Cultural preferences in designing ecological sanitation systems in North West Frontier Province, Pakistan

Ecological sanitation has been shown to be economically feasible and environmentally sustainable. However, cultural factors affecting the choice of sanitation solutions have not yet been sufficiently investigated, particularly not in Muslim communities. To understand the perceptions of rural Muslim communities regarding alternative sanitation systems, members of households, key informants and women and men's focus groups in Machaki village in the district of Karak, North West Frontier Province (NWFP), were interviewed. A menu of both ecological and conventional sanitation options was put forward for consideration. All respondents were strongly opposed to the urine-separating latrines and in favor of flush toilets. They see any form of latrines as an age-old fashion, backwards and a matter of taboo, while flush toilets are considered prestigious and desirable. Muslim practices of anal cleansing together with the strict religious prohibition of contact with urine and faeces are factors influencing the reluctance towards latrines. The physical appearance of faeces and urine in latrines is repulsive to people. However, the material is less objectionable once it has disappeared in water and relocated to a treatment site. The rural community showed interest in the construction of improved sanitation consisting of flush toilets and an underground sewerage system and recycling of plant nutrients from urine and faeces through treatment in constructed wetlands. The study underlines the importance of incorporating cultural preferences in the planning of improved sanitation, particularly when designing low-cost ecological systems.