‘Safe, sustainable, affordable’ toilets designed for low-lying areas

COMMUNITIES in the high water table areas across the country can now be able to have access to safe, sustainable and affordable toilets which will be on the market soon.
The toilets were produced by Sago Network, a PNG based not-for-profit organisation that specialises in water, sanitation and hygiene in high water table areas across the country.
A high water table is especially common in low-lying areas, or areas where the soil is not well drained.
Sago Network programme coordinator Jade Worsley, who made a presentation on the produce at the Australia PNG Business Forum and Trade Expo on Tuesday, said the product was designed after a lot research.
“We were doing a lot of community level projects around sanitation and were consistently faced by issues with building pit toilets because of the high water table environment,” she said.
“Sago Network got together with University of New South Wales and other research partners and we trialed and tested a whole heap of toilets available in country and overseas.
“We wanted toilets that were safe, sustainable, accessible and affordable that’s when we started developing the sago dry toilets.
“We’ve spent the past five years, designing, testing and trialing
and piloting the sago dry toilets in Northern, Gulf, Morobe and Central.”
Worsley said they would launch the toilets in August and would be available for sale in local hardware shops.
She said it would not require any water or chemical and appropriate during wet or dry season.
“All you need is ash which is readily available in villages throughout the country,” Worsley said.