Department Sanitation, Water and Solid Waste for Development

Sustainable Implementation of City-wide Inclusive Sanitation

Measures for monitoring need to be in place to ensure adequate protection of public health, and to evaluate progress towards achieving SDGs.
Measures for monitoring need to be in place to ensure adequate protection of public health, and to evaluate progress towards achieving SDGs.

Appropriate urban sanitation planning includes a design approach for adequate sanitation infrastructure, and is a key element in the protection of public and environmental health. It is also important to keep in mind that technologies are only one aspect of city-wide inclusive sanitation, and that the water, sanitation, and solid waste sectors are closely related and have many interactions between their respective service chains. Appropriate measures for monitoring need to be in place to ensure adequate protection of public health, and to evaluate progress and needs (e.g. achieving SDGs). The research group Management of Excreta, Wastewater, and Sludge (MEWS) contributes to the development, testing and analysis of tools and guidelines, in order to improve uptake and use of sanitation services. For our activities in this area see the below publication list, and our webpage on Q&Q. Examples include the following.

WHO (World Health Organization) collaborating centre (CC) on water, sanitation and health

MEWS participates in the WHO CC, and contributes research outputs that are targeted at academics and policy makers, as well as sector practitioners. Examples include contributing to the WHO Guidelines on Sanitation and Health, adapting Q&Q approaches for monitoring, and Safe Management of Onsite Sanitation Services (SMOSS) expert group meetings.

SFD (shit flow diagram) Promotion Initiative

A first step towards providing adequate sanitation services in urban areas is to monitor the sanitation service chain, to identify its strengths and weaknesses, from containment, including emptying, transport, treatment and safe disposal or resource recovery. SFDs can help achieve this by offering a new and innovative way to engage sanitation experts, political leaders and civil society in coordinated discussions about excreta management in their city. MEWS has been a key partner in the development of the SFD methodology, and continues to contribute as a member of the steering committee.

Monitoring of greenhouse gas emissions, and carbon credits

Understanding anaerobic digestion is key to mitigating the production of greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) from onsite containments. Container-based sanitation (CBS) solutions are also a promising option for sustainable management of sanitation. Many CBS businesses are on their way to self-sustaining business models, but not fully financially self-sufficient. One possibility to improve profitability could be funding through carbon credits. However, there is not yet a method for calculating carbon credits for CBS. 

RRR (Resource, Recovery, and Reuse)

Recovery and safe reuse models of resources generated from liquid and solid waste streams can be utilized in order to promote food security, cost recovery in the sanitation sector, and provide livelihood opportunities, while safeguarding public health and the environment in poor urban and peri-urban areas. Our work in this area includes contributing to the IWMI publication, Resource recovery from waste: business models for energy, nutrient and water reuse in low- and middle-income countries.

Evaluation and Monitoring of Faecal Sludge Treatment plants (eFSTP) in South Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa

Evidence-based recommendations and guidelines to optimise the design, operation, maintenance and management of FSTPs. Based on field visits to 23 FSTPs in 8 countries, the main challenges that need to be address to prevent failures are:

  • Institutional recognition: In general, institutional frameworks for the regulation of FSM are not well established.
  • Quantities and Qualities (Q&Q) of faecal sludge: Q&Q of faecal sludge are highly variable, which greatly complicates operation.
  • Capacity for operation: O&M is one of the most common reasons for failure of FSTPs, and financial resources for FSM are lacking.
  • Design for operation: There is little to no information available on the actual operation of FSTPs.
  • Communication: Coordination and communication between the stakeholders throughout the entire FSM service chain remains a challenge.

