Project phase I

Project phase I – Construction of a sanitary complex for the girls’ accommodation

In the first phase of the project, a modular sanitary complex consisting of dry toilets and shower rooms was built. The complex is divided into two parts for girls and boys and comprises a total of nine dry toilets, six shower cubicles and six sinks. The calculation of the toilet quantity is based on the recommendation of the WHO, which provides for four toilets per 100 students.

The principle of the dry toilet is based on the separation of urine and faeces by a special form of the  squat toilets pan commonly used in Africa. Since there are hardly any germs in the urine, it is drained directly into a soak pit. The germ-polluted faeces, on the other hand, are collected in plastic buckets in which they are dried. The plastic buckets are regularly emptied and cleaned by the school’s caretaker. Sufficient drying time is particularly important to ensure that all contained pathogens die off and thus become harmless. To ensure this, a two-chamber principle is used:

In each cabin there are two toilets, only one of which is in use at a time. Thus, the drying of the faeces in the unused bucket can proceed. The buckets can be emptied through a rear flap on the outside of the building. The final composting takes place in a separate storage room. The resulting humus can be used as fertilizer.

The advantage of the dry toilet concept over the latrines commonly used on site is the protection of groundwater, as the separately collected faeces do not contain any germs after drying that could then enter the ground. Additionally, the dried faeces can be used as fertilizer for agriculture. Furthermore, dry toilets have only a low level of odour pollution. Toilets with water flushing are not suitable due to water scarcity and the requirement of power supply and their implementation would be significantly more expensive.

In order to achieve better hygiene for the students, sinks fed by rainwater collected on the roof of the sanitary complex are installed. In preparation for the second phase of the project, additional shower cubicles will be erected, which can be used in accordance with the local shower method with washbowls until they are fully installed in the next phase of the project. For the implementation of the first section, therefore, no pumps are required, only a power supply for lighting with LED lamps. For this purpose, a small photovoltaic system will be installed, which will be extended for the second project phase in order to be able to operate the pump as well. For energy-saving reasons, the LEDs are operated by means of a time-controlled circuit. This prevents the lamps from burning for unnecessarily long periods.

The complete project report can be found under the following link:

Project report Iyolwa – sanitary complex for girls’ accommodation (German)