ARTICLE

New Version of SANEX™ released

By Thomas Loetscher, Brisbane, Australia

1/17 Jerdanefield Rd
St Lucia Qld 4067, Australia

Thomas Loetscher has eight years experience in water and sanitation planning, including seven years research into appropriate sanitation provision and water reuse. Outcomes of this research were the computer programs SANEX™ and WaterGuide^TM (for identifying water reuse opportunities in Queensland, Australia). He is also familiar with a comprehensive range of multi-criteria decision analysis techniques suitable for participatory planning. Thomas Loetscher is now working as an independent consultant in Brisbane. He speaks Bahasa Indonesia fluently. For more details about his activities, please visit http://www.decisionscape.com.au.

The second version of the popular computer program SANEX™ for sanitation planning in developing countries is now available as a free download from www.decisionscape.com.au. SANEX™ was developed by Dr. Thomas Loetscher at the University of Queensland with financial support from the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation.

The purpose of SANEX™ is to support beneficiaries, planners and other stakeholder groups during the early stages of sanitation planning by helping them identify suitable sanitation alternatives and by facilitating the assessment of these alternatives with regards to their preferences.

Fig. 1: Screenshot of SANEX™

SANEX™ neither was designed to replace the human expert, nor to identify a single 'correct' solution. Rather, its purpose is to facilitate the early planning stage at the household level, thereby helping users to avoid decisions that are later found to be seriously wrong.

Its key benefit is its ability to remind users of potential sanitation alternatives and the issues affecting their suitability. Being interactive, SANEX™ gives easy access to concise information, including a cost estimate, and it provides immediate feedback to user input, thus aiding sensitivity analysis and stimulating discussions.

Decision-making is a dynamic process, during which perceptions and preferences normally change. Often, these changes are many and profound. It is, therefore, not uncommon that the steps and the reasoning leading to a decision are inadequately documented. To avoid this problem, the 'Comment' feature of SANEX™ allows users to record their reasoning and to justify their input. Extensive use of this feature is recommended.

Planners and practitioners (e.g., municipal authorities, local government officials, and engineers) can use SANEX™ to identify critical issues affecting the suitability of sanitation systems and to explain them to beneficiaries. The probability that they will consider all potential alternatives and issues pertaining to the selection of systems increases. At the same time, they enhance their knowledge and are better prepared to respond to issues raised by beneficiaries.

Communities and community representatives develop a better understanding of their situation and of the choices they have, which allows them to be more critical of planners' suggestions. Importantly, in addition to formally elected leaders such as mayors and councilmen, community representatives also include informal leaders such as neighbourhood representatives, and leaders of specific (e.g., environmental) interest groups.

SANEX™ functions as an interface between communities and planners, thus facilitating communication between these groups and giving communities the opportunity to raise their concerns and to discuss their preferences.

Municipal authorities, consultants, training centres, and academic institutions can benefit from SANEX™ for training and teaching.

SANEX™ should only be used by people who

• have basic knowledge in sanitation planning,
• are skilled in using MS Windows computer programs, and
• have carefully familiarized themselves with the SANEX™ interface.

Laypeople are able to apply SANEX™ and correctly interpret its output under the guidance of a person with the above skills.

SANEX™ runs on Windows based machines only (Windows 95 or higher). It can be downloaded for free from http://www.decisionscape.com.au