Back to School: Free Course in Sanitation Systems & Technologies

By Phlush | October 5, 2014

Providing toilets to 2.4 billion of our fellow humans without them and building sanitary infrastructure that controls the spread of Ebola and other contagious killers calls for widespread training.

ealogoStarting October 13, 2014, Eawag, (the Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology), in collaboration with EPFL (the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne), is offering a free online course Design and Planning of Sanitation Systems and Technologies.

epfl_smallThis free five-week course is managed by Coursera and begins on October 13. To participate, simply register online with your name and contact information. Five experts, led by Dr. Christoph Lüthi, will present in English with French subtitles.

Says Lüthi, “We will be combining sanitary engineering with social economic and urban development issues. The course includes both theoretical knowledge and case studies featuring context-specific sanitation solutions.”  Here is an outline of the five weekly modules of the course syllabus:

  1.  Introduction to sanitation planning & systems approach (Oct 13-19)
  2. Sanitation systems & technologies: participants will practice their skills in building a complete sanitation system from user interface to disposal or re-use of products (Oct 20-27)
  3. Sanitation systems & technologies: featuring concrete examples from Africa, Asia and Latin America featuring a large variety of technologies (Oct 28-Nov 2)
  4. Urban sanitation solutions: individual exercise to propose a sanitation system for a selected (slum) site (Nov 3-Nov 9)
  5. Wrap-up and question & answer-session and final exam (Nov 10-16)

The course includes lectures, videos, exercises, and online discussion. Participants need an internet connection, an interest, some general background in urban sanitation and at least 4-6 hours a week to read and discuss. Those completing the course will be eligible for a certificate of accomplishment.

Here at PHLUSH we’ve signed up, but if your schedule does not permit this time commitment, there are many other online options.  The Sustainable Sanitation Alliance, or SuSanA, is an extensive knowledge base  and our website recommends several other major sanitation portals.