISH there fertilizers are

FARMERS no in cooperatives excess of their or production own needs.

which

is the supply low. Poorly

fertilizers insufficient of composted manure is used,

but the quality thereby infecting man. the fertilizers are not constant of new varieties application of of land use; 6) the grow state well,

health of animals and and low quality of 2) yields which cause 1) low yields in all crops; no feasible use but depend too much on Nature; 3) with high quality and yields; 4) limited of crops turnover rate new agricultural machinery; 5) a low high-priced agricultural of poor agricultural several be met. nutrients conditions These which are of needs products and so on... practices continues. For light, are not.

crops and endangering the quantity The inadequate

Therefore, crops to

temperature, air and nutrients generally interchangeable, except Crops absorb nutrients from the

have to for the soil and

2 HUMAN FAECES, URINE AND THEIR --__~____--_-------_-----~--~~------~~~--~~-~~~-~~-~-~---~--~---~-~

UTIL>IZATION

water,

but

the

absorbed

quantities

are

not

always

sufficient

for

the yield , additional good yield. To improve nutrients must be form of supplied by farmer in the organic or the inorganic fertilizers. Different crops require different quantities of nutrients. and even the same crlips fertilities for growing will in different seasons, and in soils with different require nutrients will fertilizing of consideration different quantities also change as the his by the crops with farmer. are or of crops adequate and and variery

nutrients. The demand grow. Therefore, the matter nutrients requires careful Two inorganic

fertilizers types of now available fertilizers (also called chemical micro-organic fertilizers). For organic fertilizers, has its considering own quantitative the nutrient and qualitative content, dung latter. of properties. human faeces or

organic mineral each

have

For higher pig

example, nitrogen manure, and

and phosphorus contents than buffalo though their output is less than the Table 1 gives p0+assium nutrients From this table, it nutrient of more nitrogen The amount but at chemical fermented availability amount of quantities the available in can be seen (N-nutrient) N-nutrient time to also meet have Since available output is that, is at and is Vietnam its high

cow and

nitrogen,

phosphorus

used fertilizers. that human faeces contain 3 times than farmyard manure. highest is needs. not in able Dry chemical to coconut contents, oil fertilizers enough cake but and their produce

some commonly.

the present fertilizers fish is cake

N-nutrient

limited.

N-nutrients

country's agricultural of N-nutrient. It nitrogen country's Crops advanced nitrogen N-nutrient is applied N-nutrient. Figures show that the can be said fertilizer crop in per is in output. our country

crop yields are dependent on the to the crop during growth, the directly influenced by the supply long in run, t he with

present as well as in the will be a deciding factor lack N-nutrient. amount of

seriously

Countries 60 to

agriculture hectare, applied the for

apply while in the It

an average

in Vietnam, only 20 C,o North, and 8 to 14 kg pure c&n be seen and use that of crops chemical in

470 kg pure 25 kg pure N-nutrient Vietnam fertilizers is 1.5 need

South. the

production of fertilizer

quantity

containing

nitrogen

HUHAN FAECES, URINE AND THEIR

-------------------------------------------------------------------

UTILIZATION

Table 1:

Quantities Nutrients

of Nitrogen, Phosphorus in some Fertilizers.

and Potassium

Fertilizer Farmyard Manure

Nitrogen k 1.62 4.92 81)o

Phosphorus kg,tonna 1.59 2.20 1.50 0.38 0.55 60.0

Potassium kg/tonne 3.105 2.696 1.800 1.090 2.200 150 7.7 4.9

Human Faeces Human Urine Waterfern Crotalaria Wood Ashes Fermented Coconut Fish Cake Oil Cake Sulphate Azolla sp.,

2.65 6.53

spp, leaves

37.67 36.7 200.00 460.00

99.45 6.30 -

Ammonium Urea

greater phosphorous or million tonnes year 2000 is

imes

quantity of fertilizers containing potassium. In 1974-1975, the world used about 82 of N-nutrient fertilizer and the prediction for the 307 million tonnes (Appendix A Table 3).

than

the

NITROGEN - THE MOST IMPORTANT NUTRIENT Table application seen that production agricultural
Ways

2 of in

shows the most

the three

yield main each

of

with respect some crops nutrients, From Table 2, it the N-nutrient of nutrient are always fertilizers chemical fertilizers gives used. trying in the

to

the

can be highest to find

cases,

yield for economists more the

kg

Therefore,

to produce At present, meet the

and engineers N-nutrient fertilizers. production and the of import

chemical of

Vietnam from

cannot

demand,

4
--m-m

HUMAN FAECES, URINE AND THEIR UTILIZATION

------------------------------------

Table

2 :

Effects

of Nutrient

Applicatio,?

on Agricultural

Outputs

Kg product Crops Type of Product Nitrogen

increased/Kg

pure

nutrient Potassium

Phosphate

Rice Wheat Corn Sweet Potato Potato Peanut Soy Bean Tea Tobacco Cyperus sp. Sugar Cane Cotton White Mulberry (Morus alba) Sesbania, sp. A&, sp.

Grain I, II Root ,t Fruit Grain Leaf I, Stem Stem Fiber and Seeds Green Leaf Green II Parts

IO - 25 10 - 20 20 - 25 0 - 15 40 - 100 6-8 7 -8 5 - 20 4-5 30 - 40 120 - 150 5-7 140

2 -8 IO - 12 6 30 - 40 40 6 - IO l-4 3 - 3.5 2-3 30 - 40 0 - 200 0.8 - 1.6 178 100 - 300 100 - 150

2 - IO 4 - 40 3.8 15 - 50 12 - 15 2 - 3.8 2 _ 3 15 - 100 2-7 100 - 200 4.12 57 40 _ 800 40 . 70

Group of aquatic plants grown

are cultiMted : C. malaccensis

to supply Lam.,

fiber

for

making Roxb

handicrafts

such as mats, handbags, etc. 3 species

C. tagetiformis

and C. nutan% Vahl.

other countries is limited, However, N-nutrient' Fertilizers can be made more available by increasing the cultivation area of leguminous plants, eg. soy beans, peanuts, mung beans, or plants giving green manure such as Crotalaria sp., Sesbania sp., Tephrosia sp., and Azolla sp., and by fully utilizing human faeces, urine, piggery washing water and municipal sewage as fertilizers. Human faeces and urine have been recognized as good Fertilizers, and several countries in the world utilize this source

HUMAN FAECES, URINE AND THEIR UTILIZATION __---___-_-___---_-------------------------------------------------

of nutrients. In Vietnam, if these sources of nutrients are fully collected, about 200,000 tonnes of N-nutrient, 50,000 tonnes of P-nutrient and 5G,OOO tonnes of K-nutrient could be obtained each year. For N-nutrient alone, the quantity is equivalent to 400,000 urea or 1 million tonnes of tonnes of ammonium sulphate. In it is difficult to collect practice, however, all the faeces and urine, and an average collection of 70-80% of the available quantity is considered feasible. Reliance on chemical sources alone for N-nutrient would not satisfy Vietnam's needs, but utilizing human faeces and urine, as additional sources of N-nutrient, would help the country to increase its agricultural output through intensive cultivation. At the present time, the northern provinces in the delta area, compared to the provinces in the moderate level region, better utilize human faeces and urine, while, generally speaking, the southern are wasteful of this source of nutrients. provinces However, some localities such as Minh Tan and Ca Do in Quang Ngai province have collected and applied composted faeces to crops, though urine has not been fully utilized. Though the beneficial effects of using composted faeces and urine as fertilizers on crops can be observed, yet many people are adverse to handling excrement, and believe that building a proper toilet would be costly. They also fear that the crops fertilized and with human faeces absorb unhygienic matter, and urine unchanged mistakenly believe that the crops directly absorb the are only excrement and urine on application. Harvested crops contaminated by excrement if faeces have been carelessly dropped on and the the leaves, or if the excreta are applied in the morning However, this is crops harvested in the afternoon on the same day, In the case of water spinach, the crop is not the general practice. harvested at least lo-15 days after application, while other crops are harvested at least one to two months after application. HOW CROPS ABSORB NUTRIENTS phosphorus, Crops need many nutrients such as nitrogen, their growth and development. potassium, calcium and magnesium for usually in soil, crops absorb these elements from but the so that fertilizers need to be applied. In insufficient quantities,

HUMAN FAFCES, URINE AND THEIR UTILIZATION

the early days of agriculture, man only knew how to use organic fertilizers such as animal manures, and later on green manures and and chemical fertilizers excreta. Now science has advanced, are manufactured to supply the necessary nutrients according to the type of soil, of growth so that the final crop, season and stage harvest is of good quality and high yield. Nowadays, a developed org'anic agricultural society utilizes both and chemical fertilizers. The main nutrients for crops are nitrogen, phosphorous, potassium, calcium and magnesium. Crops also need other elements in lesser amounts which they normally obtain in sufficient quantities from the soil. These elements are called micro-elements and consist of sodium, iron, sulphur, boron, iodine, manganese, copper, zinc, cobalt and molybdenum, etc. Crops obtain nutrients mainly through their roots and partly through their leaves. However, roots cannot directly absorb the organic matters from manures (faeces, urine and farmyard manures), and it is therefore necessary that these be first decomposed by the many species of micro-organisms present soil, in the 'urine and faeces. In other words, the organic matters in faeces and urine are biologically converted to inorganic compounds of nitrogen, phosphorous similar to and potassium, those found in chemical fertilizers, which can be readily absorbed by the roots. The process of decomposition of organic matters is called the mineralization cycle or biological path of the nourishment of crops. (In 1 gramme of good farmyard manure there are as many as 90 billion microorganisms and 1 gramme of soil contains 1 to 2 billion microorganisms). Organic matter is a compound of carbon and other elements found in living things, animals and plants. Those in organic fertilizers and soils have their origins in animal manures, human faeces, rubbish, leaves, roots, dead animal remains and humus, etc. The process of mineralization is illustrated in Figure 1, in which the conversions are brought about by the microorganisms in the soils. Taking urine as an example, this organic compound is available in human faeces and is synthesizable. When urea is applied to the soil, it is hydrolyzed by Micrococcus urea to ammonium carbonate -and later to ammonia, carbon dioxide and water. In other cases, hippuric acid in u,:.ine is hydrolysed by the !

RUMAN FAECES, URINE ANJl THEIR UTILIZATION

Organic

Matter

, P, K, S. . . .

