Engineers Without Borders-USA and Composting Toilets Overview and Nicaragua Project by Pat Coyle, Rotary Club of Livermore, EWB-SFP ATDT lead, for Rotary Club of Livermore Valley, January 27, 2015

2. Agenda
• Overview:
Remember
EWB
and
Rotary
partner
on
many
levels
• Engineers
Without
Borders-­‐USA
(EWB-­‐USA)
• Engineers
Without
Borders
—
San
Francisco
Professional
Chapter
(EWB-­‐SFP)
• Service
Corps
and
Appropriate
Technology
Design
Team
(ATDT)
• Compos8ng
toilets,
background
–
the
need
• Benefits/Advantages/Safety
considera8ons
• Some
organiza8ons
involved,
overview
–
types,
examples:
• Household
or
school:
with
in-­‐vault
or
on-­‐site
compos8ng
• Urban:
sanita8on-­‐as-­‐service,
with
off-­‐site
compos8ng
• SFP-­‐ATDT
project:
Compos8ng
Latrines
in
Nicaragua

8. • EWB-­‐USA's
Engineering
Service
Corps
offers
the
exper8se
of
our
most
seasoned
volunteers
to
organiza8ons
in
the
interna8onal
development
sector
• Collaborates
with
NGOs
and
governments
who
use
a
community-­‐driven
approach
and
who
lack
access
to
the
resources
needed
to
design
sustainable
and
appropriate
solu8ons
to
engineering
challenges
• Performs
a
variety
of
services,
including
engineering
studies,
owner's
representa8on,
planning,
design,
monitoring
and
evalua8on

9. Appropriate
Technology
Design
Team
(ATDT)
• EWB-­‐SFP’s
ATDT
is
a
group
of
MEs,
EEs
and
other
product
development
professionals
who
provide
engineering
design
and
research
assistance
for
projects
in
developing
communi8es
throughout
the
world
•
The
team
works
with
in-­‐country
partners
to
design
for
local
condi8ons
so
that
solu8ons
are
appropriate
and
sustainable
• The
implemented
solu8ons
empower
communi8es
by
providing
tools
that
facilitate
local
economic
development
and
provide
basic
needs,
local
educa8on,
and
entrepreneurial
opportuni8es

10. EWB-­‐USA
is
rolling
out
Appropriate
Technology
Design
na8onally
• EWB-­‐HQ’s
new
Service
Corps
mode,
includes
ATDT
• Sam
Burd,
EWB-­‐SFP,
leads
the
EWB-­‐HQ
ATDT
ini8a8ve,
and
put
out
a
call
to
bring
forward
AT
projects
for
inclusion
in
the
na8onal
program
• The
EWB-­‐SFP
ATDT
Nicaragua
Compos8ng
Toilet
Project
has
just
(Jan
2015)
been
approved
as
the
first
Na8onal
ATDT
project
• We
don't
know
yet
exactly
what
that
will
mean
for
our
project
-­‐
perhaps
more
visibility,
opportuni8es
for
collabora8on,
or
fundraising
support

12. ATDT
completed
or
closed
projects

13. Compos8ng
toilets
–
the
need
Over
2.6
billion
people
don’t
have
access
to
toilets
with
huge
health
consequences:
• Open
defeca8on
and
improperly
maintained,
overflowing
latrines
contaminate
drinking
water
and
food
supplies
• The
resultant
cholera,
hepa88s,
parasites
and
other
contaminants
claim
lives,
sicken
people
and
cripple
economies
by
keeping
people
home
from
school
and
work.
1.8
million
people
die
every
year
from
diarrheal
diseases,
and
90%
of
these
are
children
under
the
age
of
5
• Safety
-­‐
Lack
of
toilets
puts
women
at
risk.
In
India
in
May
2014,
two
young
girls
were
acacked,
raped,
murdered
and
len
hanging
from
a
tree.
The
deaths
could
have
been
prevented
if
the
girls
had
access
to
a
safe
toilet.
Instead,
they
were
murdered
when
they
went
to
an
open
field
to
relieve
themselves

15. Managing
Poop
Safely
When
is
the
compost
containing
poop
safe
to
use?
(from
A
Sewer
Catastrophe
Companion
with
references)
• Op8on
1:
Reten8on
-­‐
Retaining
compost
can
kill
many
pathogens
by
keepingthem
away
from
their
host
(our
gut),
however,
Ascaris
eggs
(roundworm)
can
last
up
to
130
days
and
s8ll
be
viable.
Retaining
compost
for
two
years
(730
days)
is
considered
extremely
safe
• Op8on
2:
High
Temperature
-­‐
Most
pathogens
are
adapted
for
a
narrow
temperature
range
around
their
host’s
body
temperature,
and
very
few
survive
outside
of
that
range.
Two
consecu8ve
days
at
57°C
(135°F)
kills
roundworm
eggs.
U.S.
Federal
guidelines
for
sewage
sludge
treatment
require
three
days
at
55°C
(131°F)
for
pathogen
reduc8on

