Francis de los Reyes: Sanitation is a basic human right

譯者: Marssi Draw 審譯者: Regina Chu

I am an engineering professor,

我是工程學教授，

and for the past 14 years

過去 14 年來，

I've been teaching crap.

我都在教廢物。

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

Not that I'm a bad teacher,

不是因為我是個壞老師，

but I've been studying and teaching

而是因為一直以來我都在研究、教導

about human waste

人類的排泄物，

and how waste is conveyed

以及廢物如何透過廢水處理廠運送，

through these wastewater treatment plants,

and how we engineer and design

還有我們如何規劃與設計這些處理廠，

these treatment plants so that we can protect

讓我們能保護地表水，像是河川。

surface water like rivers.

I've based my scientific career

我的科學職業生涯奠基在

on using leading-edge molecular techniques,

運用頂尖的分子技術、

DNA- and RNA-based methods

應用去氧核糖核酸 (DNA) 與核糖核酸 (RNA) 的技術，

to look at microbial populations in biological reactors,

並透過生物反應器檢視細菌量，

and again to optimize these systems.

然後再次優化這些機制。

And over the years,

經過這些年，

I have developed an unhealthy obsession with toilets,

我對廁所有種病態的迷戀，

and I've been known to sneak into toilets

大家都知道我會偷溜進廁所，

and take my camera phone

還會帶著智慧型手機，

all over the world.

在世界各地都一樣。

But along the way, I've learned

但靠著這個方式，

that it's not just the technical side,

我發現那不只和科技有關，

but there's also this thing called the culture of crap.

也和所謂的廢物文化有關。

So for example,

舉例來說，

how many of you are washers

在座有多少人用洗的，

and how many of you are wipers?

有多少人用擦的？

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

If, well, I guess you know what I mean.

你們應該都知道我在講什麼。

If you're a washer, then you use water

如果你是用洗的，

那你就會用水清洗肛門，這是術語。

for anal cleansing. That's the technical term.

And if you're a wiper,

如果你是用擦的，

then you use toilet paper

那你就會用衛生紙，

or, in some regions of the world

或是世界上有些地方沒有衛生紙，

where it's not available, newspaper

就會用報紙、舊布或玉米穗軸。

or rags or corncobs.

And this is not just a piece of trivia,

這不只是件微不足道的事，

but it's really important to understand

相反的，了解並解決 公共衛生問題是非常重要的事。

and solve the sanitation problem.

And it is a big problem:

有個大問題是，

There are 2.5 billion people in the world

世界上有 25 億人

who don't have access to adequate sanitation.

沒有適當的衛生設備。

For them, there's no modern toilet.

他們沒有現代化的廁所。

And there are 1.1 billion people

還有 11 億人的廁所

whose toilets are the streets

是在大街、河堤，或公共空間，

or river banks or open spaces,

and again, the technical term for that is

同樣的，術語稱為

open defecation,

露天排泄，

but that is really simply

但這真的單純只是

shitting in the open.

公開大便。

And if you're living in fecal material

如果你住在排泄物之中，

and it's surrounding you, you're going to get sick.

排泄物圍繞著你，你就會生病。

It's going to get into your drinking water,

那會進入你的飲用水和食物中，

into your food, into your immediate surroundings.

直接進入你的週遭環境裡。

So the United Nations estimates

聯合國估計

that every year, there are 1.5 million child deaths

每年有 150 萬名孩童死亡

because of inadequate sanitation.

是因為缺乏適當的公共衛生。

That's one preventable death every 20 seconds,

這是可避免的， 每 20 秒就能救一個人，

171 every hour,

每小時就能救 171 人，

4,100 every day.

每天就能救 4,100 人。

And so, to avoid open defecation,

因此，為了避免露天排泄，

municipalities and cities

市政當局會做公共建設，

build infrastructure, for example, like pit latrines,

像在市區周圍和鄉村裡蓋茅坑。

in peri-urban and rural areas.

For example, in KwaZulu-Natal province in South Africa,

例如，南非的誇祖魯-納塔爾省

they've built tens of thousands of these pit latrines.

已經蓋了幾萬個這種茅坑。

But there's a problem when you scale up

但還有個問題，

當你增加到幾萬個茅坑，

to tens of thousands, and the problem is,

問題是那些坑滿了怎麼辦？

what happens when the pits are full?

This is what happens.

就會變這樣，

People defecate around the toilet.

大家在廁所旁邊排泄。

In schools, children defecate on the floors

孩童在學校的地板上排泄，

and then leave a trail outside the building

接著在建築外留下一連串，

and start defecating around the building,

然後開始繞著建築排泄，

and these pits have to be cleaned

這些茅坑必須清理

and manually emptied.

和用人力清空。

And who does the emptying?

但誰去清空？

You've got these workers

有一些工人會

who have to sometimes go down into the pits

不時進到茅坑裡

and manually remove the contents.

動手清除內容物。

It's a dirty and dangerous business.

這是件又髒又危險的工作。

As you can see, there's no protective equipment,

如你所見，他們沒有防護設備，

no protective clothing.

也沒有防護服裝。

There's one worker down there.

有個工人在那下面。

I hope you can see him.

希望你看得見他。

He's got a face mask on, but no shirt.

他戴著面具，但沒穿衣服。

And in some countries, like India,

在某些國家，像是印度，

the lower castes are condemned

種姓階級較低的人被迫要清茅坑，

to empty the pits,

and they're further condemned by society.

他們在社會上也被迫害。

So you ask yourself, how can we solve this

你可以自問， 我們能怎麼解決這個問題，

and why don't we just build Western-style flush toilets

以及我們為什麼不能 就蓋個西式的沖水馬桶

for these two and a half billion?

給這 25 億人用？

And the answer is, it's just not possible.

答案是，不可能。

In some of these areas, there's not enough water,

某些地區沒有足夠的水，

there's no energy,

沒有足夠的能源，

it's going to cost tens of trillions of dollars

預計要花上兆美元

to lay out the sewer lines

來設計管線、

and to build the facilities

建造廁所、

and to operate and maintain these systems,

管理和維護那些系統，

and if you don't build it right,

而且如果你沒蓋好，

you're going to have flush toilets

沖水馬桶就會直接連上河流，

that basically go straight into the river,

just like what's happening in many cities

就像許多發展中國家的城市一樣。

in the developing world.

And is this really the solution?

但這真的是解決方式嗎？

Because essentially, what you're doing is

因為基本上，你就是用乾淨的水，

you're using clean water

and you're using it to flush your toilet,

你用清水來沖馬桶，

convey it to a wastewater treatment plant

沖到廢水處理廠，

which then discharges to a river,

接著就會排到河裡，

and that river, again, is a drinking water source.

而河流同樣是飲用水來源。

So we've got to rethink sanitation,

因此，我們得重新思考公共衛生，

and we've got to reinvent the sanitation infrastructure,

並重新發明那些公共衛生設施，

and I'm going to argue that to do this,

而我會證明要這麼做，

you have to employ systems thinking.

就得運用系統思維。

We have to look at the whole sanitation chain.

我們必須檢視整個公共衛生鏈。

We start with a human interface,

我們從人體使用者介面開始，

and then we have to think about how feces

接著要思考排泄物要如何

are collected and stored,

收集、儲存、

transported, treated and reused —

運送、處理和再利用，

and not just disposal but reuse.

不只是丟棄，而是要再利用。

So let's start with the human user interface.

因此我們先從人體使用者介面開始。

I say, it doesn't matter if you're a washer or a wiper,

我認為，不論你是用洗的還是用擦的，

a sitter or a squatter,

用坐的還是用蹲的，

the human user interface should be clean

人體使用者介面都必須乾淨，

and easy to use, because after all,

而且要容易操作，因為畢竟

taking a dump should be pleasurable.

上大號應該要是讓人身心愉快的事。

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

And when we open the possibilities

當我們開始

to understanding this sanitation chain,

了解這個公共衛生鏈，

then the back-end technology,

接下來就是後端技術，

the collection to the reuse, should not really matter,

收集來再利用，應該沒那麼麻煩，

and then we can apply

然後我們可以運用

locally adoptable and context-sensitive solutions.

