Africa Water, Sanitation & Hygiene Africa Water, Sanitation Jan -Feb 2014 Vol.10 No1 | Page 23

SUWASA News

A Growing Market for Fecal Sludge Management
According to a 2013 household sanitation survey by SUWASA, 55% of respondents reported having access to a toilet,
40.7% share a toilet, 2.7% practice open defecation whilst the remainder use public toilets. Of those who had toilets, 2%
had access to a sewer connection, and the remainder had access to pit latrines or pour-flush toilets. 40% of these onsite
toilets can be emptied by mechanized exhausters. Given that the piped water supply network serves only 20% of the
city’s population, continued use of onsite sanitation facilities is expected. . Based on fecal sludge generation in Africa by
Chowdhry and Kone (2012), it is estimated that Juba generates more than 45 million liters of fecal sludge annually
(Table 1).
Table 1: Fecal Sludge Generation in Juba

However, SUWASA’s 2013 survey of exhauster tankers revealed that Roton lagoon received at least 2.5 million liters of
sludge a day. This equates to a very high generation rate of 11.6 liters per person per day. Possible explanations include
the prevalent use of water for anal cleansing, use of toilets as bathing facilities as well as possibility of toilets receiving
high volumes of rain runoff.

An Active Fecal Sludge Transportation Industry

Figure 1: Exhausters emptying at Roton wastewater lagoon

Juba has a very active
mechanized exhauster
service, accounting for over
96% of fecal sludge handled.
A SUWASA survey of
exhauster businesses revealed
over 150 exhauster tankers
operating in Juba, with
over 97% owned by private
companies and individuals.
Nine (9) exhauster trucks
are owned by four public
sector agencies The 150
trucks equates to a ratio of
households to exhauster truck
of over 350:1, very high in
comparison to other African
cities (14500:1 according to
Chowdry and Kone 2012)

Africa Water, Sanitation & Hygiene • January - February 2015

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