Floating Latrine Design Project

Tonle Sap Floating Latrine Design Project

Currently there are no affordable sanitation options available for the floating communities of the Tonle Sap in Cambodia, and many other floating communities around the world. In response to this situation, Live & Learn Cambodia and Engineers Without Borders have been in partnership over the past few years to develop appropriate technology for floating sanitation. Surveys and water sampling have been carried out through this Design Project and they indicate that water quality is highly impacted by faeces and waste that is disposed of directly into the waters which surround schools and homes. Villagers are thus highly concerned about access to sanitation and clean water. The communities also lack access to land for most of the year, therefore reducing opportunities for growing vegetables and supplementing their diet of fish and rice. The project team have been actively working on research and development into low cost, culturally appropriate sanitation options for homes, schools, and other public buildings of the floating communities in order to improve environmental water quality, and health of community members.

Through the project we have developed a relationship with a Phat Sanday Commune in the Kampong Thom Province, which has allowed us to develop the community’s idea of sanitation and use their input to help develop a culturally appropriate sanitation solution for the floating communities.  To date, 45 comprehensive household surveys have been undertaken in the Phat Sanday Commune.

In addition to the household surveys we have conducted water quality testing of the water used by the Phat Sanday communities and the surrounding environment in both high and low water level seasons. These test have demonstrated that in particularly the low water season, the Phat Sanday community is exposed to levels of E. coli and Coliforms well above recommended WHO levels.

We’ve also conducted a comprehensive review of existing sanitation options used around the world in floating and land based situations and  Selected Urine Diversion Desiccation appears to be the most appropriate for the floating communities.

A basic floating latrine has been designed and we’ve developed a manufacturing technique using locally available materials. The current material cost is US$35 and labour cost is US$5 per latrine making them reasonably affordable for the communities. There have been 13 prototype floating latrines (11 in the Phat Sanday community) built and trialled and we are regularly following their use. Each new prototype has incorporated improvements learnt from the construction and use of earlier models.

The project has also included education for the users of the floating latrine about the importance of total sanitation and how to use and maintain the latrine, this has included classes at both Phat Sanday primary and secondary schools.