Excreta and Wastewater Management

Making sanitation planning and infrastructure contribute to cities economic development agenda

Sandec’s research on Excreta and Wastewater management aims at developing appropriate solutions which match cities’ economic development needs by linking urban excreta and wastewater infrastructure and service provision to urban and peri-urban productive activities.

The key research lines consist of

• developing solutions for improves Faecal Sludge Management (FSM) in “latrines-based cities” - non-sewered cities, the predominant urban setting in Developing Countries
• developing decentralized technology (DEWAT) which aim at closing the nutrient loop in excreta, greywater and wastewater management.
• modelling urban sanitation transportation
• profiling business opportunity and equity effectiveness in service delivery investigating policy, socio-economic transformation and changes which lead to sustainable infrastructure planning and technology adoption.

Cities, as engines of economic growth and social development require large quantities of natural resources to meet the inhabitants’ economic and social needs. Good infrastructure and reliable service provision are key to sustain the cities development. In this regard, they enhance investment opportunities and service access to vulnerable population. To respond to the lack of sanitation infrastructure, many Governments, Development Agencies and NGOs usually develop programmes to provide latrines to poor and vulnerable population. These programmes often do not link infrastructure provision and its necessary management requirements. As a result, the majority “latrine-based” cities do not have reliable solution for emptying (when latrines are full), transportation and treatment of urban excreta and wastewater. Additionally, conventional water and sanitation infrastructure planning are disconnected to the local business opportunities which use resource such as water, nitrogen or biosolids in their productive activities. In many cases, these failures are putting huge financial burden on municipalities who have to rely on permanent subsidy to operate and maintain built infrastructures.

To date, global water and sanitation experts agreed that it will need a dramatic change to meet the goal set; an urgent need to go beyond the “business as usual. The recent WHO guidelines on safe use of wastewater, excreta and greywater opens doors for other reuse opportunities than urban irrigation. It is leading towards a shift in paradigm. This gives an opportunity to re-invent the role of sanitary engineers in the future of sustainable urban development – to join with urban planners, developers and policy makers - to integrate sanitation infrastructure in the urban planning and development agenda.