Less Expensive Sanitation Facilities - constructing a compost toilet in Nigeria

12.8k views

Page selection:
  • Elisabeth
  • Elisabeth's Avatar
  • Moderator
  • Freelance consultant since 2012 (former roles: program manager at GIZ and SuSanA secretariat, lecturer, process engineer for wastewater treatment plants)
  • Posts: 3372
  • Karma: 54
  • Likes received: 930

Re: Less Expensive Sanitation Facilities

Dear Alisa,

Thanks for your forum post. Would it be possible to share your information directly here rather than circulating it by e-mail? Or is there a confidentiality issue? I am just wondering. You had written:

We specialize in container-based toilet systems ( and compost the excreta), and Fosa Alterna systems. If you pm me your email, I can send you some documents.


In general, I try to keep as much of the conversation online in the open area and not move to separate e-mail discussions unless it's necessary for some reason.

By the way, for everyone's information: You don't need to ask for other's e-mail addresses but can just contact anyone by using the contact button to the left of their post (visible when you are logged in). This is an internal messaging service for the forum users.

Kind regards,
Elisabeth
Dr. Elisabeth von Muench
Freelance consultant on environmental and climate projects
Located in Ulm, Germany
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
My Wikipedia user profile: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:EMsmile
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/elisabethvonmuench/

Please Log in to join the conversation.

You need to login to reply
  • Uc
  • Uc's Avatar
    Topic Author
  • Posts: 5
  • Likes received: 0

Re: Less Expensive Sanitation Facilities

Thanks alot for you response.

Please find attached my email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Please Log in to join the conversation.

You need to login to reply
  • Uc
  • Uc's Avatar
    Topic Author
  • Posts: 5
  • Likes received: 0

Re: Less Expensive Sanitation Facilities

Thanks alot for your response. I will let you know how it goes.

Please Log in to join the conversation.

You need to login to reply
  • Uc
  • Uc's Avatar
    Topic Author
  • Posts: 5
  • Likes received: 0

Re: Less Expensive Sanitation Facilities

Thanks alot for your mail.

Wea are looking to construct a compost toilet which is like an intervententio to ened open defecation in Nigeria. At first we considered the UDdT, but its not only expensive but complicated to use. Now we are opting on cheap and affordable compost system and we are looking into the Thermophilic compost system.
Please tell me what you think.

Please Log in to join the conversation.

You need to login to reply
  • Uc
  • Uc's Avatar
    Topic Author
  • Posts: 5
  • Likes received: 0

Re: Less Expensive Sanitation Facilities

Hi Gabriel,
Thanks for your response.
I will send you a mail now from This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Please Log in to join the conversation.

You need to login to reply
  • Slarrouy
  • Posts: 3
  • Likes received: 0

Re: Less Expensive Sanitation Facilities

thanks Marco I will have a look
currently working on a project of dry sanitation in Nigeria

Please Log in to join the conversation.

You need to login to reply
  • marcoforster
  • Posts: 2
  • Likes received: 1

Re: Less Expensive Sanitation Facilities

In october 2017, there is a forum session about "Evapotranspiration Toilet with a difference from India" including some references from Brazil and a study from India (English, attached).
Regards, Marco, www.ecopsis.com

This message has an attachment file.
Please log in or register to see it.

The following user(s) like this post: Uc

Please Log in to join the conversation.

You need to login to reply
  • Slarrouy
  • Posts: 3
  • Likes received: 0

Re: Less Expensive Sanitation Facilities

thanks I do that
currently working on a project of dry sanitation in Nigeria

Please Log in to join the conversation.

You need to login to reply
  • AKSantaCruz
  • AKSantaCruz's Avatar
  • Posts: 25
  • Likes received: 7

Re: Less Expensive Sanitation Facilities

Can you tell us more about what kind of "compost toilet" you plan to build? We specialize in container-based toilet systems ( and compost the excreta), and Fosa Alterna systems. If you pm me your email, I can send you some documents.
Program Director, GiveLove.org — EcoSan Training Program

Please Log in to join the conversation.

