Healthabitat Sanitation Studio: South Africa

March 2014

Improved water and waste facilities - Diepsloot, Johannesburg, South Africa

• Improved local toilets, taps and drains with increased effectiveness and reduced maintenance.
• A locally implemented, targeted maintenance system thatproduces standard reports for community members and local government.
• Increased community local knowledge about plumbing skills and maintenance methods, as well as a means of documenting local knowledge.

The project aims to improve the health of the residents and reduce the ongoing maintenance work for the local WASSUP team (Water, Amenities, Sanitation Services Upgrade Program) by upgrading 10 toilets, taps and drains, and installing better hardware. Ten more toilets are being monitored to compare their performance to the improved toilets.

Using water-usage data to prove the effectiveness of the work means future works can be extended to cover the 120 toilets currently maintained by WASSUP and then further work to other areas of Diepsloot. Ongoing works will include further data evaluation, communication ideas, technical support and project reviews.

WorldSkills Foundation has supported the participation of Shane Trevitt (UK) – Gold Medal in Plumbing and Heating, WorldSkills London 2011 – and Ciaran Coady (Ireland) – Gold Medal in Plumbing and Heating, WorldSkills Leipzig 2013 – in the project.