The job at the school finished, Vacutug empties its contents into the main sewer for hygienic disposal. The vacuum pump is reversible so the contents can be discharged quickly - up to 1,700 litres a minute. Vacutug is a business idea as well as a public health project. There are training courses for operators, who'll lease the machines and make money. There's a healthy profit to be made out of a healthier environment.
Landlords are responsible for emptying the lavatories.
And they must pay up front - about 8 US dollars per tankful of waste. But this is still a pilot scheme - Vacutug could also be operated by local councils or directly by communities themselves. Before Vacutug, the only way to clean a lavatory was to pay someone to dig out the pit by hand - with obvious health risks. But one Vacutug alone can't cope with waste from three-quarters of a million people. Until there are more, demand for its services exceeds supply.