Engineers Without Borders-­‐USA Compos7ng Toilets Overview and Nicaragua Project for East Palo Alto Bayshore Rotary

1.
Engineers
Without
Borders-­‐USA
Compos7ng
Toilets
Overview
and
Nicaragua
Project
Pat
Coyle,
Global
Grant
lead
Rotary
Club
of
Livermore
EWB-­‐SFP
ATDT
lead
for
East
Palo
Alto
Bayshore
Rotary
August
20,
2015

2. Agenda
• Engineers
Without
Borders-­‐USA
(EWB-­‐USA)
• EWB
—
San
Francisco
Professional
Chapter
(EWB-­‐SFP)
• Service
Corps
and
Appropriate
Technology
Design
Team
(ATDT)
• Compos7ng
toilets,
background
–
the
need
• Benefits/Advantages/Safety
considera7ons
• Some
organiza7ons
involved,
overview
–
types,
examples:
• Household
or
school:
with
in-­‐vault
or
on-­‐site
compos7ng
• Urban:
sanita7on-­‐as-­‐service,
with
off-­‐site
compos7ng
• SFP-­‐ATDT
project:
Compos7ng
Latrines
in
Nicaragua
• Rotary
Global
Grant
for
more
compos7ng
latrines
in
Nicaragua

3. Agenda
• Updates
and
status:
Belize
Open
Source
-­‐
Sustainable
Development
• Engineers
Without
Borders-­‐USA
(EWB-­‐USA)
• Engineers
Without
Borders
—
San
Francisco
Professional
Chapter
(EWB-­‐SFP)
• Updates
and
status:
Three
EWB
chapter
projects
in
northern
Belize
• Belize
photos
• Road
past
Belize
Open
Source
40-­‐acre
site
toward
August
Pine
Ridge
village
EWB-­‐USA
vision
and
mission
A
world
in
which
all
communi7es
have
the
capacity
to
meet
their
basic
human
needs
Supports
community-­‐driven
development
programs
worldwide
through
the
design
and
implementa7on
of
sustainable
engineering
projects,
while
fostering
responsible
leadership

4. EWB-­‐USA
Growth
2000
8
Members
1
Chapter
1
Project
2015
15,900
Members
~
300
Chapters
663
Programs
45
countries
>
2.5
million
lives
impacted

5. • Established
in
2004
• ~
200
ac7ve
members
• 7
infrastructure
programs
• 2
Appropriate
Technology
Design
Team
(ATDT)
projects
• Execu7ve
Commieee
and
support
commieees
provide
chapter
management,
fundraising,
and
publicity
EWB-­‐SFP
Na7on’s
1st
Professional
Chapter

6. EWB-­‐SFP
Programs
and
Loca7ons
Kenya
Water
Supply
El
Salvador
Water
&
SanitaJon
Fiji
Water
System
HaiJ
Community
Health
Clinic
and
Solar
Power
Honduras
Bridge
ConstrucJon
&
Water
DistribuJon
Nicaragua
ATDT
ComposJng
Toilets
Water
distribuJon
–
solar
pump
Tanzania
Well
rebuilding,
water
DistribuJon
&
solar
pumping

7. EWB
Program
Process
and
Commitment
• Programs
have
a
non-­‐governmental
organiza7on
(NGO)
or
community
based
organiza7on
(CBO)
partner
ac7ng
as
a
liaison
to
the
community
• Three
project
phases:
1. Assessment
2. Design
and
Implementa7on
3. Monitoring
and
Evalua7on
• Infrastructure
projects
have
a
minimum
5-­‐year
commitment
to
the
community
• Service
Corps
and
Appropriate
Technology
projects
vary
in
length
depending
on
the
needs
of
the
NGO
and
community

8. • EWB-­‐USA's
Engineering
Service
Corps
offers
the
exper7se
of
our
most
seasoned
volunteers
to
organiza7ons
in
the
interna7onal
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
solu7ons
to
engineering
challenges
• Performs
a
variety
of
services,
including
engineering
studies,
owner's
representa7on,
planning,
design,
monitoring
and
evalua7on

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
communi7es
throughout
the
world
•
The
team
works
with
in-­‐country
partners
to
design
for
local
condi7ons
so
that
solu7ons
are
appropriate
and
sustainable
• The
implemented
solu7ons
empower
communi7es
by
providing
tools
that
facilitate
local
economic
development
and
provide
basic
needs,
local
educa7on,
and
entrepreneurial
opportuni7es

