Occurrence of On-Site Sanitation Technologies in Poor Urban Communities: A Case of The Biofil Toilet Technology

Occurrence of On-site Sanitation
Technologies in Poor Urban Communities:

A case of the Biofil Toilet Technology
By Peter Owusu-Antwi (PhD student, KNUST)
Supervisors (KNUST):
Prof (Mrs) Esi Awauh
Dr. Richard Buamah
Dr. Helen Essandoh
Mentor (BIOFILCOM):
Ing. Kweku Anno
Introduction
• Approximately 2.4 billion dwellers rely on on-site sanitation (OSS)
installations such as pit latrines, aqua privies and septic tanks
(Strauss et al., 2004)
• In Ghana, 74% of households (HHs) are served by OSS, with 6%
served by sewerage systems and the remaining 20% resorting to
Open Defecation
• Citywide sewered sanitation is neither affordable nor feasible for the
majority of communities in Ghana (Koné and Strauss 2004)
especially remote and built-up areas
• 80% of such systems are dysfunctional
(Source: adapted from Cofie et al., 2009)
History of Sanitation in Ghana
• Before colonial rule, pit-latrines located at the outskirts of the
community were common (Okechukwu et al, 2012) due to their
stench.
• “Bucket latrine” system with “night soil” collection, became dominant
(Ayee and Crook 2003) at homes due to the inconvenience of
having to travel long distances.
• With increasing population, public toilets were constructed by the
Government in populous cities of Ghana (Accra & Kumasi) in the
1930s through to the post-colonial period.
• Since then, many technologies have evolved:
1. Ventilated Improved Pits (VIP) was a modification of the traditional pit
latrines with a vent pipe to eliminate odour from the privies
2. Kumasi Ventilated Improved Pit (KVIP) incorporated a double chamber
with vent pipes to eliminate sinking multiple pits when they are full
3. Most recently are the water closet and ecosan toilets (compost latrines)
Existing toilet facilities in urban poor areas
Percentage distribution of toilet facilities by type

Source: Ghana Statistical Service (2012)
Exiting facilities-Cont’d
Bucket Pit latrine VIP KVIP ECL WC/Septic tank Biofil

Factors limiting uptake of HH toilet facilities
• Poor physical site conditions and complicated site layouts;
• Limited water availability;
• High-density population;
• Legal land tenure and lack of government recognition and
services
• Low income levels and reliance on the Informal Economy.
• Excavatability
Complex layout (Limited space) Rocky grounds High Water Table

Growing trends in urban sanitation
• Policy shift that seeks to recommend water-based sanitation
solutions
• Governments and City Authorities favour conventional
sewerage systems though expensive and technically difficult
to operate, as they rarely benefit the poor (ADB report, 2005).
Future of urban sanitation
• Technologies which have minimum or null energy cost, simple

operational and maintenance procedures, high treatment
efficiency and a potential for reuse (Li, 2012)
• Sanitation systems that use negligible quantities of water,
promote cycling of nutrients, and envisage utilization of
human excreta.
• Technologies with small foot print while maintaining effective
treatment of waste
The Biofil Toilet Technology (BTT)
• An initiative of a local entrepreneur
(Kweku Akuam Anno, BIOFILCOM)
in Accra.
• An on-site faecal matter treatment
facility which comes as a normal
flush and microflush unit
• Measures 0.6m x 0.6m x 1.8m
• Undergoes rapid solid-liquid
separation by a porous filter
• Solids retained and undergoes
accelerated decomposition by the
activities of micro and macro-
organisms.
• Effluent undergoes biological
filtration
Key possible issues addressed by the BTT
 Limited land space

 Stench problems
 Frequent desludging
 Personal handling of waste
 Negative impacts on the environment
 High recurrent operation & maintenance costs
Current study on BTT at KNUST
• The potential of subsurface infiltration for the treatment
of biofil toilet technology effluent
• Effect of different filtering materials and bulking materials
on contaminant removal from the blackwater
• Effect of the solid loading rate on the treatment
performance of the BTT
• The robustness and recovery rates of the BTT to
bactericidal chemical constituents in the blackwater
Optimization and process design, control and operation

of vermicomposting need to be addressed (Abbasi et al.,
2008).
THANK YOU

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Occurrence of On-Site Sanitation Technologies in Poor Urban Communities: A Case of The Biofil Toilet Technology

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Occurrence of On-site Sanitation

Technologies in Poor Urban Communities:

By Peter Owusu-Antwi (PhD student, KNUST)

Percentage distribution of toilet facilities by type

Bucket Pit latrine VIP KVIP ECL WC/Septic tank Biofil

Complex layout (Limited space) Rocky grounds High Water Table

• Technologies which have minimum or null energy cost, simple

 Limited land space

Optimization and process design, control and operation

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