LOW-TECH SUSTAINABLE SANITATION OPTIONS FOR GHANA AND ETHIOPIA – ECONOMIC, SOCIAL AND TECHNICAL ASPECTS Vom Promotionsausschuss der Technischen Universität Hamburg-Harburg zur Erlangung des akademischen Grades Doktorin der Wirtschafts- und Sozialwissenschaften (Dr. rer. pol.) genehmigte Dissertation von Aleksandra Drewko aus Gdańsk (Polen) 2013 Gutachter: Prof. Dr.-Ing. Ralf Otterpohl, Technische Universität Hamburg-Harburg Prof. Dr. habil. Matthias Meyer, Technische Universität Hamburg-Harburg Vorsitzender des Prüfungsausschusses: Prof. Dr.-Ing. Stephan Köster Tag der mündlichen Prüfung: 07.11.2012 Sanitation is more important than political independence Mahatma Gandhi (1869-1948) Herausgeber /Editor: Gesellschaft zur Förderung und Entwicklung der Umwelttechnologien an der Technischen Universität Hamburg-Harburg e.V. (GFEU) GFEU e.V. c/o Technische Universität Hamburg-Harburg (TUHH) Institut für Abwasserwirtschaft und Gewässerschutz Eissendorfer Str. 42 21071 Hamburg Tel.: +49 – (0)40 – 42878 3207 Fax: +49 – (0)40 – 42878 2684 http://www.gfeu.org ISBN: 978-3-942768-08-5 © 2013 Aleksandra Drewko Hamburger Berichte zur Siedlungswasserwirtschaft Band 83 Acknowledgments Firstly, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to my supervisor, Prof. Dr.-Ing. Ralf Otterpohl, whose help in designing the framework of my research, the decision to supervise it and support made my dissertation possible. I would also like to thank Prof. Dr. habil. Matthias Meyer for acting as the second supervisor of this thesis and Prof. Dr.-Ing. Stephan Köster in his capacity as the chairman of the examining board. I would also like to thank Kifle Gutema and Addis Ababa Lisanework from the project Ecological Sanitation Ethiopia in Addis Ababa, as well as Wudneh Ayele, Eoyb Esatu, Bogale Gelaye, Kinfe Kassa, Simon Shibru, Dr. Ababu Teklemariam and all the other members of the ROSA project team in Arba Minch. Thank you all for your kindness, hospitality and support in organizing my stays in Ethiopia and gathering information for my research. The support of Ann Rowland from Ferry Industries Inc., Ohio, USA is gratefully acknowledged. Thank you for your patience and support in getting to understand the rotational molding process and invaluable information that enabled me to design the manufacturing process of toilet slabs for this dissertation. Without the contributions of many people who provided me with useful information and knowledge at the time of working on this dissertation, I would not have been able to obtain the data used in this work. Therefore, I would like to acknowledge Gadisa Hailu and João Soares from AMREF Ethiopia, Siridhar Ganapathy, Mahlet Girma and Fara Esmail Waliji from Aquasantec in Ethiopia and Kenya, Asrat Tadesse from Catholic Church of Gamo Gofa and South Omo in Ethiopia, Bekele Abaire, Dr. Mayling Simpson-Hebert (now: Independent Senior Public Health Advisor), Chala Tolessa and Yonas Tsegaye from Catholic Relief Services in Ethiopia, Damte Data from the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit in Ethiopia, Dr. Annelies Balkema from the Eidhoven University of Technology in the Netherlands, Dr. Olufunke Cofie and Dr. Pay Drechsel from the International Water Management Institute in Ghana and Sri Lanka, Tsegaye Nigussie from ORBIS in Ethiopia, Shemeles Mekonnen from Oxfam in Ethiopia, Nebiyu Negesh and Missele Mikonen from Red Cross Ethiopia, Nuredin Asaro from the Regional Water Bureau in Awassa, Abeba Banjaw and Bekele Feseha from Refugee Trust International (now: Vita) in Ethiopia, Almaz Terrefe from SUDEA in Ethiopia, Adane Kassa from Water Action, Kuribachew Mamo from WaterAid Ethiopia, Baharu Chemisha from the woreda health office in Arba Minch, Andreas Knapp from the World Bank in Ethiopia (now: UNICEF, Nepal) and all other interviewees from Arba Minch in Ethiopia. The financial support of the International Postgraduate Studies in Water Technologies Program of the Federal Ministry of Education and Research in Germany is gratefully acknowledged. I would also like to thank my colleagues from the Institute of Wastewater Management and Water Protection at the Hamburg University of Technology, in particular colleagues that shared an office with me, including Nadine Appelhans, Dr. Izabela Banduch, Dr. Christopher Buzie, Alp Ergünsel, Horacio Factura, Mayrina Firdayati and Sarah Schreiner. I would also like to acknowledge Mathias Antholz, Dr. Joachim Behrendt, Dr. Öznur Brandt, Dr. Nathasith Chiarawatchai, Stefan Deegener, Susanne Eggers, Dr. Ulrike Gayh, Gabriela Espinoza Gutierrez, Dr. Holger Gulyas, Dr. Franziska Meinzinger, Wibke Scheurer, Dr. Felix Tettenborn, Andreas Wiebusch, Dr. Martina Winker and many others for contributing to the pleasant working atmosphere at the institute. Gisela Becker