What is the best method to "Replicate a pilot for low cost toilets" in different developing countries and gaining acceptance?

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I am looking to develop a low cost toilet model, as part of my masters thesis. However, that won't be limited as I would like to implement it and test it in the field till the final model is confirmed.

My objective is to develop a toilet cab; which is cheap, portable and easy to construct, environmentally friendly  and aesthetically attractive also; so that it can help in rapid universal coverage in sanitation in pro-poor communities of developing countries; particularly here south asia, as I am from Nepal and it would be easy to pilot.

The results will appear on a long run via behavioral change, as the pilot models will last till 7-8 years, where the family members will be very used to toilets, and therefore, they will later on construct a permanent toilet as they would feel extremely odd/shameful to defecate outside.

I would be happy to know the organizations in different developing countries, business models, and to know if anyone would be interested to help me find places for replication and to gather a wide range of data from users of developing countries.

 Thanks,

Mahesh

+9779841676373

maheshneu@gmail.com

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12 Answers

  1. Hi Mahesh, We introduce ourselves as a consulting company based in Canada. We would be happy to provide you solutions on your query. Kindly write me details on kalpana.verma@techsciresearch.com Regards, Kalpana

  2. Learn more about the entire sanitation service chain

    Hello Mahesh,

    First of all, I also agree with Ashantha that you need to exercise caution and collect more info especially on "what does not work". In my own view, there seems to be way too many sanitation solutions that have have placed on the table that one easily wonders why we still have 2 billion people without access to improved sanitation. Clearly something is missing in the whole ecosystem somewhere.

    I also would wonder whether you are focusing on just building a toilet (the user interface) or you're thinking of the whole sanitation value chain. Just to illustrate; where does the excreta go after the user has left it in your toilet? EAWAG in Switzerland has developed a compendium of sanitation systems and technologies (http://www.eawag.ch/forschung/sandec/publikationen/compendium_e/index_EN) that would be handy for you to scan the whole ecosystem and see what sort of technologies already exist and how your idea can build on that. 

    The Gates Foundation has also funded a number of editions of the Re-invent the Toilet Challenge and I'm sure you can learn lots from some ideas that have been developed within that context. http://www.gatesfoundation.org/What-We-Do/Global-Development/Reinvent-the-Toilet-Challenge

    I come from Uganda and we have SaniHub, an initiative of Water for People that are working on some parts of the value chain, especially emptying of conventional pit latrines with gulpers. Learn more about their work here http://sanihub.blogspot.se/

    In neighbouring Kenya, Sanergy has developed a low cost toilet design with an interesting business model that seeks to span the whole service chain. You can learn something from their work as well. http://saner.gy/

    Lastly, you can also get lots of help from the Sustainable Sanitation Alliance (SuSanA) forum which comprises of over 3000 professionals working at all levels in the sanitation sector in both developed and developing countries. http://forum.susana.org/

    I hope the links I have shared can help you as you go about your work. Best wishes.

    Daniel

     

  3. I like to urge caution

    I would urge you to approach this challenge very cautiously. Over the years a range of low cost toilets have been designed for use in developing countries. It might be good idea to first do an exhaustive literature (internet) search to see what designs are available - what has been proposed - what works - and more importantly what does not work.

    There is a NGO in Semarang, Indonesia providing toilets that cost about $10 each (I think - but could be mistaken - but it is at an exceptionally low cost). This is just an example, but it confirms what I said above. The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has been providing funding in the past, for innovative toilet designs.

    A properly functioning toilet is not solely a technical challenge to be solved. A range of environmetal, social and cultural factors also come into play. What is acceptable in one country may not necessarily be acceptable in another country. For example, a toilet providing the raw material for a biogas generator may be acceptable with some and totally unacceptable in another society simply because the biogas is being generated by sewage. Similarly treated sewage or sludge may be considered by some as good and cheap fertiliser, but not by others. Essentially, a universal design may not necessarily work in every society and culture and region and country.

    You may want to contact Engineers Without Borders. They have chapters in a lot of developed countries. They are very active in developing countries working on projects in the areas of water supply, sanitation and similar. They also liaise with various universities looking for solutions. You may wnat to discuss your concept with them.

    Please don't misunderstand me here. I am not discouraging your in your endeavour, but rather urging caution and emphasising the need to do exhaustive research and investigations.

    Hope my comments are of some value.

    All the best in your endeavour.

