Pilot Project for Emergency Sanitation in Durban, South Africa

Duration: 2007-2009

Donor:
The Senator for Environment, Construction, Transport and European Affairs / Development Cooperation, City of Bremen and set up in cooperation with CHS Spezialcontainer

Background:
The number of disasters worldwide is increasing lately. Reasons for this might be the increasing population of the world and the changing climate. Disasters like huge earthquakes and flooding caused e.g. by a tsunami are always followed by humanitarian crisis. There is always a huge amount of homeless people, people without drinking water or without proper sanitation facilities, which leads to severe dangers to human health and human life.
After the tsunami in 2004 that affected several million people BORDA started to think about an Emergency Device that could be transported quickly to the affected regions and could provide a proper sanitation for the victims. BORDA used its core competence in the field of sustainable Sanitation and came up with Emergency Sanitation (EmSan); an innovative & rapid installable solution to improve hygiene and health in emergency accommodations. EmSan is one of thirteen components that DEWATS in total consists of.

Aim:
The Project aims to construct and to test a device that improves the sanitation situation in regions that were hit by a disaster. This device must be deliverable fast and work reliable.

Activity:
Together with the Bremen Company "CHS Spezialcontainer", BORDA constructed a DEWATS device inside a container. This container has the ordinary dimensions of a container, so it can be transported quickly to every place in the world by ship, by plane and by truck. Specific adjustments can be made according to the region where it is supposed to tackle humanitarian crisis. EmSan has the typical advantages of the DEWATS system like a good wastewater treatment and the opportunity to generate biogas. In comparison to the other DEWATS components the installation is a lot faster and it can be re-used in other sites after the reconstruction of the affected area is finished.
In a pilot project the first EmSan DEWATS Container is produced by CHS and then sent to Durban, South Africa for its first field test.

Outcomes:
After a successful field test, BORDA will have created a powerful tool to help victims of disasters and to protect their life and health in every country of the world. The transportation and implementation will be fast and easy and the effects will be enormous and improve the situation of the victims immediately.