Integration water, energy and sanitation solution for stand-alone settlements

Lake Victoria basin has a large rural and rapidly growing peri-urban population that lacks sustainable solutions to safe and adequate water supply, energy and sanitation. Access to safe water and sanitation was 60% and 53%, respectively, by 2006. An Integrated Water, Energy and Sanitation Solution (IWESS) has been muted as a sustainable way of utilising the natural resources through a concept that turns waste into a resource thereby taking advantage of what is currently considered as problem sources and converting them into useful inputs. Tests from the Pilot sites developed show that grey and black water, kitchen and solid human waste can be used as separate inputs into an integrated waste management technological chain system that incorporates a constructed wetland-biogas-sand filter system to purify water and biodegrade solid waste to provide water for non-potable uses, biomass and biogas for energy and timber supply and manure for soil nutrient enrichment.

Tests from the pilot and replication sites developed show that grey and black water, kitchen and solid human waste can be used as separate inputs into an integrated waste management technological chain system that incorporates a constructed wetland-biogassand filter system to purify water and biodegrade solid waste in a manner that provides water for nonpotable uses, biomass and biogas for energy and timber supply and manure for soil nutrient enrichment. This holistic approach that ensures that waste is kept separate in the state in which it is generated, treated and used provides a viable solution to increasing rural and peri-urban access to safe water and Table 1 Effluent physicochemical properties Physicochemical parameter Source of effluent Laundry PH Dissolved solids (mg/L) BOD (mg/L) COD (mg/L) Kitchen Wards Pond 9.7 2.63 À190 5.7 5.24 7.8 0.08 6.7 0.56 From ponds Before CW After CW 7.2 0.57 8.8 4.8 7.3 1.02 sanitation and energy for domestic and agricultural use. The system when applied at macro scales will stem the increasing trends of environmental degradation while providing a lifeline to the disenfranchised rural communities who do not have access to safe and adequate water, sanitation and energy supplies.