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Improving Sustainable Water and Sanitation Systems in Sahel Region in Africa: Case of Burkina Faso

Environment / Energy (Global-scale environmental issues)

Burkina Faso

Finished

Improving Sustainable Water and Sanitation Systems in Sahel Region in Africa: Case of Burkina Faso

Don't Collect and Don't Mix: Clean Toilets for the "Land of Upright People"

Principal Investigator

- Prof.
  FUNAMIZU Naoyuki
  Graduate School of Engineering, Hokkaido University

ODA Recipient Country

Burkina Faso

Research Institutions in Japan

Hokkaido University / The University of Tokyo / Kochi University of Technology (KUT)

Research Institutions in Counterpart Country

International Institute for Water and Environmental Engineering (2iE)

Adoption fiscal year

FY 2009

Research Period

5 Years

Overview of the Research Project

Low cost and safety through a pipeless network
Burkina Faso is one of the poorest countries in the world, with 27.2% of the population at the poverty level. Many people become sick from water-borne diseases because the infrastructure for clean water and sanitation is not in place. There are many conditions needed for the water facilities that are introduced: for example, they must be able to withstand the harsh climate, and they should be easy to maintain at a low cost. The goal of this project is to create a system that does not collect wastewater in a single location but rather treats water on-site, and that separates water by use and quality rather than mixing it all together, in order to achieve a sanitary system with low costs. The new type of system to be developed to provide water and sanitation will not require a large-scale water distribution pipe network.

Bringing composting toilets to Africa to turn human waste into a source of income
Two models were proposed to match the population density and infrastructure level. In the rural area model, only the water for drinking is disinfected and filtered. Human waste is converted into fertilizer with composting toilets and the wastewater is used for irrigation, boosting income from agriculture. The urban area model uses vehicles to collect human waste, and wastewater is collected by individual communities. The technologies needed for each process are currently under development.

Photo gallery

Drawing water in the vegetable fields. Human waste is converted into fertilizer and wastewater is reused in order to boost vegetable production and raise income levels.