WECF Launches ToNi Finder

School sanitation is an important but often neglected issue for public health. Children are very vulnerable and easily affected by poor hygienic conditions. Related diseases, particularly diarrhoea and parasite infections, slow down children's physical and intellectual development. In a number of countries, evaluations have shown that pupils, especially girls, are dropping out of school due to bad toilet conditions.

In many rural areas of our project countries school toilets are in a very poor condition. The latrines are hardly used, unhygienic and a threat to safe water as they are neither a closed system nor connected to a central sewage system. There is not always a centralised water supply but drinking water often comes from simple wells.

UDDTs (or Ecosans) are a hygienic and sustainable option. They work without water; no connection to a central water supply is needed nor a connection to a sewage system. UDDTs have two outlets and two collection systems: one for urine and one for faeces, in order to keep these excreta fractions separate. When they are stored for a certain time both are free from pathogens and can be used as an organic fertiliser.

Testing levels of nitrates is a cheap and easy way to get an idea of water quality in a given location. WECF uses quick test strips for this. In rural areas, shallow groundwater is often used for human consumption. This water source is very vulnerable to contamination, and often contains high levels of nitrates as a result of mismanagement of wastewater, latrines or septic tanks, animal manure or fertilizers. Nitrate testing can therefore serve as an indicator of man-made water pollution. As nitrate contamination is often caused by animal or human excreta, water with high levels is highly suspected to be contaminated with bacteria and viruses.

WECF and local partners raise awareness of water contamination and protection and demonstrate sustainable and safe sanitation in the rural areas of the project countries in Central and Eastern Europe, Caucasus and Central-Asia. For more information visit the ToNi project page .