Kathmandu

Various temporary toilets were made for the quake-affected people post April 25 Gorkha earthquake — and few of such toilets had concern for the environment too. One of them was bianics toilet — which aimed to solve the problem of disposing human waste with minimal or without use of water. Based on Japanese technology, three such portable eco-friendly toilets were handed over to the people of Kahule VDC of Nuwakot district recently.

Lekha Nath Ghimire, Chairman of Nepal Japan Friendship Society and his team collaborating with Ground Work Mishima, Japan recently launched this eco- friendly toilet in Nepal. The technology of this toilet is developed by Dr Toyohiro Watanabe, a doctorate in Agriculture and a professor at the Department of Sociology at Tsuru University, Japan.

Green mechanism

In this kind of toilet the commode is not different from the one we have been using. But the way this toilet decomposes the human excreta makes it distinct from the others. For this the Bianics toilet uses a three-step process.

As you defecate or urinate, it first flows into the regulating tank. The cutter pump in the regulating tank stirs the human excreta. And the paste formed is then sent to anereation tank. A filtering screen in this tank catches foreign materials like toilet paper here and prevents it from entering the reactor tank.

However, Ghimire advises not to throw tissues and toilet paper in this kind of toilet as “these materials are difficult to decompose as compared to the stool”.

The reactor tank has cedar chips and the microorganisms of these chips break down the toilet waste into water and carbon dioxide. The water is then re-circulated into the toilet tank and can be reused. The waste thus never leaves the system,” shares Ghimire. “Instead of using the cedar chips, we can also use the local saw dust in the tank,” Ghimire further informs.

In this process human excreta is changed into carbon dioxide and water without using any chemical immediately and it is done naturally — through microorganisms. The action of these microorganisms also prevents odour as per Ghimire.” Apart from that, the heat generated by decomposition kills colon bacillus,” he adds.

During this process, the decomposed waste is also produced. This recycled waste can be used as compost manure for agricultural purposes. And the waste materials should be removed once a year.

“There are basically two types of such bianics — permanent, that uses tanks and temporary, that has pot-like structure instead of the the tanks. The temporary one is cheaper than the permanent one,” informs Ghimire. And both bianics function in the same way.

Benefits

Along with being environment friendly, such kind of toilets are beneficial in the country like ours where people defecate openly in many places even today. “Some 200 to 300 people can use this toilet in a day and water is not necessary for flushing. And it’s cheaper too — it can be installed within Rs 15,000 to Rs 20,000 depending upon the area it occupies,” Ghimire informed.

They are also beneficial especially for the people living in the makeshift tents. As there are no proper toilets in such areas, these toilets could be handy for them. That is why “we distributed the three bio toilets to the people of Kahule VDC”.

The organisation also has plans to build such toilets around Tundikhel area as many quake-affected people are residing there.