Ecosan Kenya Network

Meru GoK Ecosan Project

2012-11-22T00:28:00.000-08:00

PROJECT NAME MERU GK PRISON DTS DATE VISITED 16th -17th Sep 2010
PROJECT LOCATION EASTERN PROVINCE-KENYA CONSTRUCTION PERIOD June 2007-May 2008
FUNDING SOURCE EU, GTZ, SIDA, Partners GOK,
Name of Contractor GRANITE CONSTRUCTION CO TIME IN USE From May 2010 after Repairs
CONSULTANT Wakala Moses Contact email Wakala.gtz@gmail.com

Management contact Mr. Charles Mutembei Email mutembeicharles@gmail.com

Meru Water Company Mr Moses Njiiri
mnjiiri@yahoo.com

Objective and Motivation of Project
The objectives of the project were mainly
• Introduce the concept of on-site treatment and utilization of the treated waste in agriculture.
• To boost agricultural production thus increasing food security as a result of treated effluent reuse.
• Improve sanitation in prison
• Reduce the cost of firewood by use of biogas produced during anaerobic treatment.
The main motivation of the project was to increase access to good sanitation to all, as per the millennium development goal number 7.
LOCATION AND CONDITION
Meru GK Prison is a government institution located in eastern province in Meru County and about 220 KM on Nairobi Isiolo road. It has over 1200 inmates and over 300 staff in the 15 hectare compound. The prison is on a sloping ground and is supplied with water from the Meru Water company. The prison management realized the potential of the ecological sanitation through a sensitization from the EPP staff. The prison has a big problem of high firewood consumption for cooking the prisoners’ meals. The prison had also high sewage treatment bills from the treatment plant. These issues combined made the prison management to look into possibilities of adopting new technology from ecosan. Initially all the waste generated from the prison was treated by the municipal sewer. The new technology aimed at treating all the waste in the digester and baffle reactor and reusing the treated effluent in the prison farm as irrigation water and fertilizer. The product of anaerobic decomposition, biogas, also called methane was to be used in the kitchen as source of energy.
Currently as on the date of visit, the digester is being fed by four toilets and the cowshed with two zero-grazed animals. There was no gas production as a result of leakage at the neck seal. This was an opportunity to train the prison officers on the sealing and daily maintenance of the treatment plant. All the treatment components from checking seemed to be working well.
Initially, all the waste from the male prison cells and kitchen was connected to the digester. The digester developed a structural failure and also an over-flow within fewer days than specified in design was noticed. These two reasons led to closure of the entire system and deviation of the main prison waste back to municipal sewer. It has been left like this for almost a half a year. On the visitation day, it was noticed that the service pipes laid earlier connecting the staff toilets and the digester had clogged with surface run-off mad. This must be opened during the re-connection.
It was also realized that one of the water-traps manholes near the kitchen was coved with soil completely and could not be established if it was in a working condition. This is an urgent maintenance duty to be done by the prison officers as the gas was to be used in the kitchen soon after sealing the neck.
Challenges
The main challenge in the project is the excess water flowing non-stop from the cells toilets and kitchen. This water seems to be more than the design parameters and it pushes all the waste out of the treatment plant before the end of the design retention time. With this happening, the quality of the effluent is bad and thus causing pollution to the underground water.
Recommendation
I highly recommend a design to reduce the amount of water from the waste before it is discharged to the digester. This could mean that the shower water and any excess kitchen water can be separated before it flows out for treatment. The grey water and kitchen water could be treated in the aeration ponds in the prison while the rest to undergo anaerobic treatment.
The second water trap near the VIP toilet should be checked and all the soil removed on the cover. It could be important to raise the manhole walls to ensure its accessibility.
The blocked service pipes from staff line should be checked and all mad removed before connection to the digester again.
Meanwhile before other connections, it is better for the system to be tested as it is with 8 staff toilets connected and the cowshed. This will help the prison to establish the output and efficiency of the digester after the previous repairs.

PHOTO DOCUMENTARY

Cowshed with two cows feeding the digester. Baffle Reactor in Meru GoK prison done by Ecosan Promotion Project
Note: All photos in the report are taken by M. Wakala during site visit (Consultant)

Monitoring and Post Evaluating EcoSans in Nyanza and Western provinces (Field work for Master Thesis research on Ecological Sanitation)

2012-10-26T05:22:00.000-07:00

Last month EcoSans in rural schools (of EcoSan Promotion Project, EPP) were monitored and post evaluated in Nyanza and Western provinces in Kenya, by a Finnish master student Kirsikka and GIZ consultants Wycliffe and Moses. The purpose of this project is to do research on how these schools have been managing with operation and maintenance (O&M) of EcoSan toilets. Schools selected for this research are the ones managing well with O&M. Besides monitoring and evaluating the situation on the field, the purpose is to find out what are the main reasons for the good performance in these schools. And figure out if there are some particular issues that other schools, and also projects in the future, could learn from these well managing ones. Why are they managing so well, what factors are affecting to that? As known, one of the major challenges considering ecological sanitation is to create a sustainable operation and maintenance mechanism. How to succeed with that in schools, were challenges are e.g. the high population of toilet users and small children?

In Nyanza province altogether five schools were visited, four of them sponsored by GIZ and EcoSan promotion project: Kendu Muslim Secondary School, Kachan Primary School, Siany Mixed Secondary School and Radienia Primary School. One of the schools, Hope and Kindness, was self sponsored. All the schools were managing relatively well with their operation and maintenance. Toilets were correctly used by pupils and teachers, clean, there was no smell or flies and storing facilities were functioning. Urine and also dried and stored compost was utilized in the school farms! I was happy to see how people were dealing with ecological sanitation very positively and they consider it as a very important issue. Interviewed students were pleased to use EcoSans, as they are clean and not smelly. Idea of reusing urea and compost from the toilets as a fertilizer in the school gardens or farms was well accepted. All the pupils I talked with knew the benefits of this natural fertilizer and had accepted the reuse.

Ecological sanitation has been generally accepted very well in these schools and also in the communities around. Some of the schools had built more UDDTs after the EPP, and communities around were involved – which is one important factor. The schools are spreading the ”gospel of EcoSans” (as one head teacher put it) and some schools get visitors who just want to see and learn about ecological sanitation. Pupils would prefer this kind of toilets also in their home communities, and for sure are spreading the idea to their parents and relatives.

Now it’s time to work with the collected data and make some conclusions. I’ll get back to the topic later!

HOPE AND KINDNESS SCHOOL

2012-10-26T04:53:00.000-07:00

Posted by Carola Israel according to information provided by Wycliffe Osumba Ecosan Expert from Kenya (osumbawycliffe@yahoo.com). (10 February 2012)

Hope and Kindness is a self sponsored school located along Kendu Bay – Oyus Road in Rachuonyo South District, Homa Bay County. The school has a population of 180 children. The school is caring for orphans affected by HIV / AIDS pandemic. The school has both day and boarding facilities with some children residing in the school.

They were faced with the following problems:

l Small piece of land

l Smelly pit latrines

l Breeding ground for flies and mosquitoes

l Flooding during rainy season

The soil texture is mixed with some areas rocky and other areas having black cotton soil. The school management was looking for alternative sanitation option and they heard about ECOSAN UDDts and its advantages through awareness creation over the radio and through community awareness meetings.

The school's aim was to recover the nutrients from the units which in actual sense have a good impact on food production, nutrition and health.

They employed a Groundsman who was taking care of the UDDTs and the pit latrines which they are planning to demolish in future.

The units are clean and well maintained. The sanitary towel bin are collected and burnt in the rubbish pit. The end products are being used in the school garden.

