Issue link: http://psai.uberflip.com/i/810924
Joke of the Week Shortly after 3:00 in the morning, the shop foreman called the owner of the portable restroom company. "What's so important that you have to wake me at this hour?" grumbled the owner. "Boss," said the foreman, "I wanted to let you know that Gary the ope rations manager has had a heart attack. He's passed away. Also, I have a question for you." The owner exclaimed, "That's terrible! What will we ever do without Gary?" The foreman replied, "That's why I wanted to ask you a question. I know this might seem like the timing is awkward, but I'd like to take Gary's place." "Well," said the owner, struggling to take it all in while sleepy and distraught, "It's okay with me if it's okay with the undertaker." © Portable Sanitation Ass ociation International (PSAI) • 2626 E 82 n d Street, Suite 175 • Bloomi ngton, MN 55425 www.psai.org • 952 - 854 - 8300 How Groups – Including the PSAI – are Actively Helpin g Solve the World's Sanitation Crisis An article by Ed Osann with the Natural Resources Defense Council highlights some of the exciting technological efforts being made to combat the global sanitation crisis. "More than two billion people live today witho ut access to functioning and effective sanitation" – which, according to Ed Osann and the Natural Resources Defense Council, is more than enough cause to earn the label of "crisis." Osann explains some common realities for these two bil lion individuals, from defecating in open fields, woods, city alleys, or overloaded, unserviced pit latrines. Cities of 2 million people are equipped with sanitary sewers that serve 200,000. Women and young girls are forced to expose themselves in order to use the restroom – which has been a growing cause for concern. So what is being done about it? In 2011, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation started their "Reinvent the Toilet" initiative, posing the challenge to entrepreneurs to produce prototypes of new toilets that could safely eliminate or recover human waste through a device that is not dedicated to or connected to a water supply. In addition, Osann is just one of the members of an international panel, formed under the International Organization of Standardization (ISO), with a mission of proposing a set of performance standards that these new sanitation alternatives should meet. Karleen represents the PSAI on t his panel as well. As Osann states, "the results to date are encouraging." Multiple pro totypes are undergoing development – with at least three of them in field testing with actual users. He puts it simply: "Plenty of questions and challenges remain, but on World Water Day in 201 7 (March 23), it's good to know that solutions may be in sight. " READ THE STOR Y W EEKLY EDITION APRIL 12, 2017