Neighborhood converts to biogas

A clean latrine can be found in the crowded neighborhood of Bustaman, Semarang, just behind the Al Barokah mosque.

Locally known as the MCK, this public lavatory is different: It has a stove fueled with human excrement-based biogas ready to cook food or boil water.

The communal bathroom and toilet block built at Pangrukti Luhur, which brings in Rp 2.3 million per month and produces biogas for cooking. (JP/Sudherdjoko)

The biogas stove with its blue flames is in a room adjacent to the MCK. On the cooker sits a big pan containing soup, while three others with clean water for boiling wait their turn for the heat. This scene occurs every day -- and there is no trace of the smell of feces when using the stove.

"At least five vendors use the stove to prepare food and drinks every day. They are regular customers ... and we only charge them Rp 500 per pot," said Amri Mardika, the youth assigned to manage the MCK by Pangrukti Luhur -- a local Self-Support Group (KSM) under Sanitation by Society (Sanimas).

Occupying some 86 square meters, the MCK serves around 110 families in the neighborhood.

Around 330 families had been living with poor sanitary conditions in Bustaman, where 55 percent of residents survived without their own toilets, neighborhood leader Wahyuno said.

"They defecated directly into the Semarang River near their homes for years because the old Dutch lavatories were not maintained and could no longer accommodate the fast growing local population," he said.

This was a major problem for the area because the Dutch MCK only had two toilets and there were now more than 200 families. Worse still, these toilets were built without septic tanks and, during the rainy season, overflowing river water would carry feces around the neighborhood.

In 2000, the community received a Rp 10 million loan from the Purwodinatan subdistrict KSM, and the MCK was renovated by building septic tanks and four toilets with bathrooms. People paid Rp 300 each for the privilege.

"But, another problem arose. Since the tanks had to be emptied every three months, we had difficulty when trucks came to pump out the waste -- they could not enter the narrow neighborhood alleyways, and their hoses weren't long enough to reach. So, we were forced to use smaller trucks which charged Rp 300,000 a visit," recalled Wahyuno, head of KSM Pangrukti Luhur.

Wahyuno's requests fix the sanitation problem were answered with the arrival in October 2005 of personnel from the Bremen Overseas and Development Association (Borda) -- a German NGO, and the Semarang Municipal Public Works Office. The team said they intended to build a latrine with Sanimas.

After some bargaining, Bustaman residents finally agreed. The Semarang municipal administration, working with the Urban Technology Development Institute (with its decentralized wastewater treatment system) and Borda, constructed what is now called the MCK-plus.

The public supplied around Rp 10 million to cover the project, while the city administration contributed Rp 135 million, the Central Java province Rp 80 million and Borda Rp 50 million.

After five months, the new MCK was complete. Septic tanks were rebuilt with biogas digesters and wells were improved; complemented with tap water and electricity. Six toilets were set up -- five traditional and one modern one for the elderly.

Opposite the toilets, a washing area and four bathrooms were built, so as to prevent soapy water from mixing with human excrement -- as this could kill anaerobic bacteria needed in the formation of biogas.

The MCK-plus uses an anaerobic process comprising bio-digesters as containers, septic tanks as sedimentation vessels, a baffle reactor to reduce chemical oxygen demand by 80 percent, and anaerobic filters which hold the anaerobic bacteria.

Sukardi, a resident of Bustaman, boils water on a stove fueled by biogas made from human waste.

To determine the sufficient biogas pressure for cooking, a gauge is fixed on the wall of the biogas stove room.

"If the pressure reading goes above 20, it's ready for cooking. Below 20, and the gas is too weak to produce enough heat," Amri Mardika said.

While a biogas stoves cost Rp 500 per pot boiled, bathing or using the toilet costs Rp 400. The fee for using the bathroom and the toilet is Rp 600. From these fees, Pangrukti Luhur's MCK-plus raises around in Rp 2.3 million per month.

"Our neighborhood has become healthier and cleaner. It is definitely a crowded area, but our public toilets can serve as a model," Bustawan resident Sukardi said.

The MCK-plus won a prize for the best toilet facility in Central Java at the recent International Sanitation Year ceremony in the province.

The Central Java provincial government donated a 14-inch TV as a token of appreciation, which is now kept in the MCK corridor.

"Now we can stay up late watching European Cup games here," Amri said.

"We report our income every two months at the neighborhood meeting. The money is spent on, among other things, sealing roads with paving blocks. Diarrhea cases have become less common here," said Ashar, the MCK-plus operator.

"We can now take a bath any time we wish," said nine-year-olds Devi and Mutia who went to bathe as soon as they got home from school. Suherdjoko

Post Date : 20 Juni 2008