Tiger Worm Toilet Manual

Tiger Worm Toilets (TWTs), sometimes known as ‘Tiger Toilets’ or vermifilter toilets, contain composting worms inside the pit that process and digest the faeces in-situ, processing the raw sludge into vermicompost. This removes the need for traditional desludging, as the vermicompost is simpler to remove and builds up at a slower rate. This can lead to a reduction of the long-term operating costs and removes the need for expensive desludging and sludge treatment infrastructure. A worm colony can live inside the toilet indefinitely so long as the correct environmental conditions are maintained.

To date, over 1200 TWT’s have been built and trialled across six countries by Oxfam in a range of settings including urban, peri-urban and refugee camps. Trials have also been run by other organisations as well as installations by the private sector. They have been proven to work in both individual household and shared communal camp settings.

This manual aims to build on the knowledge gathered by Oxfam and its partners over the last 10 years and present a range of Tiger Worm Toilets for different circumstances and to provide guidance for implementation with the host community. It aims to be a “One stop shop” for Tiger Worm Toilets and to consolidate Oxfam’s experience and learning in one place.

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3