SuSanA - Forum

Re: Small scale pit emptying using manual and machine - by: FrancisdelosReyes

Tue, 21 May 2013 19:33:04 +0000

Mana, please contact me by email- perhaps we can try out the auger in Ethiopia.

Francis
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Re: Presentation: Inactivation of helminth in a solar concentrator and pit latrine + feasibility review of solar sanitation - by: JKMakowka

Tue, 21 May 2013 12:54:47 +0000

Dear Ewoods

Due to me changing jobs in Dec. 12, I never got around actually experimenting with this. Thus I am not sure if I can be of any help with trying out an RSB for fecal sludge disinfection.

On a positive side though, I am now working in Kampala, Uganda and would be naturally very much interested in your pilots in Kenya.

Re: Presentation: Inactivation of helminth in a solar concentrator and pit latrine + feasibility review of solar sanitation - by: Ewoods

Tue, 21 May 2013 10:37:46 +0000

Dear JKM

This is very interesting idea for getting a more consistent heating in the concentrator. I would be interested in talking you about further tests you have done and temperature outputs, and the possibility of testing here in Kenya along side our other concentrators. We currently have a few projects going in Kenya and are now comparing various methods of solar inactivation of feces.

For anyone interested in the inactivation tests that we did with solar in Chile last year, here is the video from the Fecal Sludge Management conference in Durban last year:

Re: What can I add to a pit latrine to stop it smelling? - by: JeffHoliman

Sun, 12 May 2013 19:55:09 +0000

Dear Angus,
From my experience with bucket toilet system, I have found that in addition to urine diversion, which others have recommended here, integrating crushed BIOCHAR (charcoal made by particular process for the purposes of integrating into soil building efforts) with the high carbon cover material such as sawdust, woodchips, leaves, coffee bean hulls is effective to help absorb odors. Adding biochar to dry toilet systems is an excellent way to "charge" the sterile black carbon scaffold which is biochar, with nutrients and microbes, so as to be able to enhance the soil food web upon additon to ecoagricultural systems. This biochar can be produced as byproduct from relatively simple TLUD (top lit updraft) cooking stoves that can utilize agricultural waste in order to cook meals.

Ideally, the pit could be redeigned in order to recover this valuable soil amendment.
Kind regards,
Jeff Holiman
PHLUSH

Re: What can I add to a pit latrine to stop it smelling? - by: F H Mughal

Sun, 12 May 2013 12:02:06 +0000

Odour control can be achieved by using lime (as has been mentioned above). A little elevated pH of the contents would not be a problem in wastewater treatment. In some restricted areas, air-freshener tablets are kept at appropriate places. They act to neutralize the pit odours.

Siting of the pit latrine, relative to wind, is often helpful. Under a draft, odors are removed quickly (natural convection). Keeping the pit area well ventilated is also helpful.

If nothing else works, then the best option would be to put up a vent (this will convert the pit to ventilated pit latrine). The vent acts to suck up the odours into the pit and up to the vent. It should be ensured that the vent protrudes well above, to make it work. Painting the vent black helps to maximize absorption of heat from the sun. Hot air rises in the vent and, in the process, draws air from the pit.

F H Mughal

Re: What can I add to a pit latrine to stop it smelling? - by: MRonteltap

Thu, 09 May 2013 12:44:16 +0000

And is changing to urine diverting an option for you? Have you followed the work of SOIL in Haiti? They took the existing chemical toilets and converted them into UDDs with great success. Of course you need the proper O&M and all the other difficulties, but surely life is not easy now either - with sealed pits there will be a lot of desludging involved.

Good luck, and indeed keep us posted,
Mariska.

Re: What can I add to a pit latrine to stop it smelling? - by: nazir

Thu, 09 May 2013 09:28:22 +0000

Thank you, as soon as I receive your mail, I will respond to your esteem self.

Re: What can I add to a pit latrine to stop it smelling? - by: Angus

Thu, 09 May 2013 09:24:52 +0000

Hello Nazir,

I have contacted you by email to see if we can arrange a trial with your product.

Angus

Re: What can I add to a pit latrine to stop it smelling? - by: nazir

Thu, 09 May 2013 09:10:21 +0000

Dear Angus

Kindly contact me on : This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .I would be glad to send you samples for trials.

Re: What can I add to a pit latrine to stop it smelling? - by: Angus

Thu, 09 May 2013 08:18:42 +0000

Hello Elisabeth,

Thanks for the links: those commercial pit additives aim to (and fail to) increase decomposition of the faecal matter, and are not designed for smell reduction. Maybe something similar to the toilet fluid used for camping toilets might work?

The pit latrines (or 'holding tank latrines'?) are shared communal latrines in a refugee camp. They are fully lined so no liquids can infiltrate the soil. Unfortunately this is a regulatory requirement and can't be changed. Some of the pits are pour flush but apparently they still smell.

Adding lime might work, but would alter the pH and might cause problems for the treatment plant. Could this be mitigated somehow?

