CHARACTERIZATION AND VALORIZATION OF FECAL FOR

DEVELOPMENT OF SUSTAINABLE URBAN SANITATION IN

ETHIOPIA

SUSTAINABLE URBAN SANITATION SOLUTIONS IN

ETHIOPIA: FROM CONTAINMENT TO RESOURCE

RECOVERY ORIENTED SANITATION

6TH INTERNATIONAL DRY TOILET CONFERENCE.

BY TAMENE HAILU, ETHIOPIA

Tampere, Finland.

August 22 to 26, 2018

Out line

Introduction

Research Objective

Research material and methods

Result and discussion

Conclusion and recommendation

Future prospect

Introduction

Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) had achieved only 30% sanitation coverage by 2015, with only a 4 percentage point increase from 1990 (WHO, 2015).

Lack of access to proper sanitation that hygienically separates fecal waste from human contact is a serious concern (UN water, 2014).

The practice of open defecation is a primary cause of fecal borne disease transmission, with children being the most vulnerable.

Reducing by half the proportion of untreated wastewater has been established as a target in the UN’s recently released Agenda 2030 for sustainable development (Goal 6.3).

Con…

In most communities of SSA, the collected fecal

sludge from OSS is dumped back into the

environment without any treatment (Baum et al., 20l3).

In rapidly expanding urban areas in SSA, FSM

represents a growing challenge in posing significant

negative public health and environmental risks

(Cairncross et al., 2010)

FSM, the most important sanitation element, is also

largely ignored in the global estimation of improved

sanitation coverage (Beyene et al., 2015).

Characterization of fecal matter is the prerequisite to

understand which type of OSS technology applicable

effectively in particular geographic location and culture

Urban Sanitation Overview (JMP)

5

0

5

10

15

20

1990 2000 2010 2015

improved

Urb

an P

op

ula

tion (m

illions

) us

ing

unimproved

shared

Open defecation

Data for Ethiopia

Con…

Addis Ababa is Ethiopia’s rapidly growing capital city and with

more than 3 million residents it is one of the largest cities in

Africa.

Over 80% of Addis Ababa’s population lives in slum districts

with very poor housing, which are overcrowded and have little

or no urban service provision (UN-Habitat, 2005, 2014).

Only a small proportion of the city is served by conventional

sewerage systems, while most areas rely upon on-site

sanitation (Beyene et al., 2015).

Most households (about 75%) have pit latrines that are either

emptied when full or discharge to open drains; and a

significant minority (about 5%) resort to open defecation

(CSA, 2005)

Fecal sludge management system of Addis Ababa

Containment

Flush toilet

Septic tank

Dry toilet

Emptying

Sewer system

Vacuum truck

Transport

Gravity

Truck

Treatment

Stabilization pond

FS dying beds

Recycle &

disposal

Partial treated FS discharged

into rivers

Dry FS disposed into

land

Residential environment

Open defecation

Growth of URI and Diarrhea in Addis Ababa (2012-2014)

URI Diarrhoea

year Cases %ge of total

top ten cases

Cases %ge of total

top ten cases

2014 361,447 29% 112,948 10%

2013 370,000 27% 102,373 9.3%

2012 223,365 25% 88,009 9.2%

Why On-site Sanitation is Important

Most urban dwellers with

sanitation access use on-site:

<10% of urban Africa has

sewer access

Virtually all poor people use

on-site sanitation – if they

have any sanitation at all

On-site sanitation is rarely

managed as an integrated

system including transport

and treatment, resulting in

major environmental pollution. Sources: Africa Infrastructure Country Diagnostic Background Paper 13 (2008) Elvira Morella, Vivien Foster, and Sudeshna Ghosh Banerjee

UNICEF/WHO Joint Monitoring Program (2015) Progress on Sanitation and Drinking Water: 2015 update and MDG assessment

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

1 2 3 4 5

Poorest Wealth Quintile

Urb

an A

ccess

to Im

pro

ved

Sa

nita

tion

Thinking outside the box

Business as usual sanitation system could not

able to avoid environmental contamination &

the associated diseases incidence and

prevalence.

Therefore the source recourse recovery

oriented sanitation research is crucial.

Sanitation: for environment, health and

income

Research Objective

General:

To investigate the current system of containment in relation to poor sanitation approach in preventing environmental pollution & promoting health

Specific:

To provide further evidence on the occurrence and survival of pathogens in the fecal sludge of dry pit latrines, and the degree of contamination of the wider environment (soil and water).

To characterize and determine the composition of fecal sludge and estimation of the energy recovery potential, to understand which type of OSS technology is applicable effectively in particular geographic location and culture (the case of Addis Ababa).

