Sanitation

Temesgen Garoma of San Diego State University in the U.S. proposes to develop an enhanced anaerobic digestion system that uses algae as a supplement to reliably and inexpensively treat human waste and also generate biogas for energy needs and biosolids for use as fertilizer.

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.

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.

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.

Chunlei Guo of the University of Rochester in the U.S. proposes to develop superhydrophobic materials that not only repel waste for use as a self-cleaning surface for latrines, but also can be used to capture and slough clean water into storage containers before it evaporates or is contaminated.

Henry K. Malak of American Environmental Systems, Inc. in the U.S. seeks to develop low-cost durable silicones with self-cleaning and antimicrobial properties for use as a coating on sanitary units. These silicones will contain embedded metal nanoparticles which react to light by creating electromagnetic fields which kill microbes and produce water repellant properties.

Paul Vernon and a team at Brighton Development, LLC in the U.S. will develop a latrine mat made from a self-sterilizing plastic casting form that can be filled with concrete and set in place to provide a permanent antimicrobial surface for traditional squat latrines. The mat will be tested for its longevity and its ability to kill disease-causing pathogens and odor-producing bacteria.

Naomi Halas and colleagues at Rice University in the U.S. will design and test a prototype sterilizer that employs metallic nanoparticles to absorb solar energy for converting water to steam sufficient for sterilization of human waste. Steam is a highly effective method of sterilization, but intensive energy and infrastructure requirements have limited its small-scale use. In Phase I, they successfully built and tested a solar steam generator-driven autoclave prototype that can quickly transfer and sterilize sufficient volumes of unprocessed human waste.

Jason Aramburu of re:char in the U.S. proposes to use low-cost pyrolysis reactors to convert human waste into biochar, which can be used as a replacement for wood charcoal or chemical fertilizers. This project will also assess the income-generating potential of this biocharcoal.

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.