The Newlands Mashu Research Site,  located in Newlands East, Durban, provides a controlled and safe environment where sanitation systems, resource recovery, and agricultural recycling of recovered resources can be evaluated and developed. Various waste products from on-site sanitation systems and decentralised wastewater treatment systems can be used beneficially in agriculture as sources of water and nutrients. Agricultural trials at the site are part of the eThekwini Municipality’s long-term strategy for the development of sanitation systems for both existing and new housing projects. The research focus encompasses several important life cycle considerations that support planning for services that extend beyond a single goal of providing sanitation.

The main focus areas of research at the Newlands Mashu Research Site are to:

• Evaluate the decentralised approach to sanitation from an urban perspective
• Explore and test new sanitation technologies
• Close the nutrient loop by recycling and returning nutrients to the soil from properly sanitised waste streams for use in agriculture
• Test and evaluate the use of sanitation-based fertilizer products in agriculture in a controlled and safe environment

Test models of urine diversion dehydration toilets and a pour-flush toilet are also evaluated on site to provide important design and maintenance information to the municipality.

The following projects have been conducted at the Newlands Mashu Research Site:

• DEWATS Project – Newlands Mashu project page
• INTEGRATING SUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTION IN THE DESIGN OF LOW COST SANITATION TECHNOLOGIES BY USING PLANT NUTRIENTS AND WASTEWATER RECOVERED FROM HUMAN EXCRETA-DERIVED MATERIALS (K5/2777)
• PERFORMANCE EVALUATION OF CONSTRUCTED WETLANDS IN A BORDA-DESIGNED DECENTRALISED WASTEWATER TREATMENT SYSTEM (K5/2579)
• The evaluation of the DEWATS plant (WRC K5/2002)
• The VUNA project

You can also download:

• Newlands-Mashu Research Site Brochure

• DEWATS Process – Lessons From eThekwini

• Detail survey of Newlands Research Site