Development of low-cost decentralized faecal sludge treatment system for resource recovery

Uganda has a largest population using onsite sanitation facilities. In Kampala Capital city over 90% use onsite sanitation. The situation is even worse where some towns have no sewer line and no faecal sludge disposal sites. The Ministry of Water and environment has clustered some towns within a radius of <35km to have a common dumping site. With the current few wastewater treatment plants in the country, this intervention would require more 36 faecal sludge plants to be constructed across the country. The current conventional plants seem very costly and at times underutilised because very few serious entrepreneurs would move all the distance to a safe disposal site. As a result there is illegal dumping in bushes. Water For People has developed sustainable sanitation business model right from capture structures through emptying with gulpers, transport with tricycles, pick-ups to low cost decentralised faecal sludge treatment (DEFAST) and Reuse of faecal sludge (FS) as briquettes, feeds, Vermicompost/compost, Biochar.