ALTERNATIVE SANITATION SOLUTIONS: Where

are we?

Alternative sanitation solutions look at every stage of the sanitation value chain, and how to make it more efficient. This is a tricky challenge, but one well-funded by donors from developed countries. The absence of basic sanitation in many rural and even some urban areas presented the opportunity for a realtime pilot trial of these systems.

Presently, water scarcity and an unstable electricity grid have impacted cities, and these challenges are felt by everyone, everywhere. Yes, there is solar power, boreholes, reverse osmosis, and a few other technologies, but each come with their implementation challenges and require innovation to move toward sustainability – we are not far away. As we approach the close of the sustainable development goals (SDG), specifically looking at SDG 6, municipalities, regulators and the rest of the sector’s players are starting to see the value in decentralised approaches. It’s a natural transition. At first, everything is new and has its sceptics and then eventually everyone gets on board if the idea makes

senior engineer, Borda

I have worked for over decade in the alternative sanitation solution space. My career began as a candidate engineer in the newly forming sector, which placed me in a good position to truly get onboard with change that is needed as conventional systems become overloaded and populations increase. By Lloyd Govender, sense and most importantly proves to make sense.

Norms and standards

Around three years ago, there was much talk on the need for policy, and fast forward to today, the Department of Water and Sanitation are looking at reviewing the norms and standards for water supply and sanitation services. Decentralised wastewater treatment systems and onsite sanitation systems are seen to provide sustainable solutions to areas that cannot be connected to the centralised municipal sewerage system, and where water is needed and can be provided in the form of boreholes. I spoke in detail to regulators, and they are not against issuing permits, most times, the applications have gaps and those gaps take time to resolve.

Theewaterskloof Dam is one of the water reserves that supplies water to the City of Cape Town. The dam has become polluted due to the influx of informal housing and the absence of sanitation services, presenting a real challenge. The Local Municipality of Theewaterskloof identified this crisis and together with the City of Cape Town Municipality, have began looking at incorporating alternative sanitation solutions. One option that the teams looked at was DEWATS, a system that treats domestic wastewater to regulatory standards, and works off the principal of gravity, without the need for electricity. This shows a clear push toward wanting to solve a challenge by means that are currently unconventional in South Africa but have worked in other developing countries. To date, there are over 3000 DEWATS constructed across the world.

The norms and standards currently in development will serve as guidelines to ensure that when using alternative sanitation technologies, the correct method of evaluating their suitability is followed. There is a clear definition of the compliance needs, and clear ownership of the technology, and the supporting responsibilities that come with that ownership. Sustainability and responsibility is vital for the success of alternative solutions that differ from the conventional methods we currently have in South Africa.

What alternatives?

Now, we dive into the alternatives of sanitation solutions. Think about conventional treatment: massive treatment systems at low-lying areas, pump stations, and deep sewers (seriously large diameters). Now picture this - at the lowest lying area of your neighbourhood, there is exactly this, but smaller in size, and dedicated to treating the wastewater generated by perhaps the 250 households around you.

At the moment, conventionally treated wastewater is returned to rivers and we have seen in the media that environmental compliance is a major issue due to innumerable reasons. But with alternative sanitation solutions, the wastewater can be treated for re-use or agriculture if the opportunity presents itself. Returning the treated wastewater to a natural water resource is also possible. In the bubble of alternative sanitation solutions, some systems work on electricity and others work purely on gravity and without chemicals – in a broad spectrum.

Pit toilets

We still then have to think about sludge, as many rural areas have pit toilets, and these have really let people down in most cases due to construction quality, and/or overload of the pit without operation and maintenance.

I have seen thousands of pit toilets in South Africa and I can remember only around 10 or 11 still working well without damage.

A sustainable solution to handle sludge is needed. Before that though, toilets and structures that can replace pits while working on low flush or no water are currently being rolled out. Even though they still are in essence a pit toilet, the quality brought forward by most alternative sanitation solution pioneers are well suited to provide dignity and safety, even in the absence of, or presence of little water. The trouble here is that the sludge piles up and needs to be taken to either a hazardous waste site or a processing facility.

The first option is possible, but the latter has been in operation across the developing worlds and needs to be sustainably developed for South Africa. Our current sanitation climate is where Faecal Sludge Treatment Plants (FSTP’s) become viable. The FSTP’s have many iterations for design, depending on what you plan to do with the end product. Options such as composting exist and our neighbours Tanzania and Zambia have successfully implemented these plants where they are close to the source of the waste, lowering logistics costs and decentralising sanitation - kerbing the problem slowly. Slowly is better than no movement, and movement comes with loads of experience and through cross-country engagement we can share and develop suitable FSTP’s for South Africa. The Department of Water and Sanitation is currently planning this initiative.

Considerations

Our regulators have a few challenge questions, here are three important ones:

1. Sustainability – Who takes ownership, how do they do that and how do they operate and maintain these systems? The municipality – yes, but are they capacitated to? Is the will there? How do we encourage the will and form collaborative structures?

2. Suitability – How do we ensure the correct systems are employed, employed ethically, and run correctly?

3. Compliance monitoring – What are the parameters? The basics apply but depending on the technology and surrounding aspects (boreholes, other treatment systems), what structure do we follow?

Financial implications and the finer details follow and those differ between municipalities.

Awareness

We need awareness that promotes thinking in the direction of alternative sanitation solutions and the supporting policy that would follow. It's important to track where we are with innovation, and every now and then write an article to promote the sector and get more of the brilliant minds thinking around the subject. A great initiative is urine processing.