  4. Dear friend, have you heard about EcoSan Sustainable Toilet Solutions For Rural India ? They been doing fantastic work..ole of private sector, NGOs, Community based organizations, civil society and international agencies have been crucial in creating some successful sanitation/toilet models, which can be replicated on a large scale and included in new policies and laws. Among these models, Ecological Sanitation (EcoSan) has emerged as a sustainable concept to troubleshoot sanitation problem in India.The basic concept of EcoSan is to manage human excreta and urine by decomposing them before deposing, into useful organic resources, which can be handled safely and used in agriculture without harming our environment. The Indian subcontinent has a diverse topography and uneven distribution of water resources, which requires a water-efficient toilet model to ensure mass implementation. EcoSan has come up with toilet designs without flush system, consuming less water with uncompromised hygiene.The water network team knows people from Ecosan they can help you..Vish can provide contact for them.

  5. In Bengaluru, Honeysucker trucks carry septic tank sewage and dump them in surrounding peri urban farmlands.It provides much needed soil moisture and also organic matter to decompose and provide soil nutrients for growing plants. The farmers seem to be welcoming the practice as it has shown good yields! Questions of sanitation, leachate remain and that needs to be addressed. Swami Valmiki Sreenivasa Ayyangarya can do just that by fixing the sewage and creating inactive sludge which will be odourless and sans pathogens. These can then be applied to farmlands safely as manure. The grey water can be recycled and put to use for various purposes, and or treated further to drinking water quality depending upon needs and means. The technology is completely different from what is currently known globally and uses Vedic Sciences.The stage of development is now full commercialisation with successful application to large water bodies, rivers. It was invented by Swami Valmiki around 2000-04. We hope to gain further momentum when the benefits become known and it gets inducted as mainstream practice. Both developed and developing countries can benefit. Enables sustainable agricultural practices.It actually uses converted or treated toxic pollutants as plant rejuvenator! Chemical fertizers and toxic pesticides are no longer needed and the Green Revolution (so called) becomes a redundant technology. Ability to adopt and change is always difficult and we hope that growing awareness of environmental degradation will induce acceptance of this technology, which is also cost competitive and easier to set up, provided people are willing to accept the change!

  6. Business model for toilets and sewage treatment

    Hi Mahesh

    We are a business enterprise interested in sewage treatment but not in construction of toilets.

    We are looking for experts who are interested in new solutions for toilets and sewage treatment.

    So if you are willing to give as much importance to sewage treatment and recycling of the sewage water, as the physical toilet, we can work together and we can help in commercializing your idea.

  7. Hi Mahesh, There is a guy in India who has experimented with IIT Chennai to come up with cost effective models for toilets. He has been doing tremendous work in water filters too! Should you want to get further details, I shall connect you with him. All the best for your Thesis.

  8. Hi my friend . it is pretty obvious that your solution is to design a biotreatment unit. That deal with the sewage biological y . I know one friend designed unit like this you can contact him via email hussio67@yahoo.co.uk I hope this is useful

  9. The draw to the bright lights (urbanization) where hundreds of thousands build shanty towns and are considered 'Squatters without rights to title deeds' on expensive development land, have no option but use Storm-drains as toilets - the scent attracts deadly mosquito species to breed. Lack of washing facilities = Cholera. There is no easy answer in my part of the world.

  12. You mean instead of ease, cheap cab to operate, easy to build, portable, nice, attractive color, and all you want to add beautiful stuff. But the treatment of excreta is not that: it is feces that generate pestilential odors, urine smells strong, all that will marinate, decant in your vehicle / toilet for hours and at the end a moment where you're going to drain? in the ditch, a river, a lake, in the sea or the ocean? Today the control of sanitation is in the hands of people that treats only thinking feces comfort, privacy. It's not that at all and your questioning comes down to an ancient practice: defecation in the open. Excrement is placed on the ground and allowed MOTHER NATURE live with it. It's not at all what the sewage. At this purification function adds another important phenomenon. The strong demographics of the world population is increasing daily volume of waste water and also the volume of human excrement: More than 45,000 million tons. As the current processing function is to just store the 45 million tons of excrement, they settle, rot and putrefy to become mud. Planet Earth to date produced more than 45,000 million tons of mud with excrement. Out excrement kept in good conditions -biologique- naturally eliminates a few days 10/12 days. The treatment of excreta is not a game, a fun where we can do anything because all these droppings are dispersed into the environment and pollute the ground water and all natural water environments. Spread on agricultural land they contaminate our staple food. A purification system excrement must be fixed at the edge of a habitat and the responsibility of the users. Your bowel vehicle is already here in France: public latrines. People use them only in need in their noses. There is also with-cleaning vacuum trucks which announce their approach or passage through a clearance of an unbearable stench. They pump out facilities in the same state of stench. No it is not as simple and above all we must leave the control treatment to those whose excrement is the specialty. Which is my case with my process "Organic Fosse" lyseconcept which deals purifies and recycles manure into irrigation water for the vegetable garden. With your email address I am sending you the documentation Pleasure Jean Marius