By Christopher Kellner

An innovative project using sunflower and jatropha waste is helping to introduce biogas technology to Zambia.

Southern BioPower Ltd. is a Zambian company working with renewable energy in a variety of ways.  Its main business interest is using jatropha oil for direct combustion in modified diesel engines.  The company has just completed a 50 m³ biogas digester on its farm, which serves as a nucleus estate for Jatropha outgrowers.  

The project design was done with the support of WASAZA and its partner BORDA while the work was carried out by local farm labour, supported by two experienced masons from TED-BORDA Lesotho.  

The digester is the first phase of a larger plan which will be executed in three phases on the farm.  For phase 1, the main feeding material is sunflower waste which is piled on the farm in huge quantities.  In addition, a feedlot for 50 beef cattle, which will eventually expand to accommodate 100, has been erected just above the biogas plant.  Once the dung flow is established, phase 2 of the project is to be added, with a 200cbm digester.

As the trees near productivity the biogas production potential on the farm will gradually increase with Jatropha press cake, which is toxic for animals, becoming the main feedstock in the third phase.  A 1000 m3 digester with insulation, heating and steering will be required to make productive use of the expected quantities.

The underground hemisphere has a height of 3m, with a 6m diameter.  The surface above the digester is protected by a dry wall which prevents farm traffic from running over it.  The inlet is squared to allow for easy feeding by wheelbarrow.  The dung from the feedlot is washed in through the channel in front.  The expansion chamber is a long stretched channel, besides which a compost heap is being established.

 

by Martina Mueller (Weltwaerts)

The project at St. Angela was definitely themed “good things come to those who wait”.  At the end of last year everybody was of good cheer because both the new DEWATS system and outside toilet projects were expected to be completed by the end of December. In Africa, however, it is not the

















clock that rules the day.  Evidence of this could be seen in the experience with the workers of the construction company TCC.  Sadly, some work had to be done twice and the site foreman had to be fired, because his work worsened and he appeared too much affected by alcohol to work.  Another reason for the delay was bad weather.  The whole of February was so rainy that you could hardly see any blue spots in the sky.  It rained so much that once the building pit was emptied it filled up with new water again, not only because of the rain, but also because of the rising groundwater level.  All this both complicated and slowed progress.

 

 

 

 

by Annie Zimba (WASAZA)

BORDA has implemented various community projects, for example, Community Based Sanitation (CBS) in developing countries using techniques that enhance sustainability due to their participatory nature. One such technique is the Community Participatory Approach (CPA).  BORDA, in partnership with the Water and Sanitation Association of Zambia (WASAZA), the Devolution Trust Fund (DTF) and GTZ has extended these projects to four pilot areas in Zambia.  The projects have brought with them technologies such as DEWATS and biogas which have worked in other developing countries such as Indonesia.  

The CPA process has been an integral part of the process in Zambia to assure sustainability through community involvement.  A unique feature of this process is that it was developed in Asia.  In this regard, its application needed adapting to the Zambian context.  As a result, BORDA, WASAZA, DTF and GTZ and the four Commercial Utilities (CU) under pilot (Kafubu, Mulonga North Western and Southern Water and Sewerage Company) worked together to adjust the tools in terms of: process, target group, timing and pictures to make them more applicable to Zambia.  The final draft version was ready in October 2008 and was applied by the CU starting January 2009.

 

 written by Sandra Hildbrand

Lesotho is called the Kingdom in the Sky because of its huge mountains. They are really impressive. In principle the rainfall in Lesotho is high enough but not always and sometimes the rainfall concentrated in some areas and not in others. As a result there was a lack of water over the last few years. Almost a quarter of the population didn’t have enough water to grow vegetables and they suffered from hunger. Therefore, the reusing of recycled water for irrigation is a big issue to improve food supply for the Basotho. With the recycled water they can irrigate their private food gardens and are not depending on rainfall so much.

At the end of January I arrived in Lesotho to work as a volunteer for a TED and BORDA cooperation project. These two NGOs have built DEWATS-plants. With the DEWATS plants the wastewater is treated in a biogas plant and an ABR (anaerobic biological reactor) so that it is useable for irrigation after treatment. The recycled water can then be used for irrigation of food gardens. The question: "What is the best way to use this recycled water and what has to be considered?" therefore becomes more important for the NGOs. I am here to pay attention to this question.

article written by Christian Mueller, (SANDEC)

In co-operation with Technologies for Economic Development (TED, Lesotho) and Bremen Overseas Research and Development Association (Borda, Germany) the Department of Water and Sanitation in Developing Countries (www.sandec.ch) at the Swiss Federal Institute for Environmental Science and Technology, Switzerland is conducting a research on the Biogas DEWATS -plants in Maseru.
The objective of this study is to get more information about the performance of the DEWATS-Systems of TED-Borda. The monitoring of operating DEWATS-systems shall give reliable data regarding the gas production as well as the suitability of the plant when getting fed with kitchen waste or animal dung in addition.
Monitoring data may also help in devising strategies for enhancing the performance of the DEWATS-systems.
Results of gas production can also be used when estimating the potential of CDM or other similar voluntary solutions like e.g. “myclimate”, Switzerland.
Furthermore, the study shall analyse the convenience for the owner of the plant to operate the system (time, handling of waste, effort) and shall give detailed information about the use of gas and the effluent. This information is necessary regarding the improvement of plant operation and training / education of plant operators.