Problem

l Blockage of the urine pipe

Solution

l Replacement of the waste pipe with another one of 1” diameter.

KACHAN PRIMARY SCHOOL

2012-10-26T04:51:00.005-07:00

Posted by Carola Israel according to information provided by Wycliffe Osumba Ecosan Expert from Kenya (osumbawycliffe@yahoo.com). (10 February 2012)

Kachan Primary School is a public school sponsored by the government. It is situated in Lower Nyakach Division with a population of 292 pupils.

The school had experienced problems like collapsing pit latrines, smelly pit latrines, rocky soil which made digging of pit latrines extremely difficult.

Through community mobilization and awareness creation, the community learnt more about ECOSAN UDDTs double chamber concept and accepted the technology. The school committee and the community developed interest and accepted the technology.

Before the actual implementation, training was conducted to both community, school committee, teachers and pupils at different levels. There was discussion with the beneficiaries on design and costing of the units which was 4 doors for girls and 2 doors for boys.

A memorandum of understanding was then signed and the school provided sand, ballast, murram, unskilled labour, water, round poles, shuttering timber and curing for their contribution as per the the memorandum of understanding. The EPP gave the rest of the materials plus skilled labour.

Roles and responsibilities in ownership and stainability was discussed before the actual implementation.

Post-construction training was conducted conducted to the students and teachers on the usage, maintenance, monitoring and repair.

The units were found to be clean and well maintained.

Current problems

l Blockage of the urine pipe

Monitoring of the units becomes difficult because the pupils were eager to use them

SIANY SECONDARY SCHOOL

2012-10-26T04:50:00.004-07:00

Posted by Carola Israel according to information provided by Wycliffe Osumba Ecosan Expert from Kenya (osumbawycliffe@yahoo.com). (10 February 2012)

This is a government sponsored school located in Nyabondo, Upper Nyakach Division. It is a mixed secondary school with girls and boys. Majority of the people here are Christians. They practice small scale farming, small businesses and brick making as economic activities.

The school is strategically located to serve the children from the community around. They have a feeding programme serving all the learners with lunch and breakfast.

The school has a population of 262 students, 10 teachers and 5 other staff members.

The UDDTs constructed were 4 doors; 2 doors for girls, 1 for boys and 1 for teachers. They are all in use and well maintained. They like UDDTs concept even though they few.

Reasons why they constructed the UDDTs

l Collapsing pit latrines every year

l Waterlogging of pit latrines during rainy seasons

l Smelly pit latrines

l Recovery of the nutrients

l Permanent construction

Maintenance / Service

l The school has employed a groundsman who is doing the maintenance every day and repair whenever there is need.

l Sanitary towels are being burnt after collection from the bin

l End product is being used in planting of tree seedlings

l Orientation is being done to new staff and students on the usage of the UDDTs

KENDU MUSLIM SECONDARY SCHOOL

2012-10-26T04:44:00.001-07:00

Posted by Carola Israel according to information provided by Wycliffe Osumba Ecosan Expert from Kenya (osumbawycliffe@yahoo.com) (10 February 2012)

Kendu Muslim Secondary School is a government sponsored school located in Kendu Bay Town near Lake Victoria. The soil is mainly black cotton soil making the area unsuitable for digging of pit latrines.

Most of the people living here are Muslims and Christians. Their income levels are low owing to the prevailing poor economic condition thus poverty levels are very high.

The school is strategically located to serve the children from the community who are both Muslims and Christians. Even though it is a day school, they have a lunch programme serving all the learners.

Before the introduction of the UDDTs, the students were served by 4 pit latrines (2 for boys and 2 for girls). The condition of the pit latrines was poor with very pungent smell. They were also flooded during the rainy season thus providing a breeding ground for mosquitoes transmitting malaria.

Problems they were facing before the UDDTs

l Collapsing of the pit latrines during rainy seasons

l Flooding of the pit latrines during rainy seasons

l Foul smell emanating from the pit latrines

l Breeding ground for mosquitoes and flies

l Inadequate water supply for basic hygiene

All the above were causing the environment not to be healthy

Before the construction, there was discussion with the beneficiaries on design and costing of the units which was 2 doors for girls and 2 doors for boys. Thereafter, training was conducted for teachers, board members, community members and students. The training was on Ecological Sanitation Concepts with other options. This was done by the EPP site manager.

The school was also responsible for maintenance, repair, cleaning and the use of the end product in the school farm.

The School Management Committee chose the UDDT chambers because of its advantages and demanded it because of its ling term investment.

Post-construction training was conducted conducted to the students and teachers on the usage, maintenance and repair.

Problems realized during the visits

l Few units to accommodate the school population

l Disposal of the sanitary towels because there was no changing room and some myths behind it.

l Hand washing facility was not installed near the units due to insecurity.

Solution

l Update training was conducted to both students and teachers to fill the missing gaps.

When sensitisation really matters...

2012-07-31T06:16:00.000-07:00

The results of an ex-post evaluation of an EcoSan Promotion Project.

Posted by Cecília Rodrigues according to the GIZ Report produced by Doreen Mbalo and Kathrin Brand (31 July 2012).

Frequently failures on EcoSan projects are attributed to the users, their acceptance and their inability to use the facilities provided properly. This ex-post evaluation report reminds us that good community work can make a difference in project implementation and impacts directly on its results, including issues like acceptability and the sustainability of the sustainable sanitation practices.

The hard facts. The EcoSan Promotion Project (EPP) was developed from November 2006 to June 2010 in Kenya as a project component of the GIZ Water Sector Reform Program. The project with funding from the European Union, SIDA and GIZ, worked in close partnership with the Ministry of Water and Irrigation (Maji House). During the project, 804 double vault Urine Diverting Dehydrating Toilets (UDDTs) and 13 Decentralised Treatment Systems (DTS) were installed. 541 UDDTs were built in households and 263 in institutions. In total, there were 51,600 users. The project focused on rural household and school based sanitation but also implemented toilets on public places like bus stations and institutions like prisons. Many engineers, artisans and professional companies were trained in the sensitisation, planning and the construction of the EcoSan facilities.

Left: Double Vault UDDT. Right: Inside an UDDT.

The evaluation. During ten days in June 2012, two years after the project conclusion, 53 EcoSan facilities on a household level were visited. The visits took place in the clusters of Homabay, Kisumu, Chwele, Ugenya, Mumias, Siaya, Ugunja, Semenya and Ukwala in coordination with the local experts Wycliffe Osumba and Moses Wakala. Out of them, 38 toilets were being used and functioning well. The majority of the consulted users were satisfied with their facilities, especially with the application of the compost and collected urine in their farms, meaning that waste was acknowledged as a resource. The possibility of reuse of the faecal matter as well as the noted benefits of its usage turned out to be a further incentive for sharing the household’s facilities amongst neighbours. Furthermore, cleaner surrounding environment and shared maintenance of the facility were also mentioned as advantages. The complaints were mainly related to urine pipe blockages and termites attacking and damaging the wood material used in the construction of the vaults.

Inspecting the texture of the fertilisers in a dehydration vault.

Right section of the maize received fertilizer from UDDTs.

By comparing the evaluation of the visited toilets, in the cases in which the toilets demonstrated poor results a correspondence can be established with a poor quality of facilitation processes, such as little community mobilization and sensitisation, ownership building and follow up visits by the facilitator. Users were unaware of appropriate toilet use, there were no explanatory posters and they were poorly maintained, facts attributed to “a clear lack of sensitisation and public awareness creation”. Also, from the technical point of view, unfinished and badly constructed facilities demonstrated a need for monitoring and evaluation in all phases of the implementation process.