10. EWB-­‐USA
launched
Appropriate
Technology
Design
na7onally
• EWB-­‐HQ’s
new
Service
Corps
mode,
includes
ATDT
• Sam
Burd,
EWB-­‐SFP,
leads
the
EWB-­‐HQ
ATDT
ini7a7ve
• The
EWB-­‐SFP
ATDT
Compos7ng
Latrines
in
Nicaragua
project
was
approved
as
the
first
Na7onal
ATDT
project
• The
Puget
Sound
Professionals
Nepal
Biogas
Program
was
approved
as
the
second
Na7onal
ATDT
project
• We
don't
know
yet
exactly
what
this
will
mean
for
our
projects:
perhaps
more
visibility,
opportuni7es
for
resources
and
collabora7on,
fundraising
support

11. EWB-­‐SFP
ATDT
ac7ve
projects
For
addi7onal
informa7on
on
the
ATDT
projects
see:
hep://www.ewb-­‐sfp.org/atdt
Active Projects
Project Country Description Partner
Composting
Toilet
Nicaragua
Design and construct
a prototype
composting toilet for
rural elementary
Plastic Recycling
was El
Salvador
(potentially
Nicaragua)
Design a manual
plastic recycling
system for rural
communities
ADESCO (A
Community
Development
Organization)

12. ATDT
completed
or
closed
projects

13. Compos7ng
toilets
–
the
need
Over
2.6
billion
people
don’t
have
access
to
toilets
with
huge
health
consequences:
• Open
defeca7on
and
improperly
maintained,
overflowing
latrines
contaminate
drinking
water
and
food
supplies
• The
resultant
cholera,
hepa77s,
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
–
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
raped,
murdered
and
lem
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

14. Benefits
of
compos7ng
toilets
Compos7ng
toilets
have
clear
ecological
and
economical
advantages
over
flush
toilets.
In
addi7on
to
addressing
the
sanita7on
issue,
they:
• turn
waste
into
compost
that
can
fer7lize
crops,
comple7ng
a
circle
of
nutrients
that
rebuilds
soils
• reduce
the
cost
of
sewage
disposal
and
fer7lizer
• require
much
less
water
and
energy
Cell
phone
analogy
• Some
developing
countries
have
skipped
land
lines,
moved
directly
to
cell
phone
networks
• Similarly,
they
could
skip
the
water
and
energy
intensive
sewer
treatment
approach
-­‐
use
dry
sanita7on,
compos7ng
solu7ons

15. Managing
Poop
Safely
When
is
the
compost
containing
poop
safe
to
use?
(from
A
Sewer
Catastrophe
Companion
with
references)
• Op7on
1:
Reten7on
–
Retaining
compost
can
kill
many
pathogens
by
keeping
them
away
from
their
host
(our
gut),
however,
Ascaris
eggs
(roundworm)
can
last
up
to
130
days
and
s7ll
be
viable.
Retaining
compost
for
two
years
(730
days)
is
considered
extremely
safe
• Op7on
2:
High
Temperature
–
Most
pathogens
are
adapted
for
a
narrow
temperature
range
around
their
host’s
body
temperature,
very
few
survive
outside
of
that
range.
Two
consecu7ve
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
reduc7on

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
reten7on,
raising
the
pH
from
around
7
to
around
9.
The
pH
change
and
presence
of
ammonia
(which
is
toxic
to
living
cells
at
high
concentra7ons)
is
enough
to
inac7vate
most
bacteria
within
2
hours
• In
Sweden,
urine
is
used
as
a
fer7lizer
for
any
crop
amer
a
one
month
reten7on
at
20°
C
(although
it
must
be
applied
one
month
before
plan7ng
for
crops
that
are
to
be
eaten
raw)

17. Killing
the
Tough
Bugs

18. Some
major
organiza7ons
involved

19. Some
major
organiza7ons
involved

20. Some
major
organiza7ons
involved

21. Overview
–
types,
examples
SOIL,
Sustainable
Organic
Integrated
Livelihoods,
developed
EcoSan
latrines
that
store
human
waste
in
removable
15-­‐gallon
drums
for
compos7ng.
SOIL
and
its
partners
build
and
manage
latrines,
compost
centers
and
vegetable
gardens
and
hold
sanita7on
workshops
in
Port
au
Prince

