The earthquake that rocked Haiti in 2010 triggered the most vicious cholera epidemic in modern history. To date, the outbreak has claimed over 8,000 lives, leaving hundreds of thousands of others needing treatment. And yet, last year, when Boston-based nonprofit MASS Design Group was tapped by Haitian nonprofit GHESKIO to build a cholera treatment center in Port Au Prince, there wasn't a single permanent facility for cholera anywhere in the country.
Most treatment was still happening in tents that were designed to last for months, not years. Worse yet, when they went down to Haiti to research the epidemic, MASS found a critical flaw in the ad hoc system: contaminated waste was being dumped illegally, frequently ending up right back in the water table. In response, MASS designed a facility with two distinct but equally vital jobs: it treats both people and their waste water.
>This breeds another problem: accountability.
On one level, the problem is one of infrastructure. Since there's no centralized, city-wide system of waste management in Port Au Prince for facilities to tap into, most temporary clinics subcontract their waste removal, putting contaminated matter aside until contractors can retrieve it for transport to independent processing facilities outside of town. This breeds another problem: accountability. "In that handover, there's a huge margin of error," says Michael Murphy, MASS CEO and co-founder–one that gives rise to the possibility of new infections.
The only way for MASS to break the cycle, then, was to ensure that their facility treated 100 percent of its waste water on-site. With the help of California-based Fall Creek Engineering, MASS incorporated a passive purification system directly below the treatment center. Waste spends up to five days passing through a series of vertical chambers, with anaerobic bacteria breaking down hazardous matter from solid to liquid along the way.
Where a traditional septic system might process 25 percent of the organic matter passing through, this biodigestive approach can break down anywhere from 70 to 90 percent. A dose of chlorine at the end assures treatment; after that, water will be directed to a garden with papaya and mangoes adjacent the facility.
The treatment center, currently under construction, features a number of other smart design touches. Many are geared simply towards keeping the facility clean. In a highly contagious environment like a cholera clinic, minimizing spillage of waste water is paramount, so the design calls for deep, concrete sinks set directly into the building's foundation. The basins resist spills, thanks to the concrete, with the drains taking waste water directly to the treatment facility below.