Rwanda Ecological Sanitation Latrine Design

This project focuses on sustainable waste sanitation technology and was developed by a partnership between Virginia Tech and NGO Fondazione Marcegaglia Onlus based in Rilima Rwanda. Rilima, Rwanda is a rural, agricultural town in eastern Rwanda. As a post-genocide resettlement town, their infrastructure was not built for sustainability, specifically for waste management, and is in failing condition. This design project aims to create a sustainable waste management solution that is tailored to the community's livelihood-farming. Through the use of composting toilets, families can safely reuse their waste in a meaningful way. The design features an innovative user design to make the structure socially acceptable, improves air ventilation to eliminate odors and insects, and an easily accessible compartment to remove and transport the waste off-site to compost safely. Through prototype testing, the latrine design triples the airflow through the superstructure compared to current latrine ventilation designs. Further testing on the user experience is currently being conducted on a latrine constructed in community land in Rilima. The first latrine was successfully built in December 2018 and is still undergoing testing. During the testing phase, the design team is working to improve the usability of the design and determine how or if the design needs to be modified for rapid replication. After this testing period ends, the design will go through a final refinement for use in households across Rilima.