You need to login to reply
  • bowenarrow
  • bowenarrow's Avatar
  • Posts: 70
  • Likes received: 18

Re: Less Expensive Sanitation Facilities

Good question. I have been manufacturing Composting Toilets here in Australia for over 30 years and all my own designs are Urine Diverting and cannot understand why some of my Industry Clients still ask for dry suitable Pedestals. All of the feedback I have had from direct purchasers supports UD Pedestals. On the other hand some owners have come to me for replacement Pedestals of UD design simply because of poor performance of "mixed" systems. It costs no more to have a UD pedestal made than a straight through, and this applies to handmade concrete or Fibreglass.
I do believe that a lot of the opposition to UD Pedestals comes from cultural differences as it is difficult to make a squat pan function to divert urine. A standard sitting pedestal is around 460mm high from the floor and this height is sufficient to allow the fall of Urine to an outside gravel trench, or collection for use as a valuable fertilizer.
A further advantage is that a UD system will not smell as much and will not attract as many nuisance flies. There is less volume of waste to deal with and therefore the turnaround of pits is lengthened. Some estimates I have read place the volume of Urine to solids as 80% so this is a whacking great chunk of your latrines capacity devoted to liquid. There will always be some liquid in a UD Toilet from cleaning etc, so pump outs should not be any more difficult without Urine. Then there is the question of carriage of pathogens by a mixed system.

Ross
The following user(s) like this post: Uc, Slarrouy

Please Log in to join the conversation.

You need to login to reply
  • Slarrouy
  • Posts: 3
  • Likes received: 0

Re: Less Expensive Sanitation Facilities

Thank you Elisabeth,
the difficulty that we encounter is try to decide if we start the project with UDDT or without urine separation. I read the SuSana case studies booklet. Almost all of the cases are UDDT construction. It will be more expensive to build and more complicated to use. Why are UDDT systems preferred than simple compost system ?
currently working on a project of dry sanitation in Nigeria

Please Log in to join the conversation.

You need to login to reply
  • Elisabeth
  • Elisabeth's Avatar
  • Moderator
  • Freelance consultant since 2012 (former roles: program manager at GIZ and SuSanA secretariat, lecturer, process engineer for wastewater treatment plants)
  • Posts: 3372
  • Karma: 54
  • Likes received: 930

Re: Less Expensive Sanitation Facilities

Dear Uchechi!

Welcome to the SuSanA discussion forum! I looked up your website to find out more about you and found:

ABOUT US
PHAAE is a registered non-profit organization in Nigeria that focuses on issues affecting women, adolescent girls and children in Africa. Our main focus is on empowering women and girls to lead healthy meaningful lives through improvement in Water, Sanitation and Hygiene.
www.phaae.org/


We have a lot of SuSanA partners and members from Nigeria but not so many post here on the forum, so a double special welcome!

In order to help you better with your query, could you tell us a bit more about what you need and which resources you have already searched through?
I recommend:
- SuSanA library: www.susana.org/en/knowledge-hub/resource...publications/library Search by country Nigeria and by technology composting toilets
- SuSanA project database: www.susana.org/en/knowledge-hub/resource...publications/library Search by country Nigeria and by technology composting toilets
- This discussion forum: search in the category for composting toilets (forum.susana.org/241-composting-toilets-in-general) and also use keyword searches

These are the SuSanA partners that have ticked Nigeria as one of the countries that they work in (28 so far):
www.susana.org/en/community/partners/lis...&vbl_20%5B505%5D=505

Please let us know what you find and what you still need.

All the best,
Elisabeth
Dr. Elisabeth von Muench
Freelance consultant on environmental and climate projects
Located in Ulm, Germany
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
My Wikipedia user profile: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:EMsmile
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/elisabethvonmuench/

Please Log in to join the conversation.

You need to login to reply
Page selection:
Share this thread:
Recently active users. Who else has been active?
Time to create page: 0.116 seconds
Powered by Kunena Forum