Earth systems, when understood and respected, have the intrinsic capability to be instrumental for sustainable international development. If applied wisely without sophisticated technology, natural processes themselves can serve to sustain and prosper life in specific situations. Global initiatives to provide safe surface and groundwater are booming, but a parallel emphasis on sustainable sanitation is lagging, leaving 2.5 billion people without access to improved sanitation. Many technically sophisticated sanitation systems exist but are beyond the means of those same billions. The Water and Sewage Transformation Endeavor (W.A.S.T.E.) is a program at Wheaton College (Wheaton, Illinois) bringing together undergraduate students and faculty from various natural and social sciences to address the global need for improved sanitation. The goal of the program is to develop a low-tech wastewater treatment system for the Global South and beyond. A laboratory-scale waste stabilization pond system was constructed and studied to compare its effectiveness at reducing biological oxygen demand (BOD), as an indicator of pathogen disinfection, by varying light intensity, temperature, and detention time. The system with the highest light intensity and temperature and longest detention time performed the best, achieving 95% total BOD reduction. The project time line includes phase 1 indoor experimentation, phase 2 installation and operation of an outdoor pilot system, and the final phase 3 development of training programs for deployment of the technology into areas of need. The overall program has already proven to be an excellent educational opportunity for undergraduate students. It will ideally benefit many other student practitioners, and local trainees at candidate sites.

Abstract Organic soil subsidence occurs mainly with drainage and development of peat for agriculture. Subsidence occurs either from densification (loss of buoyancy, shrinkage, and compaction) or from actual loss of mass (biological oxidation, burning, hydrolysis and leaching, erosion, and mining). Densification usully occurs soon after drainage is established. Slow, continuous loss of mass is due mainly to biological oxidation. Erosion is minor except in specific sites. Mining losses vary greatly and depend upon direct removal of the materials. Subsidence rates are determined mainly by type of peat, depth to water table, and temperature. Subsidence losses have been carefully measured in several locations (e.g., the Florida Everglades), and predictions of future subsidence developed in 1950 have proved reliable. Peat drainage and subsidence have several consequences: loss of plant rooting depth where the substrate is unfavorable (stony, acidic, saline), increased pumping for drainage, instability of roads and other structures, increase in nutrient outflows, colder surface temperature during winter nights, and increase of CO2 flux to the global atmosphere The water table for organic soils should be held as high as crop and field conditions allow to reduce subsidence. Computer models offer methods for refining oxidation rate processes and prediction of subsidence losses where adequate calibration data are available. Remote sensing offers a method of assessing organic soil area and drainage changes. These new technologies should improve our assessment, and guide our management, of organic soil resources.