SWEEP by WSUP

Area of Focus:

Water, Sanitation and Hygiene

Geography:

Bangladesh

Safe disposal of human waste is a serious health challenge for many in low-income communities. Dhaka is the only city in Bangladesh with a sewer system, and even there only one in five residents, mainly in high-income areas, are connected. Most people rely on pit latrines and septic tanks which need regular emptying, the cost of which is beyond many poorer households. Instead, they resort to unsafe, improvised methods of managing human waste which has a direct impact on their quality of life, on their health - due to the spread of diseases - and on the local environment.

SWEEP was created by Water and Sanitation for the Urban Poor (WSUP) to give low-income households access to affordable septic tank emptying services by offering a differentiated pricing model where wealthier customers pay a bit more, subsidising services for the poorest. TRANSFORM helped WSUP test innovative marketing and sales strategies.

TRANSFORM supported SWEEP to develop its marketing and demand creation for low-income households, as well as develop a blueprint for a replication model. TRANSFORM helped with the creation of a branding and training package to test if shopkeepers could sell the services. Different shop types were tested, from plumbers to FMCG and mobile money providers.