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Over the past two decades a quiet revolution has been taking place
in the countryside of China where hundreds of millions of people
have been lifted out of poverty. This book focuses on some of the
practical actions and clever use of appropriate technologies which
have been at the heart of this positive grassroots-driven change in
rural Gansu Province. Key to this has been mobilizing the
population and their expeditious use of rainwater harvesting both
to dramatically improve crop yields and provide households with
reliable domestic water supplies. Since Gansu is semi-arid and
stored rainwater a scarce resource, ingenious systems of providing
crops with just the right amount of supplementary irrigation at
critical periods have been developed. Challenges such as lack of
fuelwood have been overcome by the development of simple low-cost
solar cookers, which by focusing the sun s rays using tiny mirrors
can boil a kettle in minutes. These affordable units are now being
produced at hundreds of small rural factories. The construction of
low-cost greenhouses using plastic sheeting allows for the
collection of rainwater and its use in efficient drip irrigation
systems. By supplying vegetables and cash crops to local markets
farmers have been able to repay their initial investment in under
two years. The real significance of this case study is that most of
the approaches described are based on universal principles of
sustainable development. "Every Last Drop" is recommended reading
for engineers, planners, staff of NGOs, academics and students in
the water, energy, and agriculture sectors."
The need for improved sanitation around the world is becoming a
crisis, and the situation is particularly critical in urban and
peri-urban areas in developing countries. Here the population is
growing rapidly, and where sanitation is provided, the means to
treat and dispose of waste safely is neglected, with huge
environmental and public health consequences. Sanitation solutions
are needed that are safe for the user and interlinked with other
urban services which can treat waste as a resource. This book
describes an attempt to create modern, multi-storey urban dwellings
that incorporate ecological sanitation into their design, resulting
in a clean living space, and deriving safe agricultural inputs from
human organic waste. The book highlights the experience of
implementing the Erdos Eco-Town Project in Inner Mongolia, China.
This remains the largest urban project of urine-diversion dry
toilets in the world, serving a population of approximately 3000
people in 4 5 story apartment buildings. The multi-story collection
system also links to on-site grey water treatment, a composting
center, underground urine tanks, and the agricultural reuse of
nutrients. "The Challenges of Urban Ecological Sanitation"
describes the technical design, daily operation and maintenance,
costs and benefits compared to conventional systems, as well as the
challenges in achieving acceptability with users. It includes
technical information and illustrations, but also stresses the
institutional structure needed to support this system and discusses
its long-term sustainability."The Challenges of Urban Ecological
Sanitation" should be read by engineers, policy makers, researchers
and NGO staff working in the field of water supply and sanitation."
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Paperback
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R205
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Discovery Miles 1 640
Not available
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