Build 100 Household Toilets in Haiti

Thank you for supporting SOIL’s efforts to improve sanitation access in Haiti! The toilets built with donations raised on Global Giving have now made it into homes throughout urban Cap-Haitien. And as exciting proof to how much people like their new toilets, the waitlist of new families that want to sign up for SOIL’s toilet service keeps growing longer every day. This project is a trendsetting testament to the potential for sustainable social businesses to provide affordable access to sanitation even in the world’s most vulnerable urban communities.

How it Works:

The world is experiencing a global sanitation crisis and the majority of available sanitation technologies have prohibitively high start-up costs, are dependent on scarce water resources, require costly imported materials, and are financially unsustainable. In SOIL’s simple social business design, wastes from ecological sanitation (EcoSan) toilets are collected and transported to a composting waste treatment facility where the waste is safely transformed into rich, agricultural-grade compost. This compost is then sold for agricultural application, improving both the fertility and water retention of soil. Revenue from monthly toilet user fees, waste treatment fees, and compost sales are collected to support ongoing project costs and to showcase the private sector potential to affordably and sustainably provide sanitation services in the world’s most impoverished and water-scarce communities.

Early Signs of Success:

SOIL’s model is one of the few interventions around the world that has shown early success in creating a financially-sustainable sanitation service that eliminates the need for waterborne sewage systems and produces an endless supply of safe, agricultural-grade compost to increase soil water retention and improve food security.

• Monthly toilet user fee payments of ~$5 USD per toilet began in June 2013, and early results indicate that families are willing and able to pay for sanitation services.
• Early cost and income projections show that the toilet maintenance and waste collection operation will be profitably covered by toilet user fees at a breakeven point of 500 toilets, thereby demonstrating the potential for social businesses to enter into service delivery.
• SOIL’s composting waste treatment site outside of Cap-Haitien currently transforms all the wastes collected from these toilets with minimal operational expenses.
• Over the past few years, SOIL has sold over 62,000 gallons of compost to individuals, companies, and organizations around Haiti. The growing market demand for the compost shows the potential for the private sector to play a significant role in supporting demand-driven sustainable sanitation.

 Stay involved:

Over the coming months SOIL will be scaling up this successful pilot project to reach more families throughout northern Haiti with affordable, sustainable sanitation services.

We hope that you will stay connected with our work by checking out our other projects on Global Giving and by joining SOIL on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

Also, through May 10, 2014, all donations to SOIL will be matched $1 for $1. Help us meet the growing demand for SOIL’s sanitation services in Haiti!

Links:

• Join us on Facebook
• More photos on Instagram
• Check out all the updates on the SOIL blog!