. Earth Science News .
FROTH AND BUBBLE
Global survey finds nature sanitizes millions of tons of human waste a year
by Brooks Hays
Washington DC (UPI) Feb 19, 2021

The majority of human waste is processed by wastewater treatment infrastructure, but according to a new global survey, the sanitization services of natural ecosystems still play a significant role in protecting water supplies.

When researchers in India and Britain analyzed sanitation services in 48 cities around the world, they found nature was responsible for cleaning 41.7 million tons of human waste annually -- approximately 18 percent of the cities' sanitization services.

Researchers published the results of their survey, the first to take a global perspective on natural sanitation, in the journal One Earth on Friday.

"Nature can, and does, take the role of sanitation infrastructure," study co-author Alison Parker, senior lecturer in international water and sanitation at Cranfield University in Britain, said in a news release.

"While we are not marginalizing the vital role of engineered infrastructure, we believe a better understanding of how engineered and natural infrastructure interact may allow adaptive design and management, reducing costs, and improving effectiveness and sustainability, and safeguard the continued existence of these areas of land."

More than a quarter of the world's population doesn't have access to simple sanitation facilities, and another 14 percent of the global population uses toilets in which waste is disposed on-site.

According to the latest survey, the wastewater treatment services provided by wetlands and mangroves regularly fill in when human-built sanitizing facilities are lacking.

In Uganda, for example, the Navikubo wetland processes the waste of more than 100,000 households, preventing the contamination of Murchison Bay and Lake Victoria, important sources of freshwater.

In the United States, coastal wetlands along the Gulf Coast help capture excess nitrogen carried downstream by the Mississippi River.

"We realized that nature must be providing sanitation services, because so many people in the world do not have access to engineered infrastructure like sewers," said co-author Simon Willcock, senior lecturer in environmental geography at Bangor University in Wales.

"But the role for nature was largely unrecognized," Willcock said.

To complete the survey, scientists analyzed so-called Excreta Flow Diagrams, an international effort combing in-person interviews with field observations and direct measurements to map the ways human waste moves and flows through 48 cities and towns around the world.

More specifically, the authors of the latest study focused on diagrams identifying the use of pit latrines and below-ground septic tanks -- diagrams coded "fecal sludge contained not emptied."

Based on their analysis of the diagrams, researchers conservatively estimated natural ecosystems in the 48 cities clean 2.2 million cubic meters of human waste per year.

Because more than 892 million people around the world use pit latrines and below-ground septic tanks, researchers estimated nature cleans 41.7 million tons of human waste every year -- sanitation services worth at least $4.4 billion annually.

Researchers hope their work will help policy makers more accurately quantify the vital ecological services provided by wetlands and mangroves. Previously surveys have revealed the vital role similar ecosystems play in containing agricultural runoff and curbing the damaging effects of flooding and coastal storms.

"We would like to promote a better collaboration between ecologists, sanitation practitioners and city planners to help nature and infrastructure work better in harmony, and to protect nature where it is providing sanitation services," Parker said.


Related Links
Our Polluted World and Cleaning It Up


Thanks for being here;
We need your help. The SpaceDaily news network continues to grow but revenues have never been harder to maintain.

With the rise of Ad Blockers, and Facebook - our traditional revenue sources via quality network advertising continues to decline. And unlike so many other news sites, we don't have a paywall - with those annoying usernames and passwords.

Our news coverage takes time and effort to publish 365 days a year.

If you find our news sites informative and useful then please consider becoming a regular supporter or for now make a one off contribution.
SpaceDaily Contributor
$5 Billed Once


credit card or paypal
SpaceDaily Monthly Supporter
$5 Billed Monthly


paypal only


FROTH AND BUBBLE
Air pollution caused 160,000 deaths in big cities last year: NGO
Kuala Lumpur (AFP) Feb 18, 2021
Serious pollution caused around 160,000 premature deaths in the world's five most populous cities last year, even as air quality improved in some places due to coronavirus lockdowns, an environmental group said Thursday. The worst-affected was New Delhi, the most polluted capital on Earth, where around 54,000 deaths are estimated to have occurred due to hazardous PM2.5 airborne particles, according to a report from Greenpeace Southeast Asia. In Tokyo, the figure was 40,000 with the rest spread a ... read more

Comment using your Disqus, Facebook, Google or Twitter login.



Share this article via these popular social media networks
del.icio.usdel.icio.us DiggDigg RedditReddit GoogleGoogle

FROTH AND BUBBLE
Senator's Mexico trip draws ire as Texas hit by winter storm

New highly radioactive particles found in Fukushima

Quake-hit Christchurch regains its mojo, 10 years on

Greek govt under fire as power outages persist

FROTH AND BUBBLE
More sustainable recycling of plastics

'We just want to play': Iran gamers battle reality of US sanctions

Sloshing quantum fluids of light and matter to probe superfluidity

Research highlights ways to protect astronaut cardiovascular health from space radiation

FROTH AND BUBBLE
Himalaya flood disaster hits Delhi water supply

New factor in the carbon cycle of the Southern Ocean identified

La Nina climate cycle has peaked: UN

Pilot Program Previews Future of Surface Warfare Tactical Training

FROTH AND BUBBLE
Climate change killed off mammoths, sloths, megafauna

Aerosol pollution caused decades of "global dimming"

Ancient relic points to a turning point in Earth's history 42,000 years ago

Lakes isolated beneath Antarctic ice could be more amenable to life than thought

FROTH AND BUBBLE
Corn belt farmland has lost a third of its carbon-rich soil

Kenya's locust hunters on tireless quest to halt ancient pest

Ancient Amazonian farmers fortified valuable land they had spent years making fertile to protect it

Hive thinking: Beekeeping makes a buzz in Ivory Coast

FROTH AND BUBBLE
Etna spews smoke and ashes in spectacular new eruption

Indonesia volcano erupts, spews red-hot lava

Quake injures more than 30 in southwest Iran

Strong 6.2-magnitude quake rocks Vanuatu capital

FROTH AND BUBBLE
Ugandan soldiers jailed for assaulting journalists

From conflict to co-working, Libyan youths share space

Jihadists kill 3 soldiers in NE Nigeria

France struggling in Sahel 'information war'

FROTH AND BUBBLE
CT scans of Egyptian mummy suggest 'brave' pharaoh was executed

For more equitable cities, researchers say to keep social networks intact

Some of our gut microbiota predates the human-Neanderthal split

Our gut-brain connection









The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2024 - Space Media Network. All websites are published in Australia and are solely subject to Australian law and governed by Fair Use principals for news reporting and research purposes. AFP, UPI and IANS news wire stories are copyright Agence France-Presse, United Press International and Indo-Asia News Service. ESA news reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. All articles labeled "by Staff Writers" include reports supplied to Space Media Network by industry news wires, PR agencies, corporate press officers and the like. Such articles are individually curated and edited by Space Media Network staff on the basis of the report's information value to our industry and professional readership. Advertising does not imply endorsement, agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by Space Media Network on any Web page published or hosted by Space Media Network. General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) Statement Our advertisers use various cookies and the like to deliver the best ad banner available at one time. All network advertising suppliers have GDPR policies (Legitimate Interest) that conform with EU regulations for data collection. By using our websites you consent to cookie based advertising. If you do not agree with this then you must stop using the websites from May 25, 2018. Privacy Statement. Additional information can be found here at About Us.