Faecal Sludge management

The Big Necessity - The unmentionable world of human waste and why it matters By Rose George

Prakash Kumar, an ecological sanitation consultant with UNICEF/Stockholm Institute provides an update on some recent work on ecological sanitation in India:

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1. We are in the process of supporting I I T Delhi for nutrient recovery project for developing complete process for converting liquid urine in to the crystalline form.
2. We are in the final stage of supporting SCOPE for demonstration of ecosan toilet in a govt. middle school at Musiri, Trichy.
3. Comprehensive evaluation of Tamilnadu ecosan project will be taken up shortly.
4. Last batch of training of CCDU officials have been completed . This year total 5 batches got training on ecosan.

 Biome Solutions, a Bangalore-based company working on sustainable architecture and buildings visited some flood affected areas in Guntur to observe the situation and see the suitability of applying "Ecological Sanitation", a new approach to sanitation. (Search on India Water Portal for "Ecological sanitation" for more information on this). Their report  after their travels can be seen below.

A point of interest is the picture of a flooded toilet. Pit toilets which are the norm in rural areas have the disadvantage that during floods the pit below the toilet (where the human waste accumulates over time) gets flooded and the toilet becomes unusable. The faecal matter can come out of the toilet pan and create a real mess which needs to be cleaned up. 

Read their report at: 

http://biomesolutions.blogspot.com/2009/10/visit-to-flood-affected-areas-in-guntur.html

This status report prepared by Development Alternatives contains brief background information about the Bundelkhand region, details about the physical profle (topography, drainage and river systems, land usage, climate, rainfall), water resources information (water demand, availability, supply and accessibility) and information on sanitation practices (toilets, personal  hygiene, solid waste management, liquid waste disposal, availability of water for sanitation).

The GTZ Ecosan Program has developed guidelines for safe reuse of urine and feces, and publicity material to create awareness on the functioning of eco-toilets.

Government authorities and NGOs who wish to popularize the concept and its implementation can refer to this informative links for accessing IEC materials.

GTZ Ecosan Program (www.gtz.de/en) has compiled ecosan materials from several organisations into a CD of capacity building resource material. This CD can be downloaded from this page in its entireity.

The presentation provides several water management measures including rainwater harvesting, grey water reuse, black water treatment and use and eco-sanitation in  Andaman and Nicobar islands. It also provides recommendations for modification in agricultural practices and other livelihoods that can be taken up with the given water availability.

Report of steering committee on drinking water supply and sanitation for tenth five year plan

This presentation by the Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board deals with the Environment Action Plan (Part – B) for Bangalore. The presentation begins with a description of the drainage pattern of the city and the major rivers in and around it. The objectives of the EAP are set out as –

• Stopping flow of raw sewage into storm water drains.
• Achieving zero discharge of raw sewage into drains.
• Conveying sewage to treatment plants and treating to meet standards.
• Improving environment.
• Improving socio-economic status.