Abstract
Evaluating the sustainability of sanitation systems is essential in achieving the sixth sustainable development goal. However, there are only limited number of available evaluation indexes, which are utilized to macroscopically determine a community’s sanitation coverage. Consequently, an index is required, which can evaluate different sanitation options for a specific community. In this paper, the sanitation sustainability index (SSI) is suggested as an indicator for evaluating the sustainability of sanitation systems. The SSI has sub-indexes that consider the technical, social, and economic aspects of the sanitation system, and all the variables are dimensionless and heavily dependent on the current state of the community where the sanitation system is going to be implemented. The applicability of the SSI was demonstrated by evaluating the implementation of two onsite sanitation systems, including one septic tank system and one resource-oriented sanitation (ROS) system in South Korea. A sensitivity analysis defined the variables that have significant impact, and the statistical distribution of the SSI for both systems was forecasted. The results showed that for South Korea, which has a profound history of utilizing human waste as fertilizer, utilizing the resource-oriented sanitation system is more sustainable, although it has a lower social sub-index score compared to the septic tank system.
Highlights
According to UNICEF and WHO [1], the population that utilize safely managed sanitation services increased from 28% to 45% from 2000 up to 2017
According to the Republic of Korea, Ministry of Environment, there is an average recycling rate of 51.9% for wastewater generated from wastewater treatment facilities, such as septic tanks, in South Korea [35]
The wastewater produced in septic tank sanitation systems includes a mixture of urine, feces, hygienic materials, and flushing water
Summary
According to UNICEF and WHO [1], the population that utilize safely managed sanitation services increased from 28% to 45% from 2000 up to 2017. 2 billion people still have no access to safe and sustainable sanitation system, 673 million people are practicing open defecation, and 3 billion people still lack basic sanitation; the sanitation crisis remains a global concern. The objective of SDG6-2 is to provide full coverage of adequate and sustainable sanitation for the entire population. One example is the water, sanitation, and hygiene (WaSH) performance index suggested by Cronk et al [8], which can be utilized to compare the performances of countries in achieving universal water, sanitation, and hygiene. The elements of this index include water and sanitation access and equity
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