Aerosan - Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene

As country representative of Aerosan in Nepal, Prakash oversees and manages local resources for program implementation. Prakash is also the Chief Executive Officer of Aerosan Sustainable Sanitation Pvt Ltd, a social enterprise established in Nepal to implement the Aerosan HUB model. He was instrumental in development and implementation of the social business model- a public toilet system that is gender-inclusive, clean, and converts waste into energy through an anaerobic digester.

Prakash Amatya is recognized in the community in Nepal for his work in capacity building and knowledge transfer. He is also an advocate for the migrant and underprivileged urban community. Prakash has a diverse educational background holding a major in Microbiology, Environment and Business Management. He is experienced in promoting rainwater harvesting and freshwater conservation and approaches environmental issues from the perspective of the needs and limitations of businesses, municipalities and non-profit organizations.

In Nepal, 53.9%  do not have access to basic sanitation and as of 2015, ~30% of the population practice open defecation. There is 1 public toilet for every 46,000 individuals, and 95% of sewage is dumped untreated into water bodies. Existing public toilets are visibly dirty, vandalized, clogged with feces, lack soap and water etc. About 60% of public toilets are left abandoned due to failed public-private partnerships that do not incentivize maintenance.

Aerosan offers affordable, clean, safe and accessible to all pay-per-use public toilet facilities that incorporate on-site waste management by anaerobic digestion of human waste to fuel nearby shops. So far, we have serviced 1.6 M toilet visits and the Elevate Prize can walk us in reaching 2 billion people lacking basic sanitation across the globe. Such strides in WASH sector will help in elevating the quality of life among people living in LMICs

Inadequate sanitation and hygiene is known to be a leading cause of morbidity and mortality in LMICs which can be exacerbated with unplanned urbanization. In Nepal, 53.9% (~ 16M) do not have access to basic sanitation, toilets are elusive to 44% of the urban population, and as of 2015, ~30% of the population practice open defecation. There is 1 public toilet for every 46,000 individuals, and 95% of sewage is dumped untreated into rivers and lakes polluting water supplies and perpetuating a vicious cycle of disease and poverty. Existing public toilets are visibly dirty, vandalized, clogged with feces, have no soap or water etc. even though the public pays 0.04-0.09 USD to use them. Aerosan found that over 60% of public toilets are left abandoned due to failed public-private partnerships that do not incentivize maintenance. As a result, neither government or private sanitation businesses are accountable for the disposal of untreated waste or inequitable services. Consequently making it difficult for people, especially women, to meet basic sanitation. Women report limiting water intake during the day or staying home during menstruation to avoid using public toilets. 61% of them report feeling unsafe in using public toilets.

Public toilets that treat waste on-site are critical to meet the sanitation needs of densely populated regions without centralized waste management systems. Aerosan Nepal offers a complete public toilet management system through a network of pay-per-use public sanitation facilities (HUBs). These HUBs are affordable ($0.08 / usage), modern, clean (cleaning protocol developed with Temple University), safe, and offer equitable access to all genders and people with disabilities. Each HUB includes an anaerobic digester to collect human waste and converts it to biogas that powers a nearby tea shop. Revenue is generated through multiple streams (toilet, shower, sundries, sanitary supplies, tea house rent, biogas) and unique partnership with the local government provides rent-free land, cost of constructing the building outer shell, and a subsidy for the anaerobic digester. With 3 HUBs operational, Aerosan Nepal has established willingness-to-pay for improved public sanitation, a sustainable and financial model, and strong support from local governments. HUBs improve sanitation accessibility to women and empower lower caste (Dalits) by providing jobs (toilet operators and cleaners) through a worker's co-op program established by Aerosan.

HUBs maintain environmental sustainability through onsite-waste management (anaerobic digestion) of human waste and incorporating rainwater harvesting systems. 

Aerosan’s toilets are located in high traffic public areas within the Kathmandu valley – markets, transportation hubs, etc., thus Aerosan customers are the vendors, shopkeepers, drivers, commuters and market goers that live in and frequent these areas. Aerosan also offers menstrual management facilities and thus attracts nearby working or passing women which account for about 25% of the total users. Aerosan also includes women in decision making regarding toilet design and management. The public toilet conditions and women bearings are not exclusive to this area but are present throughout Nepal and other LMICs. Lack of good toilets exacerbates the suffering for the disabled and the situation is worse in LMICs. Aerosan’s pilot HUB is one of the three disabled friendly toilets in Kathmandu [13]. Aerosan empowers Nepal’s Dalit community, the lowest caste in the Hindu hierarchy, through the Sanitation Workers Cooperative program under which they undergo maintenance and operations training. Additionally, Aerosan also helps them to look for more dignified jobs through the co-op program. Thus expansion of our model in Nepal will be comprehensive to development of women, Dalits and disabled.

The project mobilizes key stakeholders to take real action, by demonstrating public toilets can be well maintained, designed to meet women’s needs, and be environmentally sustainable (by connecting it directly to a biogas). Aerosan’s facilities are the first to focus on a holistic management solution that is sustainable, and our success led to government support for new facilities. Aerosan also builds awareness by conducting handwashing and menstrual awareness campaigns. 