User inserted pipes in the dehydration chamber leading to an offset pit.

An UDDT used as a pit latrine.

The conducted evaluation did not assess the facilities built in schools and other institutional settings. However there was a recent evaluation done by a Finish Master student with support by GIZ and local experts, which was posted on this forum here. The report also does not mention how the evaluated facilities were selected. Nonetheless the findings are still relevant. The report confirms the importance of not only building facilities, but also carrying on evaluations during project implementation as well as after its completion. Additionally, it reiterates the importance of software components in the projects: “in the areas where appropriate sensitisation and community mobilisation took place, there were no problems of misuse and acceptance.”

The complete report can be downloaded from SuSanA Library.

Open discussion forum helps to answer sanitation related questions

2012-03-19T07:41:00.000-07:00

posted by C. Rieck (GIZ)

We know it all too well from our daily work: E-mails have nowadays become key to our highly interactive and interlinked working environment. But despite being a useful communication tool, it provides only a one-to-one or small group communication and does not allow sharing information to a wider group and to “outsiders”. Therefore valuable information such as reports, discussions, photos, technical drawings, posters and new ideas are locked up in private mailboxes and are not accessible to others. They cannot be found with search engines like Google. Also the sheer number of e-mails can be a burden and hindrance to actually discussing issues and to passing on information when people are looking for it.

One promising avenue is the use of discussion forums. The idea for an open discussion forum on sanitation came from our experience that when you want to buy a new car or have a question about your baby’s teeth: where do you get advice from? You put your question into a search engine like Google and you end up reading other people’s postings on a discussion forum. Usually, those questions and answers prove to be very helpful.

The same mechanism can hold true for a discussion forum on sanitation issues. This is why the secretariat of the Sustainable Sanitation Alliance (SuSanA) set up a new discussion forum and launched it in July 2011: www.forum.susana.org.

The forum is open as opposed to some existing closed forums which require a login even just for reading or are only e-mail based.

“An open forum is a clever and modern way to engage people in knowledge exchange and at the same time make the information easily accessible through search engines such as Google or Yahoo. This way not only the usual “sanitation crowd” but also outsiders can read and most importantly give their valuable input.” explains Dr. Elisabeth von Muench from the Sustainable Sanitation Program at GIZ, where the SuSanA secretariat is located. This secretariat work is carried out by GIZ on behalf of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ).

Screenshoot of on discussion post on peepoo bags in Kenya

The Sustainable Sanitation Alliance (SuSanA) is an informal network of organisations and individuals who share a common vision on sustainable sanitation. SuSanA came into existence in early 2007 and works as a coordination platform, working platform, sounding board, contributor to the policy dialogue on sustainable sanitation and as a “catalyst”. The current number of partner organisations in the SuSanA network is 172 ranging from local NGOs, international NGOs, governmental or state-owned organisations, multilaterals, private sector, networks and associations to education and research institutions. A detailed partner mapping is available here: http://www.susana.org/lang-en/partners/susana-partner-mapping.

Here are four examples of very active discussion threads dealing with Kenya that might be interesting for the readers of this blog:

Health guidelines and standards for pit emptiers and exhauster operators http://forum.susana.org/forum/categories/53-faecal-sludge-management/1256-re-health-guidelines-and-standards-for-pit-emptiers-and-exhauster-operators#1256
The ruby cub business in Kenya http://forum.susana.org/forum/categories/24-menstrual-hygiene-management-mhm/1152-re-the-ruby-cup-business-idea-in-kenya#1152
Free sanitary towels for girls in kenya http://forum.susana.org/forum/categories/24-menstrual-hygiene-management-mhm/1148-re-free-sanitary-towels-for-girls-in-kenya#1148
Some information about the UDDTs of Sanergy http://forum.susana.org/forum/categories/34-urine-diversion-systems-includes-uddt-and-ud-flush-toilet/1101-some-information-about-the-uddts-of-sanergy#1101
Mobile sanitation systems like Peepoo bags in Kenya or a new urine diversion toilet pot in Bangladesh: http://forum.susana.org/forum/categories/52-mobile-solution
Menstrual Hygiene Management, including the Ruby Cup business idea for a menstrual cup in Kenya: http://forum.susana.org/forum/categories/24-menstrual-hygiene-management-mhm

Evaluation on good practices in Ecosan schools in Western Kenya

2012-02-02T02:17:00.000-08:00

Posted by Carola Israel according to information provided by Moses Wakala Ecosan Expert from Kenya (wakala.gtz@gmail.com). (02 February 2012)

Background
The purpose of the contract was to select at least five schools that have Ecosan toilets. The schools must be using the facilities and the products in some way. The consultant was also to move around visiting the school with the Finnish Master student who was doing her field work in Ecological sanitation. A number of schools were selected in Western region that were presumed to be doing well. Some of the selected schools were privately funded while others were funded by GIZ, SIDA and EU in the ended Ecosan Promotion Project.
The consultant has gone ahead to identify new players in the field of ecological sanitation and documentation of good practices amongst all the visited sites. He has gone ahead to establish basic reasons why some schools begin well during the first use of the ecosan toilets and later on dump the whole idea of ecological sanitation to use of pit latrines. A number of reasons have been outlined in the report.

Methodology
School selection
The consultant, being much aware of the task given, begun with the formulation of selection criteria to be used to find the site to be visited. This was done through physical site pre-visits and direct phone conversations to establish their availability for the interview and the status of the facilities to be visited. Some schools were however visited without prior notice due to schools closure and lack of contacts.
Actual work of monitoring was done together with the student by physical examination of the facilities and through interviews with filling of the already prepared questionnaire.

Upgrading of skills learned
During the site visits, the consultant observed how the beneficiary community was utilising the facilities. A number of gaps were identified in the usage and as a result, the consultant planned for refresher trainings on operation and maintenance. This was sometimes done instantly on the same day of visit, or was planned later.
The following schools were visited during the consultancy period:
1. Kakichuma R.C primary school GIZ funded ecosan toilets
2. Kitale Ndogo Primary school GIZ funded
3. Mumias Muslim Primary School GIZ Funded
4. Khaimba Primary School GIZ Funded
5. Eldoret Education Centre Private ownership
6. Chief Mutsembi Primary school Private
7. Hirumbi Primary School.

Findings
Kakichuma Primary School
This school is located in a rocky surrounding. The head-teacher who received the project funded by GIZ is still present. He is well motivated and this has been transferred to the whole school. Most of the pit latrines were shallow and could get filled up easily. They are now happy because they get urine fertilizer for their young tree seedlings planted around the compound. They are using the urine fertilizer on bananas within the school compound. The toilet is well maintained with no smell nor flies. This is their motivation.
Most of the ash is from the school kitchen. At times they send some pupils to bring ash from home. The whole sanitation is done by the health club, teacher on duty and the sanitation teacher. The school has done some repairs and painting of the toilets using the Repair and maintenance kitty from the government. Their biggest challenge is getting water for hand wash during the dry season.

Health Club members infront of the school ecosan toilet in Kakichuma Primary

The researcher with the head teacher, sanitation teacher and pupils in an interview

Mumias Muslim Primary school

The school is located in Mumias town with Muslims as major population. Two Ecosan toilets are used by teachers while two others used by the boys. The girls don’t have access to Ecosan toilets in this school.
The school has been using the urine on the school farm and it has produced good results as from the Head-teacher. The school’s main reason for doing well in hygiene is due to regular organised meetings by the sanitation teacher who also conducts trainings to new pupils at the beginning of every term. They have a constant supply of ash from the school kitchen and pupils bring the commodity once in a while when demand is high. We visited the school when it had just opened and many sections were not yet cleaned. The consultant found the toilet in use and some boys preferred Ecosan toilet to normal pit latrine due to its lack of smell.
It was also observed that the school had dug some pits to construct ordinary pit latrine because there was no squatting pan available and the ones available in the market are too expensive to purchase.

