32
PROJECT
List of professionals:
• Project manager: BOXA,
Anthony Lewis
• Architect: Frank Böhm
Studios
• Contractor: Sustainable
Building Solutions,
Angus Fleming
• Contractor: Innovative
Interiors, Chris Pienaar
List of suppliers:
• Piping: Harscan and
Wavin
• Filters: Rain Watch,
Grant Oldfield/Australia
• Dry sanitation: Enviro
Loo Mark Latrobe CEO,
• Damsak: Gordon
Bredenkamp
• Mixers/taps: Swiss Eco
Werner Meiring
• Sanitaryware: Rossco
witness significant advances in the construction sector and
the built environment as these technologies will rapidly
become more prevalent,” says Lewis. mixers are provided by Swiss Eco, which Lewis says has the
most advanced technology in aerated taps, and which has
sponsored them.
The casting of concrete foundations can be particularly time
consuming and challenging in certain soil conditions, so
BOXA used Surefoot, a steel-pile foundation technology that
was developed in Australia, which is ideal for the lightweight
BOXA top structure that it has developed in the form of the
CLT slabs and Polycrete wall blocks. The entire structure is
supported by seven steel footings and a laminated timber
beam substructure which in this project took exactly six
hours to put in,” explains Lewis. “There’s no way you can
plumb anything here, because it is a flood zone in the
Jukskei River valley with the toilet block literally sitting on the
river. The water table is as high as the ground surface itself.
But at the same time, it was the ideal position for these
toilets to be installed on this site. Contractor Angus Fleming of Sustainable Building Solutions
says that SwissEco is retrofitting numerous schools in
South Africa, and even without the full off-grid system, its
atomising taps are saving schools 15 000ℓ a week. He
says the payback period on such systems “is probably
several weeks”. Harscan was selected for its plug-and-play
characteristic, which fits the building-in-a-box concept.
Rossco supplied the sanitary-wear, and SwissEco the
atomising taps.
“The systems that go around the ‘envelope’ include: the
rainwater harvesting, solar energy and dry sanitation. All
the water you would ever need for the ablution block sits
beneath its floor in an expandable 4 500ℓ PVC ‘damsak’,
having been harvested off its 4m X 6.5m roof and this
includes the six- to seven-month dry season. With the dry
sanitation system by Enviro Loo the only thing water is used
for is washing hands. It is for this reason that the facility is
raised 50cm off the ground with the steel piles to create a
void for the bladder, as opposed to storing it in rigid external
tanks,” says Lewis. It is pre-filtered off the roof via a product
sponsored by an Australian company called Rain Watch,
before going into the damsak.
“The damsak is highly scalable and could even store
100 000ℓ for all the needs of a school, for instance.
The reticulation of the water is then done through a 12v
pressurised motor, powered by two 360W PV solar panels
on the roof. The taps are aerated to minimise water
consumption to 0.65ℓ/minute, meaning one damsak will
deliver more than 20 000 hand washes.” The atomising
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“Hep2o was chosen for the water supply due to the ease of
installation. The secure jointing method and flexibility makes
it the ideal product for quick safe installations. Hep2o has
no scrap value and has a design life of over 50 years,” says
Malcolm Harris, Harscan owner.
“This is the first time such a project has been done: we
had no precedent,” says Lewis. “Being a prototype, and
also a relatively expensive installation, it was a collaborative
initiative that was enabled with the generous support
of a number of suppliers, contractors and artisans who
contributed their time and technologies. But through the
building of this prototype and feedback from the users
we will have a much clearer view of the possibilities,
improvements and costings for commercial installations on a
scalable basis.”
It’s not just a toilet – it’s an education facility
“We see the market for such a product being mid-to high-
end, rather than low cost – at least until we have the scale
to deliver at the appropriate price point to the mass market.
Talking specifically of the ablution facility, it would be ideal
for game farms and lodges out in the bush, for both guests
and staff. To build anything in the bush is a challenge,
and in some places like Botswana you are not actually
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March 2020 Volume 26 I Number 01