Sustainability criteria in sanitation planning

This article presents a list of sustainability criteria that might be of importance when assessing different sanitation solutions. The criteria presented are divided into the categories health, environment, economy, socio-culture, and technical function. We strongly recommend the use of sustainability criteria in any strategic sanitation planning and decision-making process whether on a macro or micro project level. Moreover, sanitation sustainability criteria can be used for follow-up and evaluation of sanitation systems. The list of criteria presented in this paper can be used to narrow down and focus discussions among decision-makers and also inspire to the development of context-specific sustainability criteria in the actual planning situation.