Front side of the staff toilet in Mumias Muslim Primary school.

Khaimba Primary school
This was the first school ever to be funded by GIZ in Ecosan toilet construction. The initial training on construction, usage and maintenance was done in this school by the Ecosan team in Kenya. The school has been doing so well in managing the toilets. This was brought about by the initial motivation of getting a resource from human waste which was otherwise useless from cultural beliefs. The pupils like using the toilets because of their odourless and safety.
The current status is slowly deteriorating due to new teachers coming who seems to have little knowledge on Ecosan toilets and as such little motivation to the pupils.

Inside the toilet in Khaimba Primary school showing ash, squatting pan and finished toilet paper.

Handwash facility at Khaimba Primary school

Kitale Ndogo Primary School

The consultant visited the school when it had just closed for December holiday. The school is located in a swampy area and during dry periods, it has high water table. This can be explicitly shown by the collapsing pit latrines. GIZ funded the construction of 4 units for pupils and the school has also sourced for funding from Regional development fund CDF, to construct additional four units. It was observed that the school has got general management problems that need to be addressed urgently. The consultant did the initial training to the school stakeholders and they begun well using the facilities. Blockages and general misuse is noticed in the Ecosan toilets in this school. But this may not seem an issue to the school as even the pit latrines are in a mess. The consultant has booked to address sanitation issues in school during the new semester.

Four Ecosan toilets funded by GIZ in Kitale Ndogo Primary

Inside the toilet at Kitale ndogo with blocked urine pipe due to ash spillage.

Eldoret Education Complex

The school is located in Eldoret town with a population of over 200 pupils and 20 workers. The only sanitation option in school is 4 Ecosan toilets and boys urinal. The school is funded from a church organization in Kenya. They learnt of this technology through the internet and then made contacts with the consultant for construction and user training. The school is enjoying to use the facilities and also doing more construction of similar toilets as the school is expanding. The toilets are cleaned by a trained caretaker employed by the school. She is responsible for daily cleaning, ash addition, removal of filled up urine containers and replacing toilet papers. She is the one who advices other grounds people on urine usage in the farm.
The first chambers of all the toilets are now full. Second chambers are being used at the moment. The school is using the urine in the vegetable farm mixed together with irrigation water. Many changes as a result of using the products can be seen in the school including health live fence and flowers fed by urine fertilizer. Many people have visited this school to learn about the technology.

Pupils in EEC visiting their Ecosan toilet with Hand-wash infront.

Inside of the toilet in EEC with ash container and instruction chart.

Urine store constructed by the school with urine containers. Urine is kept here for two weeks before it is used in farm for irrigation. Filled up Jericans are labelled when they are put in the store.

The consultant sampling the decomposed faecal matter to see its quality

Urine being mixed with irrigation water to be used in vegetable farm as fertilizer in drip irrigation.

Hirumbi Primary School

This school is located in the outskirts of Kakamega town. The school has just gotten funding from an organisation based in Austria for construction of Ecosan toilets. The main purpose of the visit ton the school was capacity building and making the school the hub of Ecosan technology in the area. The school planned for O & M training on this day with all the stakeholders invited. The Ministry of education emphasized on the need to follow instruction for anything to work well.
Topics covered were among others, use, maintenance, reuse of urine and decomposed faecal matter, advantages of Ecosan toilet and general hygiene like hand washing.

One of the Ecosan experts in Training at Hirumbi Primary school.

General Challenges for each school
The following were observed as general challenges in most of the Ecosan schools visited. Regular blockage of the urine pipes by ash. Pressure on the existing few facilities as GIZ was only funding 4 doors. Lack of constant training in schools to the users leading to misuse. The squatting pans are not easily available for further construction.

Regular blockage of the urine pipes by ash.
Pressure on the existing few facilities as GIZ was only funding 4 doors.
Lack of constant training in schools to the users leading to misuse.
The squatting pans are not easily available for further construction.

Replication
A number of schools are now looking for different funding from different organization to construct their own toilets.
This was seen in Western Kenya in Kakamega where two three primary schools are now having the Ecosan toilets funded by other organization like CDF etc.
This was witnessed in three schools around Kakamega where the schools are soliciting funds from other sources to construct Ecosan toilets. Many private schools are currently making inquiry on how to have similar facilities. This means that many people in the community are now understanding the
economic importance of the technology. The cost of an Ecosan toilet has not been an excuse in the society looking at the long term benefits of Ecosan toilets. A simple pit latrine costs half the price of one Ecosan toilet in the surrounding.

Conclusion
School sanitation and public place sanitation is a big challenge to the community. This has been as a result of negligence and attitude from the users. Many people have good toilets at their homes but most public toilets are left un attended to all the times. This has been the case for so many years in the region. In schools, sanitation condition has always been depended on the school priorities. For example when the school administration values hygiene, then the school toilets will be well maintained. Ecosan toilets have been said to be difficult to maintain in public schools especially where small kids are using the facilities. This is as a result of constant blockages of urine pipes with ash. Good Ecosan working schools have put a caretaker to be in charge of the facilities. This person is responsible for day to day maintenance of the toilets at a fee. Public Ecosanitation is therefore only possible when there is somebody in charge. The same caretaker is in charge of regular training of the users on proper usage.

The school routine should emphasize on good hygiene in the school. This topic of sanitation has been put on some well performing Ecosan schools as a lesson taught every week in classes. This is a constant reminder to the pupils of proper toilet usage and care. It has also been extended to the environmental/ Sanitation/ Health clubs which also offers similar topics in their meetings.

Some schools had a good start-up in Ecosan toilet use and good practices were late noticed after some tome. This was noted in the region as some schools expected to be doing well had deteriorated to poor hygiene standards. It was observed that it was due to change of the responsible teachers who received the projects. The new teachers may not be well motivated about the project and or at times with poor knowledge on the O & M in Ecosan facilities.

Future GIZ intervention should major most in trainings and capacity building. This should be done together will all the stakeholders so that there is no time there is technology vacuum in the schools or community. The
education ministry can also promote this type of sanitation in all the schools that needs it. This may include flooding regions, rocky areas, unstable soil area and areas with high water table or limited space for toilet construction. This has been done in some private schools that are rushing now to acquire the plastic squatting pan. GIZ will come in handy to try and avil this squatting pan in large supply. At the moment, it is the only challenge among the schools that are turning to Ecosan.

Update on Engineers Without Borders in Ukunda: Construction of school UDDTs completed

2012-01-24T05:58:00.000-08:00

Posted by Leonie Kappauf according to information provided by Stefan Miethig from Engineers Without Borders (stefan.miethig@gmx.de). (24 January 2011)

The school sanitation project in the DARAD education centre in Ukunda (see blog entry by Julia Seitz from March 2011) is now completed. Engineers Without Borders Germany (regional division Aachen) have facilitated the construction of a school toilet block with separate facilities for girls (4 urine diversion dehydration toilets (UDDTs)) and boys (three urinals and three UDDTs) as well as one barrier-free toilet (single vault Wonderloo) for persons with special needs.

The toilets are maintained by school staff. Staff members and the newly formed students' "Health Club" share the responsibility of explaining new students and guests how to properly use the new toilets. Water for the handwashing facilities is provided by a rainwater harvesting system.