Collaborators

  • WEDC Loughborough University
  • GIZ
  • University of Leeds
  • CSE
  • World Bank WSP
  • BMGF
  • SuSanA
  • MOSAN, Santa Catarina Palopó, Guatemala
  • 500B, Enpho, Kathmandu, Nepal
  • Hanoi University of Technology, Hanoi, Vietnam
  • Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan

Funding

Previous funding BMGF, SDC, SECO (PURR project), SPLASH (FaME project), Symphasis Foundation and REPIC (SEEK project)

Publications

Advancements in and integration of water, sanitation, and solid waste for low- and middle-income countries

The water, sanitation, and solid waste sectors are closely related and have many interactions between their respective service chains in low-and middle-income countries. Currently, these interactions mostly lead to cross-contamination, and opportunities for co-benefits are seldom realized. This review presents the key advancements within each of these three development sectors in the past two decades. We identify numerous similarities such as decentralization, resource recovery, community involved planning, and digitalization. Despite the potential for synergies and the opportunities to maximize positive interactions, there have been few attempts to break the existing sectoral silos in order to integrate these three service chains. We argue that, with the right enabling environment, an integrated approach to holistically planning and implementing water supply, sanitation, and solid waste management can create positive interactions resulting in co-benefits among complementary development goals.
Narayan, A. S.; Marks, S. J.; Meierhofer, R.; Strande, L.; Tilley, E.; Zurbrügg, C.; Lüthi, C. (2021) Advancements in and integration of water, sanitation, and solid waste for low- and middle-income countries, Annual Review of Environment and Resources, 46, 193-219, doi:10.1146/annurev-environ-030620-042304, Institutional Repository

Estimating safely managed sanitation in urban areas; lessons learned from a global implementation of excreta-flow diagrams

The urban population will rise to 6.7 billion by 2050. The United Nations has committed to provide everyone with safely managed sanitation, but there is limited understanding of the scale of the challenge. This paper describes a methodology for rapid assessment of sanitation in cities including a graphical representation (a shit-flow diagram or SFD) and reports on findings from implementation in 39 cities. The SFD provides high level information for planning purposes covering the entire sanitation system in a city. More than half of the human excreta produced in these cities is not safely managed. The most significant portions of the unsafely managed excreta are: (i) contents of pits and tanks which are not emptied and are overflowing, leaking, or discharging to the surrounding environment (14%); (ii) contents of pits and tanks which are emptied but not delivered to treatment (18%); (iii) fecal sludge and supernatant delivered to treatment but not treated (3%); (iv) wastewater in sewers not delivered to treatment (14%); and (v) wastewater delivered to treatment but not treated (6%). Many cities currently relying on onsite sanitation for safe storage, particularly in Africa, will need new strategies as populations grow. Containment systems that discharge to open drains are common in some Asian cities; these pose a public health risk. Dumping of excreta is widespread and there is a lack of realistic performance data on which estimates of the extent and effectiveness of treatment can be made. The SFD production process can be challenging due to a lack of data and low technical capacity in cities. There is often uncertainty over terminology and over the status of infrastructure. Formalizing definitions for the SFD preparation process was found to be useful in overcoming capacity constraints in cities. The SFD produces a credible snapshot of the sanitation situation in a city. The paper provides evidence of the urgent need for improved management and monitoring of urban sanitation in cities around the world and highlights the role of the SFD as a planning tool.
Peal, A.; Evans, B.; Ahilan, S.; Ban, R.; Blackett, I.; Hawkins, P.; Schoebitz, L.; Scott, R.; Sleigh, A.; Strande, L.; Veses, O. (2020) Estimating safely managed sanitation in urban areas; lessons learned from a global implementation of excreta-flow diagrams, Frontiers in Environmental Science, 8, 1 (13 pp.), doi:10.3389/fenvs.2020.00001, Institutional Repository

Context matters: horizontal and hierarchical network governance structures in Vietnam's sanitation sector

