Pump it up: making single-pit emptying safer in rural Bangladesh

Author:

Balasubramanya Soumya1,Evans Barbara2,Ahmed Rizwan3,Habib Ahasan3,Asad N. S. M.3,Vuong Luan2,Rahman Mominur4,Hasan Mahmudul4,Dey Digbijoy5,Camargo-Valero Miller26

Affiliation:

1. International Water Management Institute, Sri Lanka, 127 Sunil Mawatha, Pelawatte, Sri Lanka

2. Institute of Public Health and Environmental Engineering, University of Leeds, Leeds LS2 9JT, UK

3. NGO Forum for Public Health, 4/6, Block-E, Lalmatia, Dhaka 1207, Bangladesh

4. Department of Chemical Engineering, Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology, Dhaka 1000, Bangladesh

5. BRAC, BRAC Centre, 75 Mohakhali, Dhaka 1212, Bangladesh

6. Departamento de Ingeniería Civil, Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Campus La Nubia, Manizales, Colombia

Abstract

Safe emptying and disposal of fecal sludge from pit latrines in rural areas has become a priority for the Government of Bangladesh. In this paper, we calculate the volume and characterize the hazards of managing sludge to identify technologies for safely emptying rural single pits. In Bhaluka subdistrict, an estimated 15,000 m3 of sludge is produced annually. Physical, chemical, and microbial analysis of samples of sludge taken from pit latrines indicate that the sludge has a high moisture content of around 90%, a C:N ration of 10:1, and a helminth presence of 41 eggs/g. In a field test of alternative emptying technologies, simple pumps such as the gulper emerged as feasible for use in rural areas, due to the liquid nature of the sludge, narrow roads, and limited incomes of rural households. The results suggest that current practices of emptying liquid sludge manually without any protective equipment poses risks to those who handle sludge, and the process needs to be semi-mechanized with immediate effect. These results are being used by the Bangladesh government to design policy for sludge management. In the near future, an organized service that safely empties single pits and transports sludge for treatment needs to be urgently designed.

Publisher

IWA Publishing

Subject

Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health,Pollution,Waste Management and Disposal,Water Science and Technology,Development

Reference18 articles.

1. Take it away: the need for designing fecal sludge disposal services for single-pit latrines;Balasubramanya;J. Water Sanit. Hyg. Dev.,2016

2. Towards sustainable sanitation management: establishing the costs and willingness to pay in rural districts with high rates of access to latrines;Balasubramanya;PLOS One,2016

3. Modelling the filling rate of pit latrines;Brouckaert;Water SA,2013

4. Assessment of the impacts of pit latrines on groundwater quality in rural areas: a case study from Marondera district, Zimbabwe;Dzwairo;Phys. Chem. Earth,2006

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