CLIMATE AND COSTS
IN URBAN SANITATION
CACTUS aims to improve the quality of information available to decision makers who seek to make investment decisions relating to urban sanitation provision in cities and towns. Decisions about investments in sanitation infrastructure and services are complex and driven by a wide range of factors. CACTUS works on the principle that there is never a single ‘best’ solution to the question of how to provide effective, equitable and sustained sanitation – the decision will be driven by a variable number of factors, and that different cities and towns and indeed different stakeholders in a given city or town, would place different levels of emphasis on different factors. For example some decision makers would place a higher value on the mitigation of environmental impacts compared to financial costs, while others would have different priorities. CACTUS addresses this problem by generating data on three broad characteristics of different sanitation service delivery options, namely, cost (in the form of greenhouse gas emissions), climate and welfare effects.
Funded by The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
THE DATA
The Project
The purpose of this project is to develop and promote new tools which can be used to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of investments in urban sanitation in the context of ongoing climate change
Project Timeline
Project initiated
Recruitment of 3 post-doctoral researchers
Tristano Sainati, Fiona Zakaria and Sally Cawood were recruited
1st team meeting
Collaborated with Gunther Langergraber on CLARA costing tool
Fiona and Sally joined in Leeds
BMGF MEDS Convening
1st CACTUS poster
Work plan formulation, technology framework, literature reviews
Technology framework, cost data from literatures
Fiona and Sally’s scoping visit to India
Visited BMGF funded FSTP in Dhenkhanal, Odisha – collaborated with Practical Action
Comparing lifecycle costs of 4 cases from literature search, compilation of costs of sanitation components
Full system cases from Nonthaburi, Dakar and Cochabamba, ranges of sanitation components cases in USD 2016 (PPP&CPI)
Sally-MSc student Mariam’s field research in Dhaka, Bangladesh
Dhaka cost data (emptying and transport), manual emptying welfare case
Urban Sanitation Costing Workshop at WEDC Conference in Nakuru, Kenya
BMGF MEDS Convening
2nd CACTUS Poster
Costing, Climate and Welfare Impact Workshop at UNC Water and Health Conference, Chapel Hill, US
One-page CACTUS description
Climate impact from urban sanitation, recruited researcher Jake Johnson
Estimation of greenhouse gasses emissions from on-site sanitation, the case of Kampala City, Uganda
China cost data literature search, researcher Zhe Zhan was recruited
China cost data
Fiona attended Aquaya’s workshop in Nairobi and field research to Kisumu, Kenya
Collaboration with WSUP and Aquaya, Kisumu cost data
Fiona’s field research to Nakuru, Kenya
Collaboration with WSUP, Nakuru cost data
Fiona’s field research to Accra and Kumasi, Ghana
Ghana cost data (assisted by Water Aid, Clean Team, WSUP)
Sally-Mariam’s field research to Khulna, Kushtia, Jhenaidah – Bangladesh
Collaboration with SNV, cost data from 3 cities
Literature search for sanitation cost data from Spanish literatures, interns Guillermo was recruited
Contact and references
Development of CACTUS database and website. Interns Anna (for database and website) and Valentina (for database programming) were recruited
cactuscosting.com
Tristano’s field research to Madagascar
Collaboration with Loowatt, cost data of Loowatt CBS system

Shit Flow Diagrams
Access to services underpins the human development project and infrastructure is central to the delivery of those services. We have been leading flagship research to map how unmanaged fecal flows in rapidly growing cities in the global south can travel throughout the city, resulting in high risk of disease and a significant deterioration in environmental conditions. Our 'Shit flow' diagrams are changing the way cities plan ‘Shit flow’ diagrams are changing the way cities plan for sanitation, drainage and water supply interventions.