Public Toilet for Pokuase Village in Ghana The Sanitation Ladder
This project deals with the menace of sanitation or rather the lack of sanitation experienced by 2.5 billion people on earth. Sixty to 70% of all disease is a result of the absence of a toilet, a public facility or even a pit latrine. I have witnessed firsthand the appalling conditions faced by people in villages and cities in the developing world; the daily need to relieve ourselves is so basic and yet the vast majority of those living in rural villages have no choice but to use a field or area around their home, which, as a result is surrounded by feces which get brought by feet (and little hands) into living space contaminating bedding, utensils and contributing to diarrheal and other disease that kills more than twice the population of Rhode Island, mostly children, every year. I have spent much of the past twoyears studying public toilets in developing communities in Ghana and have worked with a Ghanaian engineer to perfect a public toilet system for such communities. The model consists of a Biofil digester which rapidly separates liquids from solids, which are then aerobically digested using local organisms. Under a small research grant in my lab at Providence College, we have been working on a microflush valve design for use in such toilets. Rainwater is harvested and used for hand washing; the resulting grey water is then used for flushing. The system is completely off the grid allowing for its use even in isolated communities. The project is completely sustainable; some of the proceeds will be used to repay the initial cost and some will even support the education of young girls in the village.
51 % of all people in sub‐Saharan Africa are on the “open defecation” or “unimproved” rungs of the ladder. “2.5 billion people worldwide are without improved sanitation” ..UNISEF‐WHO report We talk of water‐borne disease, but it is not a water problem but a problem of water contaminated by feces. It’s a sanitation problem.
The Biofil system has been installed in many schools in Ghana and, working with the Rotary Club of Accra Airport, we are seeking to install a full scale public toilet facility using this technology and the mticroflush valve in Pokuase Village, where the existing facilities are dysfunctional beyond words. The system, which consists of 5 female, 4 male stalls with separate hand washing in each area, will benefit nearly 500 people each day. Rain water harvesting and storage has been positioned to minimize plumbing and has been sized to account for monthly rainfall averages in the region. A site has been selected and will be secured in November. The total cost will be $11,300. My 18 member Rotary Club of Jamestown, Rhode Island kicked things off with a pledge of $4000; adding in the contributions of individual donors and the Rotary Club of Woonsocket we are now more than half way there. The project will commence as soon as funding is complete (expected to be within 10 weeks) with construction following immediately and operations beginning in June 2011. Contributions for this project can be forwarded to: Jamestown Rotary Club, PO Box 652, Jamestown, RI 02835. For more information, contact: Stephen Mecca, 401‐423‐3342 (home), 401‐865‐2099 (office), 401‐263‐4011 (mobile), smecca@providence.edu (email).