Without wanting to be scatalogical, when it comes to protecting our natural environment and minimising the ecological footprint at Morama, we’re not shy to go there. Effective and safe sewage management is always a tricky challenge, especially in areas underserved by infrastructural amenities – like the rural mountain ranges of Lesotho. And as much as septic tanks and soak-aways have become the mainstay for independent waste management systems, we knew there had to be a better way. 

What’s with the waste?

Safely disposing of raw sewage without the benefit of access to municipal plumbing and treatment plants, is a complex challenge. Conventional rural wastewater treatment systems like soakage and septic tanks cause irreparable damage to underground water reservoirs over time, as well as polluting the surrounding ecosystem with potentially devastating consequences. The extra water used to manage these inefficient strategies only compounds an already costly and wasteful conundrum.  

The way nature does it

Introducing Bio Sewage Systems, a South African organisation offering innovative wastewater treatment solutions that help to save water and the planet! Their range of natural products and solutions are designed to break down sewage wastewater using mechanisms inspired by nature—a series of anaerobic, anoxic and aerobic reactors—that effectively and reliably eliminate odour without the use of toxic chemicals or soak-away methods, and offers a much-needed environmental reprieve.

BBS utilise multi-phased, simple, mechanical processes that allow for nature to take its course, without the risk of leaching dissolved organic compounds or elevated nitrogen levels into the surrounding soil. 

At Morama, this really resonated with us, and so we decided to only install BSS for the sewage management at our pristine facility in Lesotho.

Waste not, water more

The benefits of using the Bio Sewage System are plenty, not just for its low energy and fresh water consumption, but also because it produces clean, clear, odourless grey water, which is safe to be reused in a variety of ways. 

At Morama, we’ve got three independent BSS units working to clean our wastewater solely by natural processes, with the extra bonus of newly recycled water as a bi-product, which we can use to supplement our farm’s irrigation needs. Not only does this mean we’re further shrinking our ecological footprint by not polluting the land, but it means we use less of our natural bore hole water source in the process too. 
It’s with this attention to every detail of how we coexist with the land at Morama, that means we’re always looking for ways to work with nature, to be gentler to the earth, and to leave it better than how we found it.