To introduce myself, I have been following this forum for quite a while. I am a civil engineer working for Oxfam researching sanitation solutions suitable for emergency situations. I have previously volunteered in South Africa working for Dave Still emptying pit latrines.

Angus

Re: What can I add to a pit latrine to stop it smelling? - by: muench

Wed, 08 May 2013 20:12:02 +0000

Dear Angus,

(could you please introduce yourself, as it is your first post, or edit your profile, so that we know a little bit about you? Thanks.)

I can only tell you what doesn't work: commercial pit additives.
See here in the forum where have have discussed commercial pit additives quite in depth, mainly based on research from South Africa:
forum.susana.org/forum/categories/53-fae...l-sludge-includes-em

Mind you, there is research going on at the London School of Tropical Hygiene and Medicine which is also looking into pit additives. Maybe they are onto something that I am not aware of. See here on the forum and perhaps ask Jeroen Ensink on the forum:
forum.susana.org/forum/categories/105-pr...h-africa-and-vietnam

Other than that: what is the root cause of the odour in that pit latrine? Probably too many users for one toilet? Soil not enough infiltration capacity to infiltrate liquids? Groundwater table too high? Too much liquid added (get the users to urinate in a separate urinal and soak pit?)

Difficult to say, please give us more context to your question. Actually, now I noticed that you said they are "completely sealed pit latrines". If they are sealed at the bottom then they are not a pit latrine? Pit = infiltration? You mean rather a holding tank? Maybe you should convert it to pour flush in that case?

Oh and welcome to the forum!

Regards,
Elisabeth

What can I add to a pit latrine to stop it smelling? - by: Angus

Wed, 08 May 2013 15:05:28 +0000

Hello,

I am investigating what could be added to pit latrines to stop them smelling/make them smell of roses!

It's for some existing systems so UD isn't an option. They are completely sealed pit latrines and are desludged regularly.

I'm looking for anybody who has successfully used some additive in the past, knows of some additive that might work, or has some other good idea for stopping the smell?

Any help would be greatly appreciated,
Angus

Re: Captiva Africa-Water for People Launch Gulper Technology - by: muench

Thu, 25 Apr 2013 19:41:04 +0000

For those who have been "watching this space" since Dave's last post on 19 March 2013 (scrol up), the test results are now available here on the forum:
forum.susana.org/forum/categories/99-fae...nd-south-africa#4254
(please continue the discussion there)

It's about the work of Tate Rogers and others from North Carolina State University who have tested their hydraulically powered auger to empty pit latrines near Pietermaritzburg in South Africa.

Sanitation Research Fund for Africa Project - by: SudhirPillay

Tue, 23 Apr 2013 10:26:12 +0000

Hi Everyone. I am an assistant manager at the South African Water Research Commission (WRC). I previously studied and worked under Prof. Chris Buckley and Dr. Kitty Foxon from the Pollution Research Group, University of KwaZulu-Natal. I will be managing the “Sanitation Research Fund for Africa” – SRFA – project for the WRC. I would like to share some details of the SRFA Project to those interested in faecal sludge management and sanitation in developing countries.

The SRFA Project was established through a USD 2.5 Million grant from The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF). The project was aims to stimulate local competency and capacity in the sanitation sector in the Eastern and Southern African Regions, and to provide solutions based on good scientific evidence related to up-scaling dry sanitation technologies. Ten research contracts will be issued, on a competitive basis, to research institutes or organisations in the targeted areas. The projects will be executed using the WRC model of research and innovation generation and dissemination.

Two key research areas have been identified for the project. They are:
• Characterisation of pit contents and developing a scientific understanding of processes occurring in onsite dry pit latrines systems in low income urban areas
• Developing innovative techniques for pit desludging and subsequent sludge management in low income urban settlements

The WRC has received a strong response to the proposal call. At the moment, the project proposals from various targeted African countries are being reviewed. We expect to have contracts soon – afterwards, I would list the successful institutions/organisations on the SuSanA website and will provide some details from each of the projects. We should expect some exciting technological advancements for pit desludging and management, and some interesting details on pit sludge from difference areas (wetness, rheology, quantity of non-faecal material, etc.). As soon as I get more information, I will post in onto the website. In the meantime, I can direct you to some of the WRC’s previous projects with pit toilets: wrcwww/Pages/KH_DocumentsList.aspx?dt=1&...mp;ct=6&ms=4;15;
You can download full reports from the above link for free. Similar reports will be published by the WRC at the end of the SRFA Project.

Septic tank diagram - by: mwaniki

Sun, 31 Mar 2013 10:54:49 +0000

Dear All

Could someone kindly remind me where I could find a simple septic tank diagram accompanied by notes for construction by a semi-urban community possibly with a consideration of a good suction system to flush out the faecal sludge.

Kind regards

S.Mwaniki
Publisher - Africa Water, Sanitation & Hygiene