Home > News > Detail

International Waters Project

Fighting the Region’s Invisible Killer

12/13/2004

Waste water issue a concern

In Funafuti, the capital of Tuvalu, there are increasing concerns that high tides and heavy rains are causing sewage-contaminated water to come to the surface in low-lying areas, thus threatening the health of residents, and their surrounding environment.

Dr Leonie Crennan, who has worked on sanitation issues in the Pacific region for more than 10 years, says the situation in Funafuti is now in need of urgent attention. She says that in the 1960s and 1970s, well-meaning donors encouraged the construction of septic tank systems and western flush toilets throughout the Pacific without understanding the sensitive hydrology of low-lying islands where pollutants can move easily through the groundwater system to the lagoon.“Many of these septic tanks and trenches were not constructed properly in the first place. But, even where they were built to standard, this technology was always going to be risky in an environment with high groundwater levels and very porous soils.

“Septic tanks are often discharging directly into the ground water and, whenever the water comes to the surface, in floods or from wells, it could be putting people at risk of exposure to contamination,” she says.

Although some urban areas of Pacific Islands countries have sewerage systems, 90 percent of the region’s population relies on using on-site systems such as pit latrines, pour flush latrines or flush septic tanks. Crennan says that while these systems are acceptable when properly located away from sensitive waterways and coastlines, they are not advisable for atoll countries with vulnerable groundwater, and areas that are prone to flooding.

Diarrhoea is a common infectious condition in many Pacific Islands communities and it is a leading cause of death, particularly in children under five years of age.

Steven Iddings, an environmental engineer based in WHO’s Suva office, says the threat of water related illnesses such as hepatitis, typhoid and diarrhoeal diseases such as gastroenteritis may be increasing as population and development pressures impact on the regions’ limited land and fresh water.

“After recently returning to the region after 20 years the vulnerability of Pacific islands environments has become even more clear to me, especially when I see coral reefs that have been affected by pollution from household toilets, village piggeries, and the rapid growth of industries such as tourism,” he says.

In January, nearly half of the local rugby team from Titikaveka in Rarotonga received hospital treatment for skin and eye irritations after playing on a beachside sports field. The situation led to the temporary closure of the school and, although investigations are still continuing, Iddings believes the problem was probably related to algal blooms in the shoreline waters. These algal blooms are encouraged by excess nutrients from sources such as poorly functioning septic tanks and agricultural activities.

Rhonda Bower, Sanitation Officer with the South Pacific Applied Geoscience Commission (SOPAC), says little attention has been given to wastewater issues in the Pacific.

“Awareness on the importance of appropriate excreta disposal is generally lacking and there are limited training facilities for health workers and technicians,” she says.

Crennan believes that one of the reasons sanitation is such a low priority in Pacific Islands countries is because people literally can’t see the problem.

While many people are concerned about the taste and colour of water, germs and pathogens are not visible to the naked eye, so many people are not aware of what they are being exposed to.

In Kiritimati Island, people didn’t believe there was a connection between their flush toilets and the polluted groundwater. After a red vegetable dye was poured into one of the toilets, people were really quite shocked when they saw a pink colour appearing in one of their wells.”

For sensitive areas such as Funafuti, Crennan says it’s preferable to use “dry” systems that don’t use water and don’t discharge into the ground. She says one possibility is the use of composting toilets.

Composting toilets first appeared in Scandinavia in the 1930s in rocky areas where it was not possible to install pits or septic tanks. They are now becoming increasingly popular in sensitive areas of Australia and New Zealand and are they are frequently becoming the toilet of choice for luxury eco-lodges.

Once installed there is usually no cost to operate the toilet but of material such as dry leaves or coconut fibre needs to be added after every use. The compost also needs to be emptied from the collection chamber every nine months to two years depending on the size of the chamber and usage.

Crennan says this task is less onerous than moving a pit toilet around a house compound, and a lot less difficult than de-sludging a septic tank. However, she says getting people to change toilet habits requires a great deal of sensitivity and the community needs to be fully involved in the design and construction of any new system.

Crennan is currently working with Kelesoma Saloa, the National Coordinator for the Tuvalu International Waters Project (IWP). The Tuvalu IWP has been working closely with the communities of Alapi and Senala in Funafuti to understand the problems caused by human and animal waste and to identify low-cost solutions that these communities can implement themselves. This project is being managed by Tuvalu’s Department of Environment, and the Prime Minister’s Office, in partnership with the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP).

Saloa says that people in the community first need to really understand the health and environmental risks so they can make their own, informed decisions, about the options to improve their sanitation systems.

“We are now working with Crennan to develop a community training programme to help people to understand the issues and to provide practical skills to construct and maintain their own waterborne and dry systems. We hope that this training will motivate families to try allocate some funds towards constructing appropriate sanitation systems. However, with people trying to survive on incomes of $4 a day, it’s likely that we’ll have to look at other funding options if we want to support new alternatives throughout the rest of Funafuti.”

Pita Vatucawaqa says he is very happy about his decision to build a composting toilet in his home village of Vunisinu, which is the pilot site for the International Waters Project in Fiji.

Only 45 minutes drive from Suva, this low-lying rural village is prone to frequent flooding and he says he had to relocate the family’s pit toilet more than 10 times over the last 10 years.

Vatucawaqa is the chair of the village environment committee but he says it was only after attending a three-week workshop, organised by the Fiji International Waters Project earlier this year, that he really started to understand the causes of growing health and environment problems in the community.

“It was only when we went on a field trip to see the dying coral reef that I realised that the depletion of our fisheries is also caused by leaks from our toilets, waste from piggeries, and our grey water.

I’m pretty happy about our new composting toilet because our village is virtually under sea level all the nutrients from our toilets are leaking straight into the river and causing all the problems. For me it’s much better because, every year or so, I had to move my pit toilet, but his compost toilet is going to last forever. I’m going to use it, my son is going to use it, my grandchildren are going to use it—until the timber gets rotten and we have to change it - it’s just one toilet and it’s not harming the environment.

Vatucawaqa now believes that all the organic waste from the village should be composted.

“The kitchen, pig waste and human waste is good for our fruits and it’s good for the environment. When I did the composting from the kitchen waste it was only after people actually saw the big, healthy, eggplant that they actually realised there was something to it. It really is a case of seeing is believing—that is the main mountain that we have to move.”

Vatucawaqa has also been intrigued by the media attention his composting toilet has attracted. “I don’t know how the message got through but Radio Fiji called up and wanted to do an interview and then people from Bau and Nadroga wanted to come and see it.”

With the spirit of a true entrepreneur Pita has been trying to sell the ongoing benefits of the composting toilet to his environment committee. “I said that you can do it for yourself and your village but you might also be able develop a skill that you can use to help other people. I said, “People in Tuvalu might see that this composting toilet is the answer and you might be taken there for 2 weeks and get paid to teach others. Who knows?”

Vatucawaqa was also one of the first people to participate in a practical hands-on training workshop on composting toilet construction at the new “Sanitation Park” that was officially opened at the Fiji School of Medicine in Suva last month. The Sanitation Park is a regional initiative by SOPAC, the Fiji Ministry of Health, WHO and the Fiji School of Medicine, designed to help communities select from a range of appropriate, affordable wastewater treatment options. The Fiji School of Medicine will run dedicated training courses for their students but the park being will also be open for people from the community for awareness raising and training.

Contact Name	Steve Menzies
e-mail	stevem@sprep.org
Phone	(685) 21929
Fax	(685) 20231

.