FAQs
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International Standards are strategic tools that reduce costs by minimizing waste and errors, increasing productivity and facilitating free and fair global trade. In adopting an ISO standard, your country is tapping into constantly updated best practices that reflect the consensus of regulators, manufacturers and users from across the world.
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ISO 30500 is entitled Non-sewered sanitation systems—Prefabricated integrated treatment units—General safety and performance requirements for design and testing. ISO 30500 is a product performance standard and provides general safety and performance requirements for the product design & performance testing of prefabricated integrated treatment units (also known as Reinvented Toilets) that are not attached to a network sewer.
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ISO 24521, Activities relating to drinking water and wastewater services—Guidelines for the management of basic on-site domestic wastewater services, is an international management standard written from an operator's perspective. It provides guidance for the management of basic on-site domestic wastewater services, using appropriate technologies in their entirety at any level of development.
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ISO 31800 is a voluntary, international product standard for community scale resource-oriented sanitation treatment systems, published in August 2020. The standard focuses on fecal sludge treatment through the development of sanitation treatment units. These sanitation treatment units will treat waste at a community level even in places where there are no suitable wastewater treatment systems in place.
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ISO 24521, ISO 30500, and ISO 31800 work collectively to improve health, reduce the environmental impact of wastewater treatment, and offer affordable options for users and communities to help change the lives of 2.4 billion people. Together, these three standards revolutionize the sanitation sector. Whereas ISO 24521 focuses on optimizing existing wastewater services, the publication of ISO 30500 encourages the development of new technologies and solutions as current technologies are failing to address underlying challenges behind the lack of sanitation, including poverty, infrastructure and resources. ISO 31800 looks toward to future of water services by proving community level wastewater solutions.
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The treatment unit may look like a regular toilet facility to the user, but the backend includes an attached treatment facility that operates without connection to any sewer or drainage network by collecting, conveying, and fully treating the specific input within the system, to allow for safe reuse or disposal of the generated solid, liquid, and gaseous output. There are different prototypes in development.
Examples of existing prototypes.Answer:
In adopting ISO 30500, national-level policy makers can rely on global expert opinion to ensure safety of the product for its citizens. Manufacturers, regulators, and governments can tap into updated sources of information and experiences, without having to expend national resources as ISO standards are constantly maintained.
Manufacturers will have a blueprint to use to create a product that meets international guidelines, making market entry easier and allowing them to focus on the development of features that will make the product stand out in the marketplace. The expansion of NSSS technology will drive innovation and also facilitate cross-border trade, as ISO standards provide an internationally recognized system that favors compatibility and consistency while giving customers the reassurance of the ISO name.
Toilet users will experience direct benefits from the expansion of NSSS. Diarrheal related deaths and rates of infection/contamination from waterborne diseases will decrease. Users will also have a dignified, reliable, safe, hygienic, odor-free toilet experience.
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Currently, pilot testing is underway to stabilize the technology associated with the Reinvented Toilet. Though these systems are currently not for sale, the technology is rapidly developing, and pilot testing is underway in China, India, Senegal, and South Africa. Now that ISO 30500 has been published (October 2018), many of the existing prototypes will be tested against the ISO 30500 standard.
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ANSI can potentially facilitate a workshop in your country and assist in drafting a tailored strategy for national adoption of ISO 30500 that best meets your country’s needs. In workshops, standards, sanitation, and government experts are brought together to identify current standards and sanitation related regulations. Experts examine how ISO 30500 can be nationally adopted by discussing the process of nationally adopting an international standard in your country, and share past experiences or strategies to ease the standard adoption process, as well as share any hurdles that your country may face.
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Depending on your country and your role, there are steps that will further support implementation of ISO 30500 and reinvented toilets that meet the standard’s requirements. If you’re a manufacturer, it may be a good idea to have your product tested and/or certified in accordance with the standard – ANSI or your national standards body can help direct you to laboratories or certification bodies. If you’re a laboratory or certification body, there may be clients interested in your services to test and certify reinvented toilets – ANSI can help you find out. If you’re a government ministry with jurisdiction in water or sanitation, the standard might be appropriate as the basis for voluntary incentive programs or pilot projects to help achieve sanitation policy goal.