MONITORING BIODIGESTERS ON AND AROUND THE TONLE SAP, CAMBODIA: A WEEK IN THE FIELD

摘要

WASH Engineering Adviser Gabrielle McGill writes of her experiences working with Engineers Without Borders to improve sanitation options in Cambodia. The Tonle Sap lake and its surrounding area is home to 1.6 million people in Cambodia, many of whom live in floating communities. Currently few appropriate, affordable sanitation options exist for floating houses, and the addition of pig farms to these communities has increased sanitation issues. Live and Learn Environmental Education is a Cambodian-based non-governmental organisation one of whose major initiatives in Cambodia is its WASH program, which has the aim of improving local sanitation and hygiene. I am currently assisting with the trial of a number of new small household biodigesters for floating or flood-affected communities, which in addition to improving sanitation for the community can also produce biogas that can be used for cooking, while treated waste can be used as a fertiliser. Still in its early stages, Live and Learn is researching both through trials installed in the community and at a demonstration site in Phnom Penh.