Michael Templeton, a Professor of Public Health Engineering at Imperial College, London, has tasked universities to conduct advanced research that can lead to “more practical” solutions to sanitation challenges.
He urged institutions to work with academic and non-academic partners to find “sustainable solutions” as people across the world dealt with improper sanitation and hygiene.
Prof Templeton was speaking at the Vice Chancellor’s Occasional Lecture at the University of Ghana on the topic: “Research to Move towards Sustainable Sanitation for All”.
Highlighting the success story of a faecal waste treatment technology, he noted that research projects should not stop at the “experimentation stage” but go a step further to ensure it achieved the desired impact.
The technology, known as “Tiger Worm Toilet”, he said, came about in 2010 and was being used by some 200,000 people in other parts of the world.
“A lot of people do not have descent toilet, and others who have it do not have the means to empty them properly or transport and treat the waste…that led to the research into the ‘Tiger Worm’ toilet that does not have to be emptied.
“The technology uses composting worms to treat [faecal] waste in the drains and does not make the toilet fill up quickly, and it is more effective than a normal pit latrine,” he explained.
Prof Templeton noted that improving water and sanitation had “a broader impact” on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) because many of the 17 goals were linked.
Urging individuals and organisations to find lasting solutions to the challenge, he said technologies meant to solve sanitation challenges should consider the needs of “the end-users”.
“It is possible to move from an idea to achieving great impact as long as you work with partners and the end users of the technology right from the beginning.
“As engineers, we like to think we can solve all problems by just building a technology but we have to think about sanitation more as a service…we are supporting people and not just giving them a technology,” the lecturer stated.
Prof Templeton, also a fellow of the Institution of Civil Engineers, cited a World Health Organisation (WHO) report, indicating that 200 million people were affected by Schistosomiasis, due to lack of clean water, and a chunk of those affected were in sub-Saharan Africa.
He, therefore, stressed the importance of improving water and sanitation conditions, adding that the SDG [Goal Six] could be attained when universities brought on their knowledge and expertise in various aspects.
“None of the SDGs can be solved by an engineer or a medic working on his/her own… it requires interdisciplinary solution so, universities have to work together to come up with solutions,” he noted.
Professor Nana Aba Appiah-Amfo, Vice Chancellor, University of Ghana, praised Prof Templeton for “demonstrating research that provides solutions”.
She said University of Ghana would launch a new research strategy and continue to collaborate with institutions like Imperial College to come up with research works that would “achieve global impact”.
