A shit flow diagram (also called excreta flow diagram or SFD) is a
high level
High Level is a town in northern Alberta, Canada. It is located at the intersection of the Mackenzie Highway (Highway 35) and Highway 58, approximately north of Edmonton and south of Yellowknife, Northwest Territories. High Level is located w ...
technical drawing
Technical drawing, drafting or drawing, is the act and Academic discipline, discipline of composing Plan (drawing), drawings that Visual communication, visually communicate how something functions or is constructed.
Technical drawing is essent ...
used to display how excreta moves through a location, and functions as a tool to identify where improvements are needed. The diagram has a particular focus on treatment of the waste, and its final disposal or
use
Use may refer to:
* Use (law), an obligation on a person to whom property has been conveyed
* Use (liturgy), a special form of Roman Catholic ritual adopted for use in a particular diocese
* Use–mention distinction, the distinction between using ...
. SFDs are most often used in
developing countries
A developing country is a sovereign state with a lesser developed industrial base and a lower Human Development Index (HDI) relative to other countries. However, this definition is not universally agreed upon. There is also no clear agreem ...
.
Development
In 2012–2013, the
World Bank
The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans and grants to the governments of low- and middle-income countries for the purpose of pursuing capital projects. The World Bank is the collective name for the Interna ...
's
Water and Sanitation Program
The Global Water Security & Sanitation Partnership (GWSP), formerly the Water and Sanitation Program, is a trust fund administered by the World Bank geared at improving the accessibility and infrastructure of water and sanitation for underdevelope ...
sponsored a study on the
fecal sludge management
Fecal sludge management (FSM) (or faecal sludge management in British English) is the storage, collection, transport, treatment and safe end use or disposal of fecal sludge. Together, the collection, transport, treatment and end use of fecal slud ...
of twelve cities with the goal of developing tools for better understanding the flow of excreta through the cities. As a result, Isabel Blackett, Peter Hawkins, and Christiaan Heymans authored ''The missing link in sanitation service delivery: a review of fecal sludge management in 12 cities''. Using this as a basis, a group of excreta management institutions began collaborating in June 2014 to continue development of SFDs.
In November 2014, the SFD Promotion Initiative was started with funding from the
Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF), a merging of the William H. Gates Foundation and the Gates Learning Foundation, is an American private foundation founded by Bill Gates and Melinda French Gates. Based in Seattle, Washington, it was l ...
. Initially funded as a one year project, it was extended in 2015. In September 2019, the focus of the program shifted to scaling up the current methods of producing SFDs to allow for citywide sanitation in
South Asia
South Asia is the southern subregion of Asia, which is defined in both geographical and ethno-cultural terms. The region consists of the countries of Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka.;;;;;;;; ...
and
Africa
Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...
. As of 2021 more than 240 shit flow diagram reports have been published. The initiative is managed as part of the Sustainable Sanitation Alliance and is supported by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. It is partnered with many
nonprofit organization
A nonprofit organization (NPO) or non-profit organisation, also known as a non-business entity, not-for-profit organization, or nonprofit institution, is a legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public or social benefit, in co ...
Eawag
The Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology (Eawag, German acronym for ''Eidgenössische Anstalt für Wasserversorgung, Abwasserreinigung und Gewässerschutz'') is a Swiss water research institute and an internationally network ...
urban area
An urban area, built-up area or urban agglomeration is a human settlement with a high population density and infrastructure of built environment. Urban areas are created through urbanization and are categorized by urban morphology as cities, t ...
s, especially the
poor
Poverty is the state of having few material possessions or little
, use non-sewer sanitation systems. This poses environmental and health challenges for growing urban areas in developing countries, and many of these countries will need to change their sanitation strategies as their population grows. Using a shit flow diagram allows political leaders and members of the community to see at a glance the challenges facing their sanitation systems, and where improvements will be most effective. The simplified nature of the diagram allows for easier dialog about local excreta management. Over 140 cities in the developing world have had SFDs prepared and published, many by nonprofit organizations. They are then used to identify where resources should be focused.