To suggest appropriate sanitation solutions for slum area.

Material and methods

This paper presents findings:

Data from :

Secondary sources, project documents, plans and appraisals, National data, JMP and Expert interviews

Analysis of three main surveys: a survey of pit latrines and soils parasite load in terms of

Ascaris Lumbricoids ova.

a survey of water sources including both surface and groundwater sources and their level of fecal contamination.

a survey of pit latrines to assess characteristics of faecal sludge for energy potential in particular geographic location and culture (the case of Addis Ababa).

Survey and assessment of pit latrine

A total of 25 dry pit latrines from 5 sub city in slum areas were sampled

To study the parasite load in terms of AscarisLumbricoids ova

To study the characteristics for resource recovery

Samples were taken from three zones:

top surface to about 0.5 m depth (aerobic degradation zone),

facultative anaerobic zone (0.5 to 1.5 m) and

anaerobic zone(>1.5 meters with samples taken 0.30-0.5 m above the bottom of the pit).

Con…

Parasite load in terms of AscarisLumbricoids ova

in pitlatrine

Using a Sedgwick-Rafter cell, the concentrate was

examined to enumerate the detected ova.

The ova were classified as either

unembroyenated or

embroyenated to the first, second or third larval stage.

The Ascaris ova count was made using the equation:

Ova/g dry wt. = [(NO)*(CV)*(FV)]/ [(SP)*(TS)]

Fecal sludge sampling from dry pit latrines

Sludge & Sediment

Sampling Kits

1 L polyethylene

bottle with airtight

cap Label

Composite sample for

each depth (surface,,

0.5 , 1m, …Bottom)

Our previous plan

It was impossible for us to get this commercial sampler. It is

very expensive (about US$ = 7000.00 excluding vat and

shipping)

Solution: designing and producing new pit sludge

sampler (PSS)

Survey and assessment of soils

A total of seventy samples of soil were taken from

yards or gardens and road banks and assessed

for A. lumbricuides to provide an indication of

contamination and risk.

The samples were taken at accessible and shady

sites without vegetation across the five sub cities.

Sites were selected from areas close to the pit

latrines.

Procedure for assessment of A. lumbricuides was

similar to that used for the sludge samples.

Survey and assessment of water sources

27 Groundwater and 18 surface water samples

were collected and analyzed to provide an

assessment of levels of contamination of water

sources.

Microbial enumeration of water contamination

indicators of human faecal origin(total coliforms

(TC), Faecal coliforms (FC) and E. coli) were

performed using the Membrane Filtration (MF)

technique and

Chemical quality were measured following

standard methods (APHA, 2005).

Con…

4 characteristics for resource recovery

Experiment is conducted to assess the feasibility of energy

and fertilizer recovery from sampled dry pit latrines.

Proximate & ultimate analysis by weight (C, H, N, S, O, Ash,

Moisture, Calorific value, density, particle size)

The proximate analysis and solid content were determined

using gravimetric and bomb calorimeter method following

standard procedures.

The ultimate analysis of the sludge was done using the

PerkinElmer 2400 Series II (Series 2) CHNS/O Elemental

Analyzer.

Result and discussion

1.1 parasite load in terms of AscarisLumbricoids ova in pit latrine

A.lumbricoides counts with show a considerable and significant reduction in

the number of ova within the anaerobic zone compared to the middle

facultative anaerobic and near-surface aerobic zones.

Con…

2. parasite load in terms of AscarisLumbricoids ova in

surface soils

Soil Samples No. of

sample

%

positive

Number of Ascaris ova/100g of soil

Total Embryonated (live)

Yard/garden

soil 50

48

(96%) 28 19 (68%)

Road banks 20 16

(80%) 21 13 (62%)

Con… 3. Microbial contamination indicators of human

fecal origin in water sources 3.1 Water chemistry indicators (Levels of chloride and nitrate)

The concentration of chloride in shallow wells was found to be relatively high with a mean concentration of 41.5±65.2mg/l compared to springs and deep-wells with a mean concentration of 16.0 ± 20.8 mg/l and 15.4±9.0 mg/l respectively.

There was about two folds increase of chloride concentration at the mid-catchment sites and a further doubling in the concentration at the downstream sites.

Both shallow and deep wells were found to be rich in nitrate which suggests that even the deeper aquifer may be contaminated from fecal sludge.

Even the protected spring waters that are usually assumed to be free from contamination were also found to be rich in nitrate.

Con…

3.2 Fecal contamination indicators. About 50% of the deep and shallow well samples

were positive for TC, with similar results for springs

(40%).

