Comparing the Costs of On-Site Sanitation Infrastructure in Sub-Saharan Africa and Asia

Why are sanitation facilities like dry toilets or septic tanks so much more expensive in sub-Saharan Africa than in Asia? How can costs be reduced to affordable levels? A new Eawag-Sandec research project in collaboration with ETH-Nadel seeks to answer these questions.

The 3-year project, funded by SDC’s Water Initiatives Division, in collaboration with economists from the Centre for Development and Cooperation (Nadel) at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich (ETHZ) started in early 2012. It aims to identify the factors determining the capital costs of a variety of widespread on-site sanitation options (including VIP, urine-diverting dehydration toilet (UDDT) and pour-flush toilet with septic tank or twin pits). Together with local partners, the cost and influencing factors will be analysed in four countries in sub-Saharan Africa (Uganda, Kenya, Burkina Faso and Ghana) and in three countries in Asia (India, Bangladesh and Nepal). A comparison of the results from these countries will then help to explain the reasons behind the cost differences in a structured way.

Based on the understanding of the current situation, the project will eventually try to find ways to optimise costs and make sanitation hardware more affordable for the poor – particularly in sub-Saharan Africa. This will include an assessment of the potential of non-conventional construction materials, but also the exploration whether some of the good experiences from Asia can be transferred.

More detailed information, news and results will be published on this website.

www.sandec.ch/costing

Call for contributions What do on-site sanitation facilities cost in your country? How are material, transport and construction costs allocated? Do you know interesting examples of high or low-cost installations? What and how much material is used at what price? We would greatly appreciate receiving your information on the cost figures of on-site sanitation infrastructure. Please share your data (ideally broken down into bills of quantities) by using the e-mail indicated in the contact box on the right.