School toilet with rainwater harvesting tanks

The construction phase was challenging and EWB will use the lessons learned for the design of future projects. Main challenges have been: (i) low quality of available building materials which made adaptations of the design necessary, (ii) delayed by construction permits. As a result the construction period turned out to be longer than expected which caused higher costs for the repayment of the loan. In addition the costs were increased by unexpected costs for required permissions. The relatively high costs might be one factor that discouraged the local population and local NGOs to replicate the toilet design so far. To overcome this challenge and promote the adaptation of safe toilet facilities EWB is now planning to revisit the project site and to build a low-cost demonstration toilet. Building such a demonstration toilet as was also included in the original project plans but the realization had to be postponed due to time constraints.

Training of school staff

Despite the initial challenges Engineers without Borders have received very positive feedback from the students and teachers. Students of the new formed "Young Farmers Club" are now using the urine as fertilizer in the school gardens. The club members also exchange experiences with the local office of the Ministry of Agriculture in Likoni and have learned about “balcony farming”. In January 2012 the dried faeces from the chambers were removed for the first time and brought to nearby farmers.

Gardening activities in the school

Engineers without Borders wishes to thank the GIZ ecosan team for their support with getting the required permissions and training the school staff. Special thanks goes to Wycliffe Osumba, Paul Patrick Onyango and Christian Rieck.

For more photos of the project please visit:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/gtzecosan/sets/72157628950684835/

Monitoring and Post Evaluating UDDTs in Nyanza and Western provinces

2011-12-06T00:45:00.000-08:00

written by Kirsikka Pynnönen
(Field work for Master Thesis research on Ecological Sanitation)

Last month UDDTs in rural schools (of Ecosan Promotion Project, EPP) were monitored and post evaluated in Nyanza and Western provinces in Kenya, by a Finnish master student Kirsikka and GIZ consultants Wycliffe and Moses. The purpose of this project is to do research on how these schools have been managing with operation and maintenance (O&;M) of ecosan toilets. Schools selected for this research are the ones managing well with O&;M. Besides monitoring and evaluating the situation on the field, the purpose is to find out what are the main reasons for the good performance in these schools. And figure out if there are some particular issues that other schools, and also projects in the future, could learn from these well managing ones. Why are they managing so well, what factors are affecting to that? As known, one of the major challenges considering ecological sanitation is to create a sustainable operation and maintenance mechanism. How to succeed with that in schools, were challenges are e.g. the high population of toilet users and small children?


Comparison on maize field of different fertilizers (chemical fertilizer / EcoSan compost) shows good results for EcoSan! Hope and Kindness, Nyanza province.

EcoSans on the school yard, Kakichuma primary school, Western Province.

In Nyanza province altogether five schools were visited, four of them sponsored by GIZ and Ecosan promotion project: Kendu Muslim Secondary School, Kachan Primary School, Siany Mixed Secondary School and Radienia Primary School. One of the schools, Hope and Kindness, was self sponsored. All the schools were managing relatively well with their operation and maintenance. Toilets were correctly used by pupils and teachers, clean, there was no smell or flies and storing facilities were functioning. Urine and also dried and stored compost was utilized in the school farms! I was happy to see how people were dealing with ecological sanitation very positively and they consider it as a very important issue. Interviewed students were pleased to use UDDTs, as they are clean and not smelly. Idea of reusing urea and compost from the toilets as a fertilizer in the school gardens or farms was well accepted. All the pupils I talked with knew the benefits of this natural fertilizer and had accepted the reuse.

In Western province schools were already closing for the Christmas holidays, so we managed to visit only some of them. Eldoret Educational Center was a very good example of well operating and maintaining schools! But, we also got one example of the opposite performance: in Kitale Ndogo Primary school the maintenance of UDDTs seemed to be entirely neglected, and the condition of the facilities was terrible. Unfortunately the head of the school was not around, so reasons for this bad performance could not be figured out. Field observations and interviews in Western province will be continued next week, and also Kitale Ndogo Primary will be visited again.

A look inside to a well maintained UDDT, Eldoret Educational Centre, Western Province.

Dry product ready for storing, Eldoret.

Ecological sanitation has been generally accepted very well in these schools and also in the communities around. Some of the schools had built more UDDTs after the EPP, and communities around were involved – which is one important factor. The schools are spreading the ”gospel of ecosans” (as one head teacher put it) and some schools get visitors who just want to see and learn about ecological sanitation. Pupils would prefer this kind of toilets also in their home communities, and for sure are spreading the idea to their parents and relatives.

Now it’s time to work with the collected data and make some conclusions. I’ll get back to the topic later!

Who Gives A Crap? Sanitation, Energy and Entrepreneurship in Kenya

2011-11-23T00:24:00.000-08:00

Extract from an article in Forbes magazine (online) below on Sanergy work in Kibera slums. Full article here http://www.forbes.com/sites/elmirabayrasli/2011/05/23/who-gives-a-crap-sanitation-energy-and-entrepreneurship-in-kenya/

...

David Auerbach and Ani Vallabhaneni, two of Sanergy’s young entrepreneurs, didn’t need stats to know how the absence of toilets affected the poor. The two graduating MIT-Sloan of Management school students experienced first hand the challenges of no sewage or sanitation when they lived and worked in rural China and India respectively. “Going to the bathroom isn’t a popular topic that comes up at the dinner table in the West,” Auerbach, a former policy hand at the Clinton Global Initiative (and my former colleague at Endeavor), says. “It’s flush and forget for us. That’s not the case in much of the developing world.”

Children at a Sanergy toilet in Kibera slum

Auerbach and Vallabhaneni knew what they didn’t know. What they didn’t know was that they couldn’t draft up a sanitation solution in Boston – without the insights and input of those in the developing world. Committed to launching a start-up that would truly work for the poor, the two, along with a team of MIT classmates traveled to Kenya for the answers. Kenya, with eight million without access to proper sanitation but a university filled with bright and eager minds to help solve the problem, was an ideal testing ground. In January 2010 the team, in collaboration with the University of Nairobi, conducted a user survey among Kenya’s urban poor, inquiring about their lives. “It was important to us that we found a solution that fit into their lives, not our imagination of their lives,” Auerbach says.

What they found was that Kenya’s poor were interested in having compact stalls that could fit into the tight spaces of their usually one-room homes, rather than large community outhouses. They wanted a “permanent” feel to the stalls rather than the flimsy feel of a porta-potty. As a result, Auerbach, Vallabhaneni and their Sanergy team that includes engineers, architects and designers drew up plans for a 3×5 toilet made out of thin shell cement that is locally produced for $200 per unit. Each toilet is designed for a 100 uses per day. They are units, which also collect waste in double-sealed 30L containers, rather than pits, or septic tanks “that are then drained into waterways.” It is this waste collection that is key.

More than where to go to the bathroom, how to dispose of human waste is, as Auerbach points out, a primary reason that no one touches the issue of toilets. That was Sanergy’s opportunity. Recognizing that, though “messy,” human waste can be converted through anaerobic digestion to produce fertilizer or electricity. It is also where the Sanergy team recognized that it could generate revenue.

Sanergy produces toilets that are franchised to local operators who charge around $0.06 per use. Currently the company has two toilets serving approximately 150 each day. One is at Bridge International school (a for-profit school supported by the Omidyar Network), the other in Kibera, Kenya’s largest slum. These local operators keep all revenues. That, Auerbach says, is an incentive for them to clean, maintain and “market” the toilets. The operators then work with groups who collect the waste daily and bring it to facilities where it is converted to energy. “The waste from each toilet generates Sanergy revenues of $1250 per year.” The waste from 10 million creates a potential market of $178 million per year. Brown gold.