Governance networks describe the complex relations among different types of actors involved in the governance of a policy issue. Here, we ask how different institutional and socioeconomic contextual conditions influence the structure of these networks and result in more horizontal or hierarchical types of governance networks. To answer this question, we study Vietnam’s sanitation sector and compare two different provinces, Hanoi and Ben Tre. More specifically, we analyze networks of information exchange among key actors based on face-to-face interviews and prestructured questionnaires. We find that in the highly urbanized capital city of Hanoi, which serves as a national leader of innovation, where national and international actors are present, and where local actors have high capacities, information exchange tends to follow horizontal network structures. In the more rural, typical province of Ben Tre, hierarchical structures dominate.
Fischer, M.; Nguyen, M.; Strande, L. (2019) Context matters: horizontal and hierarchical network governance structures in Vietnam's sanitation sector, Ecology and Society, 24(3), 17 (14 pp.), doi:10.5751/ES-11036-240317, Institutional Repository
Apoya, P.; Bartram, J.; Bhagwan, J.; Burgers, L.; Byigero, A.; Callahan, K.; Castiglia Feitosa, R.; Clasen, T.; Cumming, O.; Dreibelbis, R.; Hawkins, P.; Huda, T.; Hueso, A.; Hunter, P.; Kolsky, P.; Kome, A.; Kyomuhangi, J.; Madiath, J.; Mogol, G.; Norman, G.; Ombacho, K.; Peal, A.; Petterson, S.; Pintos, O.; Ravaloson, A.; Rehfuess, E.; Roaf, V.; Rosenboom, J.-W.; Strande, L.; Wijesuriya, G. (2018) Guidelines on sanitation and health, 198 p, Institutional Repository

Success and failure assessment methodology for wastewater and faecal sludge treatment projects in low-income countries

Many factors influence success and failure of large-scale faecal sludge and wastewater treatment projects in low-income countries. Benchmarking indicators and multicriteria analysis were adapted to define key institutional, technical and financial factors, to analyse their interrelations, and understand priorities to consider when planning and managing treatment plants. For the first time, these methods have been combined in a quantitative manner to assess planned and on-going treatment plant projects. This new methodology will aid sanitation utilities, private consultants, and funding institutions to prioritise activities and organise the operation of treatment plants.
Bassan, M.; Koné, D.; Mbéguéré, M.; Holliger, C.; Strande, L. (2015) Success and failure assessment methodology for wastewater and faecal sludge treatment projects in low-income countries, Journal of Environmental Planning and Management, 58(10), 1690-1710, doi:10.1080/09640568.2014.943343, Institutional Repository

A value proposition: resource recovery from faecal sludge—can it be the driver for improved sanitation?

There is currently a lack of access to affordable sanitation in urban areas of Sub-Saharan Africa. This study evaluated the potential for resource recovery from innovative faecal sludge treatment processes to generate a profit that could help sustain the sanitation service chain. A total of 242 interviews were conducted in Accra, Ghana; Dakar, Senegal; and Kampala, Uganda to compare markets in different cultural and regional contexts. Products identified to have potential market value include dry sludge as a fuel for combustion, biogas from anaerobic digestion, protein derived from sludge processing as animal feed, sludge as a component in building materials, and sludge as a soil conditioner. The market demand and potential revenue varied from city to city based on factors such as sludge characteristics, existing markets, local and regional industrial sectors, subsidies, and locally available materials. Use as a soil conditioner, which has been the most common end use of treated sludge, was not as profitable as other end uses. These findings should help policy and decision makers of sanitation service provision to design financially viable management systems based on resource recovery options.
Diener, S.; Semiyaga, S.; Niwagaba, C. B.; Muspratt, A. M.; Gning, J. B.; Mbéguéré, M.; Ennin, J. E.; Zurbrugg, C.; Strande, L. (2014) A value proposition: resource recovery from faecal sludge—can it be the driver for improved sanitation?, Resources, Conservation and Recycling, 88(1), 32-38, doi:10.1016/j.resconrec.2014.04.005, Institutional Repository

Technologies for sanitation: how to determine appropriate sludge treatment strategies in Vietnam

