SEMiLLA Sanitation

SEMiLLA Sanitation is a social enterprise that aims to provide sanitation and clean drink water for everyone, in a circular and mobile design. It was founded in 2015, in cooperation with the European Space Agency (ESA) which aims to make their technology available for developments on Earth.

We are looking for 5 excellent (but mostly highly motivated) students, with good knowledge of the English language. Students of all academic backgrounds are allowed to apply.

SEMiLLA Sanitation has developed multiple designs in which general and human waste water is treated to a quality sufficient for its new purpose. Their goal is to reduce water loss, reuse water that is available and recover nutrients from waste streams. The unit also extracts nutrients from the waste water, which can be used as fertilizer. The facility aims to serve people who currently don’t have access to sanitation and clean drinking water, thus contributing to the sixth Sustainable Development Goal of the United Nations. The sanitation unit is now displayed and used on festivals like Innovest, Lowlands and Zwarte Cross. But in the next stage, SEMiLLA aims to implement a system in a refugee camp, where the unit can be used to its full potential. 

During the preparation phase the students will look into the possibilities of the Bidi Bidi Refugee Camp that is aimed to be built by gathering information, making realistic assumptions and conceptualizing the water flows of the system, the nutrient flows, and the needed energy. From this the students can deliver a conceptual design together with a business model and operation strategy. 

In the implementation phase the students will have the opportunity to implement their concept, and guide the arrival of the unit and the execution of their plan. The students are ought to connect with local partners and organizations to ensure the project in Uganda and are able to do some research towards the acceptance of the sanitation unit, and may provide locals with workshops about the use.