Worm-lined pit latrines may take some getting used to, but they are key to delivering Sustainable Development Goal targets, says civil engineer Laure Sione

How Tiger Worm toilets could help to deliver clean water and sanitation for all

Worm-lined pit latrines may take some getting used to, but they are key to delivering Sustainable Development Goal targets, says civil engineer Laure Sione

How to Save Humanity in 17 Goals: Clean water and sanitation for all (SDG 6)

Laure Sione’s postdoctoral research at Imperial College London addresses the sixth of the 17 United Nations SDGs, but, she argues, sanitation also plays a huge role in gender equality (SDG 5) and good health and well being (SDG 3) targets.

Sione’s PhD research focused on water management challenges in Kathmandu, but she now focuses on Sub-Saharan Africa and the problems caused by open defecation and excrement-filled pit latrines that are sited too close to the water table, risking contamination.

A third option is toilets layered with Tiger Worms. A key advantage is that these take longer to fill up as the worms quickly degrade faeces, but one barrier is getting people to use them in the first place. “It’s like, it’s a gross thing, and they don’t want to think about it. But I think the benefits quickly take over,” she says.

Each episode of How to Save Humanity in 17 Goals, a Working Scientist podcast series from Nature Careers, features researchers whose work addresses one or more the targets. The first six episodes are produced in partnership with Nature Food, and introduced by Juliana Gil, its chief editor.

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-024-00214-5

Supported content

This Working Scientist podcast series is sponsored by the University of Queensland, where research is addressing some of the world’s most challenging and complex problems. Take your research further at UQ. Visit uq.edu.au

This story originally appeared on: Nature - Author:Dom Byrne