Fig. 1

Mineralization

Process

action acid.

of

the

aerobic

organisms

to glycocoll

(glycine)

and benzoic

further hydrolysed compound which is Glycocoll is a nitrogen acid and ammonia. to hydroxide acetic ammonium ions acids to form Ammonia will combine with other and in this form it can be absorbed by the roots. Not all chemical fertilizers can be immediately utilized by Some need to go through many conversions the crops on application. only substances, and the crops intermediate with many resulting absorb the elements and compounds they need. Take calcium cyanamide it reacts with water without In the first as an example. stage, the action of microorganisms as follows: Calcium cyanamide + Water F Calcium Dicyanamide + Lime

will undergo further hydrolysis to give Calcium dicyanamide free dicyanamide which is very toxic to crops. Within 10 to 15 days, dicyanarnide reacts with water to form urea, which is then hydrolysed, as explained above, to give ammonia to nitrite or It can also be oxidised and then ammonium ion.

6 HUMAN FAECES, URINE AND THEIR UTILIZATION ___--------^_--___-------------------------------------------------

nitrate. crops.

In these

three

later

forms,

N-nutrient

can be absorbed

by

Therefore, it is necessary that nutrients be mineralized before they can be absorbed to satisfy the needs of crops. Human excreta may contain particles of lipids, starches, chlorophylls, proteins, amino acids or other indigested foods. Amino acids will be decomposed by microorganisms such as Bacterium fuctrificus, Bacterium magatherium, to organic acids or etc. alcohol, and to ammonia pith or without carbon dioxide. Depending on whether are there aerobic or anaerobic conditions, the biological reactions taking place are different. For example: R-CHNH2-COOH + H20 amino acid + R-CH20H + CO2 + NH3 alcohol

- in anaerobic

conditions: ----t R-CH2-COOH + NH3

R-CRNR2-COOH + 2H

- In aerobic

conditions: R-CH-COOH + NH3 + CO2

R-CHNH2-COOH + O2

react with acids which The ammonia produced will the are to form available in the soil or which are secreted by the roots ammonium ions. Other on organic matters containing N, P, K, S also rely micro- orgainsms to inorganic forms for hydrolysis and converstion such as 6 etc. for nitrogen; P03, PO4 etc. m2, m3, NO3, NO2 for phosphorous and H2S, SOS, $2 etc. for sulphur. These inorganic compounds will then be selectively absorbed according to the crops' requirements. faeces and urine have to To summarize, when applied to crops, undergo the mineralization process before they are absorbed by the crops.

HUMAN FAECES, URINE AND THEIR UTILIZATION ------------------------------------------------------------------

HOW UTILIZATION CIVILIZED LIFE,

OF HUMAN FAECES AND URINE HELPS TO CONTRIBUTE TO A A CLEAN VILLAGE AND FERTILE FIELD

Though Vietnam is seriously deficient in N-nutrient to provide sources of nutrients in human there are plentiful for its crops, However, in a civilized society, it is faeces and urine. unacceptable to defecate carelessly and randomly in fields, whether they are in the city or countryside. Besides being socially defecating in fields leads to infectious diseases unacceptable, such as dysentery, poliomyelitis, typhoid, diarrhoea, cholera and other parasitic diseases. For example, if a man who has tapeworm feed on his in a field and pigs faeces, then (Taenia) defecates flesh, and when this pork is Taenia larvae can develop ;n the pigs' the consumer is likely to get Taenia whereas if the man eaten in the chance of Taenia infestation defecates in septic bins, eliminated. In the North, almost all families in the delta provinces have their own septic bins; in the moderate level regions, a majority of families have septic bins; and in the mountainous regions, many villages and cooperatives have built hygienic septic bins and collected human excreta for fertilizer. In the South, during the War of Resistance against France and the United States, a number of and ashes baskets to villages used septic bins to collect excreta, absorb urine for their crops. of human faeces and Table 3 gives the chemical composition urine as a percentage of wet weight. The percentage of nutrients in fresh faeces and urine varies, depending on the age, activity the person; the and nourishment of same is showing the true for the daily quantity discharged. Data quantity of nutrients in and urine discharged by an the faeces average adult per year are shown in Table 4. Research carried out by a vocational school showed that a man in a moderate level region discharges about 60 kg excreta and 300 kg urine per year. In Japan, the figures are 72 kg excreta for an adult and 26.5 kg excreta for a child. In China, it is 42.5 kg excreta per capita. Data comparing the daily amounts of faeces and urine discharged by men, women and children are given in Table 5.

10 ----------~

----

HUMAN FAECES, URINE AND THEIR UTILIZATION ----------------------------------------------------

Table 3:

Chemical Compositions of Human Percentage of Wet Weight.

Faeces and Urine as a

Constituent5 Water Dry matters Organic Ashes N-nutrient P-nutrient K-nutrient (as nitrogen) (as matters

Urine

Faeces

Mixture (excreta) 93% 7.0 5.7 1.3 1.1 0.26 0.22

94.8 5.2 4.2 1 .o 1 .o 0.15 0.18

77.2% 22.8 19.4 3.4 1.6 1.23 0.55

P205)

(as K20)

Table 4:

Quantity of Nutrients by an Average Adult

in the Faeces and Urine in kg/year.

Discharge

Constituents Total weight

Urine 438 23.0 18.2 4.4 0.66

Faeces 46.5 11 .o 9.4 0.8 0.6 0.27 0.29

Total 486.5 34.0 27.6 5.2 1.26 1.08 0.37

Dry matter Organic N-nutrient P-nutrient K-nutrient matter (N) (P2O5) (K20)

Lime (CaO)

HUMAN FAECES, URINE AND THEIR UTILIZATION __-___________-_-_-_-----------------------------------------------

11

Table 5:

Daily Amounts of Faeces and Urine Discharged by Men, Women and Children.

Total (9)

Faeces ,,,

Urine

Et;

Adult,

male female

Children, male female

Generally speaking, men produce greater amounts of faeces and urine than women and the quantity of nutrients in adult faeces is greater than in the faeces of children. The contents of N-nutrient and P-nutrient in male faeces are lower than those in female faeces, but the contents of N- and P-nutrients are higher in male urine than in female urine. An adult discharges a daily average of 130-140 g of faeces, comprised of 25 g of dry matter, 4.5 g of ashes, 2 g of N-nutrient, 1.4 g of P-nutrient and 0.6 g of K-nutrient. A family of 4-5 members can collect, in a month, 180-220 kg 16-20 kg excreta, or there are 3 kg N-nutrient, 2 kg P-nutrient and per year, in which 0.8 kg K-nutrient. These amounts are equivalent to 15 kg ammonium sulphate or 6 kg urea, 10 kg super phosphate and 3.6 kg potassium (excluding fillers). An adult also discharges about 1.5 1 urine per day. If urinals are built in public places, then the quantity of urine collected may be even higher. A conservative estimate of the volume collected at home is 200 to 300 1 per capita per year. Thus each family can collect nearly 1 tonne of urine, in which there are approximately and 1.6 kg K-nutrient. These 10 kg N-nutrient, 1-2 kg P-nutrient amounts are equivalent to 20 kg urea, 6 kg super phosphate and 3.2

HUMAN FAECES, URINE AND THEIR ---------------_--------------------------------------------------12

UTILIZATION

kg potassium are for crop

If the to a field of applied N-nutrient alone, the yield. This fact and urine

sulphate. above estimated a

quantities rice,

of

human

maize or potato, family may gain 130 indicates to that the

faeces and to

and urine calculating kg extra of

150 utilization

clearly contributes

fertile fields and a clean a change from a state of *ignorance about the village. However, value of faeces and urine to the habit is not of utilizing them easy to make. It has been cbserved that in regions where people are not in to the habit of using septic bins, to persuade a family build one is a very difficult task. After building the septic bins, to persuade all, it is to carry them to use most difficult compost SEPTIC to BIN and like means are bins. earth hygienic those in to build if the such bin but in cities, public the countryside However, many the it and keep to persuade fields. it clean is not people to empty easy. the Above bin and

human faeces

the

THE HYGIENIC

It would be clean cesspools* could be built villages do not have the the villagers suitable or of fol .low ing themselves septic half technical to build or brick, meet the Floor The floor cannot meet made of this of percolate the

therefore The septic half brick,

dependent in

toilets, and on their own means of it earth must all cases

can be built

requ irements:

faeces out and the

tank

must be water cannot floor

hard,

so

permeate

that into

faeces it. To or

requirement, brick, or of

a compacted

can either be cemented, mixture of lime and sand.

* The term ox septic

in tanks

Vietnamese

is

not

clear. NOTE).

It

may also

indicate

vaults

(TRANSLATORS'

HUMAN FAECES, URINE AND THEIR UTILIZATION _______-__-_______-_-----------------------------------------------

13

Faeces

Compartment compartment and dogs, be closed built on an unpleasant after must and to be closed prevent smell. each use. the to keep excreta for out mice, from flies, must is

The faeces chickens and causing always usually

spreading

The hole

defecation compartment

The faeces

ground with a thick wall of brick or On the back wall of the compacted earth. compartment, there large enough must for collecting the composted be a door This door must always be kept faeces with a spade or a hoe. closed closed Roof The toilet to must the be roofed to faeces the keep are new out wet, the the the sunshine and with with a wooden mud. cover or brick. All other openings are

especially able are containing indol causes helps excreta diarrhoea, The type of and the to into

rain. If the anaerobically, are to the

decompose

microorganisms org,anic matter especially this also

nitrogen, scatol, toilet keep ponds dysentery toilet

and since

compounds,

completely mineralized, not yet The roof have an unpleasant smell. from wetting wells parasitic washing and which cause the diseases. away

rain

and public and other developed

the spread of

and recommended by the Ministries the double septic bin. It of Agriculture and Public Health is the accumulated faeces can to build, low-cost and easy and removed for use as fertilizer. BIN of part 2 m long, a high divided there do not is stools : LOW-COST AND EASY TO BUILD. 4 to 5 should build the a double septic bin

is be

THE DOUBLE SEPTIC Every set tank, it faeces each in use down-wind The 1.8 tank the often main to floods family

(DSB), faeces

and far

from the house. of the DSB is 0.9 to 1 foundation equally is a hole touch

above-ground-level and about 0.8 be made for is large of the enough hole

m wide should into which the

m high, Where the tank. The On the so that while top falling of when

2 compartments. edge

compartment

14 HUMAN FAECES, URINE AND THEIR UTILIZATION _____________------------------------------------------------------

down.
each (Fig.

lid
c).

with A

a handle
of

hole 2a,

two blocks

groove

should be made for each hole. In front of brick are placed at a suitable position. for urine drainage is also made (Fig. 2a,

b, c). The reason for building a DSB is its capability to compost the faeces without having to remove them when they are still fresh and dirty. When the first compartment is full, it-is tightly closed and the second compartment used. By the time the second compartment is nearly full, the faeces in the first compartment have been for 2 to 3 months, composted the period necessary to have well-composted faeces ready for use. The compost in the first compartment is then removed and the second compartment closed with mud. The first compartment is now used again. Urine must be collected separately and must not be allowed to run into the faeces tank. Rain water must not permeate into the faeces tank since the faeces will decompose in anaerobic conditions causing an unpleasant smell. A brick DSB will require the following materials: 240 bricks (for faeces tank), 20x10~5 cm; 20 kg lime; 3 kg cement; and an additional 550-600 bricks, if the walls are constructed of bricks. In some toilets, a vent is also provided to keep them free from malodour (Fig. 4). PROCEDURES FOR TIIE HY'GIENIC USE OF A SEPTIC BIN A family of 7 to 8, or more persons, should build a 3-compartment septic bin since the time required to fill a faeces compartment will be shorter. Building a 3-compartment septic bin will allow the faeces to be composted for a longer time than in a DSB. Only well composted faeces are suitable ,for use as fertilizer. In the countryside, every family can collect kitchen ashes and store them in a dry place to be used as filler. Normally a mixture of one portion in weight of ashes, one to two portions of dry soil powder, and 2 to 5% of super phosphate is used as filler for the septic bin. The filler mixture is stored in a small basket or box inside the toilet, and a small provided for spade or scoop spreading the filler on the faeces after defecation. Spreading filler on the faeces keeps them dry and prevents flies and maggots from developing. After defecation, the hole is closed with a lid to keep out chickens, dogs and mice.

