Modern technology solves an old problem

The makeshift toilets once used by residents of Jindan, a village in Xiangyun county, Yunnan province, were unbearably dirty and fetid, especially during summer when they were plagued by flies and mosquitoes, posing a health risk.

To address the problem, the locals decided to dig simple communal toilets a few minutes’ walk from the village. Although the new facilities reduced the health risk, they were inconvenient and children had to be escorted to them at night because they were afraid of the dark.

The situation began to change in June last year, when the local government started a pilot project using the CHtank, a sewage-disposal facility designed and made in China.

While the 566 households in the village couldn’t afford to build a dedicated sewage treatment facility, the CHtank, a small, independent unit that can be used by individual households, offered a cheaper solution to the problem.

Thetankhastwochambers,onefor solids and one for liquid waste. Four types of bacteria are used to clean liquidwaste—whichisthenusedtoirrigate fields — and break down solids, which are stored in the tank before being collected and taken away.

Li Shizhao’s family is one of 55 households that have benefited from the facility, which was provided free of charge as part of a demonstration project.

“Our toilet used to smell really bad. Every two months, I had to spend about an hour emptying and cleaning it before transporting the waste to my farmland using buckets and a carrying pole,” the 43-year-old farmer said.

“After the CHtank was installed in our compound, we built a new toilet at home. The tank transforms wastewaterfromthetoiletintoclean,odorlesswater,”hesaid.“It’sconvenientto use, and we don’t have to keep driving away the flies.”