Dr. Thammarat, who is heading the Reinventing the Toilet project
awarded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, presented his
findings on 11 November 2013 at the project’s Advisory Panel meeting in
Bangkok.
Sharing the findings, the AIT team revealed that compared to Thailand,
which has sanitation coverage of 98.9 per cent, Vietnam and Cambodia
have coverage of 85 per cent and 33 per cent. This leads to annual
fecal sludge generation of 16.1 million cubic meters in Thailand alone,
and the combined figure for the three countries touches 37 million
cubic meters. This suggests the urgent need to create a decentralized
treatment system that is replicable and is also financially
sustainable, Dr. Thammarat says.
Experimental research has begun on innovative technologies such as
advanced solar septic tank, hydrocyclone separator, and silver
nano-disinfection, which have demonstrated promising potential.
Dr. Roshan Shrestha, Program Officer, Gates Foundation complimented AIT
stating that “Even (with) serious damage caused by a devastating flood,
the AIT team successfully undertook the project through which an
interdisciplinary team has been established to creatively develop the
newest generation of toilet.”
Led by Dr. Roshan Shrestha, Program Officer of the Gates Foundation,
Panel members include Dr. Wijarn Simachaya, Vice Permanent Secretary of
Thai Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment; Dr. Somsak
Wiwatpatanachart, Vice Chairman of Thai Chamber of Commerce; Mr. Chen
Namchaisiri, Vice Chairman of Federation of Thai Industry; Dr. Krissada
Ruanggarreerat, CEO of Thai Health Promotion Foundation; Dr. Nguyen
Trung Viet, Head of Department of Natural Resources and Environment, Ho
Chi Minh City; Dr. Chirstian Zurbrugg, Head of Department of Water and
Sanitation in Developing Countries, Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic
Science (on Skype call); Prof. Chongrak Polprasert of Thammasat
University; Dr. Kant Weerakant, Project Manager of Thai National
Innovation Agency; Mr. Kookiat Nimnium, Representative of Thai
Department of Local Administration; and Dr. Walter Gibson, Managing
Director of Bear Valley Venture, United Kingdom , who also served as
the Advisory Panel Chair.
Earlier in 2011, AIT was awarded a US$5 million grant from the Bill and
Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF) to create a new generation of the
decentralized wastewater treatment systems and technologies by using an
innovative market-driven approach.
