Saniwise toilet is an innovation by 6 youths among them, Vera Ouko and Vallary Oyoo, both Master of Science in Sanitation graduates from Meru University of Science and Technology (MUST).  Vera and Vallery graduated during MUST’s 10^th graduation Ceremony on 11^th March, 2023 and were in the 1^st cohort of the Msc. In Sanitation.

Having experienced sanitation challenges in the informal settlements of Kisumu, it has been their dream to be part of the solution to these challenges. This was propelled even further by the insight they got having been beneficiaries of the Masters of Science in Sanitation program at Meru University of Science and Technology.

Saniwise toilets are an ecologically and financially feasible modern sanitation technology. The toilet is a urine diverting toilet with a urine drier that converts urine into manure. The toilet is a convertible black soldier fly or bio digester model, which employs a circular economy approach where faecal nutrients are recovered resulting in a high nutrient bio fertilizer and a larval biomass that can be used in Agriculture. In addition, the toilet super structure is made of 90% recycled plastic to curb the plastic menace in the environment, making the toilet affordable to the urban poor.

The toilet was 1^st runners up at the UNICEF GenU competition at Cop-27. Recently, the toilet was among the innovations selected for grant by the United States Agency for International Development Western Kenya Sanitation Project (USAID, WKSP).

“We appreciate the mentorship that we have continued to receive especially from Dr. Joy Riungu. We are looking forward to future partnerships on sanitation technology research and innovations.” Vera Ouko

Dr. Joy Riungu is the Director of the Sanitation Research Institute (SRI) at Meru University of Science and Technology which was established in September 2019.  She has also served as the Dean, School of Engineering and Architecture at MUST, and successfully completed two terms (2016-2020). SRI is host to a bio-resource based approach to Sanitation which was listed by UN-Habitat as a Top 20 Innovative Solution in September 2019.  (Read more details on the Sanitation Research Institute here: https://sri.must.ac.ke/).  Last year, Dr. Riungu demonstrated Excellence by being the recipient of the DISTINGUISHED ALUMNI AWARD 2022 from IHE Delft Institute for Water Education in the Netherlands.

Through the efforts of Dr. Riungu, MUST became part of the Global Sanitation Graduate Sschool (GSGS). Under a IHE funded program, since January 2020, 342 students have been trained across various programs; Master of Science in Sanitation, Graduate Professional Diploma Programme (GDPD) as well as Short courses in Sanitation. Partial scholarships have also been available for these programs.

The MUST family CELEBRATES our Alumni Vera Ouko and Vallary Oyoo.

Our SEPTEMBER 2023 INTAKE is ongoing. APPLY ONLINE TODAY: https://admission.must.ac.ke/.   We will lead you to Excellence.