22. Overview
–
types,
examples
Gates
Founda7on
-­‐
Reinvent
the
Toilet
Fair:
Andrew
Larsen
with
Fontes
Founda7on):
Low
Cost
Emergency
Sanita7on
Structure
(urban
slums
in
Hai7):
Five
toilet
units
are
grouped
on
a
vented
pentagonal
structure
over
a
box
containing
the
compos7ng
pile.
When
full,
the
toilet
structure
and
steps
are
moved
to
a
new
compos7ng
box
at
a
different
loca7on.
Vodrey
Cite
Soleil,
Hai7

23. Aerosan
Designs
•
HaiJ
2012
India
2014
Exo-­‐Crate
2015

24. Resource
partnered
with
SOIL
in
Hai7
on
household
toilets
Resource
blogged:
cartridge-­‐based
sanita7on
services…have
tremendous
poten7al,
but…need
to
make
them
much,
much
bigger…
worldwide,
more
than
748
million
people
live
in
ci7es
today
without
access
to
decent
sanita7on…we
need
to
move
from
serving
thousands
of
people…to
hundreds
of
millions…

25. 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
(5-­‐gal)
bucket,
a
liquid
container,
and
a
western-­‐
style
toilet
seat
into
a
sealed,
portable,
urine-­‐diver7ng
toilet

26. Resource:
full
cycle
• Collect
and
deliver
the
wastes
to
SOIL’s
exis7ng
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
Hai7’s
devastated
soil

27. Overview
–
types,
examples
X-­‐runner
is
opera7ng
sanita7on
as
a
service
to
low-­‐income
urban
households
that
can’t
have
regular
toilets
in
Lima,
Peru;
where
3
million
people
don’t
have
a
toilet
at
home

28. Overview
–
types,
examples
Clean
team,
in
Ghana,
offers
an
innova7ve,
affordable
sanita7on
solu7on
for
low-­‐income
communi7es
in
the
developing
world

29. Overview
–
types,
examples
Sanergy
builds
healthy,
prosperous
communi7es
by
making
hygienic
sanita7on
affordable
and
accessible
throughout
Africa's
informal
seelements.
Honored
by
Silicon
Valley’s
Tech
Award

30. Overview
–
types,
examples
Barrel
Compos7ng
Toilet
System
(55-­‐gal
drums):
David
Omick
approach.
When
first
barrel
is
full,
enclosure
and
toilet
seat
is
moved
to
next.
Compos7ng
is
facilitated
by
regular
mixing

31. Overview
–
types,
examples
EWB
Portland
Maine
Professionals,
(Portland
State
University)
For
Ethiopia,
Debre
Birhan
School
Sanita7on
project

32. Overview
–
types,
examples
EWB
UNIVERSITY
OF
NEVADA,
LAS
VEGAS
PROFESSIONALS,
NICARAGUA,
SAN
FRANCISCO
LIBRE,
LOMAS
DEL
SOL
SANITARY
IMPROVEMENT
PROJECT

33. Overview
–
types,
examples
(Cont.)
EWB
UNIVERSITY
OF
NEVADA,
LAS
VEGAS
PROFESSIONALS,
NICARAGUA,
SAN
FRANCISCO
LIBRE,
LOMAS
DEL
SOL
SANITARY
IMPROVEMENT
PROJECT

34. Overview
–
types,
examples
EWB
San
Francisco
Professionals,
For
Hai7,
Bayonnais
March
2015
Implementa7on
trip

35. Overview
–
types,
examples
EWB
San
Francisco
Professionals,
For
Hai7,
Bayonnais
March
2015
Implementa7on
trip

36. Specific
case:
SFP-­‐ATDT
Compos7ng
Latrines
in
Nicaragua
• In
2010,
EWB-­‐SFP
ATDT,
Alvarez
Co-­‐op,
Alcance
Nicaragua
(AN)
and
Outreach
Interna7onal
(OI),
built
ten
compos7ng
toilets
with
the
community
of
Los
Alvarez,
Nicaragua
(134
families,
~
938
people)
• 95%
of
its
latrines
were
in
poor
condi7on.
These
latrines
flood
with
water
during
the
winter
and
fail
structurally,
resul7ng
in
illnesses
due
to
exposure
to
fecal
maeer
and
water
contamina7on
• The
environment
is
polluted
and
inhabitants
are
exposed
to
physical
harm
due
to
latrine
collapse
Completed
compos7ng
toilet
from
2010
pilot
implementa7on
trip

37. Compos7ng
Latrine
Status
• The
first
compos7ng
toilets
were
working
great
• User
acceptance
was
high
• Genera7on
and
use
of
compost
for
agricultural
applica7ons
was
successful
• The
community
wanted
more
units

