Final report on evaluation of ecosan facilities in chaisa compound of Lusaka

This document presents results of the review of EcoSan facilities in Chaisa Compound pilot project, a peri-urban area of Lusaka. The study focused on collecting information on the operation and maintenance from 45 household which benefited from the SIDA-CARE project with respect to being provided with EcoSan facilities in Chaisa Compound. Twenty four (24) households without the facilities but living in the vicinity of the facilities were also interviewed. Lastly, institutions with a stake in sanitation provision were also targeted. The instruments were semi-structured questionnaires for each of the three categories of respondents. It was observed that acceptability of the facilities among the residents of Chaisa was very high. This was a result of unfavourable hardships people faced in accessing toilet facilities. Historically, initiatives of flying toilets and seeking access from neighbours and drinking places have caused a number of people to have high acceptance of the facilities because they are seen as a solution to their suffering in the past. But even then, there is more acceptances on the Double Vault as compared to the Sundome as they take relatively a much longer time to fill up. However, it was observed that less than 25% of the beneficiaries could use the human manure in agriculture which defeats the principle of ecological sanitation. There is also absence of policy and legislature on ecological sanitation in Zambia as the current policy does not provide for re-use but “safe disposal”. This compromises the viability of the sanitation option. From the public health perspective, it was observed that the facilities have the potential to improve health as they address the hazard-host transmission routes though the current number of facilities does not have a big impact due to limited number. In terms of operations and maintenance, the project had both successes and challenges. The system was solving the problem that was insurmountable in the past; that of not having facilities due to lack of space. The hygienic conditions associated with the systems are a fact appreciated by many. A number of challenges were also associated with the system, the prominent one being that of frequent desludging. This arose from the fact that designs of the vault sizes were based on standard assumption. In the project area, over 50% of the respondents had inhabitants in the excess of ten when the designs were based on about 6 people per household. A lot of sentiments were expressed on the suitability of the squatting slabs which presented big challenges to the physically disabled and the pregnant women. The opening on the slab was also viewed to be too big and hence a danger especially to children. The biggest challenge was on the harvesting of the excreta with the Sundome proving to be very unsuitable in this respect. It was also clear that the design of the drain pipes from the urinals needed adjusting as there seems to be promotion of precipitation which resulted in blockages. This was because urine was allowed to stagnate in some sections of the urinal drain pipes. It was observed that up-scaling of the EcoSan systems, especially in areas lacking even the basic sanitation infrastructure would be well received. However, as to whether the use of the systems would embrace the principles of ecological sanitation especially on the re-use aspect would depend on a number of aspects ranging from policy to awareness raising. It was also noted that the tenure arrangements would play an import role especially that most houses in per-urban areas are on rent. It was also noted that the disposal of the sludge might cause a big challenge at large scale. Lastly, it was observed that EcoSan can be economically viable if awareness was there, not only among users but also among the farming communities and importantly to decision and policy makers. There is also need to create an enabling environment which starts with appropriate policy and legislature formulation which would be in support of this “new” paradigm. [authors abstract]