Alternative approaches to providing sewerage to informal settlements (which have been developed and applied worldwide) need to be investigated in order to determine whether there are other means of providing these areas with low-cost wastewater collection systems. Building on previous South African research into alternative sewerage, a study by the Water research Commission (WRC) has analysed the outcome of the utilisation and management of these alternative sewerage systems in three Western Cape cases, as follows: i. Simplified sewers and vacuum sewers in the two Cape Town informal settlements of Hangberg and Kosovo. ii. Settled sewers in the formal areas of Hermanus. The three case studies endeavour to illustrate a variety of socio-political and risk factors that cause sanitation facilities and projects to succeed or fail, especially in informal settlements. Purpose of the Lesson: This lesson aims to present the technological, institutional, social, and servicing lessons on the use of alternative sewerage systems in the Western Cape. The case studies covered in this lesson endeavour to illustrate a variety of socio-political and behavioural risk factors that cause sanitation facilities and projects to succeed or fail, especially in informal settlements. The lesson also shows that the ability of sewers to function as designed is closely related to how sanitation technologies are planned, managed and used. It attempts to show that failure of communal toilet facilities is very likely linked to users’ expectations that sanitation ‘services’ should be provided for shared facilities, which is contrary to officials’ explicit aims to provide only facilities that are managed by their users.

Bibliographic information

Taing, L., Armitage, N., Ashipala, N., Spiegel, A. (2013). Sanitation services in informal settlements Sewering lessons from Western Cape Water Information Network (WIN-SA), South Africa

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OtherUrban informal settlements (slums)PractitionersEnglish

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South Africa

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