BYU students put 'termite technology' to good use in Africa

Think about termites, and the next thought will probably involve an exterminator.

But a group of BYU engineering students used African termites and the massive mounds they build to create durable but inexpensive bricks to build sanitary latrines for people living in impoverished villages in Mozambique.

Now the bricks, made from the clay-rich soil in and around the mounds, will line the latrines in at least eight villages, and Care for Life, a nonprofit based in the United States and Mozambique, will take the technology to other communities as well.

The challenge issued to the students as part of their senior engineering Capstone project was to create a building material for villagers who live near Beira, Mozambique, that could be made from available resources at little or no cost and which could withstand the harsh conditions during the country's monsoon season.

Jonathan Wright, an engineering team member, said they tackled the problem with an eye to public health.

"They wanted something that would be used for homes and latrines," Wright said. "We felt the sanitation was the biggest problem, so we came up with the bricks."

But bricks require clay, and the soil around the costal town of Beira is sandy.

"It's really hard to build bricks out of sand," Wright said.

The sandy soil means the existing community latrines are a sanitation nightmare and a breeding grounds for illnesses such as cholera.

"When we were trying to determine a material to use, we were looking at different things that would be water-resistant," said team member Jared Geddes. "We were looking at pictures of Africa and saw these big towers of dirt that were lasting through the rainy season. The idea came that if those (termite mounds) were lasting, why don't we build them out of that?"

What the team learned was that for termites, clay is the building material of choice.

"The termites mine the clay from the surrounding soil and they concentrate it in and around the mounds," said team mentor Andy May. As a result, the soil in and around the ubiquitous termite mounds can be up to 75 percent clay.

That means the villagers can collect the clay, form the bricks and fire them at almost no cost. Wright said about 800 bricks — enough to build two latrines — are formed into a one-time kiln, which is then fired for 42 hours.

The student then engineered a latrine pit built without mortar to keep the costs at a minimum.

These new latrines will prevent human waste from spreading through the villages during flooding, contaminating drinking water. Two latrines are built in each village to be used on a rotating annual basis. When a latrine is not being used, its contents can be dug out and used as fertilizer.