16. Managing
Pee
Safely
In
healthy
people
urine
is
sterile,
although
it
may
pick
up
bacteria
or
feces
while
leaving
the
urethra
• Addressing
Urine
Disease
Risks:
When
retained
outside
the
body,
the
urea
and
water
in
urine
quickly
change
to
ammonia
and
then
ammonium
during
reten8on,
raising
the
pH
from
around
7
to
around
9.
The
pH
change
and
presence
of
ammonia
(which
is
toxic
to
all
living
cells
at
high
concentra8ons)
is
enough
to
inac8vate
most
bacteria
within
2
hours
• In
Sweden,
urine
is
used
as
a
fer8lizer
for
any
crop
aner
a
one
month
reten8on
at
20°
C
(although
it
must
be
applied
one
month
before
plan8ng
for
crops
that
are
to
be
eaten
raw)

17. Killing
the
Tough
Bugs

18. Some
major
organiza8ons
involved

19. Some
major
organiza8ons
involved

20. Some
major
organiza8ons
involved

24. Concept:
ultra-­‐low-­‐cost
toilet
using
removable
containers
• Easy
to
collect
and
transport
wastes
safely
from
the
community
• A
good
toilet
is
a
symbol
of
cleanliness
and
modernity
• Beyond
being
odorless,
hygienic,
and
vector-­‐free,
toilet
needs
to
be
elegant,
modern,
and
pleasant
to
use
• It
needs
to
be
cheap.
Toilet
combines
a
20-­‐L
bucket,
a
liquid
container,
and
a
western-­‐style
toilet
seat
into
a
sealed,
portable,
urine-­‐diver8ng
toilet

25. Resource:
full
cycle
• Collect
and
deliver
the
wastes
to
SOIL’s
exis8ng
compost
sites
•
Remove
full
containers,
replace
with
clean
ones
•
Transport
containers,
carts
to
trucks
• Compost
waste,
clean
containers
at
the
compost
site
• Sell
the
compost
to
help
finance
the
service,
restore
Hai8’s
devastated
soil

34. Compos8ng
Latrine
Status
• The
first
compos8ng
toilets
are
working
great
• User
acceptance
has
been
high
• Genera8on
and
use
of
compost
for
agricultural
applica8ons
has
been
successful
• The
community
wants
more
units

36. Phase
2
Planning
(cont.)
• Goal:
build
fourteen
compos8ng
toilets
in
El
Llanito
community
using
the
new
design
($340/toilet)
• Alcance
Nicaragua
responsibili8es:
materials
procurement
and
transporta8on,
iden8fying
new
beneficiaries,
managing
the
construc8on,
and
collec8ng
beneficiaries’
contribu8on
(40%
of
cost)

37. Phase
2
Planning
(cont.)
• July
2014:
AN
selects
par8cipants
• August
2014:
Material
Procurement
prior
to
construc8on
start
• August
19-­‐August
31:
Construc8on
• Post
Construc8on:
Documenta8on
–
in
progress

45. Next
steps
• The
EWB
team
is
con8nuing
to
raise
funds
to
do
more
compos8ng
toilets
for
the
families
that
need
them
• We
raised
almost
$3k
through
an
IndieGoGo
campaign
• We’ve
received
a
$7.5k
grant
from
EWB-­‐SFP
chapter
• IBM
has
matching
program
up
to
$5k
–
we’ll
pursue
it
•
My
Rotary
club
and
NGO
partner
have
agreement
with
the
Masaya
Nicaragua
Rotary
club
to
partner
on
a
Global
Grant
(GG)
• Our
NGO
presented
to
Masaya
Rotary
• I
draned
the
applica8on
and
it
is
in
review
with
our
District
5170
Grants
Team,
the
NGO
and
Masaya
Rotary
• Fayeceville
Arkansas
Rotary
also
wants
to
support
the
NGO's
work
in
Nicaragua
and
we
are
exploring
opportuni8es
for
collabora8on
–
the
may
serve
as
the
US
club
for
the
GG
• We
may
be
back
to
seek
your
help
on
the
Global
Grant

46. Hands-­‐on
workshop:
EWB
WCR
Symposium:
UC
Davis
10/25/14
Based
on
A
Sewer
Catastrophe
Companion:
Dry
Toilets
for
Wet
Disasters,
the
field-­‐proven
5-­‐gallon
pail
based
composAng
approach
for
seismic
or
other
emergency
response
situaAons

47. Hands-­‐on
workshop
(cont.)

48. Hands-­‐on
workshop
(cont.)

49. Hands-­‐on
workshop
(cont.)

50. Wrap-­‐up,
Q&A
• Remember
EWB
can
partner
with
Rotary
in
a
variety
of
ways
• Compos8ng
toilets/Dry
Sanita8on:
The
simple
way
to
think
about
this
is
“Don't
poop
in
the
water.”
Ques8ons?
Email
me,
pat@coyles.com,
with
follow
up
ques8ons
and
for
a
copy
of
the
Sewer
Catastrophe
Companion:
Dry
Toilets
for
Wet
Disasters,
the
field-­‐proven
5-­‐gallon
pail
based
composAng
approach
for
seismic
or
other
emergency
response
situaAons
…
or
you
can
find
it
online
at:
hcp://www.portlandoregon.gov/pbem/ar8cle/447707