PT.2 Water Sanitation For All?
Hi all! This blog will be continuing from last weeks Part 1 Blog on Water Sanitation for all. Part 2 will discuss new technology and schemes used to improve access to sanitation as well as looking at financial setbacks in improved water sanitation access in Africa.
The Alternative "Toilet"
To overcome the challenge of lack of toilets in informal settlements, there has been an increase in social and technological innovation to create an alternative to the modern flushable toilet. The idea is to create an inexpensive and universal solution for informal settlements to go toilet. An article by Thieme, 2008 titled "Water is life, but sanitation is dignity" notes the attention to creating new toilets as "little development devices"- this means improvement to sanitation in uneven development settlements without the need to build extensive infrastructure or improve the poor infrastructure. Moreover Li, 2007 further states toilets as being the technical development needed to fix sanitation and influence health outcomes as well as hygiene - This new idea towards providing an alternative solution which could be used all over informal settlements as now emerged as a great business opportunity for those who identify themselves with social innovation (Theime, 2008).
How The System Works? - Sanitation Improvement Scheme
Sanergy works by building low cost and high-quality sanitation facilities in informal settlement areas. The local residents purchase and operate the facility making local residents franchise partners. On a daily basis, the waste is then collected and that waste is converted into organic fertilisers. The final process is transferring the fertiliser to East Africa where there is a high demand ( Sanergy, 2018). Image 1 below illustrates this process :
Focusing on Nairobi, in 2014 over 600 Sanergy toilets had been installed into six informal settlements. A huge benefit of Sanergy is the sales created by the selling of fertiliser and the increase in employment for local residents who invest into the franchise(O'Keefe et al., 2015). Through the sale and marketing of the toilets, Sanergy has said to have attracted a vast amount of communities. Figure 1below illustrates the success of Sanergy providing clean sanitation for all against regular toilet facilities(O'Keefe et al., 2015).
However, is social innovation a sustainable solution to improved access to sanitation?
To answer this question, Sanergy is not as straightforward as it is made out to be. There is a large issue for land ownership in informal settlements to build Sanergy facilities. After gaining a piece of land, the permission for construction has to go through local political authorities which can be a long and difficult process (O'Keefe et al., 2015). Thus illustrating that political tension within the government can also hinder the progression of social innovation in providing improved access to water sanitation.
Financial Setbacks
Moreover, the use of social innovation means the projects are not contracted by the government and therefore fully reliant on international aid for finance(O'Keefe et al.,2015). As such the overall benefit to the water sanitation citywide and standard of water quality is not developed as a result of constrained political spaces and a lack of government support(O'Keefe et al., 2015). Previously in my blog titled "Poolitical"- the ideas of clear governance issues surrounding the funding of projects to help improve access to water sanitation are evident and is portrayed as a major setback in achieving access to improved water sanitation for all.
The Alternative "Toilet"
To overcome the challenge of lack of toilets in informal settlements, there has been an increase in social and technological innovation to create an alternative to the modern flushable toilet. The idea is to create an inexpensive and universal solution for informal settlements to go toilet. An article by Thieme, 2008 titled "Water is life, but sanitation is dignity" notes the attention to creating new toilets as "little development devices"- this means improvement to sanitation in uneven development settlements without the need to build extensive infrastructure or improve the poor infrastructure. Moreover Li, 2007 further states toilets as being the technical development needed to fix sanitation and influence health outcomes as well as hygiene - This new idea towards providing an alternative solution which could be used all over informal settlements as now emerged as a great business opportunity for those who identify themselves with social innovation (Theime, 2008).
How The System Works? - Sanitation Improvement Scheme
- Sanergy Model - Case of techno-optimism and eco-sanitation
Sanergy works by building low cost and high-quality sanitation facilities in informal settlement areas. The local residents purchase and operate the facility making local residents franchise partners. On a daily basis, the waste is then collected and that waste is converted into organic fertilisers. The final process is transferring the fertiliser to East Africa where there is a high demand ( Sanergy, 2018). Image 1 below illustrates this process :
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| Image 1: To illustrate the Sanergy Waste Process. Source: Sanergy, 2018 |
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| Figure1: Bar Graph to show an evaluation of Sanergy content scores compared to an average toilet score. Source: O'Keefe et al,2105 |
However, is social innovation a sustainable solution to improved access to sanitation?
To answer this question, Sanergy is not as straightforward as it is made out to be. There is a large issue for land ownership in informal settlements to build Sanergy facilities. After gaining a piece of land, the permission for construction has to go through local political authorities which can be a long and difficult process (O'Keefe et al., 2015). Thus illustrating that political tension within the government can also hinder the progression of social innovation in providing improved access to water sanitation.
Financial Setbacks
Moreover, the use of social innovation means the projects are not contracted by the government and therefore fully reliant on international aid for finance(O'Keefe et al.,2015). As such the overall benefit to the water sanitation citywide and standard of water quality is not developed as a result of constrained political spaces and a lack of government support(O'Keefe et al., 2015). Previously in my blog titled "Poolitical"- the ideas of clear governance issues surrounding the funding of projects to help improve access to water sanitation are evident and is portrayed as a major setback in achieving access to improved water sanitation for all.
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