To address the triple bottlenecks of sanitation, energy and agricultural productivity, Oramis Industries has developed an integrated Plant and Pay As You Go (P-PAYG) model that utilises a toilet/bio-latrine. Oramis’ bio-latrine/toilet is the first biogas solution to utilize a Plant and Pay as You Go (P-PAYG) model, allowing low income households and social facilities with capital constraints to benefit from biogas and nutrient rich bio-fertiliser. Households are only required to plant 50 trees and agree to maintain them for ten years, as an installation fee and then only pay for the biogas they use. A smart payment system is installed, that allows households to purchase as little as $0.70 at a time in advance using mobile money. In addition, a proprietary smart meter allows gas to flow until these credits are used up, then the gas stops to flow. A tokenised micro franchise distribution model is introduced to enhance the market reach of the product.
Oramis Bio-latrine/toilet is bio-digesting latrines/toilets where human, animal garden and kitchen waste is decomposed in anaerobic conditions to produce biogas and bio-fertiliser (liquid and compost). The latrine/toilet cubicles are fitted with concrete commode toilet seats for inclusive and safe use by children, pregnant mothers and people with disabilities. These seats can be easily made by local craft men or masonries in Malawi upon a simple training and guidance, thereby creating job opportunities for the unemployed.
The latrine has a wash basin whose waste water is used to transport the wastes into the PVC tanks located underneath the toilet aisle. In total, four tanks with a volume of 1 m3 each will be required per block. The urine collection tanks will be emptied via doors at the side of the toilet blocks and the urine used regularly as fertilizer on community kitchen gardens or stored and sold to farmers in the neighbouring agricultural areas.
The latrine/toilets are elevated above the ground (about 1 meter) to create space for digester tanks, which means that no digging is required. The elevated position will have the advantage that urine and faeces will be easily collected. The digesters are either made concrete or recycled plastic waste and are always gastight, to stop possible gas escape. The produced biogas is stored in a connected biogas tank and it undergoes a desulfurization process before being used in appliances like gas generators, gas lamps, gas stoves and bunsen burners. Any 1 m3 of biogas produced in Oramis Bio-latrine systems replaces about 1.3 kg of firewood contributing to the protection of natural resources.
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