Bernd and Stephanie guiding the team during construction of the foundation. Photo by URDT. 19-7-2022.

A team of three Engineers Without Boarders from the Republic of Germany arrived at Uganda Rural Development and Training Program (URDT) Campus on 18-07-2022. The purpose of the visit is to train the URDT-I graduates who are brick layers to construct the Urine Diverting dehydration Toilet (UDDT) a technology which separates faecal matter from urine. The two are separated where faecal matter goes to the vaults or chambers build one metre above the ground and urine goes to canisters or jerrycans. Urine can be harvested any time when the container is full but faecal matter is only harvested after a year.

The toilet has two vaults where each is used for six month and closed for six months to allow faecal matter to dry completely and be free of germs. During this time the second vault will be in use for another six months until harvesting takes place. Both urine and faecal matter can be used as fertilizers in the garden depending on the crops grown. It can be applied directly to banana, coffee, cocoa and any other perennial crops but for vegetables, it should be after composting for 15 days.

According to three engineers, the concept is already used in several countries around the world. In addition, the UDDT concept offers several options to make it usable by people with physical disabilities. The team together with artisans who are URDT-I graduates will build two sample toilets one at URDT campus and another one in the community.

URDT-I young women brick layer graduates and the engineers constructing UDDT at URDT Campus on the 19-07-2022 photo URDT.

Building the vaults for the UDDT
Form work for the ground slab in the community
Kiiza Nobert
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