While 25% of the samples from deep wells and

50% from shallow wells were positive for both FC

and E.coli.

All surface water samples (100%) were positive

for TC and almost all (with the exception of some

upstream sites) were positive for FC and E. coli.

*

*

*

*

*

0 5 10 15 20 25 30

Human feces briquette (10%

starch)

Human feces char

Hardwood bedding

Coffee Husk char

Raw human feces

Vergine wood

Muncipal mixed waste

Heating Value (MJ/Kg)

FAO briquette heating value standard (22 MJ/kg)

Heating value of human feces and solid fuels compared from

literatures (*)

Theoretical versus experimental calorific value Theoretical CV based on characterization = 18.46 MJ/Kg

Dry raw human feces CV = 17.9 MJ/Kg

Carbonized through slow pyrolysis (Char) = 23.7 MJ/kg

Calorific Value of FS for top, middle, & bottom section of the dry pit latrines

Minimum Calorific value standard = 18 MJ/kg & Wood biomass = 19.8 MJ/Kg

Median =20.92 MJ/Kg

18.83 MJ/Kg

17.80 MJ/Kg

Current knowledge on the sanitation solution

with resource recovery FS has potential market value for fuel, biogas, animal feed, component

in building materials & soil conditioner (Diener et al. 2014)

Business models for faecal sludge management in Sub-Saharan Africa

Biodesil production of fatty acid methyl esters (18 wt%) with other potential

byproducts of sterols, aliphatic alcohols & waxes (Pasture et al. 2014)

Conclusion

There are serious risks related to poor sanitation and improper treatment of faecal waste in Addis Ababa

Fecal contamination of Soils, groundwater and surface waters is shown to be widespread,

The need for proper treatment and disposal of pit latrine wastes is illustrated by the survival of pathogens even in the deep anaerobic zone of pit latrines.

The manufactured feces biochar in this study has met the FAO standards for biochar energy which is 22MJ/kg and comparable to wood biomas (19.8 MJ/kg). Minimizes the cost of access to sanitation

Cost for land for both containment & FSM

Cost for central waste treatment

Cost for healthcare

Recommendations

It is recommended that such results are used with

policy makers to put improved household and urban

sanitation and proper faecal sludge

management(FSM) higher on the agenda.

Development and regulation of FSM technology

and markets

Building capacity – dialogue, systems, guidelines,

institutions, staff, skills…

Standards, benchmarking and accountability

Valorization of Waste for Sustainable FSM

Dry

Biomass

Solid

waste?

Human

excreta

(Fresh &

toilets Pretreatment

Drying + Prop.

Pyrolysis

350-650 0C

Biochar

Characterization

Proximate & ultimate analysis by

weight (C, H, N, S, O, Ash, Moisture,

Calorific value, density, particle size)

Proximate & ultimate analysis by

weight (C, H, N, S, O, Ash, Moisture,

Calorific value, density, particle size)

Characterization

Mass & energy

balance

Conclusion on developing closed-loop sanitation

Future prospect Innovation on alternative sanitation technology

Pilot field scale demonstration of

the closed-loop sanitation

solution

Integrating FSM with solid waste management

Solid waste

Toilet

Publication outputs

References

Bakare, B. F., Foxon, K. M., Brouckaert, C. J., & Buckley, C. A. (2012). Variation in

VIP latrine sludge contents. Water SA, 38(4), 479-486.

FAO, 2011. Methods for Producing Biochar and Advanced Biofuels in Washington

State, USA.

Diener, S., Semiyaga, S., Niwagaba, C et al. (2014). A value proposition: Resource

recovery from faecal sludge—Can it be the driver for improved sanitation?.

Resources, Conservation and Recycling, 88, 32-38.

Pastore, C., Lopez, A., Lotito, V., & Mascolo, G. (2013). Biodiesel from dewatered

wastewater sludge: A two-step process for a more advantageous production.

Chemosphere, 92(6), 667-673.

APHA (2005) Standard methods for examination of water and wastewater. 21th edn.

American Public Health Association, American Water Works Association & the Water

and Environment Federation, Washington, DC.

WHO/UNICEF: Joint Monitoring Programme for Water Supply and Sanitation,

Progress on Sanitation and Drinking Water: 2010 Update. Geneva: World Health

Organization; 2010.

Acknowledgements

Jimma University

SRFA, WRC, South Africa

Ethiopian Ministry of Water, Irrigation & Energy

Addis Ababa City Administration & Residents

Chemistry Department, AAU

Ethiopian Geological Survey Laboratory

Ramboll Finland Community-Led Accelerated WASH (COWASH)

Thank you