He was the winner of the Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE) East of England Graduate & Student Papers Competition. His entry will go forward for consideration in the ICE International Papers Competition held in London later this year.
In third world countries where large communities have set up shack homes earth toilets are common place. These are a latrine pits which are earthed over when full and another dug to replace them. Because space is at a premium there is little room to dig new latrines so aid agencies have been investigating techniques for pumping out existing pits but sludge has been a problem blocking pumping systems.
Jamie has worked in Africa investigating the problem and used a mixture of compost and clay to imitate the sludge. He found that the adding a set amount of water made the sludge easier to pump without over bulking the latrine contents. Delighted by his win Jamie was leaving for Kampala the following evening to continue his work.
Runners up in the competition are William Oldham who presented a paper about a Travelling Sustainability Fair and Alastair McMillan with his paper about sea defence works at Thorpeness using giant sand bags.
________________________________________________________