and Eva Petersen, I would like to thank you for your generous support and kindness. The contribution of my students, who I supervised at the Hamburg University of Technology, is also acknowledged. In particular I would like to thank Ivan Martinez Neri. Special thanks go to Dr. Joachim Behrendt, Dr. Franziska Meinzinger, Anna Schabbauer, Maria Stenull and Dr. Martina Winker for proof-reading and helpful comments. I would also like to express my deepest gratitude to my mother, Dr. Jadwiga Mechlińska-Drewko, for her love and wholehearted support. I would also like to thank my family and friends who helped me in many ways throughout the course of this work. Last but not least, I would like to thank Manuel, for brainstorming with me, helping me to unwind and motivating me. Thank you for always being there for me. I would not have been able to do it without you. i Abstract With declining soil fertility and increasing water scarcity worldwide, the need to return nutrients back into agriculture and conserve water is gaining in importance more and more. Thus, an alternative approach to sanitation, referred to as ecological sanitation (ecosan) or sustainable sanitation, which is focused on closed-loop management of excreta and saving of other resources such as water, is becoming an integral part of the resource efficiency concept. Despite the fact that sanitation is defined as a basic need and human right, many governments, in particular in developing countries, are facing financial challenges hindering the provision of basic services such as sanitation. Therefore, the private sector is becoming more and more involved in these services. This research was aimed at studying possible benefits of considering sanitation as a business. Therefore, the potential of the private sector involvement in sanitation was explored throughout the ecosan process chain, i.e. toilet manufacturing, urine collection, transportation, storage, marketing and application in agriculture. Ecosan was analyzed from a holistic system’s perspective on the example of two case studies, one from Ethiopia and the other one from Ghana. In the case study Ethiopia, a business idea revolving around the production of plastic toilets slabs applicable under the ecosan approach was drafted. A thorough analysis of different parameters, including technical aspects (e.g., coloration methods, manufacturing process, product features, production volume, raw material choice), logistics aspects (e.g., headcount planning, plant location and size, procurement of supplies), financial aspects (e.g., cost minimization options, demand estimation, sales planning) and aspects related to competition (e.g., current toilet prices, existing players on the market, potential substitute products) was performed. Furthermore, in the case study Ghana, an economic analysis of building or modifying toilets for the separate collection of urine and feces, transportation of urine to its storage locations, urine storage and subsequently selling it to farmers to be applied as liquid fertilizer in agriculture was performed. For this analysis, the local sanitary situation and agricultural practices were taken into account. In this way, the whole process chain was analyzed, including toilet manufacturing, toilet construction, management of ecosan products and marketing urine for its application in agriculture. Based on the case studies analyzed, the following conclusions can be drawn: Production of plastic toilet slabs to be applied under the ecosan approach can be profitable in a country like Ethiopia as long as the demand for toilets is in place. It is, therefore, important for the manufacturing line to be designed in a flexible way, allowing for changes in production in case of failure or a decrease in demand for a particular product. Even though mass production results in lower operational costs, it requires a substantially higher investment, which may be difficult to secure in a country like Ethiopia. In the case of Ghana, the market value of human urine was calculated to be 0.014 GH¢/l (0.008 €/l). This value will generally change with global and local market prices of mineral fertilizers, the nutrient content of urine and the local demand for nutrients. The market value of urine is crucial for determining the profitability of urine transportation, which was identified as the highest cost in running of an ecosan system. In the case of a small to medium size ecosan system (7,000 l of urine collected daily), it would be economically feasible to ii transport urine approximately 210 km (round trip). This distance will, however, depend on the local transportation costs (driver’s salary, fuel price, the cost and lifespan of the truck and auxiliary equipment that influences depreciation costs, the type