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 and 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. Published in association with Stockholm Environment Institute.

Prelims (Figures, Acronyms, About the authors, Preface)
1. Introduction
2. Designed to close the loop
3. Operations and maintenance
4. Research and development
5. Social acceptance
6. Lessons learned
Back Matter (Annex 1. Job descriptions of the project experts, Annex 2. Cost-benefit analysis of the EETP ecological sanitation system, Acknowledgements, Notes, References)

Arno Rosemarin
Arno Rosemarin is with the Stockholm Environment Institute.

Jennifer McConville
Jennifer McConville is with the Stockholm Environment Institute.

Amparo Flores
Amparo Flores is with the Centre for Sustainable Development, Cambridge University.

Zhu Qiang
Zhu Qiang is Former Director and Chief Engineer and Research Professor of the Gansu Research Institute for Water Conservancy China.