Sanitation training in primary school in Ngong Township

2011-11-15T01:12:00.000-08:00

Posted by Leonie Kappauf on behalf of Moses Wakala

Barclays Bank Ngong branch Kenya is funding several projects in the surrounding of Ngong through their Community Project program. Sanitation is one of the projects that the bank is supporting in some schools around Ngong Hills in Kenya. The area is located on black cotton sticky soils that are unstable and therefore rather unfavourable for traditional pit latrines. The bank has therefore opted for UDDTs in some schools in order to test whether the community is accepting this technology.The UDDTs are constructed with fibre glass squatting pans and hydro form blocks for the superstructure, which has greatly reduced the cost of the toilets.

Sanitation training in Ngong primary school

The biggest challenge for the bank's program is the lack of a training component within the project. Moses Wakala, a Kenyan sanitation expert from Ecosanity Ltd., formerly working with GTZ, observed that the toilets in the school compound were not used and the doors were locked. He learnt that the toilets were not in use since the school did not have the necessary knowhow about the technology. Consequently, Wakala initiated a full training for proper use of UDDT toilets at the school at his own cost.

Moses Wakala explaining UDDT usage

The training covered usage, operation and maintenance, product recycling, hygiene and information on other types of ecosan systems. The training was successful and the school UDDTs are now in use.

For his contact please check the contacts page on this blog http://ecosankenya.blogspot.com/p/network-contacts.html

Double vault UDDTs for pastoralist communities in Narok South, Kenya

2011-11-08T06:18:00.000-08:00

Posted by Leonie Kappauf (GIZ) with information provided by Richard Napper (Wherever the Need)

The British charity Wherever the Need and the Kenyan Rainwater Association (KRA) have constructed double vault urine diversion dehydration toilets (UDDTs) in Narok South Kenya. The UDDT construction is part of a project targeting a population of 3,000 through the provision of a large rainwater collection reservoir, a small livelihood opportunity, a tree nursery and improved sanitation facilities. The two combined UDDTs and bathrooms are located next to the reservoir as part of the auxiliary facilities. It is estimated that they will attract around 200 users weekly.

Combined UDDT and bathroom under construction

The project location is approximately 140 kilometres west of Nairobi, where open defecation is common among the Ildungisho community. Aim of the toilet construction was to reduce water contamination through open defecation as well as through bathing and washing clothes inside the households’ water source. Awareness creation about the relationship between unhygienic sanitation, water quality and the transmission of water borne diseases is part of the project.

Urine diversion squatting pan

The project has taken into account the cultural beliefs and traditions of the Maasai community at the project site and has provided gender separated toilets and bathrooms. The Ministry of Public Health and Sanitation will be involved in the community training, advocating improved sanitation and hygiene practices, which is expected to increase the projects sustainable impact on sanitation and hygiene practices in the area.

Access to bathroom (right) and faeces chambers (left)

For more information please visit: http://www.wherevertheneed.org.uk/projects/kenya-projects/narok-south/

Reaching 800,000 urban poor through up-scaling household and plot-level sanitation in Kenya

2011-09-21T09:41:00.000-07:00

Posted by Doreen Mbalo (GIZ) with information provided by Roland Werchota (GIZ Kenya) and Han Seur (WSTF)

Water Services Trust Fund (WSTF), German Financial Cooperation (KfW) and the German Development Cooperation (GIZ) will be partnering with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF) on a 5 year urban sanitation program that aims to provide sustainable sanitation services up to additional 800,000 people in the urban low income areas. The program will specifically target the population of the “sanitation hotspots” in Kenya; the informal and formal / unplanned and planned low-income urban settlements where child mortality is twice the national average. This cooperation is in line with the Ministry of Water and Irrigation aspirations enshrined in the Kenyan Constitution that sanitation is a fundamental human right.

Plots with multiple housing units

This up-scaling program is drawing on experiences of the three globally active organisations BMGF, GIZ and KfW to develop broad-based implementation strategies and is a significant expansion of previous work of the Kenyan WSTF. It builds on the ongoing WSTF up-scaling initiatives for increasing access to safe water with the support of GIZ, KfW, and the European Union which has provided quality- and price-controlled drinking water to additionally 750,000 urban poor since 2009.

Almost 50% of Kenyans have no access to a toilet with acceptable standards, only 19% are connected to a sewer system and 12% are forced to open defecation. This is unacceptable for the individuals and highly compromises public health which hampers the country’s economic and social growth.

Plot with a poor sanitation unit for several families

The efforts carried out in the past through stand-alone projects by informal service providers have had little impact and sustainability. This will change as the up-scaling program is now aligned to national strategies and will make use of sector institutions, building their capacities as well as offering for the first time a sound national concept for up-scaling of improved urban sanitation at household and plot level. It will go hand in hand with the concept for public sanitation already part of the WSTF Urban Project Cycle (UPC) and presently being rolled out country-wide.

The financial support for up scaling sanitation will be demand-driven and implemented through annual Call for Proposals to the registered Water Service Providers (WSPs) by the WSTF. The proposed plot and household-level sanitation up-scaling project will target the population of the urban “sanitation hotspots” in the low income settlements. Residents of such low-income areas can apply for support to the WSPs once the concept and the financing mechanism is in place. The concept will be embedded in the water sector and its institutions, to ensure sustainability of the project outputs. The program aims to provide access to improved low-cost sanitation for up to 10% of the estimated 5 million underserved.

The proposed program subscribes to the principle of the full value chain for sanitation (sustainable sanitation services approach). It will promote sanitation facilities of different types (including UDDTs for instance) but also include sludge management which will be treated as a business opportunity.

The proposed program is jointly financed by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (10.00 Million USD) and the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) through the KfW Entwicklungsbank (10.00 Million USD). Additional in-kind contributions will be made by GIZ as well as by the relevant Kenyan sector institutions. The GIZ program will closely cooperate with the SV (Sector Program) and sanitation networks within GIZ in order to ensure validation of lessons learned and integration of innovations.

For more info, please email Patrick.Onyango@giz.de

Sanitation experts brainstorm in Kigali, Rwanda

2011-09-14T07:15:00.000-07:00

Posted by Doreen Mbalo (GIZ)

The Africa Water & Sanitation magazine in its September - October edition featured an article on the 13th SuSanA meeting in Kigali. The magazine is distributed for free in Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania and various other countries.

It describes the activities and outcomes of the 13th SuSanA meeting which took place at the Kigali Institute of Science and Technology (KIST) in Kigali, Rwanda, from 17 – 18 July 2011. The meeting took place prior to the Third Africa Conference on Sanitation and Hygiene (AfricaSan3). It was jointly hosted by the Ministry of Health (Rwanda), UNICEF-Rwanda and the SuSanA secretariat (at GIZ) and was attended by 107 participants. You can find the article here September-October edition of the Water & Sanitation magazine

Group photo taken at the 13th SuSanA meeting which was held at the KIST in Kigali, Rwanda. Photo taken on 18 July 2011 by S. Blume

Kisumu urban seminar on water and sanitation in slums

2011-09-12T07:25:00.000-07:00

by Christian Rieck (GIZ)

The Sustainable Environment and Community Development project (SECODE) intends to hold urban seminars on 7th – 8th December 2011 in Kisumu. This years event will the the first one of a annual series. The Kisumu urban seminar will focus on two themes each year. For this year the Kisumu Urban Seminar theme is proposed to be on Waste, Water and sanitation which is coherent with the Kisumu City council current strategic focus. The second theme will be on Information exchange and networking in informal settlements: successful case studies

The Seminar will be organized by SECODE Project-Umande Trust through the collaboration of VE International. More sponsors are invited to come on board. Sponsor will be recognized through publications and in the conference papers on the conclusion of the seminar.

