Development of urban septage management models in Indonesia : a paper presented at the second conference on developments in faecal sludge management...

Almost half of Indonesia’s 238 million people live in urban areas. As part of the Government of Indonesia’s Acceleration of Sanitation Development in Human Settlements Program, the use of on-site sanitation systems in urban areas will continue. In dense areas, small decentralized wastewater treatment systems will also be used, resulting in increasing demand for septage emptying services too. Foreseeing this demand, the Ministry of Public Works has evaluated the design and performance of many existing septage facilities in preparation for rehabilitation and new construction. The evaluations concluded that in many cities there was sub-optimal ownership of the septage treatment facilities by local governments; the institutional arrangements for operating the facilities and the operation and maintenance budgets were poor, and the staffing and staff capacity was low. In late 2011, the Ministry of Public Works requested technical assistance to support national investments in septage infrastructure, focused on helping local governments improve urban septage management. In particular, the assistance was aimed at developing sustainable management models for operating and maintaining septage systems. [authors abstract]