UGUNJA TOWN PUBLIC TOILET WITH DTS (by Moses Wakala)
The following paragraph describes the Ugunja Town Public Toilet Project, currently implemented in Kenya (visited on 17th June and reported by Moses Wakala):
Implemented by: Ugunja town council, LVSWSB, SIBO, EPP
Ecosan components: Public toilets with water kiosk, 50 cbm biogas settler (BG), Anaerobic Baffled Reactor with 6 chamber (3x1 m) (ABR), Collection tank (2x1.5m), Effluent piping to a swamp 200 meters away, Biogas reuse not started.
Construction time: March 2009 – May 2010
Operation started: 1st June 2010
Current state:
Ugunja town gets a new toilet! The Market that has been threatened with closure due to lack of sanitation facility can now relax after Ecosan Promotion Project officially opened the doors of the long awaited Public Toilet at the centre of the town. The toilet construction that begun last year in November was concluded and this has left Ugunja Market transformed with a beautiful toilet. The construction entailed an onsite treatment of waste water by use of a digester which treats the waste producing Biogas for cooking or heating. The waste is then further treated in an anaerobic Baffled reactor to reduce the pollution (BOD) before being taken to farm for irrigation. The toilet that has showers for Ladies and Gents has been liked by the business community with a total of over 100 users realized for the first two days of opening. This is likely to improve after having done some visibility with writings to make people know that the facility exist. The water kiosk infront of the toilet is picking up and the rate of Ksh. 5.00 has been chosen by the council as the price of 20 Litre Jeri-can. Water is sourced from the main supplies at the Borehole.
Management of facilities:
The council has identified some community based organization that operates within the area for running of the business. This is on lease basis and the rate of lease is being established by the council. At the moment, the council has put its staff to run the toilet for one month to determine the returns from the toilet before renting it out to the CBO. The toilet operators will be trained by the consultant Moses Wakala together with the water company (SIBO) on operations and management.
Challenges of project:
The main challenges are the solid waste management around the toilet and Market. The new toilet site has been a dumping site for the market and despite efforts to stop this habit, the practice continued until recently when all the waste was moved away. The town management should plan well for an alternative site for dumping.
Pending Works:
1. Sealing of the Main Digester neck with Clay an all the other Man-holes has not been done due to delay in completion of construction work. This needs to be addressed
urgently due to fowl smell coming out from these manholes.
2. Biogas piping to a nearby food kiosk to facilitate Biogas utilization. Some café exist at the site and is ready to use the gas. These to be addressed by GTZ
3. Training of the operators on Operation and Maintenance.
4. Pressure test on piping and digester to ascertain the air-tightness of the system.
The following pictures show Ugunja Toilet.
Front view of Ugunja Toilet
