| dc.description.abstract | A urine-diverting dry toilet (UDDT) is a toilet that operates without water and has a divider so that the user, with little effort, can divert the urine away from the faeces. However, when a culture does not have a tradition of using or handling human excreta, the motivation to use UDDTs, recycle and use such excreta derived products is minimal.
The main objective of this study was to assess the suitability and safety of using UDDTs and their human excreta-derived products; a case of Kasanje and Zirobwe towns in Wakiso and Luwero Districts respectively. The study included evaluating community perceptions on using UDDTs and their human excreta derived products, assessing the current management practices and determination of rate of pathogen die-off for the faeces.
During the study, 212 questionnaires and key informant interviews were used to assess the community perception on usage UDDTs and their human excreta derived products and current management practices. Laboratory tests were carried out on source-separated faeces stored in the UDDT vaults/chambers over different time frames to determine pH, temperature, indicator organisms (i.e. E. coli and Enterococcus spp.) and eggs of Ascaris lumbricoides that would eventually be used to determine the pathogen die-off rates.
Negative factors relate to training issues, especially regarding the training of children and visitors to the homes, handling source-separated faeces and urine, and the accessibility of the toilet to the elderly (people with painful knees or a backache can have difficulty climbing the stairs). For current management practices of UDDTs (i.e. the storage time, type of sanitizers, how faeces are primarily stored and composted to remove organisms and pathogens), the two main methods of use for faeces are application in agriculture by about 81% of households and disposal (no use) by 19% of households. The average pH of the UDDT stored faeces in cemented ground was 11±0.8, with a temperature of 24±2 °C and moisture content of 55±15 %. Moreover, the ignorance of how to use and manage the storage/composting of faeces up to when the product is safe, the assumed high cost of construction, and the access steps which are considered difficult for use by the elderly, all influence the adoption and scaling-up of UDDTs (ecosan concept).
Furthermore, the results of this study suggest that the collection of source-separated faeces in buckets within the UDDTs (ecosan concept) vaults results in faster die-off of pathogens that is 14 days than under cemented ground that take 35 days. Whereas indicator organisms die-off faster in cemented ground that is 35 days than insulated vaults that take 49 days. Composting in the cemented vault should not be less than 35 days (one month and five days) to have all harmful indicator microorganisms and eggs of Ascaris lumbricoides reach a non-detected level.
This study recommends to promote other benefits of the UDDTs such as environmental health benefits as compared to open defecation in the bush, similar to those of the pit latrine, areas with adverse hydro-geological conditions in which the UDDT may be the only viable type of toilet. Continuous turning of the compost so that all parts are equally subjected to same conditions such as temperature, pH in the sanitizers and moisture content. | en_US |
