Community-Based Technologies for Domestic Wastewater Treatment and Reuse - Options for Urban Agriculture

This report is the product of a five-month Centre Internship at the International Development Research Centre – Cities Feeding People Programme Initiative (CFP) during the summer of 1999. The report was commissioned to provide CFP team members an overview of emergent trends in environmentally sound and economically viable approaches to wastewater management. The subject of the report relates to the management of domestic human waste in urban environments and focuses on alternatives to centralised electro-mechanical treatment technologies such as activated sludge facilities. The aim of the report is to review recent developments in wastewater treatment and reuse that may contribute to providing low-cost sanitation and improved public health with the added benefit of conserving fresh water resources, improving soil integrity and contributing inputs for urban agriculture. The report presents alternatives to sanitation systems dependent on large distance water-borne conveyance and high-energy inputs for their operation.