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Abstract
The safe and effective treatment of human waste through sanitation is a significant challenge for rural coastal
communities in Papua New Guinea. This study investigates the effectiveness of family-sized sanitation solutions
for rural, coastal families. For this purpose, the study implemented sanitation solutions based on two different
technologies for two local families, a single-vault composting toilet, and a urine-diverting double vault
dehydration toilet. Because the study was interested in the complex array of factors that affect the successful
performance of each system, it examined the technical and human aspects that determine the effectiveness of the
toilet. The study used an action research approach to facilitate the collaboration between the agency, the author
and the participant families and address the need to make adjustments to the experiment in the field. This meant
setting a prescribed set of temporal data collection ‘cycle’ periods over the course of one year. This method also
allowed the families involved to participate as active stakeholders and make adjustments where necessary.
Though both toilet systems experienced early challenges, the study found the double vault dehydration toilet was
more technically successful than the composting toilet. The compost toilet eventually failed and was replaced
with another double vault dehydration toilet. The study also revealed the key role played by senior family
members as ‘champions’ in managing the care and maintenance of the toilets and educating the family on safer
sanitary practices. Furthermore, despite the challenges faced in running a transnational project of this nature,
action research proved its worth in evaluating dynamic project outcomes for this type of prototype study of
development in a Papua New Guinean village.