Ecological sanitation and associated hygienic risk : an overview of existing policy making guidelines and research

In household wastewater, urine contains considerably large amount of nutrients derived from agriculture whereas faeces contain most of the pathogens with a
 potential of causing diseases. Therefore, source control of faeces from household wastewater prevents these disease-causing pathogens gaining access to water
 bodies where they survive longer than on land and pose a long-term threat to human health. At the same time, by separating urine large concentration of nutrients can be recovered with low contamination of pathogens which pose little hygienic risk. It is most beneficial when faeces are kept separated at source which avoids dilution. With the development of ecological sanitation it is possible to separate faeces and urine at source. In ecological sanitation, heavy metals are not
 a big concern, since human excreta contain approximately the same amount of heavy metals as food and therefore there is no risk of heavy metal accumulation in
 soil due to these fertilisers. However, the issue of pharmaceutical residues in excreta has to be addressed. [authors abstract]