International Standard and Guidelines:

Health and Agriculture Aspects

International Standard and Guidelines: Health and Agriculture Aspects

(Ecological Sanitation Symposium, Syria, 11-13.12.2005)

Christine Werner
Deutsche Gesellschaft für Technische Zusammenarbeit (GTZ) GmbH
ecological sanitation program, Division 44 – environment and infrastructure

Ecological Sanitation Symposium, Syria, 11 -13 December 2005 1

 Contents

 WHO Guidelines
International Standard and Guidelines:

 1989 version: Guidelines for the safe use of wastewater

and excreta in agriculture and aquaculture
 2005 version (upcoming): Guidelines for the safe use of
Health and Agriculture Aspects

wastewater, excreta and greywater

 EcoSanRes Guidelines
 Guidelines on the safe use of urine and faeces in
ecological sanitation systems
 Guidelines on the use of urine and faeces in crop
production
 FAO Guidelines
 FAO irrigation and drainage paper 47: wastewater
treatment and use in agriculture (1992)

Ecological Sanitation Symposium, Syria, 11 -13 December 2005 2

 WHO guidelines for the safe use of wastewater and
excreta in agriculture and aquaculture (1989)
International Standard and Guidelines:

Category Use Person / Nematodes Feacal

Group [Eggs / kg] coliforms
exposed [number /
100 g]
Health and Agriculture Aspects

A Application to field crop worker, </= 1 </= 1000

(used for raw food) consumer,
public
B Application to field crop worker </= 1 no
(for industrial use, suggested
feedstock, trees) standard

C Local application to field none not relevant not relevant

crop of cat. B, without
contact to persons

Ecological Sanitation Symposium, Syria, 11 -13 December 2005 3

 New WHO guidelines for the safe use of
wastewater, excreta and greywater
International Standard and Guidelines:

 Upcoming WHO guidelines, update of the

guidelines from 1989, publication planned in 2006
 3 Volumes:
Health and Agriculture Aspects

 safe use of wastewater in agriculture

 safe use of wastewater in aquaculture
 safe use of excreta and greywater

Ecological Sanitation Symposium, Syria, 11 -13 December 2005 4

 New WHO guidelines for the safe use of
wastewater, excreta and greywater
International Standard and Guidelines:

 Reuse of wastewater, greywater

and excreta in agriculture and
aquaculture is practiced worldwide
on a large scale, however often
Health and Agriculture Aspects

without sufficient health proctction

measures
 WHO recognise the importance of
reuse of wastewater, greywater

source: GTZ
and excreta for sustainable food
production and improved livelihood
 WHO provides guidance on health
protection measures for safe reuse
 WHO recognise source-separation
as a special and valid approach

Ecological Sanitation Symposium, Syria, 11 -13 December 2005 5

 New WHO guidelines for the safe use of
wastewater, excreta and greywater
International Standard and Guidelines:

The new WHO-guidelines

are:
 …based on:
 scientific consensus
Health and Agriculture Aspects

and best available

evidence,
 health based targets

source: GTZ
 good practices and a
multiple-barrier
approach
 …to be adapted to local
social, economic, and
environmental factors
 …striving to maximize
overall public health
benefits and the beneficial

source: GTZ
use of scarce resources
Ecological Sanitation Symposium, Syria, 11 -13 December 2005 6
 new WHO guidelines for the safe use of
wastewater, excreta and greywater
International Standard and Guidelines:

key issue: better methodologies for

evaluating risk
 previous guidelines were based on
actual risks using epidemiological
Health and Agriculture Aspects

evidence
 updated guidelines make use of all
available evidence including
Quantitative Microbial Risk

source: GTZ
Assessment (QMRA-models)
 data on different pathogens are used
to develop
 health based targets,
 required pathogen reduction and
 miocrobial performance targets of
wastewater and excreta
treatment systems

source: GTZ
Ecological Sanitation Symposium, Syria, 11 -13 December 2005 7
 New WHO guidelines for the safe use of
wastewater, excreta and greywater
International Standard and Guidelines:

Definition: Disability Adjusted Life Years (DALYs)

 DALYs are a measure of population health in terms of the burden
due to a specific disease or risk factor.
 DALYs attempt to measure healthy years of life lost because of
Health and Agriculture Aspects

disability or death from a disease

 DALYs account for not only acute health effects but also for delayed
and chronic effects
 different health outcomes (e.g., cancer vs diarrhea) can be
compared and risk management decisions can be prioritized.

 adopted protection level for wastewater/excreta use in

agriculture in the new WHO guideline:
tolerable additional disease burden
<= 10-6 DALYs or 1 µDaly per person and year
= only one of a million human life years expectancy will be
lost due to the potential additional disease from
wastewater/excreta reuse
= same protection level as used in the WHO guideline for
drinking water
Ecological Sanitation Symposium, Syria, 11 -13 December 2005 8
 New WHO guidelines for the safe use of
wastewater, excreta and greywater
 Pathogen reductions achievable by various health
International Standard and Guidelines:

protection measures for wastewater use in agriculture

Control measure Pathogen reduction (log units)

