What's going on? Exploring drinking water practices as an outsider

Understanding existing drinking water practices is essential when trying to implement an improvement programme. Gaining this information can be particularly difficult for ‘outsiders’. This paper describes how using a mixed methodologies (or triangulation) approach, utilising both qualitative and quantitative methodologies, provides a deeper understanding of the situation. It highlights how qualitative and quantitative research is this instance is symbiotic providing depth and context to the data. The qualitative ethnographic results were used to question, validate and clarify the quantitative questionnaire results. Through this approach a number of interesting drinking water practices were identified in the case study area, Bellavista Nanay, Peru

Returning knowledge back to Bellavista Nanay: a researcher's perspective

A previous study found that drinking water was becoming contaminated in households and there was a general lack of understanding surrounding household water contamination. It was felt that if this information was returned to the community it could be used to build capacity, so people can make informed choices regarding their drinking water practices. Participatory methods were explored and Ketso® a pre-packaged tool was thought to be the most appropriate for this community. Ketso was used to develop workshops with the focus being household drinking water contamination, which were delivered to 35 participants. The workshops provided an enjoyable forum for participants to exchange ideas on household water contamination. It was felt that capacity was built during the process through the participants’ exchange of ideas, and it gave participants a space to question their own practices. The aim of this paper is to describe, discuss and evaluate the process used

Optimisation of faecal sludge processing via vermifiltration

Faecal sludge requires treatment before it can be safely discharged. Novel treatment technologies, such as vermifiltration need to be explored. This study aims to determine if a simple vermifilter containing Eisenia fetida can process sludge and explores the effect of bedding materials (woodchip, granular activated carbon (GAC) + woodchip, and clay pebbles + woodchip) on nitrogen reduction in the effluent. All bedding materials performed well for general effluent quality, but nitrification was not found to occur. This was thought to be due to sampling and analysis techniques. The GAC bedding was unsuitable as worm density decreased. The optimum bedding material was woodchip which yielded the highest worm and cocoon densities, vermicompost production and solids conversion. This study proves that E. fetida have the ability to process sludge in a simple vermifilter and adds to the debate on nitrification in these systems

Learning from Oxfam's tiger worm toilets projects

The world is witnessing the highest levels of forced human displacement on record, leading to people being housed in urban centres and camps. Generally the sanitation needs of these people are initially met by external agencies. The long-term costs of operating and maintaining traditional sanitation systems can be unviable when communities or local authorities take over their management. Therefore Oxfam has been trialling the Tiger Worm Toilet (TWT) in peri-urban and camp settings. The aim of this paper is to review Oxfam’s TWT projects and to share the learnings, together with the innovations that have occurred. The learnings are that TWTs are not the solution to all sanitation problems, but they have been proven to work well at household level. Monitoring and documenting the trials has been an ongoing problem due to a number of issues, which are linked to short term funding, and the use of project rather than program approaches

Learnings from implementing the excreta flow diagram (SFD) process in Kumasi

Excreta, Faecal or Shit Flow Diagrams (SFDs) are away to clearly represent how excreta flows along the sanitation service chain. This approach has already gained popularity and many SFDs have already been produced. To date little attention has been paid to the methods and data used, or the credibility of the SFDs. The SFD Promotion Initiative has created a tool to enable the wider roll-out of SFDs, which includes a credibility assessment. The product is a report on service delivery context with an embedded SFD. This briefing paper discusses the lessons learnt from trialling the tool and process developed through this initiative, in the city of Kumasi (Ghana). The most important lesson learnt is that stakeholder engagement is critical not only for obtaining credible data, but also for validating the SFD produced

Evaluating the viability of establishing container-based sanitation in low-income settlements

Container-based sanitation (CBS) services operate in a number of low-income urban settlements across the globe, providing sanitation services where other on-site and off-site sanitation systems face logistical and environmental restrictions. The viability of each CBS service is influenced by a number of location specific factors. Drawing on an initial review of existing CBS services, this paper identifies and evaluates these factors in relation to establishing CBS in a new service location. By applying a weighted scoring matrix to these factors, the potential viability of CBS services has been assessed for urban informal settlements in Kathmandu Valley, Nepal. The viability of CBS services in these settlements was found to be most influenced by the current availability of basic sanitation facilities, the unfamiliarity with paying for sanitation services and the universally adopted practice of anal cleansing with water. The process and scoring matrix developed and subsequently applied in Nepal, are recommended as part of the pre-feasibility stage assessment where a CBS service is being considered as a sanitation option in new locations

Faecal sludge treatment by vermifiltration: proof of concept

The objective of this study was to determine if composting worms and their cocoons are able to survive in and digest faecal sludge. Eighteen vermifilters with different worm and cocoon densities were set-up, fed with faecal sludge (from portable pour-flush toilets) and ran for 38 days. Samples of the sludge, effluent and vermicompost were analysed for pH, total solids, chemical oxygen demand, faecal coliforms and Ascaris spp. number and viability. Worm and vermicompost mass, and cocoon numbers were assessed at the end of this period. It was found that the composting worms survived in these conditions and cocoons hatched. The validity of the sludge analysis results are questioned in this paper and without these results only estimates of effluent treatment and solids conversion could be made. Although this study was not completely definitive it has shown that worms are capable of converting faecal sludge into vermicompost and cocoons hatch in its presence. This trial was undertaken in India