Thematic area 1: Waste Management, Water and sanitation challenges and local innovations
Thematic area 2 : Information exchange, Parnership and networking in informal settlements: Successful case studies

Deadline for applications is 15th October 2011.

For further details contact:
Ann Nabangala Obae
Umande Trust- SECODE Project
Project Officer: Capacity Building and Information
+254 412004532/ +254720204861
Email: a.obae@umande.org http://www.secodeproject.org/

PeePoo - Toilets in bags

2011-07-27T01:59:00.000-07:00

by Xizi Ling (GIZ) with information provided by Camilla Wirseen (peepoople)

The Peepoo sanitation solution is an alternative approach to tackle the lack of sanitation in informal settlements and during emergencies. Anders Wilhelmson is the Swedish inventor of the idea in Sweden in 2005 and was developed together with a team of multidisciplinary researchers. He wants to give poor people in developing countries a simple way to improve their lives. The toilet is a single-use bag made of environmentally friendly plastics. The inside is treated with urea, a chemical commonly used as fertilizer. A natural reaction kills harmful organisms in the waste. It reduces the waste to fertilizer that Anders Wilhelmson says is safe for growing food. The sanitation toilet bag was invented by a Professor of Architecture Anders Wilhelmson (Ashoka fellow) in Sweden in 2005 and was developed together with a team of multidisciplinary researchers.

In summer 2010 a small scale production was set up in Nairobi and in November the same year the Peepoo sanitation system was launched in Silanga village in Kibera Nairobi Kenya, which was Peepoople’s first launch project. Today in Kibera, four sales women are selling the Peepoo for 3 KSH (0.03 EUR) and when brought to collection point a refund of 1 KSH (0.01 EUR) is paid back. The aim is to have 20 000 users all over Kibera by 2013 after a high-speed production line will be operation by the end of 2012.

The current production costs from the small scale production of peepoos are still high with about 7 KSH per peepoo thus a subsidy is currently provided. In the long run the costs for production will be brought down further and the expected money return from the sale of the sanitized peepoos to farmers shall make it a self-sustaining business model. However this will take some time and many research and development partners are actively engaged in this process including the University of Nairobi. For more infos see contacts below.

Click here to see the peepoo story in Silanga from next million blog

More than 1500 school children have been taught WASH by the Peepoople Kenya team and have the possibility to use the Peepoo. The Sales women have about 1200 customers (both men and women) and they witness improved health and cleaner environment. By summer 2012 Peepoople will start producing 500 000 Peepoos daily which will enable large deliveries to emergencies.

More info please go to http://www.peepoople.com/ or contact the Kenya office

Peepoople Kenya

House No 1 Kibera Phase V
LR 61/441 Olympic,
P.O. Box 21486-00505 Nairobi, Kenya
phone: +254 (0)701 435 800
email: kenya@peepoople.com

Chief Mutsembi Primary School Ecosan Project completed!

2011-07-14T03:03:00.000-07:00

Edited by Xizi Ling (GIZ) and provided by Moses Wakala (ecosanity)

Finally, Chief Mutsembi Primary School Ecosan Project in Kakamega is completed!

The ecosan project lasted from March to May 2011 and was funded by the Western Water Company and the consultancy company RODECO. At the end of May, the school facilities have been completed well and are ready for use by 600 pupils and teachers in Chief Mutsembi Primary School and Nabongo Primary School.

Ecosanity Services Ltd, the contractor of the project has already done initial user training. They also recommend official commissioning of the facility and possible upscaling due to high demand in the schools. One of the schools (Chief Mutsembi) has already got funding from CDF (Community Development Foundation) to construct six more double vault UDDT's (Urine diversion dehydration toilets).

Pic 1: Completed double vault UDDT's at Chief Mutsembi Primary school with two toilets and urinal

Pic 2:Two double vault UDDT's for pupils at Nabongo Primary school

Pic 3: Completed double vault UDDT's at Chief Mutsembi Primary school

Pic 4: Stakeholders Training in progress at LVNWSB (Lake Victoria North Water Services Board) conference room in Kakamega

Pic 5: Installation of a double vault UDDT user manual poster in toilets at the sites in Kakamega

Other three posts on Ecosan Network Kenya concerning the project:

Chief Mutsembi ecosan Primary School Project     on Jan 04, 2011

Chief Mutsembi Ecosan Primary School Project    on Feb 28, 2011

Chief Mutsembi Primary School - update on the UDDT construction    on May 02, 2011

Please contact Moses Wakala, ecosan expert and entrepreneur for more information (wakala.gtz@gmail.com).

Time to harvest from Namwela Community UDDT!!!

2011-07-11T06:53:00.000-07:00

by Moses Wakala (posted through Xizi Ling)

It was great news at Namwela Community UDDT constructed early last year (see the post here: http://ecosankenya.blogspot.com/2011/01/namwela-community-uddt-toilet-bungoma.html) when they came together to witness the harvesting of decomposed manure from their toilet. A team of the community members and artisans who were involved in the construction were present to witness this activity.

Many of the members present had been using the toilet but they had never experienced the removal of the fertilizer. They were in fact afraid of what could be present in the chambers when the chambers were to be opened by the expert. They could not imagine using human faeces as a soil additive.

Many of them were astonished at the way the expert was confident in opening the chambers. To their surprise, there was no odour from the compost. It was decomposed and looked much less like the animal manure they were used to handle. They were the first to take the compost by the spade to use on the farm to plant maize.

Pic1. Maize planted with decomposed organic manure from UDDT

This was an encouragement to most of the people present to construct similar toilets in their homes.

The facility here was constructed by Ecosan Promotion project funded by GIZ and EU.

Pic 2. Sampling the quality of decomposed manure from the UDDT Chamber

Community Cleaning Services CCS - clean toilet “magician”

2011-06-22T02:00:00.000-07:00

Edited by Xizi Ling (GIZ)

CCS - Community Cleaning Services is an emerging Kenyan nonprofit social enterprise working with entrepreneurial teams across Nairobi’s low-income communities providing significantly cleaner, more hygienic and more “usable” toilets at a cost each client can afford (usually less than $0.25 per family per week, the same cost as a soda).

(Resource: “S.C. JOHNSON & COMMUNITY

(Resource: “S.C. JOHNSON & COMMUNITY CLEANING SERVICES: Delivering Sustainable

Diverse infrastructures (vertical and horizontal dwellings) and community structures are operated by CCS. It is providing cleaning services to residential toilets shared across multiple households as well as semi-public facilities in the communities serving residents who do not have access to a residential toilet.

There are 8 “coordinating entrepreneurs” who employ at least another 60 on a semi-regular basis (2-6 days per week). 14 CCS teams currently service around 225 facilities per week. Monthly, CCS teams are improving sanitation for a conservatively estimated 249,000 low-income Nairobi residents and are using S.C. Johnson cleaning products. More infos on the partnership with S.C. Johnson is found on http://www.e4sw.org/projects-initiatives/sc-johnson-kenya.

*Germ level is measured by the amount of organic material that remains on the surface. RLUs are Relative Light Units. A chemical on the germ monitor swab causes organic materials to glow and the monitor reads the Relative Light Units, or the amount of light emitted.

(Resource: “Investing in People, Investing for the Planet”)

In addition, CCS teams re-use all packaging and only replace it once it has served its full useful life—and then it is recycled locally. They are not only delivering cleaner, safer toilets, but also, by nearly eliminating packaging waste, contributing to cleaner communities and setting a positive commercial example.

