Public toilets: Mukuru BioCentres project, Kenya, wins honorable mention in 2009 Buckminster Fuller Challenge

The Mukuru BioCentres project, submitted by Umande Trust (Kenya) and GOAL Ireland, has received an honorable mention in the 2009 Buckminster Fuller Challenge. BioCentres offer “a comprehensive solution to some of the most egregious problems of urban slums, from poor sanitation to lack of clean water to unpredictable or nonexistent energy infrastructure”, according to the jury report. “The BioCentres, of which there are already 12 in operation in Kenya, are public toilets housed above a biogas digester that produces affordable fuel from human waste, which is then made available to the local community. The facilities also provide clean water, public space, and workspace which serves as an incubator for local businesses”.

A BioCentre is a biogas generating latrine block, managed by community groups, which can be located anywhere in a slum as it treats human waste in-situ without requiring sewerage infrastructure. It comprises of the following:

•  Digester: Mixes water and human waste in anaerobic conditions to make biogas; remaining liquid effluent is 90% pathogen free and filtered on site.
•  BioGas: Used for cooking and can be linked to children’s feeding projects. It reduces carbon emissions by converting methane to CO2 and water and by substituting the need for other fuels.
•  Toilets and washrooms: Ground floor to ensure disabled access with free ‘child only’ cubicles
•  Water Kiosk: selling affordable clean water
• Upper Floors: Maximizes restricted urban space, has a hall and ancillary rooms for community and livelihoods activities eg cottage industries or restaurant. Income generated through rental can subsidize the operation of the toilets.

The BioCentre can be built with locally available technology, local unskilled labor and requires minimal maintenance as it has no movable parts.

In each BioCentre there is a room for a community health worker. These are community members, trained by GOAL to disseminate hygiene and health information

Read the full project description here.

Web site: Unimade – BioCentres

Source: Buckminster Fuller Challenge, 04 May 2009

BioCentre in Kibera, Nairobi. Photo: Unmande Trust / Buckminster Fuller Challenge

BioCentre Groundfloor Plan. Photo: Unmande Trust / Buckminster Fuller Challenge

BioCentre design. Photo: Unmande Trust / Buckminster Fuller Challenge

Onsite chlorine production: seminar promotes WATA technology in Nepal

[A]seminar on ‘Safe Drinking Water, was jointly organized by Environmental Camps for Conservation Awareness (ECCA Nepal), Vertical Shaft Brick Kiln (VSBK) and Antenna Technologies, Switzerland on April 21, 2009 at Hotel Himalaya, Lalitpur. About 30 participants representing different social organizations, I/NGOs participated in the one-day seminar.

[Antenna Technologies has developed a WATA line of devices, part of the Watasol approach, for the local production of active chlorine through the electrolysis of salted water. The devices can produce chlorine for both drinking water chlorination and for disinfection or cleaning].Three different models [are available], the Mini-WATA, the Standard WATA and the Maxi-WATA. The Mini-WATA kit produces 1.5 litres of concentrated Chlorine Solution (6000 ppm) in 12-hours, [the] Standard WATA kit produces 1 litre per hour and Maxi-WATA kit produces 180 litres per day in 12-hours.

WATA kit for schools in Nepal. Photo: Antenna Technologies

Jai Rajbhandari from ECCA Nepal [...] told that [his organisation] has already installed WATA devices at twelve different locations and has provided training to the device handler. Among the 12 locations, eleven are producing chlorine solution using Mini WATA and one is using Standard WATA. The chlorine solution production stations are mostly schools, a brick factory and a community water distribution system. He added that ECCA – Nepal produced Chlorine solution in its office premises for the relief of flood victims during the time of flood disaster in the month of August, 2008 at Eastern Nepal. The supplied chlorine solution was sufficient enough to treat 80,000 litres of water.

[...] Mirza Md. Rafiqul Islam from Bangladesh representing Center for Mass Education of Science (CMES) presented [a] study [on the use of] WATA devices and their plan to implement [them] in the Basic School systems and alternative empowerment opportunities to disadvantaged groups. Mr. M. Manoj Kumar, a representative of Development Alternatives, Delhi, India presented a [...]  case study carried out by the organization in Gol-Kuan Slum that could be [seen as a model for the] WATASOL approach in South Asia.

Source: ECCA Nepal / NGO Forum, 30 Apr 2009

Nanotechnology for clean water

Can nanotechnology provide solutions to water treatment in the developing world and improve access to safe drinking water? SciDev.Net has launched a spotlight on 07 May 2009 to address this question, with a series of articles and commentaries written by international experts that:

• explore the potential of nanotechnology for clean water;
• outline the opportunities and hurdles facing policymakers on the ground;
• examine key issues including risk, regulation and technology transfer;
• and highlight progress made to date.

Go to the SciDev.Net Nanotech for Clean Water page