Developing appropriate technologies for the sanitation chain in low- and middle-income countries is crucial to protect public and environmental health. This includes treatment systems for the sludge produced in onsite and centralized systems (i.e., faecal and wastewater sludge). As the quantities and characteristics of sludge differ from city to city, this requires context-specific technologies. This case study was conducted to identify potential management strategies in five cities in Vietnam. The influence of the enabling environment, existing infrastructures, local sanitation practices and socioeconomic contexts on the selection of technology was assessed through literature reviews, household surveys and interviews. A checklist of influential aspects is presented to make best use of local opportunities and minimize the risks of technology failure. This approach is applicable to develop sludge management strategies in other cities.
Bassan, M.; Dao, N.; Nguyen, V. A.; Holliger, C.; Strande, L. (2014) Technologies for sanitation: how to determine appropriate sludge treatment strategies in Vietnam, In: WEDC conference 37, 2018 (6 pp.), Institutional Repository

Integrated faecal sludge management scheme for the cities of Burkina Faso

The National Utility for Water and Sanitation in Burkina Faso (ONEA) has recognized the difficulty in providing sewered sanitation to the entire urban population and has opted for a strategy involving onsite sanitation. Most of the country's population is served by onsite systems that generate large amounts of faecal sludge, and are responsible for a high prevalence of water-borne diseases. ONEA and the Department of Water and Sanitation in Developing Countries (Sandec) at the Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology (Eawag) have a collaborative project that aims to establish an enabling environment for the development of the faecal sludge sector at the institutional and technical level. The project's participatory process has allowed the design of a treatment plant adapted to local conditions, and the elaboration of the first institutional framework for faecal sludge management including several new official documents. Several technical studies filled knowledge gaps of faecal sludge characterization, and the feasibility of implementing planted drying beds. Lessons learned are transferable nationally and internationally.
Bassan, M.; Mbéguéré, M.; Tchonda, T.; Zabsonre, F.; Strande, L. (2013) Integrated faecal sludge management scheme for the cities of Burkina Faso, Journal of Water Sanitation and Hygiene for Development, 3(2), 216-221, doi:10.2166/washdev.2013.156, Institutional Repository

Capital and operating costs of full-scale fecal sludge management and wastewater treatment systems in Dakar, Senegal

A financial comparison of a parallel sewer based (SB) system with activated sludge, and a fecal sludge management (FSM) system with onsite septic tanks, collection and transport (C&T) trucks, and drying beds was conducted. The annualized capital for the SB ($42.66 capita–1 year–1) was ten times higher than the FSM ($4.05 capita–1 year–1), the annual operating cost for the SB ($11.98 capita–1 year–1) was 1.5 times higher than the FSM ($7.58 capita–1 year–1), and the combined capital and operating for the SB ($54.64 capita–1 year–1) was five times higher than FSM ($11.63 capita–1 year–1). In Dakar, costs for SB are almost entirely borne by the sanitation utility, with only 6% of the annualized cost borne by users of the system. In addition to costing less overall, FSM operates with a different business model, with costs spread among households, private companies, and the utility. Hence, SB was 40 times more expensive to implement for the utility than FSM. However, the majority of FSM costs are borne at the household level and are inequitable. The results of the study illustrate that in low-income countries, vast improvements in sanitation can be affordable when employing FSM, whereas SB systems are prohibitively expensive.
Dodane, P. H.; Mbéguéré, M.; Sow, O.; Strande, L. (2012) Capital and operating costs of full-scale fecal sludge management and wastewater treatment systems in Dakar, Senegal, Environmental Science and Technology, 46(7), 3705-3711, doi:10.1021/es2045234, Institutional Repository

Resource recovery from waste: business models for energy, nutrient and water reuse in low- and middle-income countries. Otoo, M.; Drechsel, P. (Eds.) 2018.  Oxon, UK: Routledge – Earthscan. 816p.

 

Looking beyond technology to provide adequate and sustainable sanitation in low income countries. Tilley, E., Strande, L., Lüthi, C., Mosler, H.-J., Udert, K., Gebauer, H., Hering, J.G. Environmental Science & Technology 48(17) 9965–9970, 2014.

Capacity strengthening in sanitation: benefits of a research - operator collaboration. Bassan, M., Strande, L. 35th WEDC International Conference, Loughborough University, 2011.

Contact

Dr. Linda Strande Tel. +41 58 765 5553 Send Mail