Deadline: 5 June 2020
FINISH (Financial Inclusion Improves Sanitation & Health) Mondial is an ambitious, 6-country WASH programme aiming to substantially scale up the access and use of safe sanitation in Africa and Asia.
This contest is based on the premise that amongst other factors, lack of sanitation coverage (in rural populations of developing countries), is due to lack of innovation on cost reductions, to make them more accessible to the masses.
FINISH invites you to rise to the challenge and propose an ‘innovation’ in one or more of the components of an onsite sanitation system to facilitate the installation and usage of toilets in developing countries, preferable in one the FINISH Mondial countries (India, Bangladesh, Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania & Ethiopia).
The innovation can be created through novel design and/or novel choice of materials used and/or a new process and/or any other component that will help to reduce the cost of a sanitation system.
Why this Sanitation Challenge?
This contest is based on one of the key fundamentals of the FINISH programme: the need to reduce costs of sanitation systems. The design is targeted to incrementally lower the cost of sanitation systems. They are not looking for big technology breakthroughs, but small improvements in existing designs that can reduce the cost of construction or at the same cost, improve its usefulness and client satisfaction.
What FINISH is looking for?
- A sanitation system comprises a super-structure (the “house”), a meso-structure (slab/pan/seat) and a sub-structure. For each of these categories the solution may apply. As part of the competition, technical designs, instrumentation, graphic presentation and bill of quantities of different solutions will be part of the competition package.
- They are looking for ‘cost reduction in sanitation’ in one or more of the three following elements:
- Super-structure;
- Meso-structure;
- Sub-structure.
FINISH does not look for
This challenge is not about designing new toilets. They are not looking for a completely new sanitation system.
- Cost reductions on Urine Diversion Dehydration Toilets (UDDTs) UDDTs are an interesting alternative, but not part and parcel of the FINISH Mondial mason capacity development programme, as its adaptation requires continued behavioural change communication and therefore not included in this contest.
- Cost reduction for toilets connected to a biogas digester. These systems are another viable option. Yet, constructing a biogas digester requires a specific skill set and is not directly a subject of the FINISH Mondial mason capacity development programme and is therefore, not included in this contest.
- Cost reduction on systems that are known under various names such as Arberloo (detachable supers and meso-structured that are moved to a newly dug pit, once the earlier pit is full and a tree sampling is put in the erstwhile pit), fossa alterna (moveable super-structure between two pits), Balram system (series of connected tanks that treat human waste).
Prize Information
- First prize: € 3,000 + actual implementation of your solution in one of the FINISH Mondial countries (other than the country you have first worked out the solution).
- Second prize: € 2,000
- Third prize: € 1,000
Evaluation Criteria
- Cost reduction in material use, including use of cheap but quality materials
- Cost reduction in terms of less wastage
- Cost reduction in terms of less number of people engaged (Time or absolute number)
- Speed (time) of construction that lead to reduction of cost
- Simplicity of construction /installation of (part of) a sanitation system
- Consideration of sludge management (such as simplicity of emptying, onsite treatment etc.)
- Climate elements (water usage and carbon footprint of materials used)
- Suitability for the environment and context it is designed for
- Amenability to local modifications
- Aesthetics and appeal
For more information, visit http://finishmondial.org/sanitationchallenge/