Urban ecological sanitation: possible lessons from Erdos, China

The China–Sweden Erdos Eco-Town Project attempted to scale up dry sanitation systems in Dongsheng, Ordos, involving 832 apartments and approximately 3,000 inhabitants. While the project demonstrated that dry toilets could be implemented in multi-storey buildings without adverse health effects, it faced significant failures due to poor construction quality, lack of pipe insulation for extreme winters, and the absence of a dedicated owner to ensure maintenance. These technical issues were compounded by rapid regional economic growth and a building boom that eliminated the initial drivers of the project—extreme water shortage and poverty—leading the local government to eventually revert to flush toilets.

• The project scaled up dry sanitation technology to 832 apartments and about 3,000 inhabitants in Dongsheng, Ordos, but encountered severe construction failures. Poor workmanship by multiple firms led to leaky or incorrectly sized pipes, which were only discovered in 2008 after walls were dismantled.
• Extreme winter temperatures caused ventilation pipes to freeze because pipe insulation in attics and above roofs was not required by Chinese building codes.
• The project's viability was undermined by rapid economic development and a building boom in Dongsheng, which provided new freshwater supplies via a 100-kilometre pipeline from the Yellow River and fossil groundwater, removing the original needs for water-saving sanitation.
• User behavior impacted system performance, as some residents used eco-toilets for solid and food waste, causing blockages and attracting flies, though no health effects were reported by residents or workers.
• A later test of dry toilets from Separett AB showed that integrating individual evacuation fans into each toilet could eliminate odours even when external vent pipes were improperly constructed.

APA

Stockholm Environment Institute (2013). Urban ecological sanitation: possible lessons from Erdos, China. https://www.sei.org/features/urban-ecological-sanitation-possible-lessons-erdos-china/

Chicago

Stockholm Environment Institute. Urban ecological sanitation: possible lessons from Erdos, China. 2013. https://www.sei.org/features/urban-ecological-sanitation-possible-lessons-erdos-china/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Stockholm Environment Institute |title=Urban ecological sanitation: possible lessons from Erdos, China |date=6 January 2013 |url=https://www.sei.org/features/urban-ecological-sanitation-possible-lessons-erdos-china/ |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{stockholmenvironmentinstitute2013urban, author = {{Stockholm Environment Institute}}, title = {{Urban ecological sanitation: possible lessons from Erdos, China}}, institution = {Stockholm Environment Institute}, year = {2013}, month = jan, url = {https://www.sei.org/features/urban-ecological-sanitation-possible-lessons-erdos-china/}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }