The global challenge of providing urban sanitation services to the under-served highlights the need to change the paradigm for sanitation planning and service provision. India’s population demographic trends show both rapidly growing urban population and exploding geographic size of its urban areas causing the gap for under-served with unimproved sanitation to continue to grow. Past focus on centralized sewerage systems and simple on-site sanitation appear to be neither technically feasible nor financially viable given projected growth patterns.
India’s recent major push for improved sanitation provides an opening for alternative approaches and consideration of ground-breaking technology. This presentation draws upon the Gates Foundation’s “Reinvent the Toilet Challenge” technology development landscape to reflect on how new technology approaches may contribute to closing the urban sanitation coverage gap, and where policy measures will be important to enable technology adoption.
Myles Elledge is a Senior Director for Global Development and Strategy in RTI International. Mr. Elledge has 28 years of experience in international development policy and planning with program leadership in developing countries. He has a passion for environmental health, and focused on leading interdisciplinary studies and strategic program evaluations to address environmental and public health challenges. In partnership with the Gates Foundation, he is currently leading policy and social adoption components of RTI’s Reinvent the Toilet Challenge work in India. He holds a B.A. degree in Third World Studies from the University of the South, and studied International Political Economy at the London School of Economics. He holds a Masters degree in Economic and Social Development from the University of Pittsburgh’s Graduate School of Public and International Affairs (GSPIA).
