A new project financed by the government of Norway and the Global Environment Facility will have inmates at an African prison working towards purifying human waste and producing biogas to reduce carbon emissions.

This is one of a series of projects created by the Addressing Land-Based activities in the Western Indian Ocean (WIO-LaB) initiative, which aims to tackle problems that degrade marine and coastal environments.

The Problem

Sewage pollution has been one of the toughest problems facing water treatment facilities in many developing countries.

According to an article published by the Natural Resources Defense Council, ‘untreated sewage that enters the environment is enough to fill both the Empire State Building and Madison Square Garden.’ And that’s only in America.

Can you even imagine the sewage pollution statistics in underdeveloped countries? Many of these countries have no access to proper sanitation facilities, or they are too poor to afford high-tech water treatment systems, making them more vulnerable to disease and death.

Luckily, this new project will cost significantly less than average water treatment methods and will also benefit wildlife and marine organisms.

The Project

This project will use ponds of natural algae to sanitize the wastewater. The algae will detoxify the pollution in the water, which can then be used as fertilizer or animal feed.

The project itself will cost about $110,000, which includes labor and construction costs, as well as the upgrading of sanitary facilities inside the prison.

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Of course this is a lot of money, but it is still drastically cheaper than other water sanitation methods used in the past.

Plus, if this project works, it will send a powerful message to other countries that there is progress being made in the fight to strengthen human health.