The City’s Water and Sanitation Unit has unveiled its Non-Sewered Innovative Sanitation technology pilot project. The launch was led by chairperson of the Trading Services Committee Mdu Nkosi who welcomed the collaboration of the Gates Foundation, Department of Science and Innovation and the Water Research Commission Photos: (SUPPLIED: PHUMLA KHWEL)
Image: PHUMLA KHWEL
The eThekwini Municipality is reinventing climate-smart technology toilets to improve sanitation in informal settlements in the city.
The city launched an innovative Non-Sewered Sanitation (NSS) technology pilot project last Wednesday, February 26, at Pholani Informal Settlement in La Mercy, north of Durban.
The NSS project comprises of reinvented toilets which are part of a range of innovative sanitation technologies that the city is piloting to improve sanitation services in areas outside of the sewer reticulation network.
The project seeks to address multipronged water and sanitation-related challenges in informal settlements.
The NSS is also a climate-smart technology in that it treats the wastewater generated on site. This treated, safe effluent is recycled for flushing the toilets, thus reducing the potable water demand for flushing toilets. In addition, these toilets can be rapidly deployed in cases of climate disasters such as floods to provide safe sanitation for communities.
Chairperson of the Trading Services Committee Mdu Nkosi, said at the launch on Wednesday, that the project will contribute to community preparedness for and resilience to the effects of climate change.
“The non-sewered project is responding to the recurrent disasters that we are experiencing, which often affect our infrastructure, as well as the challenge of the shortage of potable water. It’s good that this project uses recycled water for flushing instead of clean water, which we need to use efficiently for consumption,” Mr Nkosi said.
The NSS project is being tested in three sites in the city, La Mercy, Ekuthuleni Informal Settlement in Shallcross and in Malacca Road at Reservoir Hills.
This project is part of the South African Sanitation Technology Enterprise Programme, a collaborative technology accelerator programme funded by the Department of Science and Innovation and the Gates Foundation. It is implemented by the Water Research Commission to explore and develop innovative solutions for sanitation provision.
“The phase one stage of the project is aimed at demonstrating three types of reinvented toilet technologies in areas of need in informal settlements within eThekwini. This phase also aims to evaluate if the toilets are fit to be sanitation solutions for areas outside of the eThekwini Municipality sewer network,” said Mrr Nkosi.
Community member, Elijah Mthembu, applauded the initiative, adding that some residents benefited from being employed in the project.
The City’s Water and Sanitation Unit has unveiled its Non-Sewered Innovative Sanitation technology pilot project
Image: SUPPLIED: PHUMLA KHWEL
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