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• This study provides new insight of the environmental governance on community levels. • Higher cadmium content of soil affect the sustainability of community. • Community characteristics with cluster analysis help identify relevant recommendations. • Hierarchical control strategies are recommended to improve rural sanitation. Equitable access to sanitation for all is a goal of sustainable development, notably in rural areas. However, studies including economic, socio-cultural, and other factors that have been conducted to comprehensively assess rural sanitation at the community level in developing countries are limited. This study aimed to investigate the current state of rural environmental sanitation on the community level and to evaluate the characteristics of the diverse sub-clusters. A multidimensional environmental sanitation survey was conducted on 400 communities in Chongqing, China in 2020, and the priority options for improving sub-clusters' sanitation were explored using cluster analysis. Among all communities, more than 60 % had positive village appearance, 50.50 % had domestic sewage treatment, and the coverage rate of household sanitary toilets was 72.28 %. The average content for lead, cadmium (Cd), and chromium in soil was 26.01, 0.53, and 54.47 mg/kg, respectively. The communities were clustered into 3 groups (I, II, III) based on similar characteristics including basic information, village appearance, water, sanitation, hygiene management, bio-vector control, and soil pollution. The proportion of cluster I, II, and III was 39.25 % (157/400), 31.75 % (127/400), and 29.00 % (116/400), respectively. Each cluster had its sanitation characteristics, and significant differences among the sub-clusters were observed in Cd of soil (p = 0.001), domestic sewage disposal ratio (p < 0.001), and environmental health funding (p = 0.001). To sum up, the environmental sanitation in rural areas of Chongqing was better than that of the national average in China, but the Cd content of farmland soil was higher. Our study provides novel evidence for assessing the characteristics of rural sanitation at the community level, and communities with similar environmental health status were clustered into the same group, while the heterogeneity of different sub-cluster was thoroughly characterized. The hierarchical control strategy should be performed in communities based on different characteristics and deficiencies of the clusters to improve environmental sanitation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the period of collectivization, the New China government carried out extensive sanitation science popularization in rural areas. The rural sanitation science popularization in the period highlighted the practical functions of sanitation in health improvement and, at the same time, vested sanitation with rich meanings and make it a symbol of rich meanings. The operation of such symbolized rural science popularization was the core strategy for the rural sanitation science popularization in the period. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In China, over 47 million toilets in rural areas have been upgraded since the nationwide sanitation program, popularly referred to as the "toilet revolution", was launched in 2015. However, little is known about the perceptions of rural households regarding these new toilets or the fate of human excreta collected using them. To investigate the other side of the toilet revolution, we surveyed 980 rural households from 22 provinces across China in 2020. We found that most households used an on-site sanitation system (i.e. septic tanks and pit latrines), where urine and feces were mixed and collected (88%), stored in pits or tanks (79%), emptied by the households themselves (60%), applied on farmland as fertilizer (45%), or used for biogas production (5%). Despite the toilet revolution-driven infrastructure upgrade, only 25% of the households were satisfied with their sanitation system and pointed to health risks from issues in the toilet interface and the treatment and reuse of excreta as areas of concern. The majority preferred an "out of sight, out of mind" approach, in which the local government handles excreta without involving the households and without asking them to pay for such management. Meanwhile, 80% supported the idea of local nutrient recycling and believed that human excreta should return to farmland as fertilizer or used for biogas production. Our findings suggest that decision makers in local governments across China must urgently explore ways to upgrade all parts of the sanitation service chain so that rural sanitation can be truly improved to positively influence the progress on other national sustainability goals. [Display omitted] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The ongoing Toilet Revolution in China offers an opportunity to improve sanitation in rural areas by introducing new approaches, such as urine source separation, that can contribute to achieving SDG6. However, few studies have systematically assessed the social acceptability of managing human excreta collected in new sanitation systems. Therefore, in this study we performed face-to-face interviews with 414 local residents from 13 villages across three provinces in western China, to analyze the current situation and attitudes to possible changes in the rural sanitation service chain. We found that the sanitation chain was predominantly pit latrine-based, with 86.2% of households surveyed collecting their excreta in a simple pit, 82% manually emptying their pits, and 80.2% reusing excreta in agriculture without adequate pre-treatment. A majority (72%) of the households had a generally positive attitude to production of human excreta-derived fertilizer, but only 24% agreed that urine and feces should be collected separately. Multivariate logistic regression indicated that three factors (level of education, number of permanent household residents, perceived social acceptability) significantly influenced respondents' attitudes to reuse of excreta, although only perceived social acceptability had a high strength of association. Overall, our survey revealed that rural households often misuse toilet systems, fail to comply with government-specified sanitation guidelines, have low awareness of alternative solutions, and are over-reliant on the government to fix problems in the service chain. Thus while new sanitation technologies should be developed and implemented, information campaigns that encourage rural households to manage their excreta safely are also important., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2021 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Rural toilet retrofitting (RTR) is a complex, dynamic system that is affected by many factors and the positive/negative feedback relationships between subsystems and variables. Traditional technologies and management methods face challenges in fundamentally describing and solving problems in RTR. To bridge this gap, this study utilizes system dynamics and causal loop diagrams to explain such problems based on data collected from the stakeholders of the RTR in Jiaozhou from 2018 to 2019. Specifically, this study examines the RTR system from the perspectives of household users, wastewater treatment plants, local governments, grassroots promoters, operation and maintenance personnel, toilet supplier and construction teams, and fecal sludge end users. The factors and processes involved in RTR are identified, and the feedback and relationships among its major stakeholders are established. Results show that the motivation of farmers to engage in RTR is a key variable that affects their final decisions regarding retrofitting and maintaining toilet functions. Meanwhile, the important variables related to the feedback and relationships among the major stakeholders of RTR are mostly focused on policies, subsidies, technology, satisfaction, and cooperation. A scientific analysis method and the updated RTR plan for toilet revolution are then formulated to promote the implementation of RTR in developing countries. • Typical case of rural toilet retrofitting in China is selected and investigated. • System dynamics model for simulating rural toilet retrofitting is developed. • Causal loop diagrams for rural toilet retrofitting are presented and analyzed. • Experience of rural toilet retrofitting is shared for other developing countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]