Pit emptying service using gulper technology : Tanzania Country Programme : paper presented at the East Africa practioners workshop on pro-poor urban sanitation and hygiene, Laico Umbano Hotel, Kigali, Rwanda, march 29th - 31st 2011

WaterAid has been implementing since april 2008 the Irish Aid Funded Sanitation Project in the areas of Temeke and Ilala. This initiative aims at providing poor households access to simple and low cost sanitation facilities and technologies (both latrines and emptying services). The first year was dedicated to testing technologies, the second one to scaling up sanitation and hygiene, while during the third year the focus is on lobbying, monitoring and evaluation. A research carried out in 2007 highlighted the risks associated to usual pit emptying services in Temeke (land slide, latrine collapsing, infections, in some instances deaths, etc.) and the need for a viable hygienic pit emptying technology in urban unplanned settlement in Dar es Salam. The gulper technology was identified as an appropriate affordable solution, well appreciated also by users, as shown by the following testimony: “There was absolutely no presence of the sludge that had been all over some few minutes ago. There was no smell at all. This was such a beautiful experience that I decided to popularize the service to my friends for free. I could tell them to accept the service and if it does not work, I would be responsible for any costs incurred. From that time on, I will always use the Gulper and I advise you too to try it because it is value for your money”. [authors abstract]

This three-day workshop aims to identify proven good practices in the sanitation and hygiene sector, as well as drawing lessons from failures to enter into the policy dialogue. It focuses on urban sanitation with an emphasis on learning and innovation in the sector. It was organised by : UNICEF, GTZ, WSSCC, WaterAid and IRC International Water and Sanitation Centre, and hosted by the Rwandan Ministry of Health.