Kenya Jail Models Sustainable Wastewater Treatment

by Andrea Millar — April 23, 2008

Enn.com reports that a Kenyan jail has confronted the issue of its waste production by creating a sustainable wastewater treatment facility staffed by inmates and designed by both local and international organizations. Rather than employ high-tech engineering, the bulk of the calculations are handled by natural processes in the facility's man-made wetlands. Acting as a vast filtration system, the sustainable processes of anaerobic microbes convert human waste into materials for biogas and water for use on the jail's vegetable fields. The runoff is also used in a newly constructed fishery that supplies the jail with a reliable source of protein for consumption and sale at local markets.

The project's price tag is nothing to scoff at. At $180,000, it comes in as one of the more cost-effective development efforts. It's spearheaded by the WIO-Lab, a nonprofit organization with the mission of addressing environmental concerns in the Western Indian Ocean. WIO-Lab is supported in large part by the Norwegian government, but the project at the prison, Shimo la Tewa, was an impressive international effort, involving the University of Dar-es-Salaam, Kenya's Coast Development Authority, the Free University of Amsterdam, and the NGO 'Aqua-4-All.'

With all these parties involved, the feat of successfully creating a practical, cheap, and sustainable disposal system becomes even more exemplary. It may be the last organization on the list, but Dutch NGO 'Aqua-4-All' prevented the too-many-cooks-in-the-kitchen syndrome. Their primary role is connecting and project managing for safe water projects all over the world, and they have 200 chalked up on the wall so far. Kudos for one more--what's your secret?