Faecal Sludge Management (FSM)
Programme Objectives
The main objective of Sandec's programme on FS management is to put in the hands of planners and field engineers guidelines for sustainable options of faecal sludge management in developing countries. Such guidelines contain recommendations on FS management planning, economic and institutional aspects as well as on design and operation of treatment options. Towards this end, collaborative field research has been sought with a number of partners in Africa, Asia and Latin America.
A second objective is to assist our research partners in enhancing their monitoring and evaluation capacity in the field of human waste management, especially faecal sludges.
Download preliminary readings on Faecal Sludge Management
- Lecture notes on Faecal Sludge Treatment [pdf, 597kB]
- Review of Practices, Problems and Initiatives [pdf, 1181kB]
- Characteristics of FS and their solids- liquid separation [pdf, 168kB]
Background and Rationale
The excreta of most urban dwellers in developing countries are disposed of through on-site sanitation systems such as private and public latrines, aqua privies and septic tanks. This is in contrast to industrialised countries where excreta are disposed of via cistern-flush toilets, city-wide sewerage systems and central wastewater treatment works, all of which constitute standard technologies. These are, however, unaffordable to most urban inhabitants of developing countries.
A major problem is the fact that faecal sludges (FS) collected from on-site sanitation installations are commonly disposed of untreated. In larger cities, haulage distances to outlying treatment or disposal sites are excessive and traffic congestion prevents efficient emptying and haulage of faecal sludges. Land within city boundaries is often highly valued and might thus not be available for waste treatment. The sludges are therefore dumped untreated at the shortest possible distance, be it on open grounds, into drainage ditches and water courses, or into the sea. Growing urbanisation leads to increasing faecal sludge quantities to be disposed of and, hence, to increasing environmental pollution and health risks.
Appropriate means and ways to treat, use and dispose of faecal sludges are thus urgently needed. To solve some of these problems, Sandec started an applied research programme on this subject in 1992.