HUMAN FAECES, URINE AND THEIR UTILIZATION --------------------_____________I______---------------------------

15

Fig.20

Earthon Doubb Septic Bin ( Isometric View, Front Side 1

Fig.2 b Plan View of Double Septic Bin

Filled with Farce

Urine Pit

Fig. 2 c Alternative Arrangement, Plan View of Double Septic Bin

HUMAN FAECES, URINE AND THEIR UTILIZATION 16 --_---_------------------------------------------------------------

Door to T&e Compost Out

Fig.2d

Isometric

View, Back Side of Double Septic Bin

Cover of Defecation Hole Compartment Filled with Faeces

-Ashes/Soil - Defecation -Door

Powder Hole

to Take Compost Out

Fig. 2e

Cross Section

of Double Septic Bin

Fig. 3 Wooden Cover for Defecation

Hole

jl

HUMAN FAECES,

URINE AND THEIR

UTILIZATION

17
--

-__--------------------------------------------------~-----------

Air Vent

Cover of Defecation

Hole

Door to Take Compost Out

Fig.4

Double Septic Bin with Air Vents

rice peat dried thick powder sealed

If the husk or or and layer is

faeces rice

inside straw cut

the into

compartment small pieces these faeces a is thin

are

wet,

must should

sawdust, dry be added. Where be of collected, is full, dried its lid Usx!d soil and for a

humus used

leaves are as filler. ashes, the The

available, When the and second then top. The hole

compartment layer is if the there walls covered with then are of

of hot spread on mud.

with

compartment

defecation. In the and maggots be directly and the summer or in the rainy season, in the compartment, pesticides applied faeces to the faeces, or to many flies the toilet such as BHC and DDT can

can be sprayed with cresol or BHC. "Vofatox", Adding 2 to 5% super phosphate and dried soil powder to the faeces increases the composting rate, kills enteric bacteria, and reduces the loss of N-nutrient during composting the fermentation and period. Experiments have shown that if dried soil powder is used as a

A tin

cask

with

a handle

is

placed

down into

the

faeces

tank

18 ____ -__-_---_-_-

_------

HUMAN FAECES, URINE AND THEIR ----------------.------------------------

UTILIZATION ----

filler, composting tank is

it filled

reduces period with

the

amount 20 alone.

of

N-nutrient times, in

lost

during with

the

3-month when the

by 17 to ashes

comparison

COMMUNAL LATRINES In public depends on the places, number the of large the day to number people and thus tanks using it. of to build to a latrine amount of

faeces collected is impossible, Therefore, can be removed each built (Fig. 5).

The daily composting within the tank is type of latrine from which the faeces be composted at other places should be

The work must be organized so that everyday there is a man responsible for cleaning the latrine and removing the f aeces. Users also have to be educated to keep the latrine clean by in the faeces tank, to spread and to close the hole with its

defecating through the hole provided soil powder or ashes onto the faeces lid after use.

Cover r Aluminum Bucket

Fig. 5

Communal Toilet

HUMAN FAECES, URINE AND THEIR UTILIZATION -------------------------------------------------------------------

19

through the defecating hole to collect the faeces. The cask is and the faeces taken to replaced daily the processing house for composting. The cask must be correctly placed within the tank to prevent faeces dropping out of the cask, and a layer of ashes or of the soil powder spread on the bottom cask to facilitate the later removal of the faeces. The processing house, where the faeces are composted, must and surrounding walls. floor, roof The faeces have a hard are collected in a pile so that between every 15 to 20 cm layer of rice stubble or dried peat. The faeces there is a layer of chopped whole pile of 1.5 m high is then covered with super phosphate or loss of N-nutrient apatite powder to prevent the by evaporation, and also to keep flies from breeding. The man who works in the processing house must wear high boots and must remove the faeces out of the cask with and plastic gloves, a day's work, he must carefully wash a spade or hoe. At the end of his hands, feet and face with soap. HOW TO COMPOST HUMAN FAECES TO PREVENT A LARGE LOSS OF N-NUTRIENT all agricultural scientists when A serious problem that faces the production of organic fertilizers is how to investigating prevent a large loss of N-nutrient from the fertilizer products. Human faeces contain not only species of microorganism which the formation but also many other species catalyse of ammonia, to the process of decomposition of the organic which contribute nitrogen. Included in the latter species are matters containing Nitrosomonas and Nitrobacter which bring about the nitrification Other microorganisms process by converting NH3 to NO2 and NOa . fluorescens bring Pseudomonas such as Bacterium denitrificans, about the nitrification process in anaerobic conditions by reducing NO3 to NOz.Nitrogen gas then evaporates from the faeces pile, with the result that, N-nutrient is lost. In addition, rain also causes the loss of N-nutrient, since rain water washes the faeces away or helps them to percolate into it is always recommended that the toilets be the soil. Therefore, four walls and a hard floor. built with a roof, a large loss Procedures for composting the faeces to prevent of N-nutrient are given in the following paragraphs:

_,.._

__... r--...-.-.l--_-. .._ _.~

.~ -_ .- __.~.. -I _......._. _

HUMAN FARCES, URINE AND THEIR UTILIZATION 20 --------------------______^_____________---------------------------

As mentioned above, reactions brought about by microorganisms take place during the collection and accumulation of human faeces. Therefore in a family or public toilet, it is necessary to spread dry kitchen soil powder, ashes, and 2 to 5% super phosphate or apatite powder on the faeces in order to keep them dry, and to absorb the N-nutrients which can be lost by evaporation or by leaching. Dried leaves, for example, can abs'orb water 300 to 475 times its initial weight; rice stubble can absorb water 400 times its initial weight, and peat can absorb water 400 to 600 times its initial weight. With such high water absorption capacities, these fillers can help to conserve the N-nutrient present in water. In considering the capacity of some common fillers to absorb evaporating N-nutrient, it is observed that 1 kg peat can absorb 35 to 40 g N-nutrient, 1 kg super phosphate when composted together with farmyard manure can absorb 80 g N-nutrient, 1 kg rice or cereal stubble can absorb 8 to 10 g N-nutrient, I. kg leaves from the pea family can absorb 15 to 25 g N-nutrient, and 1 kg dried leaves can absorb 25 to 46 g N-nutrient. The N-nutrient absorbed is in the form of ammonia. Dry soil powder, like rice straw, stubble and peat, besides having a capacity to absorb water 2 to 3 times its initial weight, is also a very good NH3 absorber. Dry soil powder has very fine particles called "soil gel", whose diameters vary from one-thousandth to one-millionth mm. One of the significant properties of soil gel is its capacity to absorb ions such as NH,,, K, etc. The finer the soil powder, the more it can absorb ions. Experiments with silica gel show that 1 kg coarse silica gel can absorb 1.55 g NH,+ and 0.7 g K, 1 kg medium-size silica gel can absorb 5.68 g NHI, and 3.14 g K, and 1 kg very fine silica gel can absorb up to 7.92 g NH,, and 5.77 g K. Farmers who used dried soil powder as the filler in the process of accumulating and cornposting the faeces observed that the compost had better fertility. This is because dried soil powder, as well as peat and super phosphate, is able to prevent the loss of N-nutrient. In many countries it is illegal to apply fresh excreta,

mixed with water, to the crops because there are many inherent dangers in this practice, the accumulation and for example, spreading of pathogenic germs and parasitic eggs to animals and humans, The fertilfty of the excreta is also wasted if it is applied in this way. Experiments have shown that with the same amounts of faeces, the composted faeces help to increase crop

HUMAN FAECES, URINE AND THEIR UTILIZATION -------.-----------------------------------------------------------

21

by ZO-25%, as compared with fresh faeces. The application of fresh excreta induces a mesophilic composting process, in which the temperature in the faeces pile or low, and intestinal viruses pit is and bacteria which cause diarrhoea, cholera and dysentery, and parasitic eggs such as Taenia and Ascaris, are not eliminated With human faeces it is preferable to use the thermophilic composting process in Vhich the temperature of the faeces pile rises to 50 or 6O'C. The temperature lasts for some time before there is a gradual reduction. Experiments carried out by sanitary enterprises and the Institute of Hygiene and have demonstrated that Epidemiology the thermophilic cornposting process is able the inactivation to accelerate of bacteria and parasites. THERMOPHILIC COMPOSTIXG Sanitary state enterprises and cooperatives should use thermophilic composting to process the faeces from public sources. The processing house should have a floor of brick, cement, or compacted earth on which to spread a layer of rice stubble, grass hay or peat about 30 cm thick. On this layer, faeces and filler are alternatively spread in thicknesses of 10 cm and 20 cm, respectively. When the pile is 1.2 to 1.5 m high it is covered and surrounded with rice stubble or dried grass and finally daubed with a layer of mud about 5 to 7 cm thick. Super phosphate or apatite powder may also be added in layers of 1 to 2 cm thick to the top layers of the pile (Fig. 6). In the thermophilic composting process, the pile turns black the 7th day 'or by the 10th day in cold winters), and the b temperature continues to rise for 15 to 20 days. If the pile is too with some water or urine to enhance the dry, it should be sprinkled activities of the microorganisms. If the quantity of excreta is insufficient and farmyard manure is available, the two can be composted together, Use 10 parts of farmyard manure to 1 to 2 parts of human excreta. This increases the fertility of farmyard manure and the compost should then be used on crops with high market value, such as vegetables, potatoes and beans, In the thermophilic composting method, faeces are ready for use in 1 to 2 months, In some places, human faeces are still being