Wastewater treatment 1−6

Health and Agriculture Aspects

Localized (drip) irrigation (low-growing crops) 2

Localized (drip) irrigation (high-growing crops) 4

Spray drift control (spray irrigation) 1

Spray buffer zone (spray irrigation) 1
Pathogen die-off 0.5−2 per day
Produce washing with water 1
Produce disinfection 2
Produce peeling 2
Produce cooking 6−7
Ecological Sanitation Symposium, Syria, 11 -13 December 2005 9
 New WHO guidelines for the safe use of
wastewater, excreta and greywater
International Standard and Guidelines:
Health and Agriculture Aspects

Ecological Sanitation Symposium, Syria, 11 -13 December 2005 10

 Verification monitoring of wastewater treatment for the
various levels of wastewater treatment in Options A−G:
E.coli
International Standard and Guidelines:
Health and Agriculture Aspects

Ecological Sanitation Symposium, Syria, 11 -13 December 2005 11

 Health-based targets for treated wastewater
use in agriculture: helminth eggs
International Standard and Guidelines:
Health and Agriculture Aspects

Ecological Sanitation Symposium, Syria, 11 -13 December 2005 12

 Example: agricultural use of wastewater,
Peru
International Standard and Guidelines:

 Coastal region of Peru: extremely arid

 Wastewater treatment in stabilisation ponds
 Irrigation with treated effluent for restricted crops
Health and Agriculture Aspects

source: Saniplan
Ecological Sanitation Symposium, Syria, 11 -13 December 2005 13
 Example: greywater recycling through sub-
surface application, India
International Standard and Guidelines:

 Use of greywater in
mulch trenches
Health and Agriculture Aspects

Mulch filled
source: GTZ

trench or
pit

Ecological Sanitation Symposium, Syria, 11 -13 December 2005 14

 Guidelines on the safe use of urine and faeces
in ecological sanitation systems (EcoSanRes)
International Standard and Guidelines:

 public health issues

of agricultural reuse
of urine and faeces
Health and Agriculture Aspects

Ecological Sanitation Symposium, Syria, 11 -13 December 2005 15

 guidelines on the safe use of urine and faeces
in ecological sanitation systems (EcoSanRes)
International Standard and Guidelines:

 focuses on the treatment and handling of faeces

and urine, provides current information on risk
management and assessment of source
Health and Agriculture Aspects

separation strategies
 technical and behavioural barriers against disease
transmission, sanitation treatment methods, reuse
in agriculture
 the scope of guideline is limited to products from
urine diversion devices and dry collection systems
for faeces.

Ecological Sanitation Symposium, Syria, 11 -13 December 2005 16

 Guidelines on the safe use of urine and faeces
in ecological sanitation systems (EcoSanRes)

Recommendations for urine treatment and use:

International Standard and Guidelines:

 The main risks in the use of excreta are related to the faecal
fraction and not the urine fraction.
 Technical constructions should be done in ways to minimize
Health and Agriculture Aspects

faecal crosscontamination.
 At household level the urine can be used directly.
 Urine should, in large-scale systems, be stored for one month
at 20°C before use.

 A withholding period of one

month between fertilization and
Urine strogae in Sweden (Gebers)

harvest should be applied.

 Urine should be applied close to
ground and preferably mixed
with or watered into the soil.
Ecological Sanitation Symposium, Syria, 11 -13 December 2005 17
 Guidelines on the safe use of urine and faeces
in ecological sanitation systems (EcoSanRes)

Recommendations for faeces treatment and use:

International Standard and Guidelines:

 Faeces should be treated before use as fertilizer.

 Primary treatment (in the toilet) includes storage and
Health and Agriculture Aspects

alkaline treatment by addition of ash, lime or urea.

 1-2 cups (200-500 ml; enough to cover the fresh
faeces) of alkaline material should be added after
each defecation.
 Faeces should additionally be mixed
into the soil in such a way that they
are well covered.
Dried faeces (GTZ))

 Faeces should not be used for

fertilization of vegetables, fruits or
root crops that are to be consumed
raw, excluding fruit trees.
Ecological Sanitation Symposium, Syria, 11 -13 December 2005 18
 Guidelines on the safe use of urine and faeces
in ecological sanitation systems (EcoSanRes)
International Standard and Guidelines:

 Recommended storage time and treatment for faeces

Treatment Criteria Comment

Health and Agriculture Aspects

Storage (only treatment) 1,5-2 years Will eliminate most bacterial pathogens,
at ambient substantially reduce viruses, protozoa
temperature 2-20°C and parasites, some ova may persist

Storage (only treatment) >1 year As above

at 20-35°C

Storage and alkaline pH >9 Temperature <35°, moisture content

treatment during > 6 >25° or lower pH will prolong the time
months for absolute elimination

Ecological Sanitation Symposium, Syria, 11 -13 December 2005 19

 Guidelines on the use of urine and faeces in
crop production (EcoSanRes)
International Standard and Guidelines:

 Agronomic issues of
agricultural reuse of
urine and faeces
Health and Agriculture Aspects

Ecological Sanitation Symposium, Syria, 11 -13 December 2005 20

 Guidelines on the use of urine and faeces in
crop production (EcoSanRes)
International Standard and Guidelines:

 Requirements regarding re-using of

excreta for agricultural purposes,
including plant growth, nutirents in
excreta, hygiene treatment of urine
Health and Agriculture Aspects

and faeces, etc. are discussed.

