Sustainability of decentralised communal small bore sewerage (also, settled or effluent sewerage) and simple wastewater treatment for local reuse in rural villages with low water supply, and limited skills and funding for long term operation
1. Construction of household toilets and bathrooms, sanitary interceptor tanks, gravity small bore sewer network, and vertical vegetated soil filter for wastewater treatment;
2. Education and training program for village residents to operate and maintain the sanitation system;
3. Treatment of domestic wastewater to basic irrigation reuse standards to support local agriculture.
Image: Clearford toilet
1. Build private household toilets and bathrooms to suit local needs;
2. Collect all domestic wastewater using a communal sewerage system;
3. Convey wastewater to a low cost treatment facility with minimal power requirements;
4. Treat wastewater to a quality that is safe for discharge and reuse for agricultural irrigation in accordance with regulatory requirements;
5. Minimize operation and maintenance requirements such that activities are performed by trained villagers under management by the village sanitation committee with support from the technology provider.
The project provides safe communal sanitary servicing for a rural village of 50 homes with a population of 250 people for a total sanitary flow of around 17 cubic metres per day. The village has a water supply in the range of 50-70 litres per person per day, which is around half of the minimum required flow for conventional sewers that typically get choked with solids when there is not enough water flow to move solids in the sewer pipes. The small bore sewerage system removes solids in interceptor tanks near each home so that only the liquid wastewater is conveyed for final treatment. Biological activity in the tanks pre-treats the wastewater and breaks down organic solids in the tanks. The system is entirely gravity driven except for a simple electrical pump system.
Sanjay Deshpande
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Kevin Loiselle
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Community sanitation Constructed wetlands East Asia & Pacific Greywater or wastewater Other philantropist foundation Private sector, including social enterprises Resource recovery Rural Rural areas Specific to one or several countries Toilets or urinals (user interface) Treatment of wastewater or greywater Water (irrigation, process, other)
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Shobana Srinivasan (shobana)
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