Faecal sludge management: the forgotten link in the sanitation service chain.
Published on: 13/08/2014
Only a very small percentage of the faecal sludge of 2.6 billion people using a latrine or having a septic tank is adequately treated. Do not try to imagine the pile of raw faecal sludge that ends up in the neighbourhood on land or remains in the ground and may pollute the groundwater and soil. It is enormous, beyond the imaginable!
'Beyond Construction', we are still saying that having a latrine is not the end of the story: awareness raising is needed to ensure continued latrine use by all. It is high time that the phrase 'beyond construction' is also used for getting the Faecal Sludge Service Chain high on the political agenda to avoid future catastrophes. Therefore, IRC powered by DGIS, organised a Faecal Sludge Management Lunch Presentation, which was attended by some 40 participants, on 17 April 2014.
The magnitude of the challenge and current practices in slums and small towns were presented by IRC. WASTE in collaboration with UNESCO-IHE presented interesting research findings on faecal sludge treatment for emergency situations. Red Cross The Netherlands showed the results of research on latrine emptying in emergency situations.
A short note on this event is forthcoming.
Presentation by Erick Baetings giving an overview of faecal sludge management challenges and practices
Presentation by Jan Spit from WASTE with the research findings on faecal sludge treatment
Presentation by Jan Heeger, Red Cross Netherlands on Pit emptying devices for emergency situations