 Recommendations on using

source: GTZ
excreta in cultivation are given.
 It emphasizes that urine and faeces
are complete fertilizers. Urine is rich
in nitrogen and faeces are rich in
phosphorous, potassium and
organic matter.
 guideline is limited to products from
urine diversion devices and dry
collection systems for faeces.

source: GTZ
Ecological Sanitation Symposium, Syria, 11 -13 December 2005 21
 Guidelines on the use of urine and faeces in
crop production (EcoSanRes)
Recommendations for use of urine in
International Standard and Guidelines:

cultivation:

 Urine is a quick-acting nitrogen-rich

Health and Agriculture Aspects

complete fertilizer. Best effects from prior

to sowing, up until two-thirds of the period
between sowing and harvest.
 Recommended application rate and time
should be based on the desired nitrogen
application rate (based on local
recommendations for chemical nitrogen
Fotos: Urine reuse in Havanna, Cuba (GTZ)

fertilizers)
 Rule of thumb: apply the urine from one
person during one day (24 hours) to one
square metre of crop. (= 300-400 m2 per
person and year)

Ecological Sanitation Symposium, Syria, 11 -13 December 2005 22

 Guidelines on the use of urine and faeces in
crop production (EcoSanRes)
Recommendations for use of faeces in
International Standard and Guidelines:

cultivation:

 Faeces should be applied and mixed into

Health and Agriculture Aspects

source: GTZ
the soil before cultivation starts. Local
application in holes or furrows close to
the planned plants allows for economic
use
 The application rate can be based on the
current recommendation for the use of
Fotos: Compost from faeces in Havanna, Cuba (GTZ)

phosphorous-based fertilizers (low

application rate with little improvement
due to the added organic matter)
 Faeces can also be applied at much
higher rates for improving structure and
water-holding capacity of the soil

Ecological Sanitation Symposium, Syria, 11 -13 December 2005 23

 Beneficial effects of agricultural use of urine
and faeces
 restored soil fertility  improved soil quality
International Standard and Guidelines:

through nutrient reuse through reuse of organics

Health and Agriculture Aspects

faeces & urine none

source: Petter Jenssen

urine

Vinnerås, 2003
compost

source:
improved soil untreated soil
after one week without water

source: GTZ

Ecological Sanitation Symposium, Syria, 11 -13 December 2005 24

 FAO irrigation and drainage paper 47:
Wastewater treatment and use in agriculture
International Standard and Guidelines:

Covers health aspects and

agronomic aspects of reuse
of wastewater in agriculture
Health and Agriculture Aspects

 Draws on the WHO

Guidelines (1989) for health
protection measures

Ecological Sanitation Symposium, Syria, 11 -13 December 2005 25

 FAO irrigation and drainage paper 47:
Wastewater treatment and use in agriculture
International Standard and Guidelines:

 FAO guidelines define use

restrictions with respect to
salinity, trace elements,
nitrogen, etc. in order to not
Health and Agriculture Aspects

produce negative effects on

productivity and yields.
 Blending conventional water

source: GTZ
with treated effluent, or using
the two sources in rotation is
possible.
 This means that nutrients
elimination in wastewater
treatment is not necessary if
reclaimed water can be blended
with normal irrigation water.

Ecological Sanitation Symposium, Syria, 11 -13 December 2005 26

 FAO irrigation and drainage paper 47:
wastewater treatment and use in agriculture
 Water quality guidelines for maximum crop production
International Standard and Guidelines:

(example)

Potential irrigation units Degree of restriction on use

problem
Health and Agriculture Aspects

none Slight to severe

moderate
Salinity (Ecw1 ) dS/m < 0.7 0.7 - 3.0 > 3.0

Na, surface irrigation me/I <4 4 - 10 > 10

Na, sprinkler irrigation m3/l <3 >3

Nitrogen (NO3-N)3 mg/l <5 5 - 30 > 30

pH Normal range 6.5-8

Ecological Sanitation Symposium, Syria, 11 -13 December 2005 27

 FAO irrigation and drainage paper 47:
wastewater treatment and use in agriculture
 Threshold levels of trace elements for crop production
International Standard and Guidelines:

(example)
Element Recommende Remarks
d maximum
concentration
Health and Agriculture Aspects

(mg/l)
Cd 0.01 Toxic to beans, beets and turnips at
concentrations as low as 0.1 mg/l in nutrient
solutions. Conservative limits recommended
due to its potential for accumulation in plants
and soils to concentrations that may be
harmful to humans.
Cu 0.20 Toxic to a number of plants at 0.1 to 1.0 mg/l in
nutrient solutions.

Zn 2.0 Toxic to many plants at widely varying

concentrations; reduced toxicity at pH > 6.0
and in fine textured or organic soils.
Pd 5.0 Can inhibit plant cell growth at very high
concentrations.

Ecological Sanitation Symposium, Syria, 11 -13 December 2005 28