Dear Friends,
Find some products that the Sanihub has developed from varoius stages over the past few years.
They include; Emptying devices, capture for urban, peri-urban and rural, treatment and reuse of sludge. For regular updates especially as regards field performance follow us on twitter @WFPSaniHub (twitter.com/WFPSaniHub)

Dear Friends of Kampala Sanihub Project,
I would like to share with you some of the activities that we have been able to do up to now. Kindly follow the Link. sanihubwaterforpeople.wordpress.com/
Others in progress to be shared soon include Pit latrine life extender, BSF Progress, Scaling up of DEFAST,

An update on the progress of the SaniHub project can be found in Sanitation Matters (attached).

SaniHub still retains a close feedback loop with the local market in Kampala, and this has allowed us to refine and develop technologies that are suitable for both customers and entrepreneurs who want to establish sanitation businesses. The technologies that are currently being developed and their status are briefly explained below:

- A modular concrete pour flush latrine, branded 'The DuraSan', that is currently being sold in and around Kampala and financed by local WASH MFI's. The target market is currently peri-urban landlords.

- Market testing of American Standard's SaTo Pan and a type of ceramic goose-neck pan that is commonly found in South-East Asia. Research has shown that these user interfaces require little water for flushing and prevent solid waste from entering pit latrines.

- The development of the Gulper II in partnership with local pit emptying businesses. The eventual goal is to have a semi-mechanised pit emptying operation in which there is no exposure of faecal sludge.

- The monitoring and development of a decentralised faecal sludge treatment system. This small scale treatment plant consists of ABR's, anaerobic filters, a planted gravel filter, and sludge drying beds. The goal is to develop a modular treatment package that will allow pit emptying businesses to expand to small towns across Uganda. The system is currently being monitored and methods of minimising the effluent's BOQ are being investigated. Some experimentation is being done to investigate the financial viability of dried sludge (briquettes) and vermi-compost using Tiger Worms.

Hi Kim,

Let me respond on behalf of Cate. My name is George, and i'm a sanitation engineer managing WFP's Sani-Hub project in Uganda. In answer to your questions:

1) Our review of policies on FSM found that most of the existing policies are outdated and poorly enforced. With regards to involving decision makers, we see our role as to prove the benefits of the market driven approach to sanitation, such that the policies can then be reviewed and updated, which should attract more entrepreneurs to sanitation as a business.

2) While developing improved pit emptying devices, we have worked directly with existing pit emptying operators to better understand the operation, the limitations of existing technologies, and how the techology can be improved. The rammer (gulper 2), is an example of this. It can pump thicker sludge and reach deeper into the pit, thus allowing businesses to expand their customer base. We have also developed a chain based pit emptying device, however, development was halted due to the range of challenges, most notably dismissal upon showcasing the device to existing operators.

3) We are developing a pit emptying equipment leasing model which will be geographically tied into a pilot DEWATS treatment plant. This model should prevent illegal dumping as the equipment will need to be returned with full barrels of sludge, which can then be loaded into the DEWATS. The DEWATS has a gas meter to measure biogas production but we are still considering our options regarding productive use for energy generation. The pit emptying business model is financially sustainable, but because the pilot DEWATS is still under construction, we are still considering how it can become a business model in itself. This, I think, will be our biggest challenge.

Thanks,
George

Dear Cate,
Thanks for introducing your new project from Uganda. I would be pleased to hear how your project has developed since you initiated last year. I know that from the outset you had experience from your Sanitation as a Business Program, which should be of great value in this new phase. I have some specific questions about your work..

One of your objectives is reviewing the policies on FSM on local and national level. Are there known limitations in the existing policies, that will need revisions to overcome deficiencies in the system and enable improved management? If so, do you plan to involve decisions makers in the process as well?

Are you involving the sanitation entrepreneurs in identifying and designing the new pit emptying technologies? Do you mainly consider modifications to the Gulper technology or examining a wide range of technologies? In other postings in the Forum it has been highlighted that what is found in many pits are closer to solids than liquids. Do you consider including different methods to manage the possible variety in pit content?

Will you also be looking how to improve the system for handling of collected pit material to ensure that no dumping will take place? Are you considering productive use of the material, e.g. for energy generation and fertilizer production? Another issue is the financial aspects; do you already have a model to achieve a financially sustainable system, or is this something you also will be working on? A productive use could support the cost recovery.

Looking forward to get some updates from your interesting project!
Best wishes,
Kim

The Kampala Sanihub project is funded by the Water Research Commission in South Africa through a grant from Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (this program is described here: forum.susana.org/forum/categories/99-fae...pit-emptying-updates)

Building from Water For People’s Sanitation as a Business Program (see: forum.susana.org/forum/categories/97-ena...-malawi-uganda-india) that is developing micro-enterprises offering semi-manual pit emptying using the simple, but not very effective, Gulper technology, this project aims to develop a better, simple sludge removal and treatment technologies that will enable a new cadre of sanitation entrepreneurs to enter the sanitation sector and a larger number of households to benefit from improved sanitation facilities. This will have the duel benefit of providing employment and improving the health of the families in high density slum areas.

This project has been designed to overcome pitfalls of traditional academic based research projects that tend to develop new technologies in isolation of the market and then attempt to hand-over the results to often unwilling recipients. It aims to design technologies that are both more inclusive and closer to the customer. It will follow an action based research methodology which has the advantage in that the recipients are included from the outset and therefore have more buy-in and understanding of the development process.


Goals:
The overall goal of the project is to develop innovative sludge removal and treatment technologies that can be pushed to market by sanitation entrepreneurs in Kampala to ultimately address household sanitation needs.

Objectives:
a) Review faecal sludge or pit emptying policies and practices in Kampala.
b) Review local and national faecal/pit sludge management policies, including important legal, institutional and socio-economic factors.
c) Develop and field test desludging techniques and sludge management for beneficiation
d) Local capacity in faecal sludge management (FSM) improved; information made publically available and disseminated.


• Start and end date: 1st July 2013 to 31st December 2015
• Grant type: Research and technology development project
• Funding for this research currently ongoing (yes/no): Yes
• Research or implementation partners: Kampala City Council Authority (KCCA) www.kcca.go.ug/, National Water and Sewerage Corporation (NWSC) www.nwsc.co.ug/, Appropriate Technology Centre (ATC) www.atc.washuganda.net/home
• Links, further readings – results to date:

sanitation.captivaafrica.com/

Progress to date: We are finalising a review of faecal sludge or pit emptying policies and practices in Kampala. Watch this space!