Cambodians may get floating toilets

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia, July 11 (UPI) -- Cambodia's high infant and child mortality rate can be fought by improving hygiene in river communities, a resource development charity said Saturday.

Lien Aid, a Singapore-based non-governmental organization, is developing a toilet that can be used in river communities where homes are constructed on floating platforms and moved seasonally.

Currently, residents use the river rather than latrines, Resource Development International - Cambodia told the IRIN news agency. This practice contributes to many deaths from waterborne diseases, a Resource Development spokesman said.

Waterborne diseases account for 74 percent of all deaths in the country, the organization said.

Lien Aid says its "River of Life" project works to prevent waterborne illness. Their designers are working on a toilet built on a floating platform and attached to river homes. The toilet is still being tested, Sahari Ani, the head of Lien Aid, said.

The prototype separates urine from feces and allows dry soil, ash or wood chips to be added to the feces to reduce odor and pathogens. A secondary storage chamber completes decomposition and pathogen destruction.