Issue link: http://psai.uberflip.com/i/845499
W EEKLY EDITION JULY 5, 2017 Dispatch #2 from South Africa …continued PSAI is at the table for the development of an International Working Agreement on Sustainable Fecal Sludge Processing Systems Starting now rather than waiting until several designs have come to market addresses these inherent issues in the global sanitation crisis: • The standard will accelerate development and solve problems faster. • The piloting process will have been completed and documented before the products are certified, assuring gover nments and others who make the decisions that the system actually works and is financially sustainable. Q: Is there anything unique about this process compared to the usual way that ISO and ANSI do things? A: Usually the technical standard for a product i s designed after several products have come to market. In a normal business environment this makes sense because the best products tend to survive and the subpar ones drop off. For example, think how many types of cords and chargers you had for electronics in the 1980s and 1990s before manufacturers finally settled on a couple of common options. When it comes to solving the world's sanitation problems, though, the usual process of companies developing competing products, bringing them to market, and then le tting the market sort out which products survive over many years doesn't make sense. Poor communities and nations have neither the time nor the money to try solutions that aren't going to stand the test of time. So the process of writing two technical stan dards – one for the "reinvented toilets" and one for the waste processing – while the prototypes for several models are being tested is highly unusual. Q: Won't the standard favor companies already in process of developing one of these systems? How is thi s fair to companies that might want to get in the game later? A: ISO and ANSI processes are designed to include as many stakeholders as possible and to create documents that are: • Technology agnostic – so if a later player can build something better, nothi ng stops him or her. • Building on existing standards • Follow ing drafting conventions that are transparent and inclusive The IWA process is open to anyone who believes they have a stake in the eventual document – and that's why the PSAI is at the table. Onc e the project moves from the creation of an IWA to the creation of an actual ISO standard the process for involvement is more complex, but there is still plenty of opportunity to weigh in on the emerging documents. The next meeting will be in Singapore in September. Contact Karleen ( karleenk@psai.org or +1 - 952 - 854 - 8300) if you are interested in learning more about how to become involved. Next week in Part III of this series we will cover a case study in how these new technologies are being developed and te sted both in the lab and in the field. PAGE 4 CONTINUED ON PAGE 5