The KES17 million decentralised wastewater treatment facility, commonly referred to as the bio-digester, will also deliver a cleaner environment.

The plant that is located at Ehedwe, on the outskirts of Mbale town, the county's headquarters, will be processing human waste of up to six exhausters per day.

James Odiero, the county director of water and sanitation said waste-turned-fertiliser would be sold to farmers at a cost of between KES300 and KES500 per bag in a plan he noted is promising big returns.

The KES 17 million was received from Water Trust Fund with KES 4 million going towards construction of toilets for neighbouring households to make the raw material available.

"Through this project, we will clean human waste from toilets and then process the sludge into fertiliser that will be sold to farmers for between KES300 and KES500 per bag," Mr Odiero said.

"This will give back returns that were spent on the construction of the project. Every day, we will clean 50 cubic metres that is equivalent to 50,000 litres of waste supplied by six exhausters," he explained.

Construction of the project started in 2020 and took two years to be completed.

Governor Wilber Ottichilo said the plant will boost farming.

"This project will help clean our environment as it will take waste of all manner and keep it. It will also end the culture of constructing toilets every time," Dr Ottichilo said.