The sanitation workers cooperative creates opportunities for members, who come from  the lowest end of Nepal’s social hierarchy. It is led by women, who are especially disadvantaged and vulnerable to harassment.

After the earthquake, Prakash worked with Aerosan to find sites to deploy their humanitarian toilets in response to the widespread destruction and communities still living on campsites. In doing so, he found that urban sanitation needed to be improved in Kathmandu, and proposed to Aerosan to work together in coming up with a complete solution. Thorough field assessment revealed the management and maintenance of public toilets that was a key gap to be addressed. Many toilets that had been constructed were left abandoned because no one wanted to maintain them. Additionally, all the waste ended up untreated into the water bodies. 

In speaking with stakeholders , it was decided that this new model met all the key gaps: something clean, gender-equitable, and protects the environment. We also decided to use local technology to deal with the waste, and so we piloted the first anaerobic digester at a public toilet. At this time, funding was limited, and so he proposed to test a solution at an existing public toilet.

I started out working in government on other international projects in my country, Nepal. The Aerosan HUB project has never been easy, and working in toilets and sanitation, is not something that is highly regarded as glamorous amongst society here, but I am deeply committed to it. This project is not for me, the heart of it are the sanitation workers in the cooperative, who now have great hopes for improving their futures, which drives me to persevere. Members of this community work in 3D, meaning their work is Dirty, Dangerous, and Demeaning. This is what I want to change forever.

I was always an advocate for improved sanitation to governments, but now, with our successful pilot and social business establishment, we have something to demonstrate, and we can take action. There is no going back now. I will not stop until I know that the community of sanitation workers can continue on their own to deliver safe, sustainable sanitation services. Accountable and responsible not only to the stakeholders and community in Kathmandu, but also to the Aerosan team and Canadian supporters, who have bestowed their trust in me to implement this solution.

Prakash has a diverse educational background in health science (microbiology), business, and environment, having worked in water management makes him especially  well-placed to work in holistic management solutions for public health and the environment. Moreover, Prakash has worked many years as an advocate for marginalized communities, and his work has contributed to change in policy. His professional background, inspiring leadership, optimism and personal humility have earned him a great reputation across many stakeholders in the field. 

“I have been working in the water management sector for more than a decade, advocating for changes in improved water and sanitation to local governments. I was seen as a nuisance to governments, by showing up to point out their failures. There was no real interest in public toilets. I always felt that I was missing a strong team behind me, until I started with Aerosan. With support of Canadian government (grand challenges Canada), we were able to demonstrate our model solution. Now, my voice is empowered,  I am no longer seen as a nuisance, and Aerosan is seen as a business partner, and solution provider. This experience has taught me that only advocacy is not enough to bring change to society.”

Despite the pandemic, the lockdown and at great risk to himself, Prakash has continued to provide encouragement to his team, to the sanitation workers co-op and, most of all, has been instrumental in supplying hygiene kits and emergency food to the most disadvantaged in the squatter communities around Kathmandu.

Already, before the pandemic, Prakash has demonstrated incredible perseverance and commitment to establish a new public toilet model in his community, engaging stakeholders from all backgrounds, including governments, locals, businesses, engineers, and marginalized groups. His work with the coop was also instrumental, in identifying key partners and onboarding champions to help gain trust of members in establishing the sanitation workers cooperative, dispersed across the Kathmandu valley.

Prakash worked with Rainwater Emergency Rain Project (International Rainwater Harvesting Alliance IRHA), an international agency who brought onboard to advocate for the utilization of rainwater in Nepal. They had been advocating for this for more than a decade, but nothing materialized. Prior to the  earthquake, several projects were  proposed but nothing came through. When the earthquake happened, people lived in tents on campsites because their homes were damaged. Prakash immediately contacted the IRHA, knowing that this was the right time to implement a rainwater is a solution for people living in these spaces that face water scarcity and bad water quality. 

Though funding was limited, Prakash figured how to optimize resources by teaching camps about safe water use, to help prevent epidemics. He then helped to develop a proposal to build a lower cost plastic roof to collect water in a vulnerable community, Liwali, Bhaktapur. They secured enough funding for a 25,000L tank, and Prakash mobilized in-kind contributions from the local community to build a 100,000L tank, which is still in use today - 5 years later.

Prakash demonstrates perseverance and commitment despite uncertainty of resources, to work towards a long term solution.

TECHNOLOGY:  First  anaerobic digester in Nepal directly connected to a public toilet that produces biogas from only human waste. This expertise  can be applied around the world. 

SOCIAL:  Estbalished one of the first  workers’ co-op in Nepal (female-led). Applied behavioral science expertise to evaluate gender-specific attitudes of public toilets, serving as inputs into the design.

RESEARCH: Conducts cutting edge public health research on shared sanitation facilities and human waste in partnership with leading institutions around the world. 

OPERATIONS:  First to develop  standards for cleanliness  of shared toilet facilities for developing regions  around the world (with Temple University’s WHAM lab). Now being adapted in response to  COVID-19.

