Comments on: The VIP – an invention from Zimbabwe

By: Pump Aid

Pump Aid — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 12:12:25 +0000

To tackle this issue Pump Aid has developed the Elephant Toilet. This is a low cost, technology appropriate design that communities are benefiting from and will continue to do so for many years to come. The Elephant Toilet has won the prestigious St.Andrews Prize for Environment 2008 for best design.

At the doorway of the toilet hangs a water container with a ball point pen barrel inserted near the bottom. To turn on the tap, the lid is taken off the pen, and then replaced to turn it back off. The simplicity of the design means that even the youngest children can learn this process. For soap, a seso bush that has antiseptic qualities is planted outside the toilet. It is watered by the stream of waste water from hand washing.

To combat flies and odour, a plastic bottle with holes punched in for ventilation, is inserted at the top of the chimney. As it heats it creates a convection process, causing a current of air to move through the toilet to help remove the scent of the pit. The light entering through the bottle attracts flies, which are then eliminated by the heat inside.

When the pit is full (and it will take several years) the concrete floor slab is moved to a new pit and a fruit tree is planted on the old one. The fruit it produces will supplement the diet of the local community or can be taken to market to bring much-needed income for the community.

The Elephant toilet costs just £20 to build, including all materials and labour costs, making them a high contender for the cheapest/most effective toilet solutions around.

Pump Aid has been chosen as the UK NGO partner to Live Earth 2010. On April 18th 2010 Live Earth returns, turning its attention and significant influence onto the global water challenge. The Live Earth Run for Water global events on 18th April 2010 will be the single biggest fundraising effort for water causes in history. Nearly 1 billion people across the world do not have access to clean water impacting on poverty and increasing disease – around 4,000 children die every day from dirty water. More than 100 countries across the globe will participate in raising money for water causes by staging 6 kilometer run/walk events. London and Manchester will be hosting the UK events with all the funds raised going straight to Pump Aid projects.

The potential is massive so please get involved.

By: Chris Lightfoot

Chris Lightfoot — Fri, 12 Sep 2008 04:53:09 +0000

Key feature of the Blair is that flies enter thru the door – always open, but curved / offset access – and having fed / laid eggs on faeces, see light at top of pipe rather than thru floor hole, so seek exit that way. They fail because of the GAUZE. Ventilation helps the passege of smell, not really the fly!
The GAUZE separates the faeces from the food. Without gauze, it is a pit latrine – and a health hazard.

By: Jan Martin

Jan Martin — Sat, 24 May 2008 00:24:01 +0000

By the way, mobile toilets use at construction sites in Germany are build the same way. Only difference is that the pipe is inside the toilet (for no other reason than to make it more compact), and it is painted black.

Due to the black color it heats up and works like a chimney, sucking out all the odor from the toilet itself.

Works great and independent of wind.

By: ::: Planète Béranger :::

::: Planète Béranger ::: — Wed, 24 Oct 2007 10:17:25 +0000

[...] Via AfriGadget, who also lists the home-made helicopter (from a Honda Civic, an old Toyota and from the remains of a crashed Boeing 747) and the Human and Animal Powered Vehicle, here’s the invention of the day: the VIP — Ventilated (Improved) Pit Latrine: [...]

By: Erik Hersman

Erik Hersman — Thu, 30 Aug 2007 11:50:59 +0000

500,000 in just Zimbabwe! Man, that’s a lot. I had no idea that’s where they originally came from either.

By: JKE

JKE — Thu, 30 Aug 2007 00:10:18 +0000

Well – that’s exactly the point: while the concept of a Ventilated Improved Pit latrine (VIP) was initially designed at the Blair Research Laboratory in Zimbabwe in the 1970s, the technology has since then been exported to other countries.

By: Bruno deméocq

Bruno deméocq — Wed, 29 Aug 2007 21:25:25 +0000

I do have the same VIP at home in Dakar ! Are u sure it’s coming from Zimbabwe ? ?

By: metamanda>>weblog

metamanda>>weblog — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

of my very favorite technologies out there, or at least one of my very favorite papers about a technology. Peter Morgan, the nearly-invisible inventor of the bush pump, designed other wonderfully simple, accessible, practically useful stuff like theventilated (improved) pit latrine, or VIP. He’s also apparently working on composting toilets. The best thing: these technologies are designed for use in Africa. They are designed for their context, and work in that context, while also allowing for end-users to adapt them for unanticipated

By: Appropriate Infrastructure Development Group (AIDG)

Appropriate Infrastructure Development Group (AIDG) — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

bio-sticks?)is seen as a way to reduce dependence on Middle East oil and lessen the impact of global warming. Japan imports virtually all of its energy resources including oil. Other ideas for how to use unwanted/unused chopsticks. [IMG ]The VIP – an invention from Zimbabwefrom Afrigadget [IMG Venting a pit latrine] The major advantage of the VIP over a normal pit latrine is that it comes with a ventilation pipe (covered with a durable fly screen on top) which reduces flies and odour. In the absence of other