Veep inspects pilot Biofil Toilet System

Vice President Kwesi Amissah-Arthur has inspected a pilot project to introduce the use of the Biofil Toilet System in the La Dadekotopon Municipal Area.

Currently, there are four Biofil Toilet Systems being piloted by the La Dadekotopon Municipal Assembly in collaboration with the Ministry Local Government and Rural Development at a cost of Ghc4000 each.

The introduction of the Biofil Toilet System has become more imperative because out of the 1,500 reported cholera cases, fifty per cent had come from the La Area.

The Biofil Toilet System combines the benefits of the traditional and those of the composting toilets while eliminating the drawbacks and the disadvantages of both systems.

The key difference between this system and the traditional septic tank system is the size of the digester and the rapid drainage of water from the waste product.

Vice President Amissah-Arthur, speaking to the media, commended the engineers and scientists for their relentless work to introduce the technology in order to improve the health needs of the people.

He bemoaned the situation where cholera, which is a nineteenth-century diseases should be killing people in the capital city of the country.

He said the technology developed by a local engineer with the support of scientists from the University of Ghana is helping to solve major health problem that the nation faces.

Vice President Amissah-Arthur also expressed delight that corporate, especially the National Lottery Authority (NLA) and the French government, decided to support the initiative.

He urged the Ministry of Local Government and Metropolitan, Municipal and Districts Assembles (MMDAs) to look at the new technology and provide resources for the technology to be replicated in other parts of the country, especially in the coastal areas where the people prefer to defecate at the beaches.

He explained that Biofil Toilet System required little space to put up and allow the system to operate more efficiently under aerobic conditions, eliminates the foul smells associated with anaerobic decomposition and reduces the need for excavation of a large septic tank to deposit the faecal matter.

Mrs Rita Odoley Sowah, Chief Executive of the La Dadekotopon Municipal Assembly said the municipality had been greatly challenged by the cholera outbreak because, since the outbreak of cholera in the area, a host of other dignitaries including the Vice President, had helped to ensure the evacuation of refuse from the municipality.

She commended the Ministry of Local Government, the French Embassy and Biofil Company for coming to the aid of the assembly.

Professor Samuel Sackey, a Bio-chemist at the University of Ghana explained that the Biofil Toilet System works by providing an enclosed environment for the natural process of aerobic decomposition.

He said this environment is similar to which exists on a forest floor decomposing wildlife droppings, and converting them into valuable nutrients for the vegetable to use.

He said the flush waste matter is channeled into the biofil digester and the liquid waste is instantly separated from the solid matter.