當地可操作與合情合理的解決方式。

So we can open ourselves to possibilities like,

因此，我們就更有可能做，

for example, this urine-diverting toilet,

例如，這個尿糞分離廁所，

and there's two holes in this toilet.

裡頭有兩個洞。

There's the front and the back,

一前一後，

and the front collects the urine,

前面的收集尿液，

and the back collects the fecal material.

後面的收集糞便。

And so what you're doing is you're separating the urine,

這個作法就是分離出尿液，

which has 80 percent of the nitrogen

尿液有 80% 的氮

and 50 percent of the phosphorus,

和 50% 的磷，

and then that can then be treated

經過處理和沉澱

and precipitated to form things like struvite,

就能形成鳥糞石之類的東西，

which is a high-value fertilizer,

那是營養價值很高的肥料；

and then the fecal material can then be disinfected

然後糞便經過消毒，

and again converted to high-value end products.

同樣會轉變成高價值的終產物。

Or, for example, in some of our research,

例如，我們的某些研究中，

you can reuse the water by treating it

水經過處理後就能重覆利用，

in on-site sanitation systems

只要運用在地的公衛系統，

like planter boxes or constructed wetlands.

像是花盆或人工濕地。

So we can open up all these possibilities

因此我們可以讓一切都成真，

if we take away the old paradigm of flush toilets

只要我們拋棄舊式的沖水馬桶

and treatment plants.

和污水處理廠。

So you might be asking, who's going to pay?

你也許會問，誰來買單？

Well, I'm going to argue that governments

我認為政府

should fund sanitation infrastructure.

應該要提供公共衛生設施的資金。

NGOs and donor organizations,

非營利團體和贊助單位

they can do their best, but it's not going to be enough.

可以盡一己之力，但永遠都不夠。

Governments should fund sanitation

政府花在公共衛生上的資金應該要

the same way they fund roads

等同於道路、

and schools and hospitals

學校、醫院，

and other infrastructure like bridges,

和其他設施，像是橋樑，

because we know, and the WHO has done this study,

因為我們知道， 世界衛生組織的研究指出，

that for every dollar that we invest

我們每投資一美元

in sanitation infrastructure,

在公共衛生設施上，

we get something like three to 34 dollars back.

就能得到 3 到 34 美元的回饋。

Let's go back to the problem of pit emptying.

我們回來談清空茅坑的問題。

So at North Carolina State University,

我們在北卡羅來納州立大學

we challenged our students to come up with a simple solution,

鼓勵學生想出簡單的方法，

and this is what they came up with:

他們想出了

a simple, modified screw auger

簡易的改造螺旋鑽，

that can move the waste up

能夠將排泄物

from the pit and into a collecting drum,

從茅坑移入回收桶，

and now the pit worker

這樣清潔工就不需要再進入茅坑了。

doesn't have to go down into the pit.

We tested it in South Africa, and it works.

我們在南非的測試成功了。

We need to make it more robust,

我們需要讓它更堅固耐用，

and we're going to do more testing

而且我們會做更多測試，

in Malawi and South Africa this coming year.

預計明年在馬拉威和南非做。

And our idea is to make this

我們的想法是讓它變成

a professionalized pit-emptying service

專業的茅坑清理服務，

so that we can create a small business out of it,

如此一來，就能以此建立小型企業，

create profits and jobs,

創造營收和工作機會。

and the hope is that,

我們期待，

as we are rethinking sanitation,

在重新思考公共衛生的同時，

we are extending the life of these pits

也能延長這些茅坑的壽命，

so that we don't have to resort

這樣我們就不需要依靠

to quick solutions

能應急卻沒什意義的解決方式。

that don't really make sense.

I believe that access to adequate sanitation

我相信能使用適當的公共衛生設施

is a basic human right.

是基本人權。

We need to stop the practice

我們應該阻止勞役

of lower castes and lower-status people

種姓階級和社經地位較低的人，

going down and being condemned to empty pits.

讓他們免於被迫進入茅坑清理。

It is our moral, it is our social

這是我們在道德上、我們在社會上，

and our environmental obligation.

以及我們在環境上應盡的義務。

Thank you.

謝謝！

(Applause)

（掌聲）