“Urine Divert Dry Toilet” to end open defecation in Volta region

The Lahti University of Applied Sciences in Finland, has re-introduced “Urine Dry Divert Toilet”-(UDDT) system in the Volta Region as part of efforts at helping end open defecation in the Region.

The NGO piloted the use of the system a few years ago in some public schools and institutions and now stepping it up to improve sanitation in the Region.

The system separates the urine from the solid waste with the possibility of collecting and processing them for agricultural use, Madam Charlotte Botchway, Environmental Health Officer, Ho Municipal Assembly, said during a Regional launch in Ho aimed at promoting the technology and ending open defecation.

She said the installation of the facility did not require the digging of trenches and that it could be used without water.

Madam Botchway said raw urine contained nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium and could be used to balance soil acidity (PH) levels when stored for a while.

She said sawdust would be added to the human waste to dry and eliminate the stench making it applicable as fertilizer.

The Environmental Officer said application of both the urine and the human waste as fertilizers on farms in some rural areas had proved successful and encouraged farming communities to patronize the system.

Madam Botchway said the University was supporting the Ho Municipal Assembly to construct 80 UDDTs in 14 Community Led Total Sanitation (CLTS) implementing communities in the Municipality beginning 2018.

Volta region has been ranked low in the past three years on the District League Table, with sanitation being a key indicator.