• Human waste briquettes are made by Water and Sanitation Services Company Nakuru, Naivasha and Nairobi.
• Waste is dried, ground and mixed with sawdust and molasses then rotated in machine to form balls.
Image: CAROL KUBWA
Did you know that your daily poop can be used as household fuel, which you can even use to roast your favourite meat?
Human waste briquettes being made and processed by the Water and Sanitation Services Company Nakuru, Naivasha and Nairobi are being used to conserve the environment as well as a source of energy.
The collection of human waste has improved sanitation in towns and villages. Chemicals are used to carbonise and reduce the smell from the waste, making it easier to collect.
Water and Sanitation Chief Administrative Secretary Winnie Guchu said this is the best way to conserve forests, which are under threat, and manage sanitation.
“This method will also see many youths get employment at the ministry because they can be able to help in the collection of the poo from latrines and also in selling the briquettes,” she said.
Guchu urged more innovators to come up with ways of conserving the environment as well as sewage management.
She said the challenge of sewage management is not limited to city slums but also in apartments.
Lydia Macharia said her life has changed since she started using the human waste briquettes.
“I use only 15 balls to cook my meal for two hours, I have never seen that kind of energy for decades—that only two kilogrammes [of briquettes] can cook over five meals,” she said.
Macharia said she got to know of the briquettes after her friend, a personal assistant of Guchu, brought her two kilogrammes.
She used only three-quarters of the balls and the results were astounding.
“I am yet to use the briquettes inside the kitchen and find out whether indeed the balls will produce any smell because some people are of the perception that they could be smelling,” Macharia said.
She only noticed a slight odour from her medium-sized jiko, but the briquettes do not produce any smoke, she said.
Macharia does not plan on going back to charcoal.
She urged Kenyans to help conserve forests "because we have witnessed many cases of drought and the use of waste briquettes is the way to go".
Macharia has since bought 25 kilogrammes of the briquettes from Nawasco Nakuru and two more from Naivasha.
“I am encouraging youths to make use of the opportunities created by the Ministry of Water and Sanitation to join in the process of collection of human waste as a method of environmental conservation," she said.
Macharia said youths can be hired at Nawasco, Ruiru, where they can also get small briquettes to sell.
People who have used the briquettes say it is cheaper and more cost-effective than charcoal. Two kilogrammes of the briquettes go for Sh60, while charcoal is sold for more than Sh120.
How it's done
The human waste is collected from pit latrines and septic tanks around Nakuru.
The waste is then taken to a processing plant, where it is dried for two to three weeks in drying beds in a greenhouse.
The hot temperatures in the greenhouse take out around 70 per cent of moisture from the sludge, preparing it for carbonation.
The dried waste is then heated in a kiln at temperatures of about 700 to 800 degrees Celsius, which burns off harmful gases (and the smell).
It’s ground finely, before being mixed with sawdust that has also been carbonised.
Molasses are added at this stage to bind the materials, and it is divided into small balls.
The combined materials of milled sawdust and sludge are fed into a rotating drum machine, while molasses are added gradually until the mixture forms a ball of about 2.5cm in diameter.
Edited by R.Wamochie