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IIT Jodhpur

Access to safe excreta disposal is a basic human right and an essential element of human development. Developing countries (like India) have constructed millions of toilets with on-site sanitation technologies (OSTs). However, these OSTs lack the required management system for collection, transportation and disposal of Faecal Sludge (FS, sludge getting accumulated in OST), leading to considerable water and soil pollution. The major challenge in FS Management is the collation of scattered data and concentrated experiences (i.e., existing knowledge remains with the practitioners in the field without a written record). Therefore, a critical review of existing knowledge on OST, FS collection, transportation, and its utilisation is essential. This study highlighted shortcomings associated with existing OST, FS collection, transportation, and treatment systems. Furthermore, this study provided a framework for appropriate selection of OST based on available sanitation chains, and a critical analysis of FS characteristics (i.e., total solids, pH, electrical conductivity, biological oxygen demand, chemical oxygen demand, and pathogens of FS ranged from 830 to 72000 mg/L, 6.8 to 7.8, 1.9 to 3.5 mS/cm, 500–5000 mg/L, 100 to 49,000 mg/L, and 106 to 107 E-coli and 103 to 104 parasitic worms per litre of FS, respectively) to design treatment systems for FS utilisation as a resource in agricultural, aqua-culture, and construction application. © 2021 Elsevier Inc.

Center for Emerging Technologies for Sustainable Development (CETSD)

World University root node

Environmental Research

A critical review on sludge management from onsite sanitation systems: A knowledge to be revised in the current situation

Urban slums and unplanned settlements in India depend on highly on-site sanitation systems (OSS). Fecal Sludge (FS) produced in OSS is one of the most dangerous pollutants that have the potential to spread many diseases. The Government of India is emphasizing proper collection, treatment, and disposal of FS by launching various programs and schemes (such as NUSP, AMRUT, smart city mission, UIDSSMT, etc.). The private sector plays a major role in the collection of FS, while very little if any, treatment exists for the FS collected. The design and sustainability of any FS treatment depend on the accurate knowledge of the quality and quantity of FS at the city/town level. This paper systematically reviews the existing methods of FS quantification and its drawbacks in Indian conditions. In the literature on FS, two theoretical approaches (i) FS production method (FSP), (ii) FS collection methods (FSC) are being used for quantification. Most of the Indian practices use the FSP method for FS quantification, which is similar to conventional wastewater quantification. However, in India, the data on the amount of excreta produced and sludge accumulation rate (SAR) in different OSS are seldomly found. This results in the usage of data available in developed countries leading to over/underestimation of FS on which treatment facilities are designed. This study concludes that the design of FSM for Indian conditions requires basic research on excreta produced and its degradation properties in different OSS. © 2021, The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd.

Lecture Notes in Civil Engineering

A Review on Methods for Estimating Quantities of Fecal Sludge Produced in Urban India

Abstract: Unscientifically Created Landfills and Dumps, UCLDs, pose a severe threat to geoenvironment due to uncontrolled release of greenhouse gases and toxic leachate, accidental fire(s) and occasional slope failure(s). Further, UCLDs also become a socio-economic burden on the municipalities through the consumption of enormous land of the modern-day cities and creation of unhealthy living conditions for the surrounding populace. However, an increase in demand for the land to settle the ever-growing population of such cities and to meet the infrastructural requirements, the habitable boundaries of these cities are expanding, and hence mining of the UCLDs, termed as landfill mining, LFM, is being advocated. Apart from this, LFM facilitates the recovery of resources such as metals, plastics, glass and paper from the landfill mined residues, LMRs. Despite these advantages, LFM faces a significant challenge due to the creation of huge volumes of fine-fractions, separated from the LMRs, also known as ‘Landfill-Mined-Soil-like-Fractions’, LFMSF, which primarily is a conglomeration of organics, soils, debris and smaller chips of metals, plastics, and glass. Unfortunately, utilization of the LFMSF, as a manmade resource, has still not become a well-accepted practice. This is mainly due to the lack of understanding of the characteristics of the LFMSF that are mostly site-specific. With this in view, synthesis of the literature dealing with the issues related to the characterization and utilization of the LFMSF was conducted. It has been realized that by developing and following adequate characterization protocols and guidelines, the LFMSF can be utilized as a manmade resource for sustainable development, without impacting the geoenvironment adversely. Graphic Abstract: [Figure not available: see fulltext.] © 2020, Springer Nature B.V.

