Water and Sanitation Publications
repository.mzuni.ac.mw/handle/123456789/87
2024-03-28T22:40:32ZA Review of the Financial Value of Faecal Sludge Reuse in Low-Income Countries
repository.mzuni.ac.mw/handle/123456789/471
A Review of the Financial Value of Faecal Sludge Reuse in Low-Income Countries
Mallory, Adrian; Holm, Rochelle H.; Parker, Alison
Faecal sludge reuse could promote responsible waste management and alleviate resource
shortages. However, for this reuse to be carried out at scale, it needs to be financially viable. This paper
reviews the financial values of resource recovery from 112 data points from 43 publications from
academic and grey literature. The results found 65% of the existing literature is projected rather
than being based on observed data from products in practice, with limited studies providing actual
experiences of revenue in practice. Some of the estimates of the potential value were ten times those
observed in data from operating businesses. Reasons for this include pricing of products against
unrealistic competitors, for example, pricing briquettes against diesel fuel, or di culties in marketing
or regulation of products in practice. The most common form of reuse in practice is agricultural
composting, which is also the lowest value product. Few cases were able to achieve more than
$5/person/year from sludge reuse, therefore other drivers are needed to promote proper human
waste disposal, including the health and dignity of citizens, but which are not easily monetised.
Certification and recognition of product safety can improve the perception of value and products.
Resource recovery has a limited role in the financial viability of providing Circular Economy sanitation in low-income countries. Instead, there is a need to focus on supportive policies and subsidies enabling the transition towards a Circular Economy supporting environmental quality, ecological health and human health.
2020-01-01T00:00:00ZRe-evaluating the strength of pit-latrine faecal sludge from dynamic cone penetrometer test data
repository.mzuni.ac.mw/handle/123456789/470
Re-evaluating the strength of pit-latrine faecal sludge from dynamic cone penetrometer test data
Shafiq, Yasmine; Haigh, Stuart; Holm, Rochelle; Parker, Alison
n 2017, 55% of the global population were without safely managed sanitation services. On-site sanitation solutions, such as pit latrines, provide the majority of sanitation coverage across developing countries. Appropriate technologies are required in order to safely empty these latrines without damage to people or the environment. The design of appropriate emptying technologies can be hampered by a lack of knowledge of the mechanical properties of the waste, such as its strength. This paper will develop a calibration for a dynamic cone penetrometer to give accurate measurements of faecal sludge strength against a standard scale, rendering existing data comparable. It will be shown that the maximum shear strengths of faecal sludge found in practice are substantially greater than those previously reported; some pit latrines contain faecal sludge with strength values of 5–20 kPa at the surface, and exceeding 80 kPa at depth
2020-01-01T00:00:00ZA comparative study of faecal sludge management in Malawi and Zambia: Status, challenges and opportunities in pit latrine emptying
repository.mzuni.ac.mw/handle/123456789/106
A comparative study of faecal sludge management in Malawi and Zambia: Status, challenges and opportunities in pit latrine emptying
Holm, Rochelle; Tembo, James Madalitso; Thole, Bernard
This review paper covers the issues of pit latrine emptying national policies and regulations with a focus on Malawi and Zambia. With 2.4 billion people worldwide still lacking improved sanitation facilities, developing countries need to look at policy, regulation and practice for household sanitation service provision with a new lens. What happens “next,” when improved sanitation facilities eventually become full? An emphasis on faecal sludge management has multiplied this important issue in the past
few years. The authors compare the pit latrine emptying situation in Malawi and Zambia with a focus on status, challenges and opportunities. To build this comparison, a desk review of national policies, local regulations and peer-reviewed journal papers was conducted. The paper concludes that existing national policies and regulations taking faecal sludge management into account are weak and have wide gaps in the two study countries. For the future, it is recommended, first, that household pit latrine emptying should be seen as an opportunity to address national sanitation gaps and, second, national policies and regulations need to be evaluated and updated.
2015-11-01T00:00:00ZTrash removal methods for improved mechanical emptying of pit latrines using a screw auger
repository.mzuni.ac.mw/handle/123456789/105
Trash removal methods for improved mechanical emptying of pit latrines using a screw auger
Sisco, Tracey; Rogers, Tate; Beckwith, Walt; Chipeta, Willy; Holm, Rochelle; Buckley, Christopher A.; de los Reyes III, Francis L.
Trash in pit latrines is one of the largest challenges facing pit emptying technologies, including the
powered auger (the Excrevator), developed for improved emptying in lower- and lower-middle
income countries. This study focused on two trash removal methods in conjunction with pit
emptying by the Excrevator: (1) simultaneous removal of trash with sludge and (2) manual trash
removal prior to sludge removal. Simultaneous removal was tested by adding to the inlet of the
Excrevator system two cutting heads designed to reduce the size of trash particles before entering
the pipe and auger. Laboratory testing indicated that the auger will not provide the rotational speeds
necessary for proper maceration of fibrous materials such as clothing, indicating that a separate
maceration unit with higher rotational methods may be more appropriate. Four manual trash
removal mechanisms were designed to improve on existing manual trash ‘fishing’ tools such as iron
rods with fixed hooks. Two of these tools (the ‘claw’ and the ‘hook’) showed promising laboratory
results and were subsequently field tested in Mzuzu, Malawi. Both tools proved more efficient than
the current tools used in the field and have potential for use in Malawi.
2017-01-01T00:00:00Z