In Indonesia 66 million people practice open defecation, which is the second highest number of people in one single country following India. Indonesia lacks sanitation services, in particular in rural areas. Data from the national statistics bureau show that almost 33% of the population in rural areas have no sanitation facilities. This study looked at alternative sanitation options in a community in East Java. Its aim was to evaluate the feasibility of different sanitation options, to conduct an integrated assessment of those options, and to identify the community perceptions of those options. The investigated technologies encompassed on the one side locally widely spread and accepted technologies (such as septic tanks), and on the other, new but promising concepts which have not yet been well established in Indonesia (such as biogas plants or ecosan systems). The study has shown that despite the high costs (NPV), the high hygienic risk potential and low environmental performance, septic tanks were most preferred by the community. Generally, those options which performed best in the assessment (community and decentralized sanitation systems) were least preferred by the community.

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