for dip flushing and handwashing

“Basic knowledge and understanding about the connection between hygiene and disease can save lives. The simple act of washing hands with soap (or ash, or earth) and water after going to the toilet is estimated to reduce diarrhoeal disease by a third.”

- WHO/UNICEF 2000 Human Waste Report. 2002

Given the village water supply is limited to 10 tap points and these taps generally have water available for about an hour twice a day when the header tank is full, water in the village is at a premium. Early results from water meters installed to monitor water use showed the potential strain on village water supply with the introduction of any type of toilet flushing, even minimal dip flushing using less than a litre per flush. The toilet building design therefore included a rainwater tank to collect water run off from the roof.

The water from the tank on the toilet building was originally intended for dip flushing, hand washing and cleaning the inside of the toilet building. Residents now consider the tank as their household supply where some buy clean water and fill the tank outside of the wet season for other household and personal use.

Since the project started, residents with a toilet building have commented on the lower incidence of gut infections and diarrhoea in the children, because they now have the ability to wash their hands regularly.