ASSOCIATIONINSIGHT
Portable Sanitation Association International News
BIWEEKLY EDITION DECEMBER 9, 2020
Page 13
Disposal Project Opportunity for Portable Sanitation
Companies Serving Military Sites
In 2016 the PSAI became involved with the creation of two ISO non-sewered sanitation standards. The first, ISO
30500, is a voluntary standard for household non-sewered sanitation systems (NSSS). It was published in 2018.
This standard provides safety, performance, technical, test methods, and sustainability considerations. The second
standard, ISO 31800, was published earlier in 2020. It is an international standard for community scale non-
sewered sanitation systems. These systems are decentralized and used when no suitable wastewater treatment
systems are in place.
One of the results of our involvement in the creation of these standards was the opportunity to meet individuals
and company representatives who are making progress in areas related to the subjects covered in the documents.
This has produced ideas and potential synergies. Here is one of them.
Biomass Controls has international experience in
delivering and deploying community scale non-sewered
sanitation treatment solutions in India and Africa. In
the US, their first system was delivered to Alaska for
the village of Kivalina in 2016. Biomass Controls is
now looking to expand its partnerships as a solution
provider for the portable sanitation community. They
are looking for PSAI members who want to partner on
projects where onsite or near site treatment is desirable
to reduce transportation cost, increase site security, and
improve customer value.
One area of interest for Biomass Controls is to work with PSAI members that have contracts with the US Military or
other secure locations where equipment for processing of human and other organic solid waste can be provided
onsite. The goal would be to demonstrate a solution as part of an exercise that could then be ruggedized and
used in forward operating bases and eventually in a combat outpost.
A second area of interest for a joint project is cold climate
applications where biological treatment and liquid storage is a
challenge. Biomass Controls has made some optimizations to
the Alaska installation for dealing with temperatures that can
fall to -60F. They are partnering with Alaska Strategy to look at
critical infrastructure requirements and to provide advocacy for
secure locations such as military bases.
While the PSAI does not endorse Biomass Controls or any
specific toilet/disposal concepts that are emerging (see this
video of the Virtual Conference and Trade Show keynote on
November 19 for a wider view of some of them), we bring you
this opportunity because it provides interested members with the chance to explore developing technologies as
they are being tested. If you have an existing contract with a military site and are looking for new ways to provide
onsite or near site treatment, you may wish to talk with Jeff Hallowell at Biomass Controls.
Jeff is looking to talk with portable sanitation companies that are interested in partnering on a demonstration
project for military installations. You can contact him at jeff@biomasscontrols.com or by phone +1 860-942-0500.
You can also visit their website. v
Kivalina Refinery
Model 209, Kivalina
