EcoSan project, Tamil Nadu

Last week I (and Tom Outlaw, of UNC Kenan-Flagler School of Business) visited this community sanitation "pay to pee" project in Musiri panchayat, Tamil Nadu, about 3 hours from Coimbatore, in the south of India. Read more about the project here. Very interesting example of entrepreneurial model for sanitation. The urine and feces are composted and sold as a high-value fertilizer, which is increasingly a good idea given the high cost of ammonium & potassium nitrate on the global markets. The composting toilet systems are so-called EcoSan systems (urine-diverting, low/no water, etc) which are used worldwide; this project is the best such scheme I've ever seen. And it's turning a profit.

We also visited urine-irrigated rice and banana fields, part of a local agriculture project in coordintion with the community system, to evaluate the fertilizer replacement value of the wastes.

It's very useful to convey this idea that waste has value and can be managed for economic reasons - the health benefits are something of a positive externality. Brilliant. My proposed project title: "Urine Business".

A few photos from our visit: