“Application of Eco-toilets for Improvement of Sanitary Condition in Needy Rural Residential Areas”

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“Application of Eco-toilets for Improvement of Sanitary Condition in Needy Rural Residential Areas”

Armenia
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Project Summary
Elevator Pitch

Concise Summary: Help us pitch this solution! Provide an explanation within 3-4 short sentences.

Application of advanced technologies for the poor.

About You
Location
Project Street Address
Project City
Project Province/State
Project Postal/Zip Code
Project Country
Your idea
Field of Work

Sanitation

Year the initative began (yyyy)

2000

YouTube Upload
Web site (url)

http://www.jinjconsult.com

Positioning of your initiative on the mosaic diagram:
Which of these barriers is the primary focus of your work?

Public information alone doesn’t change behaviors

Which of the principles is the primary focus of your work?

Move people up the sanitation ladder

If you believe some other barrier or principle should be included in the mosaic, please describe it and how it would affect the positioning of your initiative in the mosaic

This field has not been completed

Innovation
What is your signature innovation, your new idea, in one sentence?

Application of advanced technologies for the poor.

Describe your innovation. What makes your idea unique and different than others doing work in the field?

Eco-toilets have not been applied yet in Armenia. The idea is to replace the village’s school’s open pit-toilet with four eco-toilets (four sections), which will allow providing sanitary norms, preventing health problems, reducing environmental pollution. Nutrients (N, P) collected in eco-toilets’ tanks can be used as fertilizer.
Eco-toilets have the following advantage:
• comfort and hygiene;
• don’t smell;
• don’t need a connection to water supply and sewerage;
• don’t pollute groundwater and soil;
• produce excellent fertilizer;
• can be built inside (warm in winter);
• reduce risk of bladder infections

Delivery Model: How do you implement your innovation and apply it to the challenge/problem you are addressing?

The selected village of the project implementation is located within mountainous region, which being one of the poorest regions in the country, is included in the National program of poverty reduction.
The following activities are planned:
1. Selection of eco-toilet type, its design, construction
2. With the purpose of explaining the idea of eco-toilets and for behavioral changes, implementing campaign and explaining rules of eco-toilet use in the school

How do you plan to expand your innovation?

Being the first experience in Armenia, positive experience of eco-toilets can be an attractive example for expanding experience in villages. The possibilities increase because of the fact that they are cheap and do not require great costs, water or electric energy. Eco-toilets can also be applied in other facilities in villages (hospital, kinder-garden, village authority, village products processing private enterprise). It can result in availability of sewerage system in the village, improving sanitary-hygienic, health condition of population and environmental protection.
The project outcomes can be expanded in similar residential areas in Caucasus countries, transferring the obtained experience and outcomes.

Do you have any existing partnerships, and if so, how do you create them?

We cooperate with NGOs for public awareness raising (namely - Country Water Partnership NGO, Armenia and Sustainable Water Management NGO, Armenia ), as well as international organizations and networks, such as Global Water Partnership, CACENA.

Impact
Provide one sentence describing your impact/intended impact.

Through installing eco-toilet in school, the health and sanitary problems of schoolchildren and teachers, particularly for women and girls will be solved.

What are the main barriers to creating or achieving your impact?

Obtaining the consent and interest of the selected community can be a challenge.

How many people have you served or plan to serve?

Through installing eco-toilet in school, the health and sanitary problems of 500 schoolchildren and 40 teachers will be solved. Particularly for women and children the risk of bladder infections and sexual harassment will be reduced. Absence of girls from lessons during winter season will reduce, which will make stable education-related gender balance. Through expanding the project idea after its successful implementation, the population in similar villages with similar conditions of sanitation (that is the common case in Armenian villages) can be served.

Directly

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Indirectly

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Please list any other measures of the impact of your innovation?

This field has not been completed

Is there a policy intervention element to your innovation, if so please describe?

This field has not been completed

Exactly who are the beneficiaries of your innovation?

Schoolchildren and teachers
Population of the village
Local self governing authority

Sustainability
How is your initiative financed (or how do you expect your initiative will be financed)?

We expect some co-financing from GWP CANENA. A certain financial input will be provided also from the part of the organization itself.

Provide information on your finances and organization:

2005 2006 2007
Total annual turnover, USD 202.150 200.250 500.400
Our current sources of revenue are the consulting/design projects implemented by the order of national/international organizations.

What is the potential demand for your innovation?

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What are the main barriers to financial sustainability?

This field has not been completed

The Story
What is the origin of this innovation? Tell us your story.

Most of the villages in Armenia lack sewerage system. Important facilities of villages (school, hospital, kindergarten, local authority), have pit-toilets, which, particularly in cold winter, creates serious problems for population, particularly for schoolchildren and teachers. Girls suffer more from inadequate sanitation. In winter toilets and their surrounding freeze, sanitary conditions do not meet standards that creates serious health problems.
Eco-toilets have not been applied yet in Armenia. However, we are aware of the tangible positive results and advantages of application of eco-toilets in other post-soviet countries.

Please provide a personal bio. Note this may be used in Changemakers marketing material

Eduard Mesropyan is Water and Wastewater Engineer. He is director of JINJ Ltd. engineering-consulting company, Armenia, acting in the filed of water supply and wastewater for more than 15 years. During his working activity Mr. Mesropyan has been engaged in scientific, operational, design and consulting problems and issues in the fields of water supply and wastewater, as well as water resources protection and management.

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