"Toilet revolution" delivers healthier lifestyle, novel ideas to China's western plateau
Climate resilient sanitation for school children
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XINING, Dec. 8 (Xinhua) -- It was winter and the surrounding mountains were already capped with snow, but inside the clean school toilet, it was warm.
Deqencog, a 12-year-old student at the Tibetan language boarding school of Huashixia Township, Golog Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture of northwest China's Qinghai Province, was envious of the younger students at her school, who are now exempt from the problems she used to face.
"Our former school toilet was dirty and smelly, with lots of mosquitos in summer. There was no light at night, and the pits were too broad. We were afraid of falling into the pits and had to go with classmates," Deqencog said.
The shabby toilet was not equipped with partitions. During their periods of menstruation, girls would ask friends to shelter them in the toilet. Some even chose to go during classes when the toilet was likely to be empty.
In this town with an altitude of more than 4,000 meters and an average temperature of 4 degrees Celsius below zero, the toilet floor was often slippery due to ice. "Many of us fell over," recalled Deqencog, which meant having to wear dirty clothes until the end of the school day.
In rural China, she was not an exception.
China launched the "toilet revolution" in 2015 to increase both the number and sanitation levels of toilets at tourist sites. The campaign expanded to also focus on improving public toilets in cities and building better private toilets in rural areas.
In 2021, the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) collaborated with China's Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs (MARA) to explore ways of improving toilet conditions in rural areas. Qinghai was selected for a trial.
"China's central and western regions were originally the focus of the 'toilet revolution.' It is especially difficult in Qinghai where many areas are remote and under-developed, and the weather is cold and dry," said Xu Qing, program officer on climate, environment and sanitation with UNICEF.
"So we believe that if we can succeed in Qinghai, the experience could be borrowed by other places as well," she added.
The new water-flushing toilet at Deqencog's school was completed in 2022, and was equipped not only with partitions, but also with a heater using solar power and hand-washing facilities. In the toilet, which is now available to more than 500 students and 70 staffers, the flushing system functions automatically at pre-set times, saving a lot of water.
Thanks to enhanced education concerning hygiene, Deqencog and her schoolmates now all have better habits. "Everyone knows that they should wash hands after going to the toilet and before having meals," she said. Students are also changing the habits of their families. For instance, Deqencog always tells her parents and younger sister to wash their hands.
Wang Huihui, a senior engineer with the Academy of Agricultural Planning and Engineering under the MARA, noted that in the countryside of western China, many people were reluctant to have a toilet inside their house. However, when Deqencog's family is relocated, the girl hopes to move into an apartment "with a clean toilet."
In fact, in addition to hygiene habits, people's preconceived notions are also being changed in the course of this "toilet revolution."
At the central school of Taizi Township, Huzhu Tu Autonomous County, the new toilet uses a new model called "micro-water flushing." Wang said this is because the school has not yet been connected to the water and sewage networks.
Zheng Wanxian, 40, is head of the education bureau of Huzhu and has been working in the education sector for about 20 years. He has heard lots of complaints from local people about dry toilets.
"There was a primary school with a strong smell due to its dry toilet, and farmers living nearby complained to us," he recalled. "We spent more than 10,000 yuan (about 1,397 U.S. dollars) on building a fence and planting trees, but the farmers were not satisfied."
The "micro-water flushing" model devised by experts utilizes rainwater and melted snow. The amount of water per flush is about 500 ml, which is equivalent to a bottle of mineral water and one-sixth of that of an ordinary water closet. Each pit also features a high-pressure water spray gun for cleaning.
To minimize the impact on the environment, the new toilets are connected to a septic tank that converts the faeces into farm manure.
"Huzhu is an agricultural county, and the fertilizer could help subsidize the cost of septic tank cleaning," Wang explained.
Li Shengye, principal of the central school, has noticed that cases of abdominal pain and diarrhea caused by poor hygiene habits among students have decreased since the development of new toilet facilities, while the number of students taking sick leave has also dropped.
The new toilet model has been adopted not only at schools, but also in some local clinics and community centers.
Now that the percentage of rural residents in China using flush-equipped toilets had exceeded 70, the "toilet revolution" has a long way to go, as more than 80 percent of rural schools in Qinghai are still using traditional dry toilets.
Meanwhile, Wang Huihui has the additional task of exploring other convenient toilet options.
Yushu Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture in Qinghai was ravaged by a 7.1-magnitude earthquake in 2010, while a 7.4-magnitude earthquake struck Golog in 2021.
Experts have responded by creating a foldable "box toilet" that can be used temporarily in the event of disasters. Qinghai is home to many nomadic herdsmen, and Wang hopes that this "box toilet" can also provide convenience for them.
A Xinhua reporter witnessed that it took just about 10 minutes for a "box toilet" to open or fold, while the folded toilet is only around 0.4 cubic meters in size.
"Such new models could play a role in South-South cooperation," said Xu Qing. In fact, she disclosed that while many other countries have expressed their interest, UNICEF China is now working with South Africa and Cambodia to duplicate these new technology models, and help them achieve their climate-resilient sanitation goals.
"With the advancement of the 'toilet revolution,' various innovative technologies and products have been born in the Chinese market, which are not only easy to use but also affordable, and are thus welcomed by other countries," Xu said.
Perhaps inspired by the new toilet, Deqencog said she wanted to become a doctor or scientist in the future. "I think their jobs could be very helpful to others," the girl said with a smile on her face.