38. Phase
2
• A
member
of
the
Alcance
Nicaragua
team
designed
and
built
a
less
expensive
compos7ng
toilet
which
cut
the
cost
by
half
Prototype
reduced
cost
redesigned
toilet

39. Phase
2
(cont.)
• ATDT
and
OI
signed
MOU
to
build
addi7onal
10
reduced-­‐cost
toilets
over
12
days
in
August
2014
• EWB-­‐HQ
transferred
ATDT
funds
to
OI/
AN
for
the
local
group
to
purchase
materials
• AN
and
the
local
group
iden7fied
new
beneficiaries,
procured
materials
and
transporta7on,
managed
the
construc7on,
and
collected
beneficiaries’
contribu7on
(40%
of
cost)
• Constructed
14
of
the
new
redesigned
compos7ng
toilets
Prototype
reduced
cost
redesigned
toilet

40. Phase
2
(cont.)
• July
2014:
AN
selected
par7cipants
in
community
of
El
Lllanito
• August
2014:
Material
Procurement
prior
to
construc7on
started
• August
19-­‐August
31,
2014:
Construc7on
• Post
Construc7on:
Documenta7on
–
in
progress

41. Map
view
of
drive
to
project
NGO
has
offices
in
Masaya
and
Santa
Lucia
–
overall
drive
7me
from
airport,
to
Masaya,
then
back
north
is
about
two
and
half
hours

42. GPS
view
of
project

43. Phase
2
ConstrucJon
Preparing
founda7on

44. Phase
2
ConstrucJon
(cont.)
Concrete
in
founda7on
form

45. Phase
2
ConstrucJon
(cont.)
Building
the
vaults

46. Phase
2
ConstrucJon
(cont.)
Sealing
the
vaults
with
plaster
coat

47. Phase
2
ConstrucJon
(cont.)
Building
the
upper
structure

48. Phase
2
ConstrucJon
(cont.)
Families
with
completed
toilets

49. Families
amer
workshop

50. Post
ConstrucJon:
DocumentaJon
–
in
progress

51. Next
steps
• The
EWB
team
has
raised
funds
to
do
more
compos7ng
toilets
for
the
families
that
need
them
• Almost
$3k
through
an
IndieGoGo
campaign
• $7.5k
grant
from
EWB-­‐SFP
chapter
• My
Rotary
Club
of
Livermore
and
our
NGO
partnered
with
the
Masaya
Nicaragua
Rotary
club
for
a
Global
Grant
(GG)
for
$37.5k,
enough
to
do
about
80
more
units
• We
are
responding
to
comments
from
RI
on
the
applica7on
–
none
of
them
deal
with
the
design
• Rotary
Club
of
Castro
Valley
allocated
funds
(DDF)
to
get
us
to
$15k
min
• EWB
is
dona7ng
$5k

52. Future
plans
• EWB's
announcement
of
their
Nicaragua
office
and
first
hire,
Edrulfo
Rodriguez,
offers
a
par7cularly
interes7ng
opportunity
• Our
SFP
chapter
has:
• an
exis7ng
infrastructure
project
for
water
supply
in
El
Limon,
• the
Appropriate
Technology
Design
Team
(ATDT)
compos7ng
toilets,
•
a
new
water
supply
system
project
in
Nicaragua
–
which
means
we
will
be
engaged
for
a
minimum
of
five
more
years
• I’m
also
interested
in
using
EWB
Service
Corp
or
ATDT
models
with
Rotary
Global
Grants
with
the
potental
to
go
beyond
tradi7onal
one
chapter-­‐one
community
EWB
programs
for
broader,
regional
impacts
Nicaragua
is
easy
to
visit:
A
red-­‐eye
from
SFO
gets
you
to
Managua
by
mid-­‐morning

53. Not
just
for
3rd
World
-­‐
hands-­‐on
EWB
workshop
at
UC
Davis
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
Portland
Oregon’s
Bureau
of
Emergency
Management
has
adopted
this
approach
as
part
of
their
planning

54. Hands-­‐on
workshop
(cont.)

55. Hands-­‐on
workshop
(cont.)

56. Hands-­‐on
workshop
(cont.)

57. Wrap-­‐up,
Q&A
• Compos7ng
toilets/Dry
Sanita7on:
The
simple
way
to
think
about
this
is
“Don't
poop
in
the
water.”
Ques7ons?
Email
me,
pat@coyles.com,
with
follow
up
ques7ons
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:
hep://www.portlandoregon.gov/pbem/ar7cle/447707