yields

22 HUMAN FAECES, URINE AND THEIR UTILIZATION -_-^-__-_----_-----------------------------------------------------

Hard Floor

Fig.6

Compost Heap

collected for composting in the open, in a corner of the yard or but also inefficient. In such walkway. This is not only unhygienic cases, the faeces should be composted in an underground pit. The pit should be built of brick, but where this is not possible, the Human excreta and floor must be strongly compacted. and sides fillers are placed into the pit as in the case of composting in the processing house. is full, it should be covered to When the pit keep out the rain (Fig. 7). The pit dimensions depend on the quantity of faeces to be composted. ON-SITE COMPOSTING only one compartment This is the case for a family DSB where is used at a time. In the toilet there must always be a basket of If possible, 2 ashes or a mixture of dried soil powder and ashes. or apatite powder should be added to the to 5% super phosphate (ashes or dried soil mixture. After eac:h defecation, some filler powder) is spread cln the faeces and the hole closed with a lid. are When the the faeces almost full, faeces c&mpartment is / flattened with a stick, and the compartment used until it is almost is then spread on full again, A layer of filler about 10 cm thick the top, the hole and the lid daubed with mud. tightly closed, Before spreading the layer of filler on the top the faeces should composting be stirred with a stick. This helps to improve the condition as the temperature thus eliminating increases rapidly,

HUMAN FAECES, URINI; AND THEIR UTILIZATION

23

t-

Im-Mm

Fig.7 Underground Cornposting Pit

intestinal bacteria and parasites. Research data have shown that if human faeces are composted alone for 3 months, only 36% of N-nutrient is left; if the faeces are composted with ashes, the results are even worse as only 15% N-nutrient is left; but if soil powder is used, 95% N-nutrient is left after composting for the same period of time. This clearly indicates that fillers of dry soil powders, leaves or rubbish are best used for cornposting. However, not all families can prepare a sufficient quantity of soil powder, leaves or rubbish, whereas kitchen ashes are always available. alone Filling with ashes results in a large loss of N-nutrient, and therefore it is more advantageous to use a mixture of ashes and soil powder as a filler. The hot ashes absorb water and kill germs while the soil powders absorb the evaporating N-nutrient. To have a good compost the full compartment must be kept tightly closed for a period of 30 to 40 days. During this time the second compartment is used for defecation. Sometimes it is necessary to remove faeces from the composting compartment, but if there is no urgent need for this, faeces can be piled up, compacted and daubed with mud at a place away from disturbance by animals. The pile is then covered with dried leaves, stubble or rubbish to

HUMAN FAECES, URINE AND THEIR UTILIZATION 24 ^_-----------------------------------------------------------------

protect

it

from

the

rain

and sun.

CLOSED (MESOPHILIC)

COMPOSTING

In cities and towns with large populations, the daily quantity of excreta produced is very high. In these cases, it is best to have contracts with sanitary state enterprises to daily transport and distribute the collected faeces to cooperatives in ihe outskirts of the towns for processing. also possible to It is contract with the sanitary state enterprises to build and operate faeces processing plants to ensure that hygienic conditions are the compost to cooperatives and other users. met, and to distrihute With large daily quantities of faeces, the thermophilic composting method as described in Section "THERMOPHILIC COMPOSTING" is not suitable, because of an inadequate quantity of fillers, except in areas where peat and sea mud are available. cornposting method, In the thermophilic although the faeces pile is daubed with mud, the fillers, rice stubble and rubbish are so voluminous that the pile is clumsy a and porous and contains large volume of air which enhances activity of the aerobic microorganisms, In the closed composting method, a series of houses with roofs and deep floors are constructed. The floor is divided into many compartments. The composting time is longer than in the thermophilic composting method, and experiences have shown that in cold winters even longer composting times are required before the excreta is well composted for use. If the excreta must be quickly decomposed at an ambient temperature of 20' C, some soybean leaves should be placed in the excreta. Quick fermentation is now possible since on the soybean leaves there are some kinds of yeasts which can readily decompose and ferment the organic matters in human Soybean shells and cakes can also faeces. be used instead of soybean leaves. The main fillers which are used are soil powders and dried alluvium, with 1 part of faeces mixed with 1 to 2 parts of fillers. On every layer of faeces a thin layer of lime and BHC is spread, and finally on the top layer of faeces a layer of soil powder about 5 to 10 cm thick. In this composting process, the temperature within the faeces pile quickly increases at the beginning and then it reduces,

HUMAN FAECES, URINE AND THEIR UTILIZATPON --_____-___--------------------------------------------------------

25

Normally the temperature is not high and it cannot be maintained for as long as in the thermophilic composting process, and therefore lime, super phosphate and BHC must be added to eliminate intestinal bacteria and parasites. Experimental results show that for best results, 1 part of excreta should be mixed with 3 to 5 parts of soil powder. Tobacco farmers use an even higher ratio of soil powders to excreta to have a larger volume of compost for preplant application. However, composting with a large volume of soil powder requires much time, and 1 to 2 parts soil powder to 1 part excreta seem to be a reasonable mixture to use. The resulting compost normally contains 1.3% N-nutrient and 2% P-nutrient. Where and leaf humus are available, they peat should be used for thermophilic composting. (The pH of peat and leaf humus is usually low, and the N-nutrient in peat is between 2.3 to 3%, but it is in a form which is not available for crops. When used as a filler in composting, peat helps to eliminate any undesirable bacteria and parasitic eggs, and in return the faeces heip to convert the N-compounds in peat to simple forms which can be absorbed by crops). In many European countries, peat is used as a filler for urine, farmyard washing water and human faeces. composting For every tonne of dried peat, 0.5 to 2 tonnes of urine are applied and the pile is left for 4 to 5 days to ferment. Another tonne of dried peat is then added to the first pile and urine applied. The process continues until the pile is about 1.5 to 2 m high. Sometimes human faeces are also added to the pile to increase the fertility of the compost. the ratios and human faeces are composted together, If peat given in Table 6 are recommended. Generally speaking, the amount of peat needed is less when its moisture content is high. to The amounts of this kind of compost which can be applied different are lo-15 tonnes/ha for fruit crops, 15-30 crops tonnes/ha for root crops, 20-40 tonnes/ha for leaf crops and grains used as animal feed, and 5 tonnes/ha for vegetable crops. The fertility of composted peat is greatly improved by the addition of human faeces. Using 20 tonnes of a compost of human harvest of 12 faeces and peat for potatoes gives an additional tonnes/ha as compared with using of 50 tonnes of peat a compost wild tree or semi-mountainous regions where In mountainous alone. leaves are plentiful, they should be collected, chopped into small

26 HUMAN FAECES, URINE AND THEIR ______--------__-_~~~-~--~~----~~-~--~-~~--------~~~---~---------~-

UTILIZATION

Table 6:

Recommended Ratios of Human to be Composted Together.

Faeces and Peat

Category Very dry Moss peat Weed peat 1:9 1:3

Moisture 30% 1:6.3 1:2.1

Content

of Peat 46% 50% 1:4.5 1:1.5 ,

1:5.4 1:1.8

pieces, filler period.

dried helps

and used to prevent

as filler a loss nutrients A ratio of the of

for

compost ing

human the

faeces.

This

N-nutrient available

during

cornposting of human is best

Table 7 gives the faeces and dried leaves. as it increases the of leaves required. faeces for composting responsible to other tools proper for productive

of

3:l

of

in a compost faeces to leaves and

quality

compost cooperatives

Agricultural

reduces the amount which receive the is the a team compost with have and

should be organized so that there receiving, composting and distributing teams. This team The are should be well cooperatives located far

equipped

and protective clothing. cornposting houses which at the places compost.

must also from dwellings the to

public wells, distributing between offices faeces, for the

convenient for receiving It is also worthwhile

faeces and hold meetings

the sanitary and cooperatives the methods best harvest. of

state to

enterprises, government agricultural discuss the costs for distributing the processing, and the crops to be cultivated

DRIED FAECES POWDER The practice floors in fields is unhygienic of digging pit or along walkways latrines should without rsofs and hard since it

be discontinued

and wasteful

of N-nutrients.

HUMAN FAECES, URXNE ANI: THElR lI'l'lLI%A'I'1ON

2I

Table 7:

Nutrients

in a Compost

of Human

Faeces end Dried

Leaves.

68.8 3:l .

1 0.896

0.454

0.736

where it i:; faeces powder is produced in many countries whose 1c!;LVPS a II d fresh human Paeces to crops illegal to apply t he c i t. i tas Fresh faeces are collrbcted in fruits are eaten fresh. is usually plant which and towns and transported to a processing the fueces are disinfected with located in a suburban area. There or oven-dried, and made into a powder. This chlorine, sun-dried, contains 8% N-nutrient (N), 4% P-nutrient (P205) , powder usually The moisture content of the 1.5% k-nutrient (K20) and 19% chlorides, fertilizer has it powder is about 12%. The dried faeces powder quick and strong effect on crops. It is usual to apply 0.6 to 1.2 tonnes for every hectare several days before cultivation. powdc1 faeces produced any dried Vie,tnam has not yet and investigate its fertilizer but it is worthwhile to consider and for hygiene Such fertilizers can he guaranteed production. managed by which are quality produced by plants if they are collectives and supervised by the government. Dried EFFLUENTS FROM VAULTS Water is in great numbers. cities, vaults are used In large the used to flush the excreta to a deep tank and when this is full is removed by tank urine and excreta of water, effluent mixture truck or cart, The effluent usually contains 90% water, 0.8% total nitrogen, 0.4% ammoniacal nitrogen, 0.4% phosphate, 0.1% potassium, The effluent 0.09% magnesium and 0.45% chlorides. 0.18% calcium,

28

HUMAN FAECES, URINE AND THEIR UTILIZATION -----------__---__-------------------------------------------------

should be composted with rubbish, peat, leaf humus, dry soil powder and 2 to 5% super phosphate or apatite powder; some lime and BHC should also be added. The effluent should not be directly applied can be used for basal to any leaf vegetables. It application to after ploughing, 10 to 30 tonnes per hectare other crops: can be allowed to compost for 15 to 20 days before applied, covered, and If the effluent is used for cultivation. fertilization, it should be diluted 3 to 4 times with water as the undiluted one may cause the crops to die from urea poisoning; 4 te 5 tonnes per hectare can be applied. If the cooperatives do not properly process the supplied the sanitary state enterprises should not excreta, distribute the excreta to them. The dangers to public health of misapplying the excreta should also be explained. PRECAUTIONS TO TAKE WHEN COMPOSTING AND APPLYING HUMAN FAECES crops may be deficient in N-nutrient, it Even though is not acceptable to use human faeces imprudently and to continue applying Human faeces must be carefully used so that excreta improperly. infectious diseases are not spread. Therefore: Management The and Distribution

in and distribution of human faeces management cities, towns and districts must be undertaken by sanitary agricultural offices. The collected state enterprises or the cities in special and faeces should be transported out of the trucks hygienic tank trucks, and unnecessary movement of should be avoided within the cities. Faeces should not be baskets on them in distributed to individuals who carry the streets or faeces may spil3 out onto bicycles, since the walkways during transportation. Faeces must not be distributed to places where there is special teams who are processing house or no proper responsible for the processing and equipped with suitable tools.

