Sanitation

Mike Allen of Plymouth Marine Laboratory in the United Kingdom proposes to develop a low cost, vortex-based bioreactor that is driven by hand or a bicycle to separate fecal matter from waste water and at the same time introduce bactericidal agents to decontaminate the waste for recycling or safe disposal. In Phase I they designed and built a desk-top vortex bioreactor to test different biocidal agents for their ability to kill bacteria, and to be physically immobilized to enable long term use.

Steven Dentel of the University of Delaware in the U.S. will test the ability of a low-cost polymeric breathable membrane liner to accelerate the drying and disinfection of fecal waste in pit latrines, while protecting surrounding groundwater from being contaminated with pathogens and chemicals. Breathable membranes are hydrophobic, allowing only air or water vapor to pass through them.

Marcos Fioravanti and Chris Canaday of Fundación In Terris in Ecuador will develop an easy-to-use urine-diverting dry toilet that uses a pedal to "flush" feces into a pipe and mix the waste with dry material for faster composting. Following toilet use, pushing the pedal turns an auger in the pipe, withdrawing the waste to eliminate odors and to enable safe sanitation, after which it can be used as fertilizer. In Phase I, they designed, built and laboratory-tested three prototypes with varying designs.

Sarah van Boekhout and the team of WaterSHED in Cambodia will further catalyze the water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) market by developing a women's mentorship network and a special marketing program in order to improve the productivity and decision-making power of women in rural Cambodia. This project focuses on the success of female entrepreneurs in the market for WASH products and sevices.

Farhana Sultana of the International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research in Bangladesh will develop and test an approach to bring together all members of a community to improve the health of menstruating girls and motivate them to attend school. Many girls in low-income countries avoid going to school when they are on their period because of poor facilities, lack of sanitation products and support, and social marginalization, which severely affects overall academic performance.

Gary Foutch and AJ Johannes of Oklahoma State University in the U.S. propose to develop a small-scale device in which an auger forces feces and other solid wastes device through a die that results in high temperatures and pressure that dewaters the waste and destroys microorganisms. The device could reduce odor, insects, surface and ground water contamination, and the associated spread of diseases.

Robert Borden of North Carolina State University in the U.S. will develop an inexpensive method to efficiently and hygienically remove human waste from cesspits. Borden will modify readily available gasoline powered augers and PVC pipes to operate as a progressive cavity pump for filling drums or other easily transported containers. In Phase I, Borden produced and tested an inexpensive machine that could effectively remove medium- to high-viscosity waste from a range of pits with different accessibilities in South Africa.

Blanca Jimenez Cisneros of Mexican Autonomous National University in Mexico will develop software to automatically identify and quantify parasitic helminth eggs in wastewater. The software could provide a rapid and low-cost method for untrained personnel to test wastewater before its reuse in agriculture, thereby reducing parasitic infections in local populations.

Jing Ning of Beijing Sunnybreeze Technology Inc. in China will develop a human fecal waste disposal system that uses wind or solar power to load waste from septic tanks or cesspools into a column, where the waste dehydrates via solar energy, and then is combusted to kill remaining pathogens and reduce its volume. This system is designed to be affordable, durable, and low-maintenance, allowing for rapid, onsite waste disposal.

Ioannis Ieropoulos of the University of the West of England, Bristol in the United Kingdom will test the ability of microbial fuel cells to convert urine and sludge into electrical energy while also purifying water by killing disease-causing pathogens in the waste. This technology could enable energy recovery from urine and other waste streams in developing countries.