| dc.description.abstract | Provision for energy needs, safe water supply and sustenance of environmental
quality are among the topmost challenges facing the present human society.
Water and sanitation inadequacies also hinder economic and social development,
constitute a major impediment to poverty alleviation, and inevitably lead to
environmental degradation. Conditions are worse for conflict/disaster hit areas
where a large human population is suddenly gathered, such as in refugee camps.
Various technologies for sanitation, which may be suitable for post-disaster or
post-conflict phases, have been developed.
This study analyses the technological, environmental and economical suitability
of the BIOSAN technology, in the post-disaster reconstruction. The BIOSAN
technology is a hybrid of the ventilated improved pit-latrine (VIP) and sewerage
technologies, and integrates the advantages of the two technologies while
minimizing their shortcomings and enhancing the human quality of life.
This study follows a BIOSAN technology model designed and constructed at the
Kakamega Provincial General Hospital, in Western Kenya. The technology is very
appropriate for institutional sanitation and is therefore, considered suitable for
refugee camps in the intermediate emergency phase of a disaster or conflict
event. Apart from providing an environmentally friendly sanitation, the
technology also aims to harvest methane to be used as source of energy. | en_US |