CCS recently became a partner of the Sustainable Sanitation Alliance (SuSanA), and is expecting to learn what others are doing in the East African sanitation space through this platform and share what they are doing and their learning’s with other partner oraganisations. They also took part in the ecosan vision workshop of last year in Nairobi http://www.susana.org/lang-en/library/conferences/2010-conferences/183-2010-conferences/472-ecosan-workshops-kenya.

CCS evolved through a bottom-up process driven by a unique partnership between entrepreneurial low-income youth and SC Johnson a multi-national company. CCS has deep roots in the community and has a pragmatic, locally orientated business approach to the issues of urban sanitation, which they believe can be replicated. They hope to create demand for improved sanitation, new income opportunities and cleaner, safer toilets in Nairobi’s lowest income communities.

Turning Problems into Opportunities

Problem

When cleaning walls, water and dish soap would be splashed onto the wall by hand. Water would run down the wall and drain away, requiring even more water to complete the cleaning task.

Solutions

CCS now mix the water and cleaner into foam by pouring them back and forth between two buckets. The foam stays on the wall for a thorough scrubbing, and requires about half as much water and cleaner.

Results

By using less water, the cleaners can make fewer trips to the water source, which is often distant. This increases the number of sites that can be cleaned in a day and reduces costs since most water sources charge a fee. Water use is reduced by 57 percent and local team profits can more than double, particularly during frequent droughts and soaring water costs

Contacts
Address: CCS, No. 33 Parklane Stalls, Outer Ring Road, 53042-00200 Nairobi, Kenya

Contact: Joseph Njenga

Internet: www.comcservice.com

Phone: 0722209733

Category: Private sector

S.C. Johnson (cleaning products) :

Contact: Justin P. DeKoszmovszky

Internet: http://www.scjohnson.com/de/home.aspx

Contact information was taken from SuSanA website http://www.susana.org/lang-en/partners)

Sanitation + Energy = Sanergy!

2011-05-30T01:01:00.000-07:00

Edited by Xizi Ling (GIZ)
Sanergy is a NGO led by international and Kenyan students, that aims at building sustainable sanitation in urban slums. The groups aims to generate renewable energy through providing clean sanitation services in countries that desperately lack both. They build and franchise low cost sanitation centers to local entrepreneurs in previously unreachable urban slum communities. The waste, from their network of sanitation centers, is transported to their centralized processing facility. Using proven technologies, waste are converted into electricity and organic fertilizer which can be sold to the grid and the commercial farms. They also build low cost toilet for less than 200 Dollars per unit which is a thin-shell pre-cast concrete assembly. See also links below.

Video on how the sanergy sanitation system works?

Turn on the lights from Ani Vallabhaneni on Vimeo.

It consists of a number students from MIT Sloan School of Management, Cambrigde, USA and other motivated Kenyans.

Through each action, Sanergy creates jobs, opportunity, and profit, while simultaneously addressing serious social needs and tapping a market potential of $25M in Kenya alone. MIT Sloan school, Babson College and many motivated Kenyans. The MIT Sloan School of Management, based in Cambridge, Massachusetts (USA), is one of the world’s leading business schools — conducting cutting-edge research and providing management education to top students from more than 60 countries.

Read more about Sanergy related to Ecosan on their new blog http://saner.gy/ and the old one http://kenyasanergy.blogspot.com/. Kenneth Owade from Sanergy had also participated in the ecosan workshop last year in Nairobi. See a few examples of their great work here:

Lunga Lunga! Hip Hip Hooray!

Flying toilet? NO!!! Eco-toilet? YES!!!
Pilot site of UDDT been constructed in Lunga Lunga! Our toilet in Lunga Lunga is on the grounds of a Bridge International Academies school. Bridge is a social enterprise that’s building low-cost (i.e., $4/month), high-quality private primary schools in the slums.

http://saner.gy/2010/08/25/lunga-lunga-hip-hip-hooray/

New Sanergy Toilet at the school

The squat plate lifts up for easy access to the collection barrels

Click here to the gallery!

Painting Kibera Blue

Another eco-toilet has been built in Kibera!

See how the toilet comes into reality:

http://saner.gy/2010/08/31/painting-kibera-blue/

Before: A lack of waste management has turned Kibera into a landfill

After: Ready for business!

More photos? Click here!

Pedal Powered Poop Pump

Worlds first pedal powered poop pump:

The Sanergy Cycle -- A better way to empty pit latrines.

Video here!!

The launch of the CLTS campaign "ODF Rural Kenya by 2013" on 11th May 2011

2011-05-10T04:51:00.000-07:00

Edited by Trevor Surridge (GIZ)

The Ministry of Public Health & Sanitation (MoPHS)'s National Sanitation Strategy envisages to declare rural Kenya as Open Defecation Free (ODF) by the year 2013. The impressive progress made since last year under the ongoing Community Led Total Sanitation (CLTS) campaign in Western and Nyanza Provinces has demonstrated that this ambitious target is very achievable. However in order to achieve this ambitious target and meet the Millennium Development Goals (MDG) a dramatic and rapid up-scaling of the successful projects in Western and Nyanza Provinces needs to take place throughout the entire country.

Realising that up scaling CLTS over the next two and half years will not be possible with a "business as usual" approach, the Ministry of Public Health & Sanitation is establishing a National CLTS Coordination and Knowledge Management Hub with the assistance of UNICEF, SNV and other partners. The Honourable Minister for Public Health & Sanitation, Mrs. Beth Mugo will lead the inauguration of the hub at Afya House, Nairobi on 11th May 2011 at 9.30am. Dr. Kamal Kar, the pioneer of CLTS (Community Led Total Sanitation) globally, will also be present.

After the inauguration of the coordination hub, the the "ODF Rural Kenya by 2013" campaign will be launched by the Ministry at the Silver Springs Hotel between 11am and 2pm also on the 11th May 2011. The Honourable Minister for Public Health & Sanitation, Mrs. Beth Mugo accompanied by Dr. Kamal Kar will launch the campaign followed by a media debriefing.

Please contact John Kariuki at (jgkariuki@yahoo.com) or Samuel Gitahi (sgitahi@unicef.org) for any further information you may require. For further information on CLTS have a look at the CLTS website at: http://www.cltsfoundation.org/.

Eldoret Education Centre UDDT toilet - update

2011-05-02T08:16:00.000-07:00

See the picture of the Eldoret Education Centre provided by Moses Wakala on 2.May

Back view of toilet block with 1 urinal and 3 toilet doors

Ecosan stakeholders training workshop

2011-05-02T05:40:00.000-07:00

Edited by Trevor Surridge (GIZ). Information was provided by Moses Wakala.

An Ecosan stakeholder training workshop was held on the 25th March 2011 in Kakamega at the Lake Victoria North Water Services Board (LVNWSB). It was organised and conducted by the company of Ecosanity (Moses Wakala wakala.gtz@gmail.com) in conjunction with the Western Water Company. The workshop was well attended with Local Leaders, Political Leaders, Public Health Officers, teachers, members of the Ministry of Education, Provincial Administration and Lake Victoria North Water Services Board staff in attendance.

A number of PowerPoint presentations were given to the workshop attendants and each of these presentations was followed by a group discussion. The training was deemed to be a success by the facilitators who said that the Ecosan technology was embraced and that it could be offered as a Sanitation alternative to the local communities.

Workshop program of Ecosan stakeholders training workshop.

Participants of the workshop at LVNWSB office.

Location of Kakamega (Western Province).