Aerosan HUB facilities: Increased adoption of gender-inclusive designs and operation of public toilets that incorporate improved hygiene and waste management is expected to significantly improve the wellbeing, health, and dignity of the community and especially women in the region. This is by increasing access to safe, clean and inclusive facilities, and reducing waste from entering the environment, contributing to disease spread.

Sanitation Cooperative: Enhancing the governance and administration capacity of the cooperative is expected to enable the organization to effectively manage and sustain its activities and thus support its members in achieving poverty reduction through its various programs. For example, branding the cooperative may help members access better job placement services, as many informal workers are subject to unfair low wages due to negative perceptions and discrimination of their community.

Aerosan projects that each HUB will service on average 1000 usages per day/365,000 per year. This is based on market research of operating public toilets in the Kathmandu Valley combined with studies of human traffic at prospective toilet sites. Aerosan plans to build 4 new HUBS per year, for a total of 23 HUBS by 2024 (5 years). With 11 HUBS operational, Aerosan projects to service 4 million usages per year. Regular users (use the same facility 1/week) can be said to benefit from a 37% decrease in diarrheal disease associated with improved sanitation [12]. Each HUB employs 3 persons, 11 HUBs represents 33 jobs for marginalized communities. Aerosan indirectly benefits about 10,000 slum people living along the banks of Bagmati River by not exposing them to toxic and untreated human waste.  Each HUB prevents 40 Mt of human waste from entering the environment, with 11 HUBS that represents over 440 Mt per year.

In Nepal, for the social enterprise to be both profitable and cash positive in the next 2 to 3 years at 14 public toilet systems in operations at key areas across the urban regions of Nepal.

Funding to construct new toilets and cover operational deficits before breaking even.

Aerosan has established a willingness to pay among people for improved sanitation. Moreover, our ability to function and elevate the sanitation crisis in Nepal and the resultant impact created will help to present a strong case to local governments and various partner organizations for fund securing.

Aerosan has been working in Kathmandu Nepal for the past four years. We have an established office for the ISWG members to host meetings and trainings in Kathmandu, in partnership with our Aerosan’s Nepal subsidiary, and Guthi, a local NGO in operations for 20 years.

Aerosan offers a complete public toilet management solution through its network of pay-per-use public sanitation facilities (HUBs) that deliver excellent service and a positive experience for users. Toilet users are charged $0.08/usage and on an average we service more than 1000 customers/day. Aerosan HUBs are women friendly, affordable, modern, clean, and safe. Integrated waste management is a key component of Aerosan’s model, each HUB includes an anaerobic digester which collects human waste and converts it to saleable biogas on-site. 

Revenue is generated through multiple streams (toilet, shower, sundries, sanitary supplies, tea house rent, biogas). Capital investment and operating costs are reduced through a unique public-private partnership with local government where land is provided rent-free and local government pays the cost of construction of the building shell and provides a subsidy for the construction of the anaerobic digester. To assess economic viability, Aerosan prepared a robust 4 year financial model that projects operational profitability at 15 HUBs, accounting for the management costs required to continuously deliver high standards of quality service.Local technology and resources are used as a cost-effective means to realistically achieve long-term success.

The Elevate Prize will support us on our path to construct 11 more HUBs to reach financial sustainability. The regional government had already supported us in providing rent-free land and by covering almost half of construction costs. With 11 HUBs operational, we project to be cash positive and conservatively estimate $17,663 USD monthly revenue based on an average 800 uses per day at each HUB (we project 1000). This financial success of our model powered with the ability to improve local sanitation conditions will help to represent a strong case to the government to scale public sanitation with Aerosan. We project both positive cash flow and net profit (6%) with 14 HUBs operating. The financial and impactful establishment of our model in Nepal will help us to explore and reach other high density markets such as Africa and India where public sanitation needs immediate addressing.

Grand challenges Canada has invested 570,000 CA for the establishment of Aerosan in Nepal, the sanitation cooperative, 3 complete public toilet systems, and additional public health research.

We are looking to bring together funding partners to raise  $820,000 USD for a two year program to cover operating costs and capital investments required to reach  a total of 14 HUBs operational in Nepal by 2022. At that stage, we project to achieve financial sustainability,  service 4 Million people a year, provide permanent employment for 20 marginalized persons, and prevent 560 metric tonnes of waste from contaminating the environment. We expect that  $150,000 of this amount is needed for  local R&D required to optimize  health and environment  outcomes.

Approximately 260,000 USD is required to construct 3 more HUBs and cover operational/administrative costs over the next year.

SOLVE ELEVATE Prize provides a platform that supports efforts for achieving sustainable development goals. Our socio-economic model in Nepal is tested and proven that can not only elevate the public sanitation crisis in Nepal but can also become financially sustainable in the long run. The Elevate Prize can walk us to new investors to secure funding for constructing more toilets not only in Nepal but can also provide necessary connections and links to enter other high-density markets such as India and Africa.

Since construction activities are capital intensive, and therefore securing funds for constructing more toilets is our primary concern.

Secondly, we want to research the fertilizer aspect of sewage sludge that can generate additional revenue streams.