HUMAN FAECES, URINE AND THEIR UTILIZATION ______----^--------------------------------------------------------

29

Pathogen

Destruction
parasites pathogenic ), typhoid and young and other

During composting and processing of the faeces, hookworm and Trichuris) (such as Ascaris, and viruses and bacteria which cause dysentery ( (SalmonelLa typhi) and acute diarrhoea in children
animals species) (rotavirus, g. coli, must be eliminated. Shigella, Galmonella

Temperature
temperatures can be met by the thermophilic The higher which the faeces pile is porous (due to composting method in voluminous and mud. In filler) daubed with the the thermophilic pile 9 pile. the to will IO composcing, reach days for 15 days 65 to in 7 to must the method the after ?oC The temperature 4 to pile 5 days will of in the faeces and this of the within center closed pile as not summer, size that in In of is reached or apatite the the

winter. 15 days be daubed parasitic outer maximum super

maintain

temperature ? to

The pile

the depending on with mud to ensure eggs layer and bacteria are the killed. temperature

of
or

the pile
mesophilic rises

and
and

on the the line, After month parasites

composting

method,

the

sPowly high.

temperature phosphate

Therefore,

BHC must be added. and one more over, composted Nutrient and the

powder and 1 1/Z to 2 months the pile is turned is needed before the faeces are well and bacteria eliminated.

Conservation Attention must also be given the amount of F-nutrient to the lost quality must not of the

compost i.e. To meet this

a) b) c)

be high.

requirement
house

:
must be roofed with fillers and have such a hard floor, powder,

the
the

cornposting faeces must

be mixed

as soil mud.

super phosphate the faeces pile

or apatite
must

powder;

and
with

be tightly

daubed

HUMAN FAECES, URINE AND THEIR UTILIZATION 30 ________________-__________________I____---------------------------

URINE average man produces 300 kg urine per year, then of urine can year, an be collected every of amount as much as half the total animal manure now collected. in simple forms The N-nutrient, P-nutrient and K-nutrient are all that can be quickly hydrolysed by ammonifying bacteria (eg. Micrococcus urea) uric acid and urea in the urine are converted to CO;! and water. For example, uric acid is hydrolysed to urea, m3, with enzyme urease as the catalyst, acccording to the following reaction: C5N403H4 uric + 4H20 acid 2CO(NH2)2 urea + COOH-CHOH-COOH tartronic acid Assuming that the 15 million tonnes

Urea characteristic 1% nitrogen, from national words, 15

is

ammonified which causes then to ammonia the gas, smell around urine tanks. Since iurine contains abont about 150,000 tonnes of of of nitrogen Pit of is should of ammonium tonnes urine pure per N-nutrient year. This as much fertilizer. is can be obtained equivalent as half In to of the other

million tonnes the production amount the

750,000

sulphate, or nitrogen chemical

N-nutrient

moderately-sized not include urine. utilize this Brief

fertilizer unfortunate
be

is equal plants.

and K-nutrients N-Nutrient.

Therefore, source mention

to the output of 7 The above figures do also available in which are to fully that we are unable

utilization of about the urine. In the delta and moderate level regions in the north and most families have earthen jars in which to the 4th War Interzone*, collect !irine. The stored urine undergoes biological hydrolysis simple forms that can be absorbed and the available nitrogen is in to crops it is usually diluted Before applying the urine by crops. 7 to 10 times with water, It can also be mixed with animal manure to increase Some collectives buy the fertility of the manure. made here

--------e-w----

which

includes

Thank

Hoa,

Nghe Tinh

and Binh

Tri

Thien

Provinces

(TRANSLATORS'

NOTE).

HUMAN FAECES, URINE AND THEIR UTILIZATION -------------------------------------------------------------------

31

r ice or vegetables. In Thai Binh to apply to young diluted urine are used to urinating in province where Azolla originated, farmers ashes. When the ashes are saturated, they are removed baskets of and fresh ashes placed in the baskets. and stored The ashes which have Azolla, spring accumulated and, in for turn, 8 to the 9 months Azolla is are used used for fertilizing manure the on the as green

rice crop. During the War of Resistance against France, people in the 5th War Interzone** supported the movement in building DSB and weaving for the collection of ashes baskets faeces and urine. The faeces compost and collected urine were used as fertilizers on rice and tobacco. In the countryside each family should be encourag&l i" to collect

urine and to use the diluted urine as fertilizer for vegetables. If the urine is not used for vegetable cultivation it can be added to animal manure to increase the fertility of the manure. Production cooperatives should plan to buy urine to apply to vegetables and or to add to animal and rubbish manure. Adding urine to young rice, animal and rubbish manure piles increases the moisture of the piles and the fertility of the compost by increasing the and accelerating nitrogen-to-carbon ratio, the hydrolysis of cellulose, the substance most difficult to decompose. Urinals should be built in public places such as schools and cultural houses, and the collected urine usqd by cooperatives for crops. In urban areas, many public urinals should be built, especially in places such as bus and car stations, markets and theatres. In the south, the number of public urinals is not enough to meet the demand. The construction of a public urinal is shown in Fig. 8. There should always be someone on duty to clean and maintain the urinals. They should be constructed so that they can be used by many people at the same time, and male and female urinals should be constructed separately. High surrounding walls should be built as shown in Fig. 8. The urine tank should be covered with wooden slats to keep out the rain and sun, and it

should be raised

about 10 to 20

cm above the ground

so that

rain

--------------

** which includes three provinces : Quangnam and Phu Khanh (TRANSLATORSf NOTE).

Danang, Nghia Binh

HUMAN FARCES, URINE AND THEIR UTILIZATION 32 --------------------____________^_______---------------------------

water

can not

flow

in.

Urine Pit with Cover

Gentle

Fig. 8 Communal Urinal

HOW TO CONSERVE THE FERTILIZER

VALUE OF URINE

Fresh urine is generally free from bacteria and viruses, except in cases where it has been discharged from persons with urological or veneral diseases. Once outside the human body, urine is quickly hydrolysed by microorganisms which cause ammonification and the loss of N-nutrient. The smell which is detectable around urine tanks is due to the evaporation of the ammonia. To limit the loss of N-nutrient from urine a number of precautions can be taken: 1. ---- urine The tank or container should be - covered.

The tanks at public urinals should be covered to keep out the the rain and sun. Jars and bottles used for storing urine should be placed in shaded, windless places. Since a temperature of 25'C to 30C is favourable to the microorganisms which hydrolyse the N-compound in urine, placing the urine jars in will sunshine accelerate the loss of N-nutrient. Experiments have shown that when urine is stored outdoors and uncovered, after 35 days only 32% of the N-nutrient is left; if it is stored outdoors and covered 75%

HUMAN FAECRS, URINE AND THEIR UTILIZATION

--____---_--------------------------------------------------------

33

left. When urine is stored indoors and covered, N-nutrient is as The longer the urine much as 92% N-nutrient is left. is stored, is lost due to evaporation. the more N-nutrient Without cover and of N-nutrient the amount left is placed outdoors, 70% after 10 40 days, and only 20% after 60 days, 60% after 20 days, 30% after days (Fig. 9). The smaller the quantity of urine stored, the faster In the summer, the the evaporation. loss of N-nutrient is higher than in the winter. N-nutrient can also be lost if the urine tank is flooded.

ii
0

IO

20

30

$0

50

60

70

Storage time, days

Fig. 9

Loss of Nitrogen

When Urine is not Covered

the

2. A - layer.

layer

of - kerosene

vegetable

oil

should

be -

poured

on

Experiments have shown that after urine has been stored for the percentage covered with kerosene, uncovered, or days, N-nutrient lost is 90% and 57% respectively. 3. Super phosphate should be --m- added to the urine.

72 of

34

HUMAN FAECES, URINE AND THEIR UTILIZATION

Super phosphate is a chemical fertilizer synthesized by the reaction of sulphuric acid and apatite. Its chemical formula is : (Ca(H2P04)2 Hz0 + 2CaSOQ) and some free phosphoric acids. When super phosphate is added to urine or faeces, reactions occur between the ammonia and super phosphate, and ammonium sulphate or ammonium phosphate is formed which prevents the evaporation of ammonia. Experimental results have shown that urine stored for 7 days contains 63% N-nutrient, while urine stored for 14 days contain 38% N-nutrient. If 3% super phosphate is added to the urine then the peFcentage of N-nutrients left after the same time periods are 72% and 71% respectively (Fig. 10).

