Written by Alpheus Sebolaaneng

A clean flushing toilet is a gold standard that everyone aspires to. Often at times, some people have to settle for alternative sanitation solutions that are not aspirational as a flush toilet. Informal settlements, schools and villages around the country are subjected to these undesirable forms of sanitation in the form of pit latrines, bucket toilets and chemical toilets. This is mainly due to the unavailability of sewer infrastructure, the difficulty in putting up such infrastructure in such areas and the cost associated with building new sewer networks.

SASTEP have been able to demonstrate that the gold standard of a flushing toilet can be achieved through the Next Generation Sanitation technologies where an off-grid sanitation technology offers the same desirability of a flush toilet connected to the sewer. This is archived by having a flush toilet that takes away the nuisance of poop off sight where it gets to be treated and water is recovered for flushing.

SASTEP is currently demonstrating these two types of technology in Mofolo North and Slovoville informal settlements both in Soweto and Tsholetsega primary school in Krugersdorp. The Clear recirculation system is being demonstrated by Enviro Options at Mofolo North and Tsholetsega primary school and the NEW Generator by WEC projects at Slovoville.

On 22 AUGUST we had the privilege of hosting the City of Cape Town mayor, Mr Geordin Hill-Lewis for a site visit to our 3 demonstration sites to witness the Clear Recirculation system and the NEW Generator systems in action. The mayor appreciated the fact that there was no any nuisance of smell around the system and that the toilets were clean and welcoming. He was delighted that we have a sanitation solution in an informal settlement that is long-term and provide the same feel as using a flush toilet connected to a sewer.