“Experiences with Ecosan Systems to Provide Sustainable Sanitation for Schools in Kenya and India” written by Rahul Ingle, Christian Rieck and Elisabeth v. Münch published in 2009 by Deutsche Gesellschaft für Technische Zusammenarbeit (GTZ) and Ecosan Services Foundation (ESF), paper describes the experiences and lessons learnt from using ecosan systems in some schools in Kenya and India.

Several ecosan school projects from Kenya and India are described in this paper namely two school pilot projects within the EU-Sida-GTZ Ecosan Promotion Project in Kenya and several projects in India implemented by the Ecosan Services Foundation and various other actors. In all these projects, a sense of ownership and constant capacity development exercises are crucial factors in their success. It also highlights that as “change-agents” students can play significant role in their communities when they take their experiences back home and teach their family members about sanitation and hygiene.

In the ecosan school projects or ecosan-type sanitation systems (UDDT or pour-flush toilets with biogas plants) have received acceptance due to their lack of odour, additional economic benefits and cost savings. Capacity development on the concept of the ecosan-type sanitation systems and their use is a constant exercise for the success of such projects.

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