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Home > Programmes > International Waters Project
Semeli Manase
Championing
Safer Toilet Systems in Tuvalu
The Tuvalu International Waters Project is working with the pilot communities of Alapi and Senala, the Tuvalu Government, and SPREP, to try and improve toilet systems in Funafuti .
Semeli Manase is the Treasurer and Secretary for the Senala Community and a lands court representative. These roles entrust Semeli with a range of responsibilities in the community such as looking after community assets and resources including fresh water supplies.
From his previous work as quantity surveyor with the Government of Tuvalu Semelihas a good understanding of the technical aspects of septic systems and water sealed latrines which are the main toilet systems in Tuvalu.
He says the IWP gave him a new perspective on how these systems work in a low-lying Atoll environment.
“I thought that septic systems were the best sewage treatment systems for Funafuti, but working with IWP now gave me the impression that these systems are not the best treatment system for Funafuti,” he says.
He says that he was lucky to have a compost toilet built by the AusAID & Tuvalu Government Waste Management Project in 2002. Originally he was pleased that this toilet uses no water but now he also understands that this toilet also has the advantage of preventing wastewater from contaminating the groundwater and the surrounding environment.
Because of the IWP he says he now knows that children are getting sick because of poor sanitation and he believes that something needs to be done to improve the management of wastewater throughout Funafuti.
During a community meeting he was asked to give a brief talk on his compost toilet. He proudly spoke about how good this toilet system was for his family. He said they had no problems with the toilet and they’d never run out of supplies of fresh water supplies since the toilet was constructed. He also believes that compost toilets have the added environmental benefit of producing compost that can be used as a natural fertilizer.
Semeli was also given a chance to talk on Radio Tuvalu about composting toilets and he stressed the importance of these systems for our environment and for conserving good potable water.
Other members of the community were so impressed with his comments that they asked the IWP if they could also have compost toilet.
Semeli is Manase is a real “champion” for the Tuvalu IWP. He continues to participate in community meetings about this important issue and he will appear in a documentary talking about the options for introducing compost toilets as a safe toilet option for Tuvalu.
He is very proud to talk about his compost toilet.
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