Discover the Editor's Choice: from each issue of leading journal, Water Science & Technology, the core team of Editors will select one outstanding paper to make Open Access and share across IWA Publishing Platforms.
IWA Publishing is pleased to announce that the 12th Editor's Choice paper, selected by Marie Noelle Pons, is now Open Access:
Anaerobic digestion is the dominant pathway for pit latrine decomposition and is limited by intrinsic factors
Miriam H. A. van Eekert, Walter T. Gibson, Belen Torondel, Faraji Abilahi, Bernard Liseki, Els Schuman, Colin Sumpter, Jeroen H. J. Ensink
Water Science & Technology, June 2019; Vol.79 (12): 2242-2250
DOI: https://doi.org/10.2166/wst.2019.220
Why was this paper selected as the Editor's Choice?
One of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals established by the United Nations in 2015 was to “Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all”. The paper contributes to this goal by offering an interesting study of the performance of pit latrines, which are widely used in developing countries. Comparison of in situ and in vitro (i.e. in laboratory conditions) faeces decomposition and methane production reveals that the addition of some water can improve the latrine performance. The authors also questioned the greenhouse gas production induced by the pit latrines at the world level. The paper is therefore to be read both for its scientific rigor and for the social aspects, it pushes us to consider.
Marie Noelle Pens, Editor.