80

Storage Time, days

Fig. IO Losses

of Nitrogen vs Storage

Methods

R; T=2.87/3.27

08:08:12

HUMAN FAECES, URINE AND THEIR UTILIZATION __---_-------------------------------------------------------------

35

Reactions between ammonia and compounds illustrated by the fol lowing equations: (NHI+)~COJ + Ca(H2P0,+), super-phosphate --+

of super-phosphate

are

2NH4H2P0, + CaCO, mono ammonium phosphate

3(Nh,)2co3

+ 2H3PO4

2(NH1,)3P04 tri

+ 3C02 + 3H20

phosphoric

acid

CzmtnopiUmphosphate

Urea in form of the hydrolyzed and (N&r?, $03 is: easily releases evaporating ammonia. If sz$&Y. phosphate is added, ammonia is retained in the forms of mono-, diand tri-ammonium phosphate as shown above. Experiments with amounts of 3% and 5% of super phosphate have shown that the 3% amount is more economical since the quantities of N-nutrient lost after 60 to 70 days are similar. 4. -urine, During the War of Resistance against France, farmers in the 5th War Interzone supported a movement towards "clean villages and fertile fields". Each family dug a rubbish pit with compacted base and walls, and roofed to keep out the rain and sun. Every day rubbish and soil powders were dumped into the pit and the pit was also used as a urinal. The pit was used ior 1 to 2 months, then the mixture removed and piled up separately or with animal manure for further cornposting. The composted manure was used as fertilizer for sweet potatoes and cassava with a notable improvement in yields, Many similar pits, into whic.h rubbish was collected, were built in public places and along walkways. Experience showed that if soil powders were not evaporated added to the pits, the N-nutrient almost completely after a time. for a same It was also shown that period, the amounts of N-nutrient left were 30%, 45%, 70%, 80% and 85% when 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 portions of soil powder were added with one portion of urine, respectively. Dried rubbish and soil -p owders

should

be -

added to PI

-the

36

HUMAN FARCES, URINE AND THEIR UTILIZATION

5. ----- urine The The urine covered jar.

must be diluted be diluted

and stored with water

in -- a covered and stored in

jar. a tightly

should

To summarize, the best way to collect and store urine is in a pot or tank to which 3% super 'phosphate, or 2 to 3 covered jar, of urine, is portions of soil powder for each portion added. The urine can be diluted and used for direct application on crops, or it can be added to rubbish and animal manures during cornposting. ashes must now be considered, since The use of in fact ashes contribute to the evaporation of the N-nutrient in urine. Ashes contain about 81% to 89% silica (SiOn) , 0.6% to 1.2% K20, 2% to 3.8%CaO. Ashes do not 4.1%P205 and 1.7% to contain nitrogen compounds and therefore the application of ashes to crops is not beneficial. When ashes are used to absorb urine, the alkaline compounds in the ashes cause the evaporation of ammonia, according to the following reaction: (NR4)2SO4 + CaO __+ + CaC03 + IX20

2NH3

The longer the urine is absorbed N-nutrient is lost, and an over-absorption loss of K- and P-nutrients. Therefore ashes for absorbing urine, and if it is should be replaced before they are too composted together with animal manure or house away from the wind and the rain powder.

the ashes, the more of urine also causes a it is advisable not to use necessary to use ashes they wet. The wet ashes can be piled up in the processing and daubed with dried soil

by

CHARACTERISTICS OF COMPOSTEDHUMAN FAECES AND URINE FERTILIZERS Generally speaking, composted human faeces and urine are good fertilizers which can be applied to any crop. However, they have their own characteristics which should be known so that they can be properly applied. 1. Human faeces and urine are organic very little humus, or none as in the fertilizers which produce case of urine. Therefore,

HUMAN FAECES, URINE AND THEIR

UTILIZATION

37

-------------------------------------------------------------------

they

should

not

be

used

as

basal

dressing

or

main and and

fertilizer, the soil urine increase are

because the valuable would become aggregated has shown to that for on applied sharply. crops

nutrients would and compacted. when the composted first time,

be wasted faeces the

Experience

human

yields

the applications, the increase in yield is very slight soil becomes aud Urine does not pro,iuce any humus and faeces produce compacted. On the first application of urine and an insignificant amount. soil faeces to crops, the quantity of N-nutrient in the However, subsequent increases, microorganisms available in human faeces additive thereby accelerating the activities of the which, in turn, completely soil. Therefore, especially the and urine with faeces should other only farmyard hydrolyse the humus on sandy soils, to crops as an

be applied manures.

together human

2. Composted
of of

and urine

contain

a higher fertilizers. '111 the form These

percentagti About 80% of ammonia should and and on crops cabbages desperately to be covered loss of

N-nutrient total the can high or fertilizing easily only on

than many other available.+nutrient be absorbed be used value, for after crops for such

organic is by crops,

which therefore with onions, need with

composts

dressing as by insects to

applications cauliflower, and which need prevent the

market

damaged recovery. application

The composts

earth N-nutrients.

3. Since
and are overgrow applied nutrients is

human faeces easily and to in large to

and urine produce amounts,

absorbed

composts are of by crops, they can grains the of and moreover, and/or amounts

high cause if extra washed at

fertility crops they amounts away. a t. 0 are of It

underdeveloped

are used by weeds

apply small soil. on sandy

wastedfully

better

compost

time,

especially

4. Urine

contains 2 to 3% urea, etc., which are beneficial ammonia. However, concentrations can be toxic to some crops. mineral salts and therefore it

some uric acid, hippuric acid to crops when hydrolyzed to of than 0.05% urea greater about 33% also contains Urine should not be applied to crops

HUMAN FAECES, IJRINE AND THEIR UTILIZATION 38 ___________--------------------------------------------------------

such

as

sugar where

cane it

where

it the beets,

reduces quality of cabbage,

the of mineral in urine.

sugar tobacco

content, leaf.

and Other potato

tobacco

crops, however, and corn require ionic Table some crops.

lowers such as large are

cauliflower, salts,

amounts available of

including

Na and Cl which 8 gives the

percentage

minerals

found

in

the

ashes

of

Table 8:

Percentage of Minerals

in Ashes of Some Crops.

% in Ashes
Crop3

NaZO 1.1 0.8 3.0 8.9

Cl0.9 3.4 4.8

K20 29.8 27.2 60.0 53.1

P*Oc 45.6 9.1 16.9 12.2

cao 22 5.7 2.6 6.1

Corn, grain Cern, stick & leaves Potato, root

Sugar Beet, root

THE APPLICATION CROPS

OF HUMAN FAECES AND URINE COMPOSTS TO DIFFERENT

(TRANSLATORS' NOTE: In this part, "farmyard "faeces" shouls be understood as the composted ones, To --- Rice Paddy

manures" not fresh).

and

Research on the effects of different fertilizers on rice paddy has shown that the first rice crop absorbs only 61% N-nutrient from 30% N-nutrient fertilizers, 50% N-nutrient from farmyard manure, Young rice paddy from green manure and 56% N-nutrient from faeces. it is able to absorb absorbs mainly NIL, , but in a mature state

HUMAN PAECES, URINE AND THEIR UTILIZATION _----_------__-----------------------------------------------------

39

both NO3 and NO2 . In dry whereas in flooded fields and "Xuan"## helps the

fieids it is preplant to

rice paddy, young rice plants In of

absorbed absorbed as NH4 . For topdressing application develop their root rice paddy is first weeks of or urea, "sao" it the 5 It it boosting will (1 to faeces
to

nitrcjgen

is

as N03andNH4 the "Chiem"# of faeces and to sown in when paddy. sq.m.) it An of with

systems normally December application

grow quickly. the last weeks

the North, November and dry.

'Xuan" or the Basal

cold is usually chemical fertilizers, application faeces withstand as Well crop, which paddy before develop easier it to of the the is

50 to

especially 70 kg per help since other apply

damage the "sao" = 360 develop quickly contains For the

paddy will weather, cold range of to

as a wide has been is just uprooting uprooting.

nutrients. about

and to N-nutrients "Mua"### rice of to the urine the to in stages 100% in stagej, stage and the In from stages. of when paddy

beneficial diluted

sprouting, for replanting, roots,

5 to 10 times. about 5 cm when and

7 litreS/Sq.m. should be applied and the about soil, 7 stimulates

high,

10 days

horizontal

moistens

resulting

The requirements for N-nutrients the rice paddy. of growth of If the the period from replanting to panicle rice booting paddy requ, it :::.b 10.9% ripening paddy stage N-nutrient; 47% N-nutrient, phase and only indicate that it about requires stage requires

in the vario-us differ total requirement is initiation (tillering between requires 96.5% during 2.5% tillering 39% total the and from

milk
other These

stage
words,

of the
rice

booting to N-nutrient. N-nutrient last application

replanting N-nutrient also is variety, applied,

to
figures

milk clearly

a boosting

is essential for rice paddy, and the quality of the rice improved. Experimental data show that with the IR 579 the protein is 8.03% when no N-nutrient is content as compared to 8.44% when N-nutrient is applied tG the

--------------

# "Chiem" rice: rice replanted 2-3 months ## "Xuan" rice: an its photoperiod-sensitivity ### "Mua" rice: (TRANSLATORS' NOTE).

which

is

seeded

in

the

middle

of

November

and by July

later (TRANSLATORS' NOTE). characterized alterr:ative to "Chiem" rice, (TRANSLATORS' NOTE). rice replanted in sown in June and

40 HUMAN FAECES, URINE AND THEIR ___________-_------_-----------------------------------------------

UTILIZATION

rice paddy. application protein content Faeces flowering.

The same amount and tWG dressing to 9.61%.

of

N-nutrient, applications,

if

used will

for

one basal th.e

increase

should Where the

be used for boosting application rice harvest is to be used for seed,

before the rice

should have priority for the faeces compost. The CGmpGSt paddy should be applied just before the paddy develops young so grains that the grains will be healthy and well-developed. The water in the paddy field should be lowered be.fore applying the compost. A boosting application grain harvest by 0.2 chemical fertilizers. ashes gives similar ashes urine-saturated tonnes farmyard unhulled ashes rice increases of to 0.4 kg; A boosting If 1 kg faeces this a figure boosting application will is increase comparable the rice to other Gf 900 kg

using

urine-saturated

increases.

application

is used on a paddy field had 14 that has manure as a preplant application, the harvest of is 300 kg higher. That is, every 1 kg urine-saturated the harvest of unhulled rice by about 0.33 kg.

To Potato For 120 calcium fertilizers. application tonnes/hectare a harves t Gf 25 tonnes of potatoes, the kg have soil potassium, to loses be replaced preplant of 3 to and ashes and phosphate 96 to 125 kg by 5

kg nitrogen,

55 kg phosphorous, 250 and 25 kg magnesium. These nutrients of every 10 farmyard manure, faeces CGIllpGSt,
FGr

to 15 tonnes/hectare a boosting application

Or

a mixture

of chemical

faeces

should be used. With potassium fertilizers crop stun dark is blue Signs with spots fertilizers the appearance of 100 as mentioned development phcsphate, dark in not receiving Signs straight on the insufficient leaves center of above, the to the ed growth. leaves, of blue the should

these

applications,

would not be needed. Signs that the potato enough and N-nutrients are yellow leaves of insufficient phosphate are small plants, stems, leaves which of the few branches, to the are dull, short the and many dark dry small Stage looking brown plants Which growth of for of the and compost, normal to the close curl ground. greenish-brown Gf

or b ac4 streaks

potassium

upwards,

be applied potato. should pota-to. 150

leaves, and depends on However, meet Where the there the

internodes.

quantities signs

requirements are should

insufficient

kg super-phosphate

be added

HUMAN FAECES, URINE AND THEIR UTILIZATION --------------------___________________I-.--------------------------

41

composts,

or 300 to 400 kg ashes/hectare.