Waste and Biomass Valorization

Characterization and Utilization of Landfill-Mined-Soil-Like-Fractions (LFMSF) for Sustainable Development: A Critical Appraisal

Faecal Sludge (FS) produced in developing countries has become a significant source of water pollution. The optimal treatment of FS can lead to a sustainable economy. In India, the second phase of the open defecation free (ODF) initiative (energy recovery by providing city- or town-level centralised FS treatment plants) has begun from 2019 to sustain millions of toilets. However, to achieve this goal, India must address significant knowledge gaps such as the type of available on-site sanitation treatments (OSTs), optimal time of emptying the OSTs, and variations in the FS characteristics with age. Thus, the present study analysed FS samples collected from Vadgaon Maval, Maharashtra, India, to understand the inter- and intra-variation in FS characteristics. The pH, electrical conductivity, total solids (TS), specific gravity (SG), organic matter (OM), chemical oxygen demand (COD), and pathogen content of FS samples were observed to be in the range of 7–7.65, 1.19–4.01 mS/cm, 1–123 g/L, 0.88–1.26, 18.4%–100%, 960–6080 mg/L, and 105–109 number/L of FS, respectively. The inter-variation of FS characteristics exhibited that the pH, EC, TS, and SG increased, whereas OM, settling, and drying capacity decreased with an increase in age. Fresh FS (excreta degraded for ≤3 years) was yellowish-brown in colour and exhibited low TS, low SG, and high OM. On the other hand, older FS (excreta degraded for &gt;3 years) was blackish-brown in colour and exhibited high TS, SG, and pathogen content. This observation indicates that FS vacuum pumping may be difficult in the sludge zone after 3 years of excreta degradation, which may encourage the manual scavenging practice. Additionally, the analysis of FS treatment plant (FSTP) process control parameters (settled sludge volume, sludge volume index, and sludge drying capacity) indicated that the treatment time required for older FS is long, which increases the FSTP cost. Furthermore, FS intra-variation in OST exhibited that effluent FS could be directly sent for effluent treatment without any solid–liquid separation process. Thus, the present study can help practitioners in establishing or modifying FS treatment systems for addressing conditions based on the variation in FS characteristics at the town level in India. © 2021 Elsevier Ltd

Journal of Environmental Management

Assessing inter and intra-variation in the characteristics of faecal sludge from Vadgaon Maval, Maharashtra: For better faecal sludge management in India

Unscientific application of fecal sludge (FS) on agricultural fields in India has led to fecal coliform and heavy metal accumulation in the food chain. The design of FS treatment depends on accurate knowledge of its characteristics, which is seldom available for nonurban India, where most of the agriculture sector is concentrated. In this study, nonurban FS from India has been systematically characterized for physicochemical properties, nutrient, and pathogenic content to assess its ability to be used as a fertilizer. It was found that the collected FS has nutrients (nitrogen=3.0%±0.4%, phosphorus=29.07±4.48 mg/L, potassium=43.57±0.74 mg/L), organic carbon (33%±3.2%), and physicochemical properties that qualify the Indian specifications of organic fertilizers, whereas its pathogenic content (i.e., 6 log cfu/g, and 6 to 13 viable helminth ova/g) is high as per US regulations. Thus, collected FS requires treatment by unplanted drying bed and co-composting to be used as fertilizer. © 2021 American Society of Civil Engineers.

Journal of Environmental Engineering (United States)

Evaluating the Physicochemical, Nutrient, and Pathogenic Characteristics of Fecal Sludge for Fertilizer Application: Case from Vadgaon Maval, Maharashtra, India

Since 2014, the Government of India has constructed millions of toilets with onsite containment technology (OCT) (i.e., pit latrines and septic tanks). In this study, a detailed analysis of the toilets built, people’s awareness about the existing sanitation system, and faecal sludge management (FSM) in rural, semi-urban, and urban areas of Maharashtra, India was done by carrying out a household (HH) survey and interviews with stakeholders. In the surveyed areas, open defaecation (OD) has been eliminated and an individual HH toilet with OCT is the most common sanitation available. The rural area has no FSM facilities. The semi-urban area has a very little faecal sludge (FS) collection by private agencies, while the urban area has a government-aided FS collection system. However, the semi-urban and urban areas have no disposal or treatment facility for the FS collected. In the urban area, irregular emptying of FS has triggered 7% of the HHs to practise OD and 29% of the HHs use manual labour for emptying the OCT. This study can help practitioners, government agencies, and non-governmental organisations to understand the ground reality for establishing/modifying FSM rules and regulations for Indian conditions. © IWA Publishing 2021.