To -- Maize of damaged by an over-application Maize is seldomly For a harvest of 5 tonnes maize, the soil loses 110 fertilizers. kg nitrogen, 45 kg phosphorous, 90 kg potassfum, 25 kg calcium and for a harvest of 5 tonnes maize, 180 25 kg magnesium. Therefore, 900 kg is needed (110 x 100 = 180) i.e. kg pure nitrogen nutrient ammonium sulphate or 360 kg urine. maize amount of requires a large In its young stage, of maize show that when it Analyses on the mainstalk N-nutrient. is 30 cm 5.59% nitrogen, when it is about 20 cm high it contains is 60 cm high it contains high it contains 5.62% nitrogen, when it when it is 80 cm high it contain 2.67% nitrogen, 4.51% nitrogen, and when it is 1 m high it contains only 1.37% nitrogen. When maize flower, in the leaves is reduced. starts to the nitrogen content the main nitrogen content in According to the above figures, the stalk of maize is young, and the is high when it requirement for this period is only 5% of the total N-nutrient N-nutrient during needed. The requirement for N-nutrient just before flowering is 58% dressing applications of the total N-nutrient needed, and therefore are necessary. At present, we are trying to change from one harvest of long-day varieties of maize (5 months) in winter and spring to two harvests of short-day varieties of maize (90 to 100 days) in winter improved varieties of maize include the and spring. The new, varieties 2A and 2B, the hybrids hybrids No. 5 and 6, the selected MB/2 and 660, all in the North; and the early Thai and the selected variety Nha Ho in the South. These varieties can be harvested in 60 to 65 days during the winter and 50 to 55 days during the spring. With the new varieties, half of the amount of N-nutrient should be used for preplant basal dressing and the other half for boosting application. For preplant dressing, it use farmyard is better to manure mixed with fertilizer; and for a little faeces or chemical boosting application, If two chemical fertilizer is better. boosting applications will be given, the first application should be faeces and it should be applied when the maize has just begun to sprout leaves. When there is moderately insufficient N-nutrient, the maize c

HUMAN FAECES, URINE AND THEIR UTILIZATION 42 _____-____-______---_____I______________---------------------------

looks pale green serious N-nutrient leaves dry at growth, close to the tips). and the

or the

yellowish-green deficiency is ground of are mild dry

it and when the (certain

grows veins leaves

s lowly. or cells start are blue

A s ign to slow

of

on the become plant and

Signs leaves Serious of

reddish purple. dried leaves. Signs faded colour at

near phosphate potassium of

phosphate ground the deficiency deficiency leaves

deficiency turn dark is are

and then

shown

by brown

the

edge

the

which

dark blue leaves, turn dark brown, low signs cultivated of potassium on hill

stems and short internodes. Generally speaking, deficiency are usually observed when maize is soil, and not on lowland or alluvium soils. To Vegetables For tomato, necessary. fertility a good During such harvest their of vegetables fertile organic

cucumber

and cauliflower, growth,

lettuce, such as cabbage, soil and fertilizers are fertilizers with high

faeces and urine compost, and as farmyard manure, Table 9 gives be applied several times. chemical fertilizers must 1 tonne of nutrients required to obtain the quantities of of fertilizers needed can be calculated as vegetables. The amount follows: A N-nutrient, K-nutrient. farmyard referring (15 ' ; (15 (15 to x 1.61) x 1.59) x 3.105) Referring that (90 (100 (100 must harvest 100 manure/ Table of 20 tonnes x 20) Using nutrients farmers tomato requires and 90 kgs (4.5 x 20) x 20)

kg (5.0 hectare. 1, the

P-nutrient, usually 15 in

100 kg (5.0

Vietnamese

10 to 15 tonnes apply and tonnes as an example, this amount 24 kg) 23 kg) 46 kg) quantities fertilizers kg ammonia of are sulphate nutrient : or 123 of manure are :

= 24.15 = 23.85 = 46.57 to

kg N-nutrient kg P-nutreint kg K-nutrient Table form of Al,

(say (say (say the

Appendix in the

be added =

chemical (330 (385 (108

- 24) - 23) - 46)

66 kg N-nutrient

kg urea) = 77 kg P-nutrient = 54 kg K-nutrient kg super-phosphate) kg potassium sulphate or 90

HUMAN FAECES, URINE AND THEIR UTILIZATION --a- ---------------------------------------------------------------

43

Table

9:

Required Quantities of Product.

of Nutrients

to Obtain

One Ton

of Product.

Vegetable

Harvested Product

Required N 5.0 12.0 4.0 4.5 4.0 3.5 9.3 2.5 I 4.0

Quantity

/ Ton P 5.0 12.0 3.5 5.0 4.0 4.5 2.1 2.5 4.0

of Product K 5.0 12.0 5.5 5.0 5.5 5.5 9.3 6.0 7.0

Head Cabbage Cauliflower Cucumber Tomato Turnip Carrot , Asparagus Salad (Lactuca Bina vegetable sp.) (?) (Brassica rapa)

leaf flower fruit fruit root root shoot leaf leaf

kg potassium In nutrients are third. satisfy N-nutrient been applied only If farmyard gives For sulphate the example, or applied

chloride) however, the first the crops do not quantities absorbed 30% for the time x the fertilizer completely #xi a single second and is However, crops of can N-nutrient to be applied, if an application fertilizers absorb to 87% of be applied absorb the application 17% for the in order of to have the is 165 kg

practice, applied, the Therefore, is

40% for

season, first of ((66 and

a requirement needed for many

66 kg N-nutrient, 100)/40). the amount seasons,

N-nutrient, 75 kg ((66 faeces

x 100)/87). addition to used in the quantities needed contents. to 0.025 Table fertilizers. kg ammonia are and ureas 10

and urine compost are manures and chemical fertilizers, with respect amounts human kg urea. to of faeces Generally the is equivalent 1 kg of 0.01 composts

can be estimated

N-nutrient equivalent speaking,

and chemical faeces

HUMAN FAECES, URINE AND THEIR UTILIZATION 44 ________-_-_--_----------------------------------------------------

used the

mainly time of to

for stimulate

boosting only the for

application a small

to amount

vegetables. should

If

applied

at just

planting,

enough
cannot

be considered when 1 kg of example, urea is not available, be used (Table only N-nutrient other nutrients Farmyard values. fertilizers fertilizers in are dressing. 10). while though manure

development of roots. urine basal dressing like farmyard manure. For urea is required for boosting application but 93.0 In in kg of faeces nitrogen and urine or 57 kg of urine should there is are many chemical faeces fertilizers, compost there for

be applied, Faeces and

these were not calculated is rarely used as a substitute

equivalent for chemical for chemical preplant

boosting rarely used

applications; similarly, instead of farmyard manure

basal

Table 10:

Conversion

Table for Different

Composts

and Chemical

Fertilizers.

Farmyard Manure Compost 1.0 3.0 5.0 125.0 287.0

Human Faeces Compost 0.33 1 .o 1.6 41.0 93.0

Urine Compost 0.20 0.6 1 .o 25.0 57.0

Ammonium 8?dpbate 0.008 0.025 0.040 1 .o 2.3

Urea 0.003 0.010 0.017 0.45 1 .o

To summarize, farmyard manure applied as basal dressing should be supplemented with faeces composted with ashes and soil powder, or urine mixed with ashes. After that, faeces are used as boosting application for crops with a duration of 4-5 months. l/5 to l/10 dilutions of urine are used as boosting application for other crops. For leaf vegetables growing in winter, urine should be applied 2-4 times at intervals of 7-10 days. Little urine should be used for turnips, and should be diluted

HUMAN FAECES, URINE AND THEIR UTILIZATION ____----------__---------------------------------------------------

45

5-10 used the is

times for

since Urine turnips.

exessive composted the

nitrogen with 4th

fertilizers 3% or of

tend

to

cause c3n

cracks also be

on turnips.

supperphosphate should should dsluted with

For water spinach, ground level, then application. Cabbage and 7 days. used.

boosting every

well After lettuce

5th cutting composted faeces each cutting, urine can be applied

be done near t)cz used as 5-6 diluted times urine

For garlic,' since garlic composted faeces should level, dressing, boosting applicaticn intervals of 20-25 days. For onion seeded in
60

roots are short and near not be applied deeply. After should nursery, be done kg of 3-4

ground a basal times at

240-360

well-composted for earth

farmyard manure, or 100 before seeding. be should well mixed boosting applications,

kg of faeces Before replanting, with farmyard

should be applied the upper 10 cm of manure. After that, or dfluded

used at the two other In some regions, not to curl. Urine and faeces, if used regularly, help cabbage to curl. During the past years, farmers in many parts have fully utilized urine and faeces as fertilizer for rice, fruit trees, leaf and tuber vegetables. In every case, economic benefits are obvious: agricultural outputs increased while some amounts of chemical fertilizer were saved. Few exceptions are that too high dosages caused the crop plants to fall down. Table and urine. 11 summarizes of benefits from fertilization
with faeces

and chemical applications. cabbage tends

fertilizer

three urine is

Benefits from application of faeces and urine vary depending on soils, cultivation methods, and season. Generally, 100 kg of faeces and urine help to gain additional yields of 16 kg paddy, 12 kg wheat, 5 kg cotton, 15 kg corn grains, 12 kg sorghum grains, 200-300 kg cabbage or 70 kg turnip. Effects are presented of application in Table 12. of composted faeces in the Soviet Union

46

HUMAN FAECES, URINE AND THEIR UTILIZATION

Table 11:

Benefits of Organic Republic of China.

Fertilization

in the Peoples

Control,
Faeces, Urine, 6 12 .3 oleracea y nil

Rice
1.54 1.95 2.34 2.14 sabauda)

Early Corn
2.23 2.60 4.38 4.40

Output, Late Corn

2.08 2.82 3.13 3.12

Tonne/ha Curly Bina Cabbage* I Vegetable

6.89 11.39 14.40 13.96 :. 5.64 7.48 11.61 12.06

Ammonium Sulfate, * (Bras&a

Table 12:

Benefits

of Organic

Fertilization

in the Soviet

Union.

Output First Crop, Potato Tonne/ha % Control, nil

1.33 100

of Product 1 Second Crop, Tonne/ha

2.50 2.88 2.81

Barley
%

100 115 112

Peat + Faeces, 9 Peat + Faeces, 18

1.88
2.13

142
160

HUMAN FAECES , IrRINE AND THEIR

UTILIZATION

47

______----_-__-_-__-____________________~~---~~-~-~~~-~~---~~-~~~~~

EXPERIENCES GAINED IN THE COMPLETE URINE

UTILIZATION

OF HUMAN FAECES AND

people have collected and utilized human faeces and urine efficiently, there are still many places where the people do not know how to utilize these sources of nutrients. of regions Two categories can be considered; on the first category, human faeces and urine have been utilized and in the second they have not been utilized.
:1lthr)ugh there are places where the

Regions Utilized.

Where --

Human Faeces

and

Urine ---

Have Been

Collected

and

In these regions, a implemented. For example:

number of

effective

measures

have been

have been made in equipment and mater ,ials owned a. Investments by coblectives, cooperatives and individual members. Attention has been given to repairing public urinals, toilets, urine storage tanks and processing houses. Materials such as bricks, cement and lime have been made available to individuals to repair their own toilets or to convert their toilets to double septic bins. b. The amount of fertilizer needed has been estimated before every planting season and necessary action taken. Apart from the amounts of N-nutrients that the government provides, any deficiency has to be met with human faeces, urine, green manllre 'or Azolla Therefore, estimates and plans have to be made in advance for buying and processing these sources of nutrients. c. Systems for buying, collecting and processing human faeces and urine have been implemented by the cooperatives. The payments may be in the form or higher of cash, unhulled rice personnel grade, depending on the conditions in each region. For example, in mountainous regions, payments to the farmers were made in the form of rice to encourage them to build septic bins, and to collect and sell the faeces to the cooperative. As a result of this incentive, each family, cooperative 350 kg of average, sold on the to the faeces and filler compost per year. In some other areas, the grade for carrying human faeces and urine same as that for was' the

HUMAN FAKES, 48 ____-___-__-_-_----------------------------------------------------

URINE AND THEIR

UTILIZATION

carrying

carry this problem d.

with the manures, farmyard faeces and urine. After human has been solved. of compost

result changing

that the

no one grading

wanted sgstrm,

to

The evaluation

fertility

was

in the of pure faeces the amount estimate of the fnniiIy and family is made by counting the number of adults in children between of 10 to 17. Payments number of the ages the pure faeces and for faeces with fillers. For esatnple, differ for or 12-20 kg th& price for 1 tonne of pure faeces is 4-5 "dong"s, unhulled and filler 1.5 brick rice is or 30 pointsr"g, 2-2.5 piastres, lo-15 points. or bins fetch a higher while the for 1 tonne of farces pure urine is 1 I.onne faeces compos t from In some places, price than that from earthen ones. urine?
into

simplified, compost

a rough sold by a

the price

price for

piastres septic

with pure
pour

e. There are simple water. For example, urine the will can of quickly urine

tests to detect cheating b>. diluting a young green banana leaf when dipped urine wither. Another test fclr pure into a tank. for a urine is If the in the long time many white and has pure. tank.

is

to

man! Pure

bubbles will urine also scales. f. the cooperative families crops. bought
g------_---____

last appear and looks thick and yellow

suspended

In

some then

places, yards

families

are

encouraged alloted urine and

to

grow fieldsn"$*".

crops

in The

household in

and on distributes April,

5% of their faeces and September faeces

compost fo1* use urine

March,

and November

t he to on ttic~ are

During for the In other

the other collective places,

months, fields. the

composts

cooperative

decides

the

amounts

of

8 Vietnamese NOTE). &+# Points NOTE). ### Farmers lots which working used

currency, to

approximately work to equal cuitivate, to done

US$ 1 = 2.2 and for for their

dong

(TRANSLATOHS' (TRANSLATORS' private they are

evaluate

payment

are have

allowed areas

own income, land that

5% cooperatives'

on (TRANSLATORS'

NOTE).

HUMAN FAECES, URINE AND THEIR UTILIZATION _-----_----___-----------------------------------------------------

49

faeces

and urine urine

each

family old must

must sell with

sell.

For

example,

every

family

member above 4 kg pure h. public members processing

10 years

and 5 kg faeces responsible and toilets, heen organized. the for and

to the filler,

cooperative evei'y month or 2 kg pure faeces. urine them and faeces from from c'~~ll\,>rative

Teams urinals have

collecting for buying

iS The team collected urine

and composting

also responsible for and fjeces. Attention

is given to the grading system of the team members, especially those who buy urine and faeces, and the team members are covered by Technical books about fertilizers and their application insurance. team members, whenever the and possible, technical consultant cadres should be invited to pi ve lectures on the processing and applications of compost. In some cooperatives, technicians have been made head of the cc,llection teams. In enterprises selling maintained transportation The farmers by the best to sanitary utilize cities and towns, responsible for it to it is processing best the to have collected sanitary faeces s t a t,t' and for should be made available to

farmers, so standards can that hygienic the be infectious prevented. and diseases Limittld of be allowed within the compost should the city. to whom the compost is distributed should be instructed state the enterprises compost. Human Faeces and Urine --Have Not -Bcen Collected and agricultural officials on how

Regions and Utilized In these officials people difficult make them handle faeces fertilizers also crops, to apply but ways be due or

Where --

regions, are and make

many problems for human understand prejudices. more reluctance and with is fertile and be avoided. utilize

face initiating faeces the

the

government changes to

cadres is

and

who collect to

responsible people their This

make the very and to to are about it effects could on

It and urine. fertilizers use of are the of and the when fertilizers ignorance crops; their extra there

abandon

Some people reluctant may be fertilizers so that Therefore, propaganda. due to

reluctant

fertilizers and urine. and the to because fertilizers through

and even nourishment the land can

development

inexperience

work needed are no other such as

organization

Slogans

HUMANFARCES, URINE AND TRRIR UTILIZATION 50 --------u----------------------------.----------------------------

Life Style" under Fields" and "Civilized urinals and toilets are built, and families are encouraged to have a double septic bin and urine jar can be effective. In parallel with these movements, encouragement should be given to some active villagers to build urinals and septic bins, and guidance on how to process, store and apply the composts should be offered. At a later stage, a paddy field or corn or sweet potato field can be used as a demonstration field. The field is divided into two, half of which is applied with compost while the other half is not. The same can be done with a water spinach field or lettuce field, using urine as the fertilizer. 7 to 10 days after the fertilizer has been applied, a field observation trip has to be and later on a meeting arranged, should be held to discuss the benefits of utilizing human faeces and urine. The meeting also "Clean Village which public
and Fertile provides an opportunity to answer any questions. In the provinces and districts, cadres and officials should be mobilized to build a number of demonstration villages so as to gain experience and to provide visible evidence to the people. In the cities and towns, it processing is best to establish plants to collect and compost faeces, urine and other solid wastes. Human faeces and urine are the main components needed to provide good quality compost. Metals, tin cans etc. are separated from the solid wastes which are later ground and processed at the same time with the faeces and urine. The compost can he sold to farmers in the provinces. With such utilization and management of wastes, the hygiene of the city is improved and infectious diseases prevented.

Table Al

: Percentage of Nutrients in Some Chemical Fertilizers.

ammonium sulphate ammonium chloride ammonium nitrate urea super phosphate (Lam Thao) phosphate Wan Dien) phosphte (apatite mineral)

61% chlorides

50% caicium

phosphate

19% magnesium

thermo-pbsphate potassium phosphate putauium chloride

Table AZ : C&bath

of UM EquiiafM

FartiliW

of SOIBW Organic Fertilizers

in Order to

Daarminethe&antitiesNee&d. Equiualant 1 unit of cattIe marburr (in waight) 1 unit of pig nronuTIl lunitofaroaa 1 unit of urine 1 unit of mixture 1 unit of mixture of human a and soif pawder ashes of human faecw and kitchen Ipeawt, a&a& to

1 unit of fertility

1,3
3.0 2.0 2.5 2.0 ;

"
** **

1 unit af green manure - af lleguminous p&ntr stalk ati

vine.

Se3bania sp. Crotalaria sp. leaves, sweet potato 2.0 1.0 0.5 - 7.5 0.2 0.3 I

leaves), Me&

- of WiBd tree seaues - of rice stubble 1 hectare of wster ferr: iAwa) -1 unit of fresh ponl md 1 unit of dried pom~I myd

T&h

A3 : QbmtitW

of Chemical Fertilizers Used in each Hectare in Different Countries.

Yar
1970

cuamtfy
Netherlands WilarKl Jlmn W. Germny FWlW

Niin N 431.9 2962 160.1 132.7 64.3

FhOSphOWS

Potassium K2 139.1 216.9 1232 137.7 69.3

TOal

PO 25 120.7 166.9 123.0 104.9 672

880.6 590.0 409.3 3752 199.6

Table A4 : Chemical Composition of Some Organic Fertilizers. Fertilizer Value, % Futllizu Moisture % N PO 25 K2

1
120E 0.83 1.194 0.956 1.30 1.380 1.30 1275 0.180 4211

Pii manure and urine, fresh, with fillers Pii urine, fresh Pig exmeta fresh (aver.) Cow dung, fresh (aver.) Cow urine, fresh Buffalo Buffalo Human Human Human Human dung, fresh urine, fresh faecas, fresh urine faeces and ashes as filler faeces and dried mud as filler

72.9 96.7 662 73.8 93.8 82.3 83.9 789 99.5 28.27

0.784 0.430 0.689 0.341 0.580 0.306 0.47 1.993 l.WO 0.485 2.76 496 1.12 1.153 1.809 0.15 0.156 3.767 9.9 1.30 3.64 6.41 7.13 4.75 3.113 0.886 2.430 1.185 2.660 4.09 1.79 0.969 1.964 2275 2.65

1.55 0.11 125 022 0.05 0.17 0.41 1.12 0.16 126 085 2.11 0.98 0.97 0.60 0.13 0249 9.945 7.4 0.40 1.99 0.45 1.52 0.638 0261 0216 0.269 1.146 0279 0.187 0.900 0.164 0.405 0.319 0202 052 120 0.60 2.00 0.050 025

Bat excrement Chidcen manure Duck manure Silk worm manure (some mulberry Alluvium Pond mud Fermented fish cake Fish meal soot Coconut cake, dried Peanut cake, dried Soy bean cake, dried Azolla sp. Crotalaria striata: leaves + stubbles roots

leaves)

19 40.62 79.2 36.5

028 1.01 1.488 2.122 0.9!Xl 0.642 0.770 2.4 0.40 1.88 1.822 1.050 0.866 1.401 0.666 1.7811 1.181

9.0

94.0 79.71 80.14 76.74 63.89

Tephrosia sp.: leaves + stubbles roots Sesbania sp.: leaves + stubbles roots root nodules Water hyacinth, Water hyacinth, Black bean young old

Stubble ashes Rice hush ashes Fire wood ashas Feat, low regions Peat, hi regims

2.0 10.0

0.5 2.5

